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Thursday, April 16, 2026
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BioCryst Pharma’s Hereditary Angioedema Disorder Drug Succeeds in Trail

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BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc’s oral drug found effective in preventing from hereditary angioedema (HAE). HAE is a disease in which patient suffers from sudden attacks of swelling of the skin or mucous membranes, which can be disfiguring, painful and even fatal.

If it approves, it would be the first oral medicine of its kind. While other medicine like Shire Plc’s Firazyr, Dyax Corp’s Kalbitor and CSL Behring’s Berinert are injected to manage attacks after they occur, BioCryst’s oral preventive would directly compete with Shire’s injectable Cinryze.

BioCryst said in a statement on Tuesday that, “Patients given the drug, BCX4161, in a mid-stage trial had an average rate of 0.82 attacks per week, compared with 1.27 for those given a placebo.”

BioCryst’s CMO William Sheridan said that, “We don’t intend to study the drug head to head against Cinryze. We’d like to make Cinryze obsolete because it’s an IV therapy”.

According to analysts because of the strong patient preference for an oral therapy, it would be hard to see how there wouldn’t be significant competitive advantage for BioCryst’s drug.

HAE

BioCryst’s study verified the safety and effectiveness of a 400 mg dose of the drug managed three times a day for 28 days in patients with high HAE. Patients given the drug have experienced attack-less 22days, compared with 19 days for those given the placebo.

BioCryst plans to conduct a 12-week trial for the drug in the second half of this year on more population of HAE.

H.C. Wainwright & Co analyst Andrew Fein expected the drug to be launched in the United States in 2017 and estimated peak U.S. sales of $1.2 billion by 2031.

Relay For Life – Event at the Exeter Inn

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Relay For Life – At relay communities across the globe come together to honor cancer survivors, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against a disease that has already taken too much.

Relay for Life teams encampment overnight and take turns walking or running around a track or path at a local high school, park, or fairground to raise funds. They never sleep as the cancer never sleeps.

Now as a new initiative, an event will take place at Sanborn Regional High School, 17 Danville Road, Kingston on Saturday, June 21 at 2 p.m.

To help the American Cancer Society to fight against cancer, the teams are raising funds for few past months.

Over $10,000 has risen by the thirteen teams and the activity will continue up to 21st June and teams will also have on-site fund-raisers at the relay.

This year participants may also donate canned goods which will be used to ponder down bags in the luminary’s ceremony. This ceremony is a special happening that takes place at every Relay for Life event to tribute those who are battling or have battled cancer.

Luminary bags are personalized with photos and messages and then completed with a candle inside the bag during the evening ceremony. Following the Relay for Life event, these cans, which will be used in lieu of sand, will be donated to the N.H. Food Bank.

Those who are interested in participating should attend the last planning and team meeting before the event. The final planning meeting will take place on 12th June at 6 p.m. at The Exeter Inn, 90 Front St., in Exeter and the team meeting is followed by the planning meeting at 7 p.m. on the same location.

Relay For Life – Event at the Exeter Inn

By Leave a Comment

Relay For Life – At relay communities across the globe come together to honor cancer survivors, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against a disease that has already taken too much.

Relay for Life teams encampment overnight and take turns walking or running around a track or path at a local high school, park, or fairground to raise funds. They never sleep as the cancer never sleeps.

Now as a new initiative, an event will take place at Sanborn Regional High School, 17 Danville Road, Kingston on Saturday, June 21 at 2 p.m.

To help the American Cancer Society to fight against cancer, the teams are raising funds for few past months.

Over $10,000 has risen by the thirteen teams and the activity will continue up to 21st June and teams will also have on-site fund-raisers at the relay.

This year participants may also donate canned goods which will be used to ponder down bags in the luminary’s ceremony. This ceremony is a special happening that takes place at every Relay for Life event to tribute those who are battling or have battled cancer.

Luminary bags are personalized with photos and messages and then completed with a candle inside the bag during the evening ceremony. Following the Relay for Life event, these cans, which will be used in lieu of sand, will be donated to the N.H. Food Bank.

Those who are interested in participating should attend the last planning and team meeting before the event. The final planning meeting will take place on 12th June at 6 p.m. at The Exeter Inn, 90 Front St., in Exeter and the team meeting is followed by the planning meeting at 7 p.m. on the same location.

Longest Migration Among Mammals Discovered

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The longest big-mammal migration ever documented in Africa is discovered that surprised biologists and the mammal is a population of zebras that migrated more than 300-mile beeline across parts of Namibia and Botswana.

zebras migration

When we talk about Africa the food and water is aligned with the seasons, so the animals are. The Serengeti is the site of what most considers the most dramatic migration, with giant herds of millions of animals and the range is 750,000 zebras and 1.2 million wildebeests as well as gazelles and elands, traveling from the Ngorongoro area in southern Tanzania to the Masai Mara in lower Kenya and returning as the rains dictate.

When it comes to the longest trek endpoint to endpoint, Africa comes up with a new record. According to an article published online today in the journal Oryx, the migration, which has now been observed in consecutive years, isn’t on the scale of what goes down on the Serengeti.

The herd involves just a few thousand Burchell’s zebras. But the animals cover more than 500 kilometers in a straight-line, up-and-back journey across Namibia and Botswana.

“The almost unerring north-south direction was unusual, but there was an even bigger surprise. The distance covered by these zebra was a total shock to all of us involved in the study, as well as to people familiar with wildlife conservation in the region. Nobody knew that something of this scale, with this much ground covered, was occurring.” says lead author Robin Naidoo, senior conservation scientist at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

Nature is full of surprises and we cannot comment what comes next to shock us.

Warmer the Season Higher the Diseases – Be Aware

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The summers not just accompanied by pool side parties, sun bath and fun but pests and parasites that can have a hazardous effect on your health.

The warmer the season the more the insects inside the home and outside. These tiny creatures are not just creepy but extremely dangerous. Specially be aware of mosquitoes and ticks.

West Nile – the mosquito-borne disease Virus remains a threat in Colorado, with 322 total cases reported in 2013. While only 90 of these cases were considered neuroinvasive Virus, seven deaths also were related to the virus.

West Nile first was testified in the United States in 1999, Moffat County has been largely unaffected, with few cases overall, the first of which was not discovered until 2003. Data collected at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment revealed the majority of cases impacted the Front Range, including Larimer, Broomfield, Weld, Adams, Boulder, Arapahoe and Denver counties.

Jan Stapleton the deputy director of communications for CDPHE stated that, “Part of this is because of greater population in these areas” She further said that, “The smaller occurrence of West Nile in Northwest Colorado does not mean the region is any more protected from the disease, for humans or animals. West Nile has not gone away, it’s still a risk for everyone throughout Colorado”.

The disease considered rare, but if bitten by a mosquito, a person experiencing high fever, severe headache and stiff neck should seek advice from a health care professional otherwise serious trouble could expected.

A “Four D’s” model of precautions is given below. If these precaution would take the chance of the diseases could be minimized.

Dress in that covers your entire body, wear long sleeves and pants where mosquitoes are active, dawn and dusk.
Drain standing water around your place because mosquitoes usually lay their eggs in stagnant water. Also inside your house drain the water from pots, tubs etc.
Dusk and dawn – when mosquitoes that carry the virus are most active, so limit outdoor activities or take precautions to prevent mosquito bites.
DEET is an effective ingredient to look for in insect repellents. Follow the instructions on label of it.

According to the study of Colorado State University Extension, the blood-sucking parasites often are encountered in “brushy areas along the edges of fields and woodlands or commonly traveled paths through grassy areas and shrub lands,” meaning frequent tick checks for campers are sensible.

Qiagen Earns U.S. Approval

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On Friday U.S. health regulators approved Qiagen NV’s gene-testing kit to identify those colorectal cancer patients most likely to benefit from Amgen Inc’s drug, Vectibix.

Not only this the Food and Drug Administration also expanded the approval of Vectibix to allow its use as an initial, treatment for colon cancer in combination with the widely used FOLFOX chemotherapy regimen.

This approval is third U.S. approval for a Qiagen companion diagnostic for use in blend with a specific drug.

Gene-testing and extension approval, could floor the way for increased use of Vectibix, which has been largely a dissatisfaction for Amgen.

It means the drug can be used earlier in the disease and would be accompanied by diagnostic to help doctors locate patients that would best respond to the medicine.

Last year 33% of total sales were from the U.S only. Amgen had $126 M sales from U.S market and in the same year the total sales was $389 M.

QIAGEN N.V. is a Netherlands-based holding company, is the leading global provider of Sample & Assay Technologies that are used to transform biological materials into valuable molecular information. Sample technologies are used to isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from biological samples such as blood or tissue.

High Co-pays – A Barrier to Asthma Care for Kids

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According to a new survey, in the United States children with asthma will miss out on important doctor visits and precautionary medications because of high health insurance co-pays.

Because of higher co-pays parents are switching to less expensive drugs, giving their children less medication than prescribed and putting off doctor visits to the emergency room.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 9% of U.S. children have the potentially fatal chronic respiratory illness.

According to Dr. Jefry Biehler, chairman of pediatrics at Miami Children’s Hospital in Florida, “Children who are treated early and use medication to prevent asthma flare-ups do better than kids who are only treated when an attack occurs”.

Study author Vicki Fung, a health services researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said that, “Asthma is one of the most common chronic conditions among children, and the prevalence of asthma is greater among low-income populations”.

Asthma Story_0

Fung added, “As health insurers and employers require patients to pay more out-of-pocket medical costs, many families, even those with insurance, could struggle to afford the cost of care”.

In 2010 The Affordable Care Act, signed into law, has enabled more families to obtain health insurance, but some of those policies are expensive or require cost-sharing. Also, although the law provides for subsidies for many low-income children, certain rules exclude some families from receiving these subsidies.

Mr. Fung questions whether these subsidies are enough to reduce cost barriers to care? He said, It is concerning that the children we deal with are sometimes more vulnerable in areas we didn’t recognize, We have to be careful that we don’t create a void for those families that can’t afford all the things they need for their child, but who are above the financial level that gives them government insurance that will provide everything at no or minimal cost”

Disrupted Circadian Rhythms May Lead to Inflammatory Disease(s)

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According to a latest study, the disturbed circadian rhythms along with a diet comprise of high fat and sugar contributes in many harmful conditions specially the inflammatory bowel disease. The study conducted in laboratory on mice.

“Circadian rhythms, which impose a 24-hour cycle on our bodies, are different from sleep patterns, adding that sleep is a consequence of circadian rhythms”, according to Robin M. Voigt, PhD, assistant professor at Rush Medical College and first author of the study.

inflamm

Experiment:

A known experience for disruption of inborn circadian rhythms is done on male mice, they had their cycles of exposure to light and dark shifted on a weekly basis. Few mice fed standard food and others high-fat, high-sugar diet

Observation:

Researchers found that the micro biota of the mice with disrupted circadian rhythms were significantly different from that of the control group if they ate high-fat, high-sugar food.
Mice that ate the high-fat, high-sugar diet, and had circadian-rhythm disruptions, had higher concentrations of bacteria that are known to promote inflammation than any of the other mice in the study.
Mice that ate the high-fat, high-sugar diet displayed changes in the makeup of the microorganisms in their guts, regardless of circadian status.
Upsetting the circadian rhythms of the mice fed standard food did not significantly affect the micro biota in their intestines.
Result:

The disturbed circadian rhythms along with a diet comprise of high fat and sugar contributes in inflammatory bowel disease.

While circadian rhythm disturbance may be common among some, the research suggests that it may be contributing to a host of diseases that may be prevented by regulating things such as sleep/wake patterns and times of eating to help prevent circadian rhythm disruption. Including prebiotics or probiotics in the diet can also help normalize the effects of circadian rhythm disruption on the intestinal micro biota to reduce the presence of inflammation.

Poor Sleep Leads Your Child to Obesity

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A research conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children and analyzed the effects of sleep on children age ranges from six months to seven years. Data collected on annual basis and it includes measurement of physical health, weight, sleeping patterns and nap times. At the age of seven researchers measured their abdominal fat, lean body mass, height, weight, waist and hip circumferences.

As per this research, researcher concluded that:

Age Sleep Hours (Per day) Result\

6 months to 2 years less than 12 hours Inadequate
3 years to 4 years 10 Hours Necessary
5 years to 7 years less than 9 hours Insufficient

For children ages six months to two years, less than 12 hours per day was considered inadequate.
For children between ages three and four, 10 hours of sleep per day was necessary.
For children between five and seven years of age, less than nine hours was insufficient.
Sleep scores from zero, the highest level of insufficient sleep, to 13 were given to Children, which indicated no reports of poor sleep. Children who had the lowest sleep scores had higher levels of abdominal fat and other measures indicative of obesity, regardless of age.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Very Very

InSufficient Good

Sleep Sleep

According to Dr. Elsie Taveras, the lead author and chief of general pediatrics at the hospital, “Our study found convincing evidence that getting less than recommended amounts of sleep across early childhood is an independent and strong risk factor for obesity and adiposity. Contrary to some published studies, we did not find a particular ‘critical period’ for the influence of sleep duration on weight gain. Instead, insufficient sleep at any time in early childhood had adverse effects.”

baby

But researches stated that still we need more trials and research to endorse if improving sleep times leads to reduced obesity. They also delight parent with experts’ advice in order to improve sleep time and habits that includes;

Setting a consistent bedtime.
Limiting caffeinated beverages late in the day.
Cutting out high-tech distractions in the bedrooms.

Above all habits will improve the sleep times and promotes healthy sleep habits

Research To Group Meditation Technique-Wise

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The ancient technique of mind relaxes meditation. Each of us must go through or at least know any of the meditation technique that includes mindfulness, mantra, and guided meditation. It is an art of focus your mind 100% to one area. The practice comes with a countless well-publicized health benefits including increased decreased anxiety, concentration, and a feeling of happiness.

Meditiation

There are many meditation methods but according to a research of University of Oslo in Norway, all techniques can be group in two heads – Concentrative meditation and nondirective meditation.

Concentrative meditation:
As the name suggest, in this technique focus is on breathing or other particular thought that restrict the mind to wander here and there.

When subjects (on whom research is conducted) practiced concentrative meditation, their brain activity was nearly the same as when they were resting.

Nondirective meditation:
In this technique also the purpose is to focus whether on breathing or on a meditation sound but the difference from the Concentrative meditation technique is that in Non-directive meditation your mind could wander. Usually the modern meditation techniques fall in this category.

According to the research when participants practiced nondirective meditation, they had higher brain activity in areas connected with processing thoughts related to self and feelings than when they were resting.

meditiation2

How the mind actually works and responds during meditation is still unknown and the team is working on it.

According to Davanger, “These findings suggest that nondirective meditation allows for more room to process memories and emotions than during concentrated meditation”.

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