A pilot program using several clinical decision support tools in the outpatient setting to treat and educate stable ischemic heart disease patients has shown success in improving angina in these patients. Findings from the Florida Cardiovascular Quality Network study were presented at the American College of Cardiology's Cardiovascular Summit in Orlando. The conference brings together top experts to discuss and review innovative, relevant cardiovascular management and leadership strategies.

A new reversible, drug-free antiplatelet therapy could reduce the risk of blood clots and potentially prevent cancer metastasis, according to a study published today in Science Translational Medicine. The therapeutic approach involves modifying human platelets to create "decoys" that are still capable of binding to some cells but will not aggregate or carry out the other normal platelet functions, including chemical signaling associated with the clotting process.

When normal cells grow, divide or do any job in the body, they do so in response to a whole slew of internal sensors that measure nutrients and energy supply, and environmental cues that inform what happens outside the cell. A protein called mTOR receives information from these signals and then directs the cell to take action.

Droplets emanating from a molecular "nano-tap" would behave very differently from those from a household tap 1 million times larger - researchers at the University of Warwick have found. This is potentially crucial step for a number of emerging nano technologies, e.g., manufacture of nano-sized drug particles, lab-on-chip devices for in situ diagnostics, and 3D printers capable of nanoscale resolution.

New research on how cancer mutations influence a certain type of receptor on the cell membrane opens the way for the development of tailored drugs for certain cancers, such as rectal cancer and lung cancer. This according to researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University, who have been collaborating with researchers in the UK and USA.

An MIT-led research team has developed a drug capsule that could be used to deliver oral doses of insulin, potentially replacing the injections that people with type 2 diabetes have to give themselves every day. About the size of a blueberry, the capsule contains a small needle made of compressed insulin, which is injected after the capsule reaches the stomach.

A simple drug cocktail that converts cells neighboring damaged neurons into functional new neurons could potentially be used to treat stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and brain injuries. A team of researchers at Penn State identified a set of four, or even three, molecules that could convert glial cells - which normally provide support and insulation for neurons - into new neurons. A paper describing the approach appears online in the journal Stem Cell Reports on February 7, 2019.