By RICHARD CRAVER, Winston-Salem Journal

When it comes to medical studies, consumer spending and corporate profits can be a combustible mix for scientists and researchers.

That reality has become clear to Floyd "Ski" Chilton, a professor of physiology and pharmacology and the director of the Wake Forest Center for Botanical Lipids.

Eating tilapia may be risky for people with inflammatory conditions such as heart disease, according to researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Entegrion Inc., a biomedical group based in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park, has received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration for over-the-counter sales of its fabric, Stasilon.

The product accelerates the clotting of blood in external wounds through the use of bamboo and glass fibers in a woven fabric. The company is trying for FDA clearance on surgical pads.

Putting more emphasis on combining counseling and medication is "greatly increasing" smokers' ability to quit, according to an update of a federal tobacco-cessation study released this week.

A tiny blue capsule is the key element in R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s latest attempt to woo smokers.

The capsule is embedded into the filter of a regular Camel Lights cigarette.