A senior White House aide on Sunday said U.S. President Barack Obama still enjoyed wide support from Democrats despite the tax cut deal fallout, and sees no one challenge the president in party primary before the presidential election in 2012.

In response to a question on CNN's State of the Union broadcast on Sunday, David Axelrod, Obama's senior aide, said: "I really don 't" expect Obama to have a challenge in the primary.

"I can't predict obviously anybody can file for an office but I see strong support among Democrats for this president. They understand that he's fighting hard, trying hard to move this country forward. They understand what we've accomplished already," said Axelrod.

Obama is facing party revolt over a tax cut deal he reached with Congressional Republicans. The deal, announced on Monday evening, would extend the soon-to-expire Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels for another two years, while extending emergency jobless benefits through 2011.

The framework agreement, especially the extension of tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, had sparked criticism from some congressional Democratic leaders over the past days, who believed that Obama did not fight hard enough and his conciliatory moves gave an olive branch to the GOP too quickly.

Axelrod dismissed the notion that Obama is tacking back to the center, saying "the president is who the president always has been. He's someone trying to solve problems for the American people."

Related:

Obama says compromise on Bush-tax deal achieved

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday evening that the White House and Republicans had reached a compromise that would extend the soon-to-expire Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels for another two years.

Obama said at a White House press conference that differences between the two parties were "real and profound," but a compromise was "the right thing to do for the businesses and the right thing to do for the economy." Full story

Bill Clinton: Tax cut deal could minimize chance of U.S. economic recession

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said Friday at a White House press conference that the tax compromise between the White House and Republicans was a "good deal", as it could help minimize the chance of the U.S. economy slipping back into recession and could maximize the chance of job creation.

Clinton noted that the deal was the best possible ones for both parties, and could provide a boost to the country's manufacturing sector and small businesses.

A senior White House aide on Sunday said U.S. President Barack Obama still enjoyed wide support from Democrats despite the tax cut deal fallout, and sees no one challenge the president in party primary before the presidential election in 2012.

In response to a question on CNN's State of the Union broadcast on Sunday, David Axelrod, Obama's senior aide, said: "I really don 't" expect Obama to have a challenge in the primary.

"I can't predict obviously anybody can file for an office but I see strong support among Democrats for this president. They understand that he's fighting hard, trying hard to move this country forward. They understand what we've accomplished already," said Axelrod.

Obama is facing party revolt over a tax cut deal he reached with Congressional Republicans. The deal, announced on Monday evening, would extend the soon-to-expire Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels for another two years, while extending emergency jobless benefits through 2011.

The framework agreement, especially the extension of tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, had sparked criticism from some congressional Democratic leaders over the past days, who believed that Obama did not fight hard enough and his conciliatory moves gave an olive branch to the GOP too quickly.

Axelrod dismissed the notion that Obama is tacking back to the center, saying "the president is who the president always has been. He's someone trying to solve problems for the American people."

Related:

Obama says compromise on Bush-tax deal achieved

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday evening that the White House and Republicans had reached a compromise that would extend the soon-to-expire Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels for another two years.

Obama said at a White House press conference that differences between the two parties were "real and profound," but a compromise was "the right thing to do for the businesses and the right thing to do for the economy." Full story

Bill Clinton: Tax cut deal could minimize chance of U.S. economic recession

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said Friday at a White House press conference that the tax compromise between the White House and Republicans was a "good deal", as it could help minimize the chance of the U.S. economy slipping back into recession and could maximize the chance of job creation.

Clinton noted that the deal was the best possible ones for both parties, and could provide a boost to the country's manufacturing sector and small businesses.

Applying a depression drug to breast cancer treatment may relieve joint and muscle pain, a new study revealed on Saturday.

The study looked at the drug duloxetine, or Cymbalta, which is used to treat depression and generalized anxiety disorder, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) said on its website.

The drug is also been shown to work in multiple other chronic pain conditions, such as fibromyalgia and, more recently, osteoarthritis, and is believed to decrease pain through its actions in the central nervous system, the AAAS said.

The study involved women who ere taking aromatase inhibitors, a type of drug designed to block the production of estrogen, which fuels some breast cancers.

About half of women taking these drugs experience aches and pains in their joints and muscles that cannot be adequately relieved by over-the-counter painkillers. Up to 20 percent of these women will stop taking an aromatase inhibitor because of this pain.

But after taking Duloxetine, nearly three-quarters of the 29 patients reported that their pain had decreased by at least 30 percent. On average, after eight weeks of treatment, pain scores declined 61 percent. Only one in five patients stopped taking duloxetine because of side effects.

"Since women typically take these drugs for five years, it is important that the side effects not interfere too much with their quality of life, or they will be less likely to continue taking the medicine, which may lead to a greater chance of their breast cancer returning," said study author N. Lynn Henry, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"Duloxetine appears to be effective at reducing the muscle and joint pain many women experience from aromatase inhibitors, with only mild additional side effects," Henry said in the study.

Henry presented the initial results of the study at the 33rd AnnualBreast Cancer Symposium in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday, according to the AAAS.

The researchers are planning a randomized, controlled trial comparing duloxetine to placebo, the AAAS said.