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Pennsylvania House Approves Bill Allowing Young Adults To Remain On Parents' Health Insurance Policies Up To Age 29
The Pennsylvania House last week voted to approve a bill that allows state residents up to age 29 to be added to or remain on their parents" health insurance plans as long as they live in the state or are full-time students, the Harrisburg Patriot-News reports. They also must be single and not have dependents.According to national data, young adults between ages 19 and 29 make up the largest segment of the U.S. population without health insurance. The Pennsylvania Insurance Department estimates that nearly 400,000 state residents in that age group are uninsured. The bill allows employers to decide if they want to offer the coverage option to their employees. Families choosing to add adult dependents to their health plans will have higher premiums. Gov. Ed Rendell (D) is expected to sign the bill, which the state Senate approved in March (Thompson, Harrisburg Patriot-News, 5/14). Prescription for Pennsylvania Plan

Results From TH-302 Clinical Trials Presented At International Lung Cancer Meeting
Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: THLD) and the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare announced yesterday clinical trial results related to Threshold"s clinical stage hypoxia-activated prodrug, TH-302. The results were presented at the World Conference on Lung Cancer being held July 31 to August 4, 2009, at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, CA.
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Alzheimer's Disease: Disclosing Genetic Risk Does Not Cause Psychological Distress
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that disclosing genetic risk information to adult children of patients with Alzheimer"s disease (AD) who request this information does not result in significant short-term psychological distress. The report from the REVEAL Study*, which appears in the July 16 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, is the first randomized trial to disclose to participants whether or not they carried the íµ4 variant of the APOE gene, a variant that has been found to increase the risk of developing AD. The study demonstrated that test-related distress was reduced among those who learned that they were APOE íµ4 negative, and was only transiently increased among those who learned they were APOE íµ4 positive. The study also showed that persons with high levels of emotional distress before undergoing genetic testing were more likely to have emotional difficulties after disclosure.
Mental Health

Fingolimod And Cladribine: Two New Oral Substances Show Promising Results In Current Clinical Trials For MS Therapy

The results of current clinical trials on new substances for MS therapy are among the new research findings that are being discussed with particular interest at the ENS meeting. Professor Comi is part of an international research team presenting the latest results of a study involving the orally administered drug fingolimod that is still in the clinical trial state and yet to be approved. An earlier study showed that oral fingolimod reduced the annualizied relapse rate in MS patients by more than 50 percent versus placebo. The new data now being presented by Professor Comi and his colleagues document developments over a longer period of time. "After four years, patients continuously treated with the substance had a low relapse rate, and 63% to 70% of these patients remain relapse free," the expert reports. "The majority of those patients treated also remained free from inflammatory activity and disability progression." Another trial being presented in Milan by an international study group investigated the efficacy of a cladribine tablet therapy that is also in development. "Cladribine is a prodrug, and selective effects on lymphocytes provide targeted and sustained immunomodulation, permitting the investigation of an oral short-course annual treatment," Professor Comi explained. The CLARTY study included 1,326 patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. The results, summarized by Professor Comi, are very promising: "Treatment with two different doses cladribine tablets in the CLARTY study resulted in a significant reduction in relapse rates (-58% for low dose and -55% for high dose) and significant reduction in disability progression relative to placebo with both doses. When taken alongside the MRI and safety data, the results provide clear evidence supporting the key role of the drug in the treatment of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis." European Neurological Society


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