Nutrition
Dr. Michael Holick, a professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics at the Boston University School of Medicine who has revolutionized the understanding of vitamin D and its role in disease prevention, has received the $50,000 Linus Pauling Institute Prize for Health Research.
American health care reform has become a "hot topic north of the border," the Washington Times reports. "If Mr. Obama succeeds, the U.S. could draw even more Canadian doctors and nurses to the U.S., exacerbating a shortage of medical professionals, said Dr. Brian Day, a Canadian health care critic and former head of the Canadian Medical Association. If Mr. Obama fails, perhaps Canada could open its system to "medical tourism" from the U.S., Dr. Day said." Under the Canadian system, everyone is insured and has "access to basic health care without ever seeing a doctor or hospital bill." But 70% of Canadians also have "some form of supplemental health insurance," in part because of long wait times for tests and treatments under the government plan. For Canadian citizens who become ill in the U.S., it is often cheaper to "ride on a private Lear jet back to Canada" than to be treated in a U.S. hospital.
Twenty-five diabetic patients will be given computers that connect them to health care providers to maintain an ongoing dialogue about their condition, and allow doctors to monitor their status, in a new patient-care experiment by Microsoft and the University of Miami, the Miami Herald reports. The patients can send blood-sugar levels and other data in real time, while physicians can "nudge" patient"s who veer from appropriate care "with an e-mail."
Have you ever wished you could be in two places at once? Perhaps you"ve had the desire to create a copy of yourself that could stand in for you at a meeting, freeing you up to work on more pressing matters. Thanks to a research project called LifeLike, that fantasy might be a little closer to reality.
Recovering stroke patients and others who find it hard to swallow when they eat and drink are now at a lower risk of developing pneumonia or chest infections, thanks to new technology which will help assess and treat their swallowing difficulties. Many patients suffering from stroke, head injury or major trauma often have swallowing difficulties when food and drink can go down the wrong way - patients can later develop nasty chest infections and pneumonias.
What dog owner has not come home to a broken vase or other valuable items and a guilty-looking dog slouching around the house? By ingeniously setting up conditions where the owner was misinformed as to whether their dog had really committed an offense, Alexandra Horowitz, Assistant Professor from Barnard College in New York, uncovered the origins of the "guilty look" in dogs in the recently published "Canine Behaviour and Cognition" Special Issue of Elsevier"s Behavioural Processes.
New research published in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons reveals that in counties with the highest levels of segregation, an increase in the African-American or Hispanic population was associated with a decrease in the availability and use of surgical services and an increase in the number of emergency room visits. This research supports prior studies that have shown that minority groups in the United States have comparatively poorer access to a range of health care services, often resulting in late diagnosis of illness and delayed treatment.
New research published in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that a risk calculator developed by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) can help surgeons provide patients with more detailed and accurate preoperative information about the risk of death and complications following colorectal surgery. The tool will also allow surgeons to adjust risk probabilities for patients based on their hospital"s performance during prior years.
Simple weight-loss advice from a physician and regular follow-up helped obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome lose a substantial amount of weight, a new study found. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society"s 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI) announced the presentation of results from a long-term Phase 2 continuation trial showing that BENLYSTA(TM) (belimumab, formerly LymphoStat-B(R)) was associated with sustained improvement in disease activity across multiple clinical measures, decreased frequency of disease flares, and was generally well tolerated through four years on treatment in combination with standard of care in patients with serologically active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The results were presented today in Copenhagen at the 2009 Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR).
As the World Health Organization raised the pandemic alert for Influenza A (H1N1) to its highest level, humanitarian specialists are calling on governments and health authorities globally to strengthen poor communities" access to primary health care and protect the most at risk.
Many interested parties and organizations have provided recommendations on U.S. health care reform, but there is much to be done in terms of mapping out its future. As leading health care professionals, actuaries are looked to for their points of view on this important topic. Providing new health insights, the Society of Actuaries" Health Section has published a collection of 29 essays from actuaries, health care professionals and academics titled, "Visions for the Future of the U.S. Health Care System." The essays cover a wide array of health care issues, but there are four underlying angles: general reform and restructuring of the health care system; risk pooling and risk-adjusted payments; evidence-based medicine and more efficient cost/care.
During circulation, arteries carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the limbs (and other parts of the body) and veins return oxygen-poor blood to the heart. Disease of the limb arteries is commonly referred to as PAD (peripheral arterial disease). Venous return from the lower limbs may be affected when major veins are obstructed (stenosis or occlusion) or when venous valves malfunction allowing abnormal reverse flow (reflux). When this happens, chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) can occur.
A study of patients and members of the public has shown that most lack even basic knowledge of human anatomy. The research, featured in the open access journal BMC Family Practice, found that people were generally incapable of identifying the location of major organs, even if they were currently receiving relevant treatment.
In a move that will fundamentally redefine the way the United States regulates tobacco, today the Senate passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R. 1256) by a vote of 79 to 17. This legislation grants the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate the marketing of tobacco products, specifically marketing designed to mislead consumers or recruit underage smokers.
The benefits of alcohol are all about moderation. Low to moderate drinking - especially of red wine - appears to reduce causes of mortality, while too much drinking causes multiple organ damage.
More than 2.2 million people in Britain suffer from type 2 diabetes*, a chronic progressive disease which usually affects the over 40s. The number of people diagnosed with the disease has increased dramatically in recent years and this has been linked to the increase in sedentary lifestyles and obesity.
An endoscopy involves examining the inside of a person"s body using an endoscope. An endoscope is a medical device consisting of a long, thin, flexible (or rigid) tube which has a light and a video camera. Images of the inside of the patient"s body can be seen on a screen. The whole endoscopy is recorded so that doctors can check it again. Endoscopy is a minimally invasive diagnostic medical procedure. It is used to examine the interior surfaces of an organ or tissue.
Men can now take control of their sexual health and confront any concerns without embarrassment using NHS Direct"s new on-line symptom checker.
New research released by the MS Society has for the first time revealed an accurate estimate of the number of people living with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the UK.
Eduardo Villamor , Assistant Professor of International Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), will serve as co-principal investigator of a research and training center in Guatemala to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the Mesoamerican region, which includes Central America, the Caribbean, and Southern Mexico.
Power of the Dream Ventures, Inc. (OTCBB: PWRV), Hungary"s premier technology acquisition and development company, is pleased to present this Genetic Immunity release, based on a previously announced agreement whereby Power of the Dream Ventures will issue communications for Genetic Immunity on a going forward basis.
The California Medical Association supports the passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that would allow the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to finally set standards for cigarettes and regulate chemicals. In 1963, CMA was the first among state medical societies to create policy to inform people about the harmful effects of cigarette smoking.
Abraxis Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABII), a fully integrated, global biotechnology company, has now made ABRAXANE for Injectable Suspension (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin-bound) (nab-paclitaxel) available in China for the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer. In a global Phase III clinical trial, and in a Phase II clinical trial in China, the tumor response rate for patients who received ABRAXANE for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer was nearly double the response rate compared to patients who received solvent-based paclitaxel.i
When Jason Martin gives a talk about his research, he begins with the dramatic story of Mariana Bridi da Costa: The young Brazilian supermodel died from severe sepsis in January after amputation of both her hands and feet failed to stop its spread.
UroToday.com - The mortality rate for prostate cancer is declining due to improvements in earlier detection and in local therapy strategies, however, the ability to predict the metastatic behavior of a patient"s cancer, as well as to detect and eradicate disease recurrence remains some of the greatest clinical challenges in oncology.
Men are 40 per cent more likely to die of cancer than women, and 16 per cent more likely to get it in the first place, said a report released Monday
According to the Health Protection Agency (UK), another 14 patients who have been under investigation in England did have swine flu A (H1N1) infection, bringing the total number of confirmed cases throughout the United Kingdom to 101. The Health Protection Agency"s (HPA"s) laboratories carry out swine flu virus testing. The HPA announced that the new confirmed cases include 6 adults and 8 children in the East of England, London, and South East regions. 11 of the new cases had had contact with other people who were confirmed cases, while 2 had been abroad where the of the infection is still under investigation.
No Additional Risk
Insurers, business owners, and doctors -- three principal interest groups in health reform -- are stepping up their opposition and lobbying efforts as details of the health plans emerge.
"It came as no surprise on Thursday when the World Health Organization declared that the swine flu outbreak had become a pandemic," The New York Times reports. Swine flue has "reached 74 countries, and probably met the technical definition of a pandemic -- or global spread - weeks ago." Raising the alert from Phase 5 to Phase 6, the highest possible level, "does not mean that the illness, which has been mild in most people, has become any worse," because "the term pandemic reflects only the geographic spread of a new disease, not its severity." But it does "signal to countries to step up their efforts to deal with the disease," and it "also means that the health organization is asking drug makers to start making vaccine as quickly as possible." Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the WHO, said while the disease has been mild so far, it "could change at any time and become more severe." It may also prove more deadly "when it reaches poor countries with higher rates of malnutrition, AIDS and other diseases that can lower people"s resistance to infection. Dr. Chan said rich countries should help poor ones less able to protect themselves" (McNeil and Grady, 6/11).
Concerns about health and looks are driving thousands to cut back on booze
The WHO"s decision Thursday to declare H1N1 (swine) flu a pandemic will "speed the production of a vaccine against the new virus," however scientists continue to caution that "it will be fall at the earliest before the first doses are available," the Los Angeles Times reports.
PTI/Hindu reports on the Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN) - an "international network of malaria scientists," which will be "established to map the emergence of resistance" to malaria drugs and "guide global efforts to control and eradicate the disease." The goal of WWARN, which "will integrate the efforts of researchers, NGOs and public health experts in malaria-endemic areas around the world," is to provide "comprehensive and rigorous evidence" for policy makers, which will help them "select the best anti-malarial treatments and to formulate strategies to control the critical problem of resistance wherever it arises," PTI/Hindu writes.
The NFU has told a European Commission review of anti-dumping duties imposed on fertiliser from the Ukraine that such measures act as artificial trade barriers and, given the importance of fertiliser to agriculture, can curb profitability of farms across the UK and EU.
Scientists have unlocked the code for the building blocks of fungal organisms which are responsible for mild as well as potentially deadly infections in people.
Exposure to particulate matter has been recognized as a contributing factor to lung cancer development for some time, but a new study indicates inhalation of certain particulates can actually cause some genes to become reprogrammed, affecting both the development and the outcome of cancers and other diseases.
A protein known to be overly active in breast cancer can exist in a form that seems to change the structural composition of mammary tissue, potentially making it more conducive to tumor progression, say researchers from the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC).
Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) have identified a key mechanism that causes chromosomes within blood cells to break - an occurrence that marks the first step in the development of human lymphoma.
Gallstones are lumps or stones that develop in the gallbladder or bile duct. Some of the chemicals which exist in the gallbladder, such as cholesterol, calcium bilirubinate, and calcium carbonate, harden into either one large stone or many small ones. According to Medilexicon"s medical dictionary, a gallstone is "A concretion in the gallbladder or a bile duct, composed chiefly of a mixture of cholesterol, calcium bilirubinate, and calcium carbonate, occasionally as a pure stone composed of just one of these substances". An article describes a gallbladder in the bile duct similar to trying to squeeze a golf ball through a straw.
There may be an association between the use of stimulant medications for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, known as ADHD, and sudden cardiac death in healthy children, according to a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that, because of the study"s limitations, parents should not stop a child"s stimulant medication based on the study. The FDA recommends that parents should discuss concerns about the use of these medications with the prescribing health care professional.
FluoroPharma Inc., a company developing breakthrough PET molecular imaging agents, announced that it will present Phase I data relating to the safety, dosimetry, and pharmacokinetics in human subjects of BFPET, its novel 18-F labeled PET tracer for myocardial perfusion imaging, at the Society of Nuclear Medicine 2009 Annual Meeting in Toronto.
People who suffer from Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, a rare inherited cancer syndrome, develop gastrointestinal polyps and are predisposed to colon cancer and other tumor types. Carefully tracing the cellular chain-of-command that links nutrient intake to cell growth (and which is interrupted in Peutz-Jeghers syndrome), allowed researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies to exploit the tumors" weak spot.
Novartis has successfully completed the production of the first batch of influenza A(H1N1) vaccine, weeks ahead of expectations. Cell-based manufacturing technology[1] allows vaccine production to be initiated once a pandemic virus strain is identified without the need to adapt the virus strain to grow in eggs, as with traditional vaccine technologies. This advance has cut weeks off the time required to begin vaccine production. This first batch of ten liters of wild type influenza A(H1N1) vaccine monobulk will be used for pre-clinical evaluation and testing and is also being considered for use in clinical trials. It demonstrates the value of the cell-based production approach, that is also being used by Novartis with reassortant influenza A(H1N1) seed.
A new study by researchers in the US suggests there may be a link between the use of stimulant drugs for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
City of Hope Medical Center registered nurses will be joined by a broad coalition of public officials, religious and labor leaders, and hospital employees at a June 17 rally at the Duarte facility, the California Nurses Association announced.
The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, announced the approval of a new of Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) for Canada.
"With Republicans fighting the idea of a government-run health insurance plan, members of President Barack Obama"s team said Sunday that they are open to a compromise: a cooperative program that would expand coverage with taxpayer money but without direct governmental control," the Associated Press reports. The non-profit, health insurance cooperatives were suggested in Congress by Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the concession could be a path to bipartisan health reform legislation (Elliott, 6/15).
As President Obama looks for a way to pay for health care reform in the United States, key Democrats advocate taxing employer-provided health benefits, The Washington Post reports.
The North Carolina legislature has proposed to eliminate the HIV Medicaid Case Management program, which "provides crucial support to people living with HIV, helping them access medical care, medications and the support services needed to live healthier lives," Jacquelyn Clymore of the Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina and Beth Stringfield, member of the North Carolina AIDS Action Network, write in a Durham News opinion piece, adding, "We need to call legislators and let them know how important this program is to those living with HIV and ask them to return the program and its funding to the budget." They continue, "It is likely that additional budget cuts to HIV programs will be proposed, and we must speak out in support of state HIV prevention funding" (Clymore/Stringfield, Durham News, 6/13).
Care home residents, hospital patients and people who receive care at home will have more say in improving the quality of care services than ever before, the Care Quality Commission has pledged.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), a non-profit professional organization of
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) provide guidance to promote health and reduce risk of chronic diseases. However, what evidence is there that following the DGA optimizes health? Is this advice useful for individuals already in poor health? To study these questions, researchers at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University and Wake Forest University devised a statistical model that assessed adherence to the DGA and then related it to progression of atherosclerosis in women. Their results can be found in the July 2009 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIP) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing and review the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for the use of Tarceva® (erlotinib) as a first-line maintenance treatment for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have not progressed following first-line treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy. Based upon the March 17th receipt of filing the FDA Prescription Drug Fee Act (PDUFA) review date will be on or about January 18, 2010.
Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: RNN), announced the results of a wide-ranging animal study offering more evidence that Serdaxin™ may be an effective therapeutic for the treatment of anxiety disorders in humans. Serdaxin is Rexahn"s leading anxiety and depression drug candidate, and is currently in Phase II clinical trials.
OCD-UK is delighted to announce the first event of its kind, an OCD conference with a difference, a conference specifically aimed at the family, friends and carers of people with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
A study in the June 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine shows that the complaints of fatigue and tiredness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) improved significantly with good adherence to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, suggesting that - like the symptom of excessive daytime sleepiness - these complaints are important symptoms of OSA.
Disabled children missing out on basic NHS care Parents tell of "battle" to get basic healthcare for disabled children and of agencies routinely "passing the buck"
Scarring of the liver, which can progress to cirrhosis and/or cancer of the liver, is caused by persistent liver damage, such as occurs in those with untreated hepatitis C or alcoholism. Although such scarring (fibrosis) develops in an inflammatory environment, the role of inflammatory molecules has not been well defined. However, a team of researchers at Columbia University, New York, and UCSD, La Jolla, has established that the proteins CCR1 and CCR5 and the soluble inflammatory molecules that bind to them promote the development of liver fibrosis in mice.
Programs that bring colleges and their surrounding neighborhoods together may help reduce off-campus drinking problems, a new study suggests.
Calcium Supplementation Has No Weight-loss Benefit for Obese Patients
New data presented showed that pitavastatin is an effective treatment for the management of dyslipidemia in elderly patients, with a similar safety and tolerability profile to low-dose pravastatin. The Phase III data were presented by Kowa, at the XV International Symposium on Atherosclerosis in Boston.
Three Rivers Pharmaceuticals announced positive results of the U.S.-based, randomized Daily-Dose Consensus Interferon and Ribavirin: Efficacy of Combined Therapy (DIRECT) clinical trial authored by Bruce R. Bacon, M.D., of Saint Louis University, and colleagues at 44 centers in the United States. The primary endpoint of increased sustained virological response (SVR), was achieved demonstrating that INFERGEN provides a second chance to those HCV patients failing to respond to standard, first-line therapy of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) plus ribavirin (RBV). "The retreatment of PEG-IFN/RBV nonresponders with INFERGEN and RBV is safe and efficacious and can be considered a retreatment strategy for patients failing previous therapy with PEG-IFN/RBV, especially in interferon-sensitive patients with lower baseline fibrosis scores," stated Dr. Bruce Bacon the lead Investigator for the study.
HEALTHPOINT, Ltd. announced that it has enrolled the first of a planned 235 subjects into a Phase II dose response study investigating an experimental, cell-based wound therapy ---HP802-247---intended for the treatment of venous leg ulcers. HP802-247 is a topical spray containing living keratinocytes and fibroblasts. The first patient was enrolled at The Center for Clinical Research near San Francisco, Calif., led by the site"s principal investigator, Alexander Reyzelman, DPM. The study is being conducted by 28 investigators in 18 states.
NECT (Nifurtimox-Eflornithine Combination Therapy), a new treatment option for sleeping sickness, a fatal disease that threatens 60 million people across sub-Saharan Africa, has been added to the Essential Medicines List (EML) of the World Health Organization (WHO). The inclusion is based on an application submitted by the non-profit Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), supported by the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Mç©decins Sans Frontiç¨res (MSF), and Epicentre, MSF"s epidemiological research center.
In 2004, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center announced a crucial discovery in the understanding of cellular aging. They found that as cells and tissues age, the expression of a key protein, called p16INK4a, dramatically increases in most mammalian organs. Because p16INK4a is a tumor suppressor protein, cancer researchers are interested in its role in cellular aging and cancer prevention.
When: 8 July 2009 6:00pm - 8:00pm
MEDICAL experts have cautioned against indiscriminate use of new classes of medication for Britain"s increasing number of people with diabetes - saying the drug advances needed "careful adoption" to meet their full treatment potential.
Elderly persons living with a spouse have more timely preventive service use than those living alone or with offspring. The sole exception is in the case of hypertension screening.
The Delaware State Senate recently passed a bill (SB 86) that would add HIV testing to the standard battery of tests given to all pregnant women, WMTD.com reports. Lawmakers hope that the bill will help reduce the rate of mother-to-child HIV transmission. Women would be able to choose to "opt out" of taking the test, according to WMTD.com (Saki, WMTD.com, 6/14).
Albany, Ga., health officials are recommending that all residents between the ages of 13 and 64 be tested for HIV as a part of their routine medical care, the Albany Herald reports. Officials are concerned about HIV in Southwest Georgia, as there are large percentages of low-income and black residents in the area -- populations that have been hard hit by the epidemic, according to the Herald. In addition, Chanel Scott-Dixon, HIV/AIDS program manager for Southwest District Health, said, "We have been seeing an increase in young adults testing positive." In observance of National HIV Testing Day on June 27, public health officials will be offering free HIV testing to residents (Parks, Albany Herald, 6/14).
To mark Day of the African Child on Tuesday, the U.N. Millennium Campaign is calling on African governments, civil society organizations and the private sector to address child and maternal mortality and other targets related to the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), InDepthNews reports (Mwanda, InDepthNews, 6/16), while Save the Children released a new briefing paper, indicating that more than 1,500 babies born in sub-Saharan Africa die daily, "mostly from preventable or treatable causes," (Save the Children release, 6/16).
Despite signs of progress in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, malaria and childhood diseases, efforts to reduce maternal and newborn health as part of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) lag behind, according to the 2009 Report of the Global Campaign for the Health Millennium Development Goals released Monday, Inter Press Service reports.
VOA News examines the 2009 HIV/AIDS Implementers Meeting in Windhoek, Namibia, which recently brought together 1,500 people from 55 countries to compare notes on HIV/AIDS programs around the world. The article features comments by Assistant U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Michele Moloney-Kitts who attended and shared some of her experiences from the meeting.
The Kaiser Family Foundation will hold a briefing on June 17 to examine the U.S. government"s role in addressing malaria, including its strategic options for reducing the impact of the disease and the current status of the development of the comprehensive malaria strategy. The discussion will touch on issues such as: What will the U.S. malaria response look like over the next five years? What strategies are most likely to prove effective? How will the U.S. efforts fit into the broader global response to malaria?
UNICEF and the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict launched the Machel Study 10-Year Strategic Review today, calling on governments, UN agencies, and civil society to urgently step up efforts to protect all children affected by conflict.
The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries. ~ "Report: Higher Rates of Unintended Pregnancy, Abortion Among Women of Color," Sharon Camp, RH Reality Check: A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation on health disparities between white women and women of color "provides further stronger evidence debunking claims" from antiabortion-rights advocates who "have long argued that high abortion rates among minorities are the result of supposed aggressive marketing by abortion providers to minority communities," Camp, president and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute, writes. In addition to identifying disparities in conditions like heart disease and cancer, the report documents "widespread disparities in access to health insurance and health screenings" and explores growing evidence of the association between social factors and health behaviors, access and outcomes, according to Camp. She continues that research from Guttmacher has consistently demonstrated that "rates among racial and ethnic minorities -- especially blacks and Hispanics -- are directly linked to their higher rates of unintended pregnancy, which in turn reflect pervasive health disparities more generally." Camp writes that the "fundamental question policymakers should be asking is not why women of color have high abortion rates, but rather what can be done to help them have fewer unintended pregnancies and achieve better health outcomes more generally," such as improved access to affordable contraception. Women"s dissatisfaction with health care providers, quality of service and the contraceptive methods themselves also are factors in contraceptive use, as are "[u]nstable life situations," which can make consistent use a low priority for some women, according to Camp. She writes, "By continuing to label abortion providers as "racists" and refusing to support expanded access to contraceptive services, antiabortion-rights activists are by no means part of the solution -- to high rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion among racial and ethnic minorities or to persistent and tragic disparities in health care generally" (Camp, RH Reality Check, 6/15).~ "What"s Next for Women"s Legal Rights in the Supreme Court?" Amy Matsui, Womenstake: Matsui, senior counsel for the National Women"s Law Center, examines several women"s rights issues "that we see peeking around the corner" of the next Supreme Court session. Matsui writes that "increasingly draconian abortion restrictions have begun to work their way through state legislatures." These restrictions include giving personhood rights to fetuses, mandates on the information women are given prior to abortion procedures and "outright abortion bans," she writes. Challenges to laws that expand protections for providers who deny health care services also "are likely to come before the courts," Matsui writes. Challenges to health care reform proposals also are likely, "specifically, the interaction of the federal statute that governs employee health care and pension plans ... and any new requirements for employers to provide health care coverage," according to Matsui. The Supreme Court has "obviously considered the underlying legal doctrines in these cases (the constitutional right to privacy, federal anti-discrimination statutes, Equal Protection guarantees and federal benefits statutes) in the past; some might say that there is a clear roadmap of where the Court should go in some of these cases," Matsui writes, concluding, "But when every vote counts on the Supreme Court, women should be watching what cases come next" (Matsui, Womenstake, 6/12).~ "Antiabortion Groups" Case Against Sotomayor," Dan Gilgoff, U.S. News & World Report"s "God and Country": "With no clear evidence for a pro-abortion-rights position in her judicial decisions, antiabortion groups" case against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor can be summed up in eight words: the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund," Gilgoff writes. From 1980 to 1992, Sotomayor sat on the l
Children born without thymus glands have given Duke University Medical Center researchers a rare opportunity to watch as a new immune system develops its population of infection-fighting T-cells.
It"s not every day one wakes up and decides to ride their bike from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., but if you are Shawne Camp, anything is possible. Camp suffers from an extremely painful and rare lung disease called spontaneous pneumothorax, which can cause a sudden collapse of the lung. After enduring chest tubes, surgery to essentially glue his right lung to his chest wall and countless hours of pulmonary rehabilitation, Shawne has since made a full recovery.
Building on the historic $19 billion investment provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), efforts continued today to further the national adoption and implementation of health information technology (HIT) -- an essential tool to modernize the health care system and bring about improved health for all Americans. The Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee, a Federal Advisory Committee (FACA) to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), met today to begin the process of defining "meaningful use" of electronic health records (EHRs). This meeting is a first step for the department, as it investigates possible definitions for meaningful use.
A list of more than 200 indicators of high quality care in the NHS is being published for the first time to help clinicians drive up the quality of care they deliver to patients, the Department of Health and The NHS Information Centre announced today.
Contrary to a previous report, an analysis of 14 previous studies does not find an association between a serotonin transporter gene variation, stressful life events, and an increased risk of major depression, according to an article in the June 17 issue of JAMA. The authors did find that the number of stressful life events is associated with depression.
Autistics are up to 40 percent faster at problem-solving than non-autistics, according to a new Universitç© de Montrç©al and Harvard University study published in the journal Human Brain Mapping. As part of the investigation, participants were asked to complete patterns in the Raven"s Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM) - test that measures hypothesis-testing, problem-solving and learning skills.
OptumHealth Inc. announced that it is providing a free help line to people in Missouri and Oklahoma who are trying to cope with the emotional consequences of the recent tornadoes that hit the region. Staffed by experienced master"s-level behavioral health specialists, the free help line offers assistance to callers seeking help in dealing with stress, anxiety and the grieving process. Callers may also receive referrals to a database of community res to help them with specific concerns, such as financial and legal issues.
Three-dimensional, real-time X-ray images of patients could be closer to reality because of research recently completed by scientists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a pair of Russian institutes.
Same-sex behavior is a nearly universal phenomenon in the animal kingdom, common across species, from worms to frogs to birds, concludes a new review of existing research.
A group of researchers led by Carnegie Mellon University Biological Sciences Professor Aaron Mitchell has identified a novel regulatory gene network that plays an important role in the spread of common, and sometimes deadly, yeast infections. The findings, which establish the role of Zap1 protein in the activation of genes that regulate the synthesis of biofilm matrix, will be published in the June 16, 2009, issue of PLoS Biology, a peer-reviewed open-access journal from the Public Library of Science.
The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, announced recently that the Government of Canada is supporting research to find alternatives to nuclear-produced Technetium-99m, the principal medical isotope affected by the current shutdown at the Chalk River nuclear reactor. Health professionals use medical isotopes in combination with imaging technologies to diagnose and treat conditions such as cancer and heart disease.
Epeius Biotechnologies announced that its lead product, Rexin-G, has been granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use as a second-line treatment for advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer. The FDA Fast Track program, like Priority Review and Accelerated Approval, was implemented to facilitate the development and expedite the review of potentially important new drugs. The Fast Track Product designation, in particular, is granted following a critical evaluation of the "seriousness" or life-threatening nature of the unmet medical need, namely pancreatic cancer, and the potential of Rexin-G and its progressive clinical development to address this unmet need.
Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Zipsor (diclofenac potassium) Liquid Filled Capsules, a new treatment option indicated for relief of mild to moderate acute pain in adults (18 years of age or older).
The most popular type of gastric bypass surgery appears to nearly double the chance that a patient will develop kidney stones, despite earlier assumptions that it would not, Johns Hopkins doctors report in a new study. The overall risk, however, remains fairly small at about 8 percent.
How molecules of the oldest branch of the human immune system have interconnected has remained a mystery. Now, two new structures, both involving a central component of an enzyme important to the complement system of the immune response, reveal how this system fights invading microbes while avoiding problems of the body attacking itself.
Studies have shown wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle reduces one"s risk of death by more than 50 percent, yet every three days, a child in the United States is killed while riding a bicycle, and every day at least 100 children are treated in emergency rooms due to bicycle-related head injuries.
The Lancet has partnered with over 40 Elsevier-published journals and 11 learned societies to launch a new H1N1 Flu Re Centre for healthcare professionals at TheLancet.com. Developed byThe Lancet editors, this new online information clearinghouse aggregates infectious disease and public health information from across Elsevier"s spectrum of content.
Joan Massagué (Barcelona, Spain, 1953) is the first winner of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards in the Biomedicine category. The Frontiers of Knowledge Awards are intended to recognize and promote research of excellence. The breadth of disciplines addressed and their monetary amount a combined purse of 3.2 million euros spread over eight prize categories place them among the world"s foremost award schemes.
Targeting children may be an effective use of limited supplies of flu vaccine, according to research at the University of Warwick funded by the Wellcome Trust and the EU. The study suggests that, used to support other control measures, this could help control the spread of pandemics such as the current swine flu.
A group of Australian researchers investigated in medical disorders the effects of comorbid dysthymic disorder as compared to major depressive disorder (MDD) on health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) and disability days in the general population. In a population-based study 4,181 individuals were assessed for the presence of dysthymic disorder and depression, utilizing the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Each participant received a thorough medical examination to assess the presence of comorbid somatic conditions. HR-QoL was evaluated using the Medical Outcomes Survey Short-Form 36 (SF-36) and disability days were provided by self-report.
A new trial has found that pneumococcal vaccine is effective in preventing severe pneumonia, the leading cause of death among children in developing countries. Co-ordinated by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) between 2000 and 2004, a large scale efficacy trial first of its kind in Asia - was carried out in the Philippines to investigate the effect of an investigational pneumococcal vaccine.
The histamine-3 receptor is important in terms of alcohol-related behaviour, and a drug affecting that receptor may have qualities that alter alcohol-related behaviour. This appears in the study headed by Pertti Panula entitled "Tuberomamillary nucleus neurons, histamine and H3 receptor in hypothalamic regulation of alcohol addiction" which is part of the Substance Use and Addictions research programme of the Academy of Finland.
A review of the NICE decision on the approval of lenalidomide is published in a special report Online First and in the July edition of The Lancet Oncology. About 2,000 multiple myeloma sufferers in the UK could benefit from the drug and improve their life expectancy pending a decision by The UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Patients who have received two or more previous therapies could receive lenalidomide, and the cost of cycles beyond the twenty-sixth cycle of treatment would be met by the drug manufacturer.
Discovering for the first time that copy number variation or CNV, where a strip of DNA is duplicated or missing, may
Brain injuries are the number one killer and disabler of people under the age of 45 in Canada. These injuries are
The Obama administration is facing increasing opposition to various aspects of health reform proposals - especially the idea of a "public plan."
The up to $1.6 trillion price tag for one version of health care reform has left Democrats scrambling to find a way to rein in costs while not sacrificing the basic tenets of a plan they favor, The Washington Post reports.
The Washington Post details Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg"s to-do list, noting that during her brief tenure the agency has announced nearly-daily warnings about various consumer products and created an internal task force to recommend ways to release more information about FDA decisions and policies. Hamburg"s list "goes beyond reorienting and restoring public confidence in the FDA. Last week, Congress passed historic legislation that gives significant new authority and responsibility to the FDA to regulate tobacco for the first time. That means Hamburg must create a new center within her agency to handle oversight of the manufacturing, marketing and sale of cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products. And today a House committee takes up legislation that would give FDA broad new powers to regulate food safety -- a bill that House leaders are determined to pass this year. The bill would place greater responsibility on the food industry to prevent food-borne illnesses and would require the FDA to significantly expand its inspection and oversight of the industry" (Layton, 6/17).
St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ) announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of its Cool Point™ Irrigation Pump. Used in conjunction with SJM open-irrigated ablation catheters, an irrigation pump supplies a continuous flow of saline through the catheter"s inner lumen to cool the ablation electrode for more effective energy delivery. Designed to enhance physicians" ability to perform successful atrial ablations, the new Cool Point irrigation pump was developed specifically for use with the company"s IBI-1500T9-CP cardiac ablation generator and family of Therapy™ Cool Path™ irrigated catheters.
A group of people living with HIV/AIDS in Madison, Wis., demonstrated in front of the state Department of Health Services to protest what they claim to be inadequate services provided by the AIDS Network and lack of oversight from the state, WISCTV.com reports. State officials conducted a formal review of the nonprofit regarding how the AIDS Network dispersed and tracked services to its clients, and issued the nonprofit 38 directives for corrective action as a result. To date, nearly one-third of the directives have not been fully addressed, according to WISCTV.com. State officials said it will verify compliance on remaining issues in August. AIDS Network Director Karen Dotson said most of the organization"s problems are due to issues related to a new computer system (WISCTV.com, 6/16).
ECRI Institute Patient Safety Organization (PSO) is pleased to announce an agreement with the Coalition for Quality & Patient Safety (CQPS) of Chicagoland PSO to provide patient safety data collection, reporting, and analysis. The Chicagoland PSO focuses on local experience, patterns, trends, and patient safety initiatives specific to Chicago and the surrounding counties. CQPS will coordinate its PSO and other patient safety efforts with other Illinois-based hospital and primary care associations, the Illinois Department of Public Health, consumers and consumer advocates, other patient safety and quality improvement stakeholders, and existing patient safety collaboratives across the state.
Tennessean columnist Getahn Ward examined the "Cure CVS: Unlock the Condoms Initiative," led by the group Change to Win, which claims that the pharmacy chain"s practice of locking up some condoms in certain neighborhoods might decrease access for young adults and minorities, potentially increasing their risk of HIV and unintended pregnancy. CVS contends that the practice is used as a theft deterrent but said it does have some condoms available that are not locked up. Officials from Walgreens say their stores do not lock up condoms, and Rite Aid officials say they do not have a specific policy in place, but access to some personal items, including condoms, does require the assistance of an associate at stores with much theft (Ward, Tennessean, 6/17).
Scott Roeder, who is charged with the murder of abortion provider George Tiller, and James von Brunn, who is charged with last week"s shooting death of a Holocaust Memorial Museum guard, "appear to be murderers, not terrorists," Jonathan Turley, a professor of public interest law at George Washington University, writes in a USA Today opinion piece. Although "liberals denounced" the tendency of conservatives to call "every possible crime an act of terrorism" while former President George W. Bush was in office, now that there are antiabortion-rights and anti-Semetic suspects, "there is an insistence that these crimes must be treated as terrorism -- as if to call them "murder" or "hate crimes" would diminish their significance," Turley states. Many people who "kill strangers out of hate for their race or religion or some other association" are "loners or rogue operators who seek to satisfy a blood lust against different groups," Turley contends, noting that classifying a crime as an act of terrorism allows for a different types of prosecution, investigation and punishment. According to Turley, the "term "terrorism" once had a clear meaning before it was used as a point of emphasis to evaluate or distinguish certain crimes." The Bush administration"s broadening of the definition to include "any prosecution that disrupts a "potential" terrorism threat" served to further divert the term from its historical definition, he adds. Now, "many want to see terrorism investigations targeting antiabortion activists and other groups that use violent speech," Turley writes."We do not advance our efforts by classifying every hate crime as terrorism," Turley continues, adding that it would be "the terrorists who will benefit from our lack of focus" in the definition. According to Turley, the "fact is that even an authoritarian nation can do little to stop a determined rogue operator from walking into a church and killing someone like Dr. Tiller." Referring to "someone such as Roeder as a murderer does not diminish the crime or the victim" because "we do not have to call murder "terrorism" to take the crime or its causes seriously," Turley writes (Turley, USA Today, 6/17).
CMOS image sensor (CIS) technology stands on the brink of fulfilling its potential to become the global detector platform of choice for scientific photonics applications that require world class performance in the fields of sensitivity, speed, dynamic range, resolution, and field of view.
An evaluation of recent innovations in delivering primary care at a Group Health Cooperative medical center shows significant success and rapid return on investment. The data led to a decision to invest in these best practices in all of Group Health"s 26 medical centers by 2010.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) announced the initiation of a Phase I clinical trial with LGD-4033, a next-generation selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) designed to provide the benefits of androgen receptor stimulation on skeletal muscle and bone without the side effects of currently marketed androgens. The Phase I study will evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic profile of orally administered LGD-4033.
The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission (Commission) has completed its evaluation of the 147 applications in response to its three official Requests for Applications (RFAs). The board of directors of the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) reviewed the Commission"s recommendations today and approved 59 projects totaling $18.9 million in funding through the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) under the Maryland Stem Cell Research Act of 2006.
An important breakthrough in fungal toxin biology has been made possible through the use of Biolog"s Phenotype MicroArray technology. This major advance is described in two recent publications from a group at CSIRO in Queensland, Australia. The work by Donald Gardiner and his collaborators has recently been published in online editions of the journals Fungal Genetics and Biology and Microbiology.