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Popular Articles

Newborn Brain Cells Show The Way
Although the fact that we generate new brain cells throughout life is no longer disputed, their purpose has been the topic of much debate. Now, an international collaboration of researchers made a big leap forward in understanding what all these newborn neurons might actually do. Their study, published in the July 10, 2009, issue of the journal Science, illustrates how these young cells improve our ability to navigate our environment.

Toxic Immune-Suppressing Drugs Replaced By Post-Transplant Combo In Monkeys
Transplant patients rely on drugs to prevent graft rejection, but at the cost of serious side effects. The class of immunosuppressive drugs known as calcineurin inhibitors (examples are cyclosporine and tacrolimus) can damage patients" kidneys and lead to high blood pressure, among other problems.
News of the day
Swine Flu Vaccination 'to Be Delayed By At Least Six Weeks', UK
The GP leading on swine flu for the BMA has told Pulse the planned vaccination campaign will be delayed by "at least six weeks". Such a delay would ruin the Government"s plans of having the first doses of swine flu vaccine available by the end of August. Instead, the vaccine would not become available until October at the earliest - when a major surge of swine flu cases is expected.
Public Health

UnitedHealth Group Offers 15 Recommendations To Reduce Federal Health Spending By $540B Over 10 Years

UnitedHealth Group"s Center for Health Reform and Modernization on Wednesday suggested 15 steps that could be taken to save $540 billion in federal in health care costs over the next 10 years, the AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports (Werner, AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 5/27). Simon Stevens, head of the center, said that the report "puts some flesh on the bones" of the pledge made by health care industry groups earlier this month to cut health care costs, noting that the recommendations already are being used by UnitedHealth to reduce costs and can be applied to Medicare (Reuters, 5/27).The recommended steps include: *Providing patients with incentives for going to high-quality, efficient physicians; *Reducing unnecessary care; *Granting physicians incentives for providing comprehensive and preventive care; *Providing nurse practitioners at nursing homes to manage illness and reduce avoidable hospitalizations to save $166 billion; *Using evidence-based care management with preventive care to reduce avoidable hospitalizations and save $102 billion; *Analyzing claims before they are paid to prevent duplicate billing and other administrative errors to save $57 billion (CongressDaily, 5/27); and *Reducing the use of advanced imaging technologies to save $13 billion (AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 5/27)."We are issuing (the recommendations) as a constructive contribution to the debate on how national health reform can proceed," Stevens said. He added, "What we know is there is a huge variation in cost and quality across the health care system," and the proposed steps are "some of the practical techniques that help us get a grip on that" (Diaz, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 5/27). Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. © 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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