Public Health
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a total ankle replacement system for arthritic or deformed ankles that may preserve some range of motion in the joint.
The criteria used to assess blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) and binge drinking behaviors in children and adolescents should be based on pediatric rather than adult physiology, according to a new University of Pittsburgh study in the June issue of Pediatrics.
Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the Company"s product candidate, NT-501, demonstrated a strong biologic effect in two Phase 2 clinical trials for retinitis pigmentosa (RP). RP is a slowly developing condition that causes the progressive degeneration of rod & cone photoreceptor cells in the retina that over time diminishes night and peripheral vision and eventually leads to blindness. RP is an orphan-designated indication for which there are currently no approved treatments.
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:
Since the implementation of the Massachusetts health insurance law in 2006, more residents have health coverage and increased access to care, but rising health care costs combined with the current economic recession could undermine some of the law"s successes, according to the third annual "Update on Health Reform in Massachusetts" report by the Urban Institute, the Boston Globe reports. The study was funded by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund, and published in the journal Health Affairs.For the report, Sharon Long of the Urban Institute and colleagues surveyed about 4,000 Massachusetts adults in 2007 and 2008 and compared their health care habits with those of residents surveyed in 2006 -- just after the law went into effect. Researchers found that although there were initial gains in health care affordability, there are now some signs that an increasing number of state residents are reporting problems paying for medical bills, and an increasing number of people -- especially lower-income residents -- not seeking care because of costs (Lazar, Boston Globe, 5/28). One in five adults reported being told in the past 12 months that a physician or clinic was not accepting new patients or would not see patients with their type of insurance (Sack, New York Times, 5/28). Lower-income residents had more difficulties finding a physician than higher-income residents, with 24% of residents enrolled in state-subsidized health plans, saying they were told that a physician did not accept their insurance, compared with 7% of residents with private coverage (Boston Globe, 5/28). Additional Findings
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OGXI) announced today that the Company will hold a live webcast and conference call of presentations made at an OncoGenex hosted reception during the 2009 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting (ASCO) on Saturday, May 30, 2009. The webcast will begin at 7:10 p.m. EDT.
Portions of the brain that activate when people view pictures of objects compared to scrambled images can also be activated by touch alone, confirms a new report published online on May 28th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.
Sipping wine, beer or spirits three to four times per week increases the risk of binge drinking, particularly among young men, according to a new study published in the journal Addiction. Researchers from the Universitç© de Montrç©al and the University of Western Ontario analyzed the drinking habits of Canadians and found that frequent alcohol consumption can lead to binge drinking among all gender and all age groups.
RAJ Devices, the regulatory affairs journal published by Informa and covering the medical technology industry, has published a comprehensive feature on how companies in the US can comply with a much stricter code of ethics that medical technology industry association AdvaMed will launch on 1 July.
Healthcare Locums (HCL), the UK"s largest specialist health and social care agency, says it is seeing rocketing demand for locum and permanent placement doctors from Trusts struggling to prepare for the European Working Time Directive, which limits the number of hours trainee doctors can work to 48 per week.
When someone becomes dependent on drugs or alcohol, the brain"s pleasure center gets hijacked, disrupting the normal functioning of its reward circuitry.
Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers report that a combination of trastuzumab and neratinib (HKI-272) a novel small molecule inhibitor of the HER2 receptor (ErbB2) appears active in women with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who have progressed on previous trastuzumab based therapies. More than one-quarter of the women in a phase I/II trial had their tumors shrink on the combination therapy.
Surprisingly few pharmacies in the U.S. are able to translate prescription medication instructions into Spanish, making it difficult for patients who speak only Spanish to understand how to take their medications properly, according to a new study from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
President Barack Obama and Energy Secretary Steve Chu are consistent in their message that when it comes to transportation fuels, carbon-neutral biofuels as an alternative to gasoline are coming. While the focus of a shift from gasoline to biofuels has been on global warming, such a shift could also impact human health. A grant from the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) has produced a novel and comprehensive "Life Cycle Impact Assessment" to measure the benefits on human health that might result from a switch to biofuels. Although there are a number of uncertainties that must be addressed for a more accurate picture, these early results show that a biofuel eliminating even 10-percent of current gasoline pollutant emissions would have a substantial impact on human health in this country, especially in urban areas.
Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi), a leading provider of innovation, products, technology and education for the small bone & joint segment of the orthopedics industry, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved SBi"s Scandinavian Total Ankle Replacement (S.T.A.R.®) system to treat U.S. patients. S.T.A.R. has received pre-market approval (PMA) to replace a painful arthritic ankle joint due to osteoarthritis, post-traumatic arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.
A person with dyspraxia has problems with movement and coordination. It is also known as "motor learning disability". Somebody with dyspraxia finds it hard to carry out smooth and coordinated movements. Dyspraxia often comes with language problems, and sometimes a degree of difficulty with perception and thought. Dyspraxia does not affect a person"s intelligence, but it can cause learning difficulties, especially for children.
The combination of chemotherapies 5FU and oxaliplatin compared to 5FU alone after surgery for colon cancer decreases colon cancer recurrence and promotes longer survival for patients under 70 -- but not for those who are older, according to Mayo Clinic and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists who presented their findings at the American Society of Clinical Oncology"s (ASCO) annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.
GlaxoSmithKline [NYSE: GSK] and Genmab A/S [OMX: GEN] announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration"s (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted 10 to three that the ARZERRA(TM) (ofatumumab) data are reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) whose disease is refractory to fludarabine and alemtuzumab. Ofatumumab is an investigational treatment.
Congressman James McGovern, D-Massachusetts, has announced National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards for two researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute"s Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park.
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) have established the Stephen and Nancy Grand Multiple Myeloma Translational Initiative, a research collaboration dedicated to translating basic science discoveries into new candidate drugs for testing in clinical trials.
Scientists at Singapore"s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), have identified the protein, WIP1, as the molecular "brake" that curbs severe inflammation in the body.
Proteins are the executive agents that carry out all processes in a cell. Their activity is controlled and modified with the help of small chemical tags that can be dynamically added to and removed from the protein. 25 years after its first discovery, researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg have now gained insight into the role of one of these tags, a small sugar residue, that is found on many different proteins across species. In the current online issue of Science they report that the addition of this sugar tag to proteins in the nucleus of a cell is vital for normal development in fruit flies.
A new study is the first to show that there is a previously unrecognized role for environmental pollution in liver disease in the general U.S. adult population. This work builds upon the groups" previous research demonstrating liver disease in highly-exposed chemical workers. The study is being presented during Digestive Disease Week® 2009 (DDW®), the largest international gathering of physicians and researchers in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery.
The New York Times, Washington Post and Washington Times recently published opinion pieces on President Obama"s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Summaries appear below.~ David Brooks, New York Times: "Supreme Court justices, like all of us, are emotional intuitionists" because "they begin their decision-making processes with certain models in their heads," Times columnist Brooks writes, adding that "[t]hese are models of how the world works and should work, which have been idiosyncratically ingrained by genes, culture, education, parents and events," and which "shape the way judges perceive the world." Therefore, the "crucial question in evaluating a potential Supreme Court justice ... is not whether she relies on empathy or emotion, but how she does so," according to Brooks. He writes that Sotomayor "will be a good justice if she can empathize with the many types of people and actions involved in a case, but a bad justice if she can only empathize with one type, one ethnic group or one social class." He concludes, "It"s not whether judges rely on emotion and empathy, it"s how they educate their sentiments within the discipline of manners and morals, tradition and practice" (Brooks, New York Times, 5/29).~ Michael Gerson, Washington Post: By opposing Sotomayor"s confirmation, Republicans could be entering "a trap" by "further alienating Hispanic voters the GOP has recently driven away in droves," which might "confirm an image of Republicans as the party of the male and pale," columnist Gerson writes in a Post opinion piece. He continues, "Barring unforeseen ethical revelations, opposition to Sotomayor seems both politically risky and ultimately futile." However, "Republicans must still enter the trap -- with open eyes and no expectation of gain -- not to defeat a nominee but to maintain a principle" that the court "should be a place where all are judged impartially, as individuals," Gerson writes. He continues that the "Obama/Sotomayor doctrine of empathy challenges this long-established belief," and this "is not a minor matter." According to Gerson, "Concerns about the doctrine of empathy will not defeat Sotomayor -- and perhaps they should not defeat her." However, the "problems raised by selective empathy require a substantive (not harsh or personal) national debate -- and this requires Republicans to carefully, warily, enter Obama"s trap" (Gerson, Washington Post, 5/29).~ Michael Kinsley, Washington Post: "What conservative Republicans don"t like about the Supreme Court can be summarized as three, or maybe four, A"s: abortion, affirmative action and activism," columnist Kinsley writes in a Post opinion piece. He adds that "[r]ecent Republican platforms have pledged to appoint judges who not only will overturn Roe [v. Wade] but will make clear that fetuses have the same rights as people under the 14th Amendment"s guarantee of "equal protection of the laws."" Kinsley continues that supporters of Roe "clearly represent the "activist" side," while opponents of the decision "are right that Roe represents the highest tide of Warren Court activism." However, this "doesn"t mean the critics of Roe are right on the merits;" rather, it means that ""activism" is a near-worthless concept, and comparative activism is nonsense," Kinsley writes. He continues, "Although I am pro-choice, Roe makes me unhappy because it was poorly reasoned, not because it "went further" than other decisions." According to Kinsley, "many opponents of Roe would not be satisfied with merely seeing it overturned and the issue returned to the states," and, in fact, the GOP platform "effectively calls for a litmus test for judges: Will they rule abortion illegal in all 50 states no matter what the people want?" He continues, "Now that would be judicial activism with a vengeance" (Kinsley, Washington Post, 5/29).~ Eugene Robinson, Washington Post: The fact that Sotomayor "is a proud and accomplished Latina" apparently "drives some prominent Republicans into a s
Botswana"s campaign to circumcise about 500,000 men by 2012 will prevent nearly 70,000 new HIV cases by 2025, according to a report published Thursday in the Journal of the International AIDS Society, AFP/Yahoo! News reports. The government"s national campaign aims to circumcise 460,000 men over the next five years, and the country has begun airing television and radio advertisements to encourage men to be circumcised at local clinics. "Scaling up safe male circumcision has the potential to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS in Botswana significantly," according to the study. The report puts the estimated cost of the circumcision campaign at about $47 million. A UNAIDS report estimates that the HIV prevalence among pregnant women in Botswana was 43% in 2003, the year that antiretroviral drug access was introduced in the country (AFP/Yahoo! News, 5/28).
Family and network oriented, stress-reducing care improves level of overall functioning and mental health in adolescents at risk of developing psychosis, suggests a recent Finnish study.
Patients undergoing treatment for advanced head and neck cancers may respond well to the addition of gefinitib to chemotherapy, according to a study sponsored by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and chaired by Ethan Argiris, M.D., associate professor of medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and co-leader of the Head and Neck Cancer Program of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). The results were disclosed at the 45th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) on May 30 in Orlando, Fla.
Hospital admissions of Americans from the poorest communities for asthma and diabetes were 87 percent and 77 percent higher, respectively, than admissions for patients from wealthier areas for the same diseases, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Doctor David Werring, from The Stroke Association"s Expert Advisory Panel said:
Following calls from the information commissioner for the NHS to improve its data security, after breaches involving the loss of thousands of personal medical records, Bill Gilliam, head of the health sector group at international law firm Eversheds comments:
The reason deadly infections like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C never go away is because these viruses disarm the body"s defense system. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have discovered that a key immunity protein must be present for this defense system to have a chance against chronic infection.
The NPA is asking its members to utilise the new NPA IT forums website to comment on the criteria that should be used to demonstrate that EPS is operationally functional ahead of national roll-out. The NPA believes that EPS must work technically, be business and operationally functional, improve service delivery at pharmacies, and is safe for patients, before full roll-out can be contemplated. The website, http://itforums.npa.co.uk, provides an opportunity for members throughout the UK to voice their opinions on the IT programmes affecting their country or on general IT topics which affect all nations.
Poxel is a research integrated pharmaceutical Company (RIPCO),
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) have identified eight genes that help predict a melanoma patient"s response to treatment. The new findings are being presented at the 45th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), May 29 to June 2, in Orlando, Fla.
Agendia, a world leader in molecular cancer diagnostics, announced
Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc., a worldwide leader in diagnostic imaging, announces that it has completed patient enrollment of CaRES (Contrast Echocardiography REgistry for Safety Surveillance), the first, multicenter Phase IV observational registry that evaluates the use of ultrasound imaging agents in routine clinical practice. The 1,060 patients who were enrolled at 15 sites in the U.S. were 18 years old or older and required DEFINITY® Vial for (Perflutren Lipid Microsphere) injectable suspension-enhanced echocardiography because of a previous suboptimal, unenhanced echocardiogram.
Devax, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has conditionally approved an Investigational Device Exemption ("IDE") for its AXXESS™ Biolimus A9® Eluting Bifurcation Stent System (AXXESS System), allowing the company to initiate a pivotal clinical trial (DIVERGE II) of the device in the United States.
The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, and the Honourable Jim Prentice, Canada"s Environment Minister, today announced the release of the draft screening assessments and risk management scope documents for 18 substances assessed in Batch 6 of the Chemicals Management Plan. The Government has reached the halfway point in its commitment to assess approximately 200 high-priority substances as part of the Chemicals Management Plan.
The Society for Clinical Ophthalmology (SCO) is now working with UK-based Consultant Ophthalmologist, Mr Som Prasad, to supplement ophthalmic surgical training with an online forum that offers videos and online discussions of surgical techniques.
A vaccine for one of the most lethal cancers, advanced melanoma, has shown improved response rates and progression-free survival for patients when combined with the immunotherapy drug, Interleukin-2, according to researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
When combined with standard chemotherapy, an international Phase III trial has shown that the oral targeted therapy vandetanib improves progression-free survival for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, according to research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Linking genetic material microRNAs with cells that regulate the immune system could one day lead to new therapies for treating cancer, infections and autoimmune diseases, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.
Mayo Clinic researchers have shown that very low doses of inhaled carbon monoxide in diabetic mice reverses the condition known as gastroparesis or delayed stomach emptying, a common and painful complication for many diabetic patients. The findings were presented on June 1 at Digestive Disease Week in Chicago.
Several Republican senators in appearances on various talk shows on Sunday said that they do not expect the GOP to attempt a filibuster to block the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, although none ruled the idea out, the Washington Post reports. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) said that she does not think the "need for filibuster will be there unless we have not had a chance to look at the record fully," adding that the Senate "need[s] to look at the record fully" and in an "expeditious way." Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, on NBC"s "Meet the Press" said that Sotomayor"s 17-year career as a federal judge is "very strong in her favor" and "the kind of background you would look for" in a Supreme Court justice. However, Sessions added that he and other Republican senators are concerned over a remark Sotomayor made in 2001 at a conference on Hispanics in the judiciary. According to the Post, Sotomayor was discussing how her Puerto Rican heritage has influenced her role as a judge when she said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would, more often than not, reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn"t lived that life." Sessions said the remark "goes against the heart of the great American heritage of an independent judge" (Barnes, Washington Post, 6/1). Judiciary Committee member John Cornyn (R-Texas), appearing on ABC"s "This Week," said that senators "need to know ... whether she"s going to be a justice for all of us or just a justice for a few of us" (Wallsten, Los Angeles Times, 6/1).Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) -- Sotomayor"s sponsor through the confirmation process -- said on "This Week" that she is "virtually filibuster-proof when people learn her record and her story." He added that Sotomayor is "legally excellent" and "not a far-left-wing judge" (Barnes, Washington Post, 6/1). White House Defends Sotomayor"s Comments White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that he thinks Sotomayor would "say that her word choice in 2001 was poor, that she was simply making the point that personal experiences are relevant to the process of judging." In an interview with NBC News that will air this week, President Obama also defended Sotomayor, saying that "if you look in the entire sweep of the essay that she wrote, what"s clear is that she was simply saying her life experiences will give her information about the struggles and hardships that people are going through" (Eggen/Kane, Washington Post, 5/30). Obama also stood by his decision to nominate Sotomayor in his weekly radio and Internet address on Saturday. Obama said that he is "certain that she is the right choice" and that her record as a federal judge "makes clear that she is fair, unbiased and dedicated to the rule of law." While he said he expects "rigorous evaluation" of Sotomayor, Obama said his "hope is that we can avoid the political posturing and ideological brinkmanship that has bogged down this process, and Congress, in the past" (AP/USA Today, 6/1). First Meetings With Senators Expected This WeekAccording to the AP/Chicago Tribune, Sotomayor is scheduled to hold her first meetings with senators this week, beginning on Tuesday with Sessions and Democratic Sens. Harry Reid (Nev.) and Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (Vt.). Gibbs said a meeting with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnnell (R-Ky.) also is possible, adding that he is hopeful there will be other meetings scheduled throughout the week (AP/Chicago Tribune, 5/31).The Wall Street Journal reports that the formal Senate confirmation hearings are not expected to begin for several weeks. The White House would like the Senate to confirm Sotomayor before the August recess so she will be on the bench for the court"s next term, which begins in October. Although some GOP senators say this might not be enough time to fully examine her record, Sotomayor is expected to be confirmed, the Journal reports (Bendavid, Wall Street Journal, 6/1).
Gene therapy should be used in tandem with stem cell therapy to enhance the reliability of stem cells, provide an opportunity to limit adverse effects and increase treatment success, according to research presented at the American Society of Gene Therapy"s 12th Annual Meeting, May 30.
A study in the June 1 issue of the journal SLEEP demonstrates that online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for chronic insomnia significantly improves insomnia severity, daytime fatigue, and sleep quality. Online treatment also reduces erroneous beliefs about sleep and pre-sleep mental arousal.
The June issue of Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, includes new insights on why some corneal transplants fail, why some patients skip their glaucoma medications, and why preventing infections after LASIK is a growing concern.
The 62nd World Health Assembly, governing body of the World Health Organization (WHO), endorsed the WHO Action Plan for the Prevention of Avoidable Blindness and Visual Impairment.
The four-type (6,11,16,18) human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil®, has been chosen by the Norwegian authorities for the national vaccination programme after the assessment of a variety of criteria, including efficacy in the prevention of cervical cancer, safety and evidence of long-lasting protection. All available data was considered, including new data presented during the 25th International Papillomavirus Conference (IPC) in May in Malmç¶, Sweden.
Association of British Hujjaj (Pilgrims) UK a National Hajj Specific and charitable organisation warned British Hajj that they are at risk of infections including meningococcal disease because of crowded conditions at ceremonies, accommodation sites and on public transport.
UCB announced that the European Medicines Agency"s (EMEA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion recommending that the European Commission lifts the treatment restrictions for Neupro® (rotigotine transdermal patch) in Europe.
More than 17 million U.S. children live more than an hour away by ground or air transportation from a life-saving pediatric trauma center, according to a new study by researchers at The Children"s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. The creation of a national inventory of pediatric trauma centers may help to identify the locations of gaps and greatly improve access to care for U.S. children, the authors said.
If having malodorous armpits (called osmidrosis) and goopy earwax isn"t bad enough, a discovery by Japanese scientists may add a more serious problem for women facing these cosmetic calamities. That"s because they"ve found that a gene responsible for breast cancer causes these physical symptoms. The report describing this finding is featured on the cover of The FASEB Journal"s June 2009 print issue, and should arm physicians with another clue for detecting breast cancer risk.
The fastest-growing group of patients initiating dialysis is patients 75 years old and older; providing the best care for this group of patients presents significant challenges. The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) introduces the first-ever online curriculum to address aging and the kidney. The curriculum, based on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)"s six core competences of patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and systems-based practice, answers questions about the management of elderly patients.
Changing the order that chemotherapy drugs are given to breast cancer patients before surgery makes treatment much more effective, according to trial results presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference, today.
Exelixis, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXEL) today reported encouraging data from an ongoing Phase 1 dose-escalation trial of XL228 in patients with advanced malignancies. XL228 is a small molecule inhibitor of insulin-like growth factor type 1 receptor (IGF1R), SRC, Aurora kinases, and fibroblast growth factor receptor types 1, 2, and 3 (FGFR1-3), which are associated with cancer cell proliferation, survival, and metastasis. The compound also inhibits BCR-ABL, including the T315I mutant form which is resistant to currently approved inhibitors. David Smith, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan, an investigator on the Phase 1 trial, will present the data in an oral session (Abstract #3512) beginning at 4:15 p.m. local time on Saturday, May 30, 2009, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, which is being held May 29-June 2 in Orlando.
"Health industry officials delivered a plan to the White House Monday documenting how they"ll attempt to save $2 trillion over a decade through measures like reducing hospitalizations and cutting down on paperwork," the Associated Press reports. "Health insurers, doctors, hospitals, drug-makers and others were under pressure to make good on a pledge they made last month to curb their own costs to help President Barack Obama achieve his health care overhaul goals." Their three big areas of savings: $150 billion to $180 billion would come from more efficient use of health care services, $350 billion to $850 billion from better management of chronic diseases, and $500 billion to $700 billion through administrative improvements such as standardizing claim forms (Werner, 6/1).
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, affects almost three percent of people over age 65. RA patients experience pain, functional limitations and two forms of disabling bone disease: focal erosions and osteoporosis. After five years of disease, up to 50 percent of RA patients show evidence of focal erosions and RA doubles the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. A new study examined the relationship between these two RA-related processes, in the hopes of providing insight into the underlying pathophysiology of RA-related bone disease. The study was published in the June issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.
The United Auto Workers" benefits plan is expected to receive a nearly 20 percent ownership stake in General Motors as a result of the automaker"s bankruptcy filing today and proposed restructuring, the Washington Post reports (Whoriskey, 6/1).
"Facing difficult economic times and the uncertainties of national health care reform, some Maryland hospitals are choosing to be swallowed up by larger medical systems, with an unusual string of mergers over the past 16 months and more likely on the way," The Baltimore Sun reports. The consolidations could offer benefits to all those involved. Small hospitals gain "the hope of safe harbor from whatever financial storms are on the horizon, hospital chains "get footholds in new areas, where they can build market share and increase the number of patients they serve," and patients may "gain access to large networks of top-notch doctors, even if the patients live many miles from a major medical institution."
Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, predicted in an interview with Kaiser Health News that a comprehensive health care reform bill would reach President Obama by Thanksgiving, and that she hasn"t given "a moment"s thought" to accepting a scaled-back package.
If you want a safe way to take your dog with you on bike rides, the Springer dog exerciser might be the perfect answer.
Implementing measures to improve nutrition, indoor air pollution, immunization coverage and the management of pneumonia cases could be cost-effective and significantly reduce child mortality from pneumonia, according to a study led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Researchers found that these strategies combined could reduce total child mortality by 17 percent and could reduce pneumonia deaths by more than 90 percent. Pneumonia is a leading cause of death of infants in many developing countries, resulting in 2.2 million deaths each year. The study is published in the June 2009 issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.
Researchers at The Children"s Hospital at Westmead are embarking on a ground-breaking new study to investigate whether a different dietary approach to insulin resistance in overweight adolescents can put the brakes on its progression to type 2 diabetes.
National Allergy Week 11-15 May 2009
ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZIOP) announced today that it presented positive data from both Phase II intravenous (IV) and Phase I oral studies of darinaparsin (ZinaparTM or ZIO-101), the novel organic arsenic molecule, as part of the prestigious Clinical Cancer Symposia at the 45th Annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting held in Orlando, FL, May 29th to June 2nd.
Researchers at Tulane University, in collaboration with Corgenix Medical Corporation, a worldwide developer and marketer of diagnostic test kits, have received a five-year $7,073,538 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for continued development of detection kits for Lassa viral hemorrhagic fever, a serious disease spread by contact with infected rodents. Viral hemorrhagic fevers are characterized by fever and bleeding disorders and can progress to high fever and shock. Lassa fever is estimated to infect 300,000 to 500,000 people per year across West Africa, resulting in approximately 5,000 deaths.
Can-Fite BioPharma (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, has achieved yet another goal by completion of patients" enrollment in its phase II Psoriasis trial. Approximately 70 patients were enrolled to this study, randomized into 4 groups treated with 1, 2 and 4 mg of CF101 and placebo. Patients are taking the drug for 12 weeks plus 2 weeks of follow-up. The trial is being conducted in 10 sites in Israel and Europe. The company estimates to release study data on Q3 2009.
Genta Incorporated (OTCBB: GNTA.OB) announced preliminary results from its ongoing clinical study of tesetaxel, a leading oral taxane in the Company"s investigational drug portfolio. The new data show a favorable safety profile with a low incidence of serious adverse events, along with objective responses that have been observed at less than the maximally tolerated dose (MTD). The data are featured in a presentation today at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Orlando, FL.
A paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University researchers reports that amniotic fluid surrounding Down syndrome fetuses shows oxidative stress, a condition that could harm fetal cells and play a role in affected individuals. The results demonstrate secondary adverse consequences of Down syndrome and suggest potential prenatal therapies.
Prometheus Laboratories Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical and diagnostic company, announced new findings regarding a correlation between an important serologic marker used in the detection of Crohn"s disease and particular genetic markers in patients at risk for celiac disease. In an oral presentation yesterday at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) in Chicago, Prometheus reported a statistically significant correlation between antibodies to the flagellin CBir1 and HLA haplotypes DQ2.5 and DQ8 in a study of 5,406 patients at risk for celiac disease who are EMA positive. Blood and serum samples were analyzed using PROMETHEUS(R) Celiac PLUS and PROMETHEUS(R) IBD Serology 7 diagnostic tests.
CSC (NYSE: CSC) announced that it has expanded its FirstPortfolio solution"s business process outsourcing (BPO) capabilities to include fully integrated Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) reporting for healthcare payers. FirstPortfolio provides users with a collection of applications hosted and maintained by CSC.
A troubled county jail, where hundreds of lawsuits have stemmed from mistakes in managing the inmates" health information, would be a perfect testing ground for electronic medical records, the Arizona Republic reports. But Maricopa County officials have not acted on repeated recommendations to implement such a system, "even when faced with hundreds of lawsuits and the loss of accreditation for CHS operations."
TeraMedica Healthcare Technology announced, along with partner, Sun Microsystems, that the two companies will be offering a pre-configured solution for viewing and managing clinical images originating from different modalities and providers to bring secure, consistent image sharing to point-of-care.
Bayer Schering
G-20 leaders pledged to provide the International Monetary Fund with $500
Research from a survey by Tesco Dental Insurance has revealed Brits are finding it increasingly difficulty to find an NHS dentist. The results also show that rising dental costs are putting people off visiting the dentist.
The New York Times on Tuesday examined how botched abortion procedures contribute to maternal mortality in Tanzania, in the second of a three-part series on pregnancy- and childbirth-related deaths in the country. The Times reports that the lack of abortion rights in Tanzania -- where the procedure is illegal except in cases where the woman"s life or health is at risk -- has prompted pregnant women and girls to seek the procedure from people who have not been trained to perform such procedures. In some cases, these untrained providers give the pregnant women herbs before performing abortions by punching the pregnant women"s stomachs or inserting objects into the vagina and uterus. Local hospitals in Tanzania often have to correct mistakes made by the untrained abortion providers. For example, during the month of January, 17 of the 31 minor surgical procedures performed at one Tanzanian hospital were to correct the results of "incomplete abortions."Africa has the world"s highest maternal mortality rate -- at least 100 times that of developed countries -- making pregnancy and childbirth among the most serious health dangers that African women face, according to the Times. Abortion accounts for a significant portion of those deaths. Tanzania has a maternal mortality rate of 950 deaths for every 100,000 births, a figure that is "neither the best nor the worst in Africa," the Times reports.Because most abortions in Tanzania are performed illegally, there are no reliable abortion figures for the country. However, the World Health Organization estimates that Eastern Africa, where Tanzania is located, has the world"s second-highest rate of unsafe abortions. Abortion rates typically decrease with increased contraceptive use, the Times reports. Only about one-quarter of Tanzanians use contraception in part because of misinformation that girls receive about the safety of condoms and hormonal contraceptives. By comparison, Kenya and South Africa both have higher contraception use and lower maternal mortality. However, in countries such as Sierra Leone and Nigeria, where abortion is not available on request, contraception use is lower than in Tanzania, and maternal mortality is much higher (Grady, New York Times, 6/2).
The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries.~ "The Murder of Dr. Tiller, a Foreshadowing," Cristina Page, Birth Control Watch: Page writes, "For those who would like to think" that the "murder in church of Dr. George Tiller ... is an isolated incident, here"s the horrifying news: You are wrong." She continues, "The pattern is clear and frightening." According to Page, there were several murders of abortion providers and even more attempted murders during the administration of former President Clinton, the first president to support abortion rights. However, during the Bush administration, "not only were there no murders, there were no attempted murders," save for a single bombing of an abortion clinic, according to Page. She writes that Tiller"s murder occurred five months into the administration of President Obama, the nation"s second president who supports abortion rights. Page adds, "One can only conclude that like terrorist sleeper cells, these extremists have now been set in motion. Indeed the evidence is already there. The chatter, the threats, the hate-filled rhetoric, are abundant." According to Page, "The pro-choice movement, specifically our abortion providers, are in the greatest danger of violence when we take power." She adds, "The murder of Dr. Tiller suggests that violence against abortion providers may be far more linked to the power, or lack thereof, antiabortion groups have politically than to laws designed to increase penalties against such acts." Page continues that abortion-rights opponents "will put out carefully worded press statements condemning the murder of Dr. Tiller, as became routine for them during the Clinton years." Page concludes, "But unless the rhetoric they choose from now on becomes careful too -- they may be the enablers of murder and terror" (Page, Birth Control Watch, 5/31).~ "Where Will Women Go Now?" Kate Harding, Salon"s "Broadsheet": "If any good can come of the murder of Dr. George Tiller, ... perhaps it"s the opportunity to have a conversation about the reality of termination in the second and third trimesters," Harding writes. She adds, "Anti-choice activists often cast late-term abortions as the murder of a viable baby at the whim of a woman who doesn"t wish to be inconvenienced, carried out by a doctor who looks at her and sees only cartoon dollar signs." According to Harding, "such misinformation and outright lies about procedures that are in fact rare and only performed when medically necessary are what led anti-choice activists to call Tiller "America"s Doctor of Death" and accuse him of running a "murder mill."" The "reality" is that Tiller helped "women in absolutely desperate circumstances, when almost no one else would," Harding writes, adding, "Since the news of Dr. Tiller"s murder broke, personal narratives from people who used his services have been appearing around the Web." Harding talked to Susan Hill, president of the National Women"s Health Foundation, which referred girls and women to his clinic. Hill said, "We always sent the really tragic cases to Tiller." Harding reports that these included "women diagnosed with cancer who needed abortions to qualify for chemotherapy, women who learned late in their pregnancies that their wanted babies had fatal illnesses and rape victims so young they didn"t realize they were pregnant for months." According to Harding, "The trauma of receiving such a diagnosis is only compounded by the difficulty of obtaining a late-term abortion." Harding asked Hill "where women who need late-term abortions can go now," and says that Hill"s "response was bleak." Hill added that she doesn"t know where she will send "those really tragic cases"(Harding, "Broadsheet," Salon, 6/1). ~ "How I (and Other "Pro-Life" Leaders) Contributed to Dr. Tiller"s Murder," Frank Schaeffer, Huffington Post blogs: "My late father and I share the blame (with many others) for the murder of Dr. George Tiller," Schaeffer writes, adding, "Until I got out of the r
Scientists are reporting two findings that could influence the way researchers screen for, treat and assess prognosis for women with locally advanced breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease. One finding offers a critical message regarding treatment strategy, they say.
Roche and Plexxikon announced interim results from a phase I study with PLX4032 (R7204) a new, highly selective and potentially promising oral treatment for patients with advanced melanoma whose cancer harbours the BRAF mutation (known as mutation-positive). Patients treated with PLX4032 lived for a median of six months without their disease getting worse and more than half experienced significant shrinkage of their tumours; this included patients where the cancer had spread to the liver, lung and bone.1 Historically, less than 5% of metastatic melanoma patients are still alive five years after diagnosis.2
The British Dental Association (BDA) has given a broad welcome to today"s announcement of the award of a tender for 38 new dentists in Northern Ireland as part of the solution to the problems some patients face accessing care. But the BDA has also warned that this is not the whole solution to the problems facing Health Service dentistry. Also required, says the BDA, are full support for the more than 800 dentists already working in Northern Ireland and a new contract that allows dentists to provide the kind of modern, preventive care they are trained to do.
As America"s drive for healthcare reforms heats up, the lobbying group for health insurers will meet this week in San Diego-and will be greeted by an impassioned demonstration organized by nurses, doctors, and patients supporting single-payer healthcare reforms.
The
Mice lacking the fat hormone leptin or the ability to respond to it become morbidly obese and severely diabetic - not to mention downright sluggish. Now, a new study in the June Cell Metabolism shows that blood sugar control in those animals can be completely restored by returning leptin sensitivity to a single class of neurons in the brain, which account for only a small fraction of those that normally carry the hormone receptors.
Violence, sexual abuse, harassment, appalling living conditions, and a serious lack of access to essential healthcare define the desperate lives of thousands of Zimbabweans in South Africa today, warned the international medical humanitarian aid organization, Doctors Without Borders/Mç©decins Sans Frontiç¨res (MSF).
Informing men that a new vaccine to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV) would also help protect their female partners against developing cervical cancer from the sexually transmitted infection did not increase their interest in getting the vaccine, according to a new Florida State University study.
Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine, working with biochemists, geneticists and clinicians at the University of Bern, Switzerland and in the United Kingdom, have discovered an enzyme that has a key role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The team, co-led by Judith Bond, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State College of Medicine, and Daniel Lottaz, Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology at the University of Bern, Switzerland, could potentially lead to therapies to help the half-a-million Americans affected by ulcerative colitis and Crohn"s disease, collectively referred to as IBD.
Corrected vision impairment could prevent billions of dollars in lost productivity annually, according to a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of School of Public Health, the International Centre for Eyecare Education, the University of New South Wales and the African Vision Research Institute. Researchers estimate that nearly 158 million people globally suffer with vision impairment resulting from uncorrected refractive error, which can usually be eliminated with a pair of eyeglasses and an eye examination. This is the first study to estimate the productivity loss from uncorrected refractive error and is published in the June 2009 issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.
Patients diagnosed with non-Hodgkin"s lymphoma who become resistant to standard therapies may have a new treatment option. Scientists in the Lymphoma Translational Research Laboratory at Roswell Park Cancer Institute analyzed the mechanisms to overcome treatment resistance, including a new drug combination. Francisco J. Hernandez-Ilizaliturri, MD , Departments of Medicine and Immunology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), will present the findings at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2009 annual meeting, May 29 - June 2, in Orlando, FL.
A University of Michigan study has identified a likely reason: feeling emotionally close to a friend increases levels of the hormone progesterone, helping to boost well-being and reduce anxiety and stress.
The BMA is stepping up its activity to publicise its concerns about government reforms that have created a market in healthcare and allowed commercially run firms to provide NHS care.
The scientific and medical publisher, BMJ Group, is to publish additional themed editions of the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM), supported by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it was announced today.
Traumatic brain injury - not heart disease, stroke or cancer - is the number one cause of death and disability in people under 45. Each year, some 1.5 million Americans, including soldiers, athletes, the elderly and children, sustain head injuries, and nearly half of them will be hospitalized and treated in an emergency room or intensive care unit.
Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ADLS) announced that the FDA"s Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee voted in the majority that Restanza(TM) (cethromycin) demonstrated safety for the outpatient treatment of adults with mild-to-moderate community acquired pneumonia (CAP) (11 positive, 3 negative, 1 abstaining). However, the committee voted that Restanza did not demonstrate efficacy in the treatment of CAP (3 positive, 11 negative, 1 abstaining).
In response to the need for expanded monitoring and reporting of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) today announced its support for the use of automated surveillance technologies in the healthcare setting as an essential part of infection prevention and control activities. The recommendations are published in the APIC position paper, "The Importance of Surveillance Technologies in the Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs)."
The Institute for Health Research, the research body for the School of Health Science, is proud to announce that Swansea University has given approval for the establishment of a new research centre with a strategic focus on the management of long-term and chronic conditions.
Two recent studies by researchers at the University of Cincinnati bring to light interesting findings about the diagnosis of the rare lung disease Lymphangioleiomyomatosis ( LAM) and the reasons LAM patients participate in research studies.
Some liberal journalists and bloggers are criticizing Fox News host Bill O"Reilly for the language he has used when discussing abortion provider George Tiller, with some suggesting that his harsh rhetoric incites violence, the New York Times reports. Tiller, who was one of a small number of U.S. doctors who performed abortions later in pregnancy, was shot and killed on Sunday while serving as an usher in his local church. On Monday, O"Reilly said that "clear-thinking Americans should condemn" the murder but also defended his past remarks about Tiller. O"Reilly said that "every single thing we said about Tiller was true, and my analysis was based on those facts."Salon within nine hours of Tiller"s death had posted video clips of 29 on-air references that O"Reilly had made about Tiller on past programs. O"Reilly has said that Tiller and other abortion providers conduct the "business of destruction" and that he "wouldn"t want to be these people if there is a Judgment Day." Media Matters for America on its site published a 2006 clip in which O"Reilly said, "If I could get my hands on Tiller," adding, "Well, you know. Can"t be vigilantes. Can"t do that. It"s just a figure of speech."According to the Times, O"Reilly often draws particular attention because his cable news show has held a No. 1 rating for the past seven years. Burt Neuborne, a New York University law professor and a former legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union, said that a commentator"s language, regardless of its severity, usually cannot be treated as an incitement of violence unless it includes direct instructions to individuals. He added, "It"s important not to allow that to happen. It would have a dramatic effect on the ability to speak vigorously" (Stelter, New York Times, 6/2).
Although Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor"s confirmation hearings are more than a month away, "it"s easy to predict how they will go," New York Times columnist Ross Douthat writes. Douthat predicts that Senate Judiciary Committee members "will attempt to divine Sotomayor"s position on a variety of controversial topics," such as abortion rights, and in "a series of polite, evasive answers, the nominee will feign a studious neutrality on almost every issue that could come before her during what"s likely to be decades as one of the most powerful women in the world." According to Douthat, the "deeper stakes" that likely will be ignored are that "Sotomayor will be joining a high court that"s gradually become a kind of extra legislative body." He cites research from Harvard Law School professor Jed Shugerman showing that the court over roughly the past 50 years has invalidated both state and federal statutes at an unprecedented rate. Douthat also points to data from Evan Caminker of the University of Michigan showing that in one eight-year period, the court invalidated 16 federal laws in 5-4 votes, something that occurred only 25 times in the previous two centuries. Douthat writes that "settling so many vexing controversies with 5-to-4 votes -- effectively making Anthony Kennedy the nation"s philosopher king -- is an awfully poor way to run a republic."Douthat continues that the "modern court"s most enduringly controversial power grabs -- with Roe v. Wade leading the way -- were usually the work of liberal justices" but that "in practice, the main divide between liberal and conservative judges tends to be over the responsibilities of the federal government, not judicial activism per se." He writes, "There are bipartisan ways that the Court could be reined in, and the legislative branch reinvigorated," including the idea of a supermajority rule that would require a 6-3 vote to overturn federal legislation. This idea "might spur the court toward greater consensus, and perhaps greater modesty as well," according to Douthat. Another possibility would be to implement 12-year term limits, he says. Douthat concludes that these suggestions would not "reduce the Supreme Court"s power directly, but it would help us see the court for what it has become -- a deeply political institution, as fallible as any other, and answerable, when all is said and done, to us" (Douthat, New York Times, 6/2).
"With a health reform at the top of the Congressional and White House agenda, it"s prime time for industry lobbyists," Roll Call reports. But, because details of the anticipated reform package have not yet emerged, industry winners and losers remain largely unknown. Lobbyists are forced to accept clients despite their incomplete knowledge of client needs, and are struggling to anticipate conflicts of interest before they arise, according to the article. "There are so many different players at the table, and right now not knowing whose ox is likely to get gored and at whose expense... the best we can do is try and anticipate conflicts and be clear with our clients in advance," one health care lobbyist told the paper. "We certainly would not lobby on both sides of an issue. It"s also entirely possible conflict may emerge in the next two to six months, and we hope we don"t have to make hard choices" (Ackley, 6/3).
The popular Nintendo Wii videogame system is helping radiology students reach new levels! Faculty from Weill Cornell Medical College have coupled the motion-sensitive Wii remote with the same computers used to analyze scans, and have found that the Wii remote makes examining CT and MRI images more ergonomic, heightens the interactivity during classes, and may potentially improve the ability to interpret scans.
The Food and Drug Administration is taking steps towards greater openness. The Associated Press reports that FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg "announced Tuesday she has created a task force to make recommendations on how the agency can release more information in such areas as drug evaluation and enforcement matters. She wants a report in six months." Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein will head the task force, which will represent all of the FDA"s major divisions as well as its law enforcement branch. It will hold two public meetings with the first on June 24. "The FDA has long operated under strict confidentiality rules," the AP reports, and in opening up information, one sensitive issue will be what to do with unpublished clinical trial data from drug manufacturers. Despite such concerns, "Hamburg said she believes the need for secrecy may have been taken too far, and is harming the FDA"s credibility within the medical community and among consumers" (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/2).
Low Medicare reimbursement rates are not keeping up with costs at hospitals in Iowa and California while a grant helps boost Medicare enrollment in Missouri.
In future, cartilage, tendon and blood vessel tissue will be produced in the laboratory, with cells being grown on a porous frame, such as non-wovens. A new software program helps to characterize and optimize the non-wovens.
The Premier healthcare alliance applauds the healthcare stakeholders group for their commitment to achieve up to $2 trillion in savings over the next decade.
Navajo County Public Health Services District officials announced today the first case of 2009 H1N1 in Navajo County. The Arizona Department of Health Services Lab confirmed that an 18 year old patient at Little Colorado Medical Center tested positive for the illness. The patient has subsequently been treated and released.
Indonesia To Host International Congress On AIDS
Pfizer Inc announced today that Toviaz™ (fesoterodine fumarate) extended release tablets and the YourWay™ plan (http://www.ToviazYourWay.com), a comprehensive, customizable support plan for overactive bladder patients, are available in the United States. Toviaz is a once-daily prescription treatment for patients with symptoms of overactive bladder, which include frequent and sudden urges to urinate and wetting accidents. Toviaz works by helping to calm the bladder muscle that causes frequent, sudden urges to urinate.
More than a decade after Harvard researchers first revealed that life and health insurance companies were major investors in tobacco stocks - prompting calls upon them to divest - the insurance industry has yet to kick the habit, they say.
Men and women may not be from two different planets after all when it comes to choosiness in mate selection, according to new research from Northwestern University.
A promising antimicrobial agent already known to kill bacteria can also kill viruses and stimulate the innate immune system, according to researchers at National Jewish Health. In a paper appearing online June 4 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Michael Howell, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, and his colleagues demonstrated that the synthetic compound CSA-13 can kill vaccinia virus in cell cultures and in mice. Additionally, they showed that CSA-13 stimulates cells to produce their own antimicrobial proteins.
In a review of more than 2,000 patients coded for Barrett"s esophagus, electronic diagnosis overestimated the prevalence of the disease according to researchers in California. They found that only 61.9 percent of patients assigned a billing diagnosis code for Barrett"s esophagus actually had Barrett"s esophagus after a manual record review. The study evaluated the accuracy of diagnostic codes for Barrett"s esophagus by contrasting codes from electronic databases with diagnoses from a detailed medical record review. Researchers also evaluated the reproducibility of a pathologic diagnosis of Barrett"s esophagus between two pathologists and between a single pathologist on two different occasions. The study appears in the May issue of GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE).
Swine flu reminded us how important washing our hands can be. Studies show that simple handwashing can decrease communicable gastrointestinal diseases by 50% and communicable respiratory diseases by 20%.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced
This paper investigates 26 patients with painful metal-on-metal resurfacing arthroplasties and describes three tests for the investigation of the phenomenon. The tests are metal artefact-reduction MRI, 3-D CT measurement of the position of the component and inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
Many hospitalized patients overestimate their chance of surviving an in-hospital cardiac arrest and do not know what CPR really involves, a University of Iowa study has shown.
SANE Australia is pleased to announce the 2009 SANE Book of the Year is Back From The Brink Too: Supporting Your Loved One In Overcoming Depression by Graeme Cowan.
After a vaccination or an infection, the human immune system remembers to keep protecting against invaders it has already encountered, with the aid of specialized B-cells and T-cells. Immunological memory has long been the subject of intense study, but the underlying cellular mechanisms regulating the generation and persistence of long-lived memory T cells remain largely undefined. Now, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers have found that a common anti-diabetic drug might enhance the effectiveness of vaccines. The findings are described this week in an advanced online publication of Nature.
Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa have discovered a powerful new way to stimulate muscle regeneration, paving the way for new treatments for debilitating conditions such as muscular dystrophy.
Johns Hopkins brain scientists have figured out why a faulty protein accumulates in cells everywhere in the bodies of people with Huntington"s disease (HD), but only kills cells in the part of the brain that controls movement, causing negligible damage to tissues elsewhere. The answer, reported this week in Science, lies in one tiny protein called "Rhes" that"s found only in the part of the brain that controls movement. The findings, according to the Hopkins scientists, explain the unique pattern of brain damage in HD and its symptoms, as well as offer a strategy for new therapy.
By applying cutting-edge techniques in single-molecule manipulation, researchers at Harvard University have uncovered a fundamental feedback mechanism that the body uses to regulate the clotting of blood. The finding, which could lead to a new physical, quantitative, and predictive model of how the body works to respond to injury, has implications for the treatment of bleeding disorders.
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal infection in US women of childbearing age, and is common in pregnant women. BV occurs when the normal balance of bacteria in the vagina is disrupted and replaced by an overgrowth of certain bacteria. Because having BV puts a woman at increased risk for a variety of complications, such as preterm delivery, there is great interest in understanding how it can be prevented. Vitamin D may play a role in BV because it exerts influence over a number of aspects of the immune system. This hypothesis is circumstantially supported by the fact that BV is far more common in black than white women, and vitamin D status is substantially lower in black than white women. This relation, however, has not been rigorously studied. To assess whether poor vitamin D status may play a role in predisposing a woman to BV, Bodnar and coworkers at the University of Pittsburgh and the Magee-Womens Research Institute studied 469 pregnant women. The results of their investigation are published in the June 2009 issue of the Journal of Nutrition.
As the administration searches for ways to pay for health care reform and restrain medical costs, President Obama suggested Wednesday that he would consider transferring the power to set Medicare reimbursement rates from Congress to the independent advisory agency known as MedPAC, MedPage Today reports. The move reflects legislation introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., last month that would move MedPAC into the executive branch as "a regulatory board similar to the Federal Reserve ... The move would transfer the power to set reimbursement rates from Congress -- and perhaps the interest groups that lobby it -- to an agency that critics say is better equipped to make nuanced medical payment decisions" (Walker 3/09).