Cardiovascular
Want to find an asthma education centre or a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) clinic near you? Need to get a lung function test and don"t know where to go?
Nearly three decades after China implemented its one-child policy, the city of Shanghai is planning to encourage young couples to have a second child in an effort to address the country"s aging population and shrinking work force, the New York Times reports. The city"s plan is the most public effort made by the government to counteract a program that is "considered both a tremendous success and a terrible failure," the Times reports. The policy has managed to keep population growth under control but also has led to forced abortions, according to the Times.The country is not abandoning the one-child policy, which applies mostly to residents in urban areas. Rather, the government is allowing more exceptions to the rule, with Shanghai -- where about 22% of its 20 million residents are older than age 60 -- leading the effort. China as a whole faces a similar problem seen in Shanghai, the Times reports. About 8% of the country"s population was older than age 65 in 2006. That figure is expected to increase threefold by 2050 to about 322 million people, or nearly 25% of the population, according to the United Nations.In Friday"s issue of China Daily, Xie Lingli, director of the Shanghai Population and Family Planning Commission, was quoted as saying, "We advocate eligible couples to have two kids because it can help reduce the proportion of the aging people and alleviate a work force shortage in the future." City officials plan to visit homes, pass out leaflets, and offer counseling and financial incentives, the Times reports. Current exceptions to the one-child policy are in place for ethnic minorities and rural residents, who can have a second child if the first child is a girl. Couples made up of two parents who have no siblings have always been allowed to have a second child and are now being encouraged to do so (Barboza, New York Times, 7/24).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a Public Health Advisory (PHA) warning consumers to stop using body building products that are represented as containing steroids or steroid-like substances. Many of these products are marketed as dietary supplements.
A health care reform proposal that would allow employers and insurers to give large discounts to employees who lose weight or lower their cholesterol is facing push back from several groups worried about premium disparities, Kaiser Health News reports.
The Baton Rouge Advocate on Sunday examined reasons behind Baton Rouge, La."s high AIDS rate. The most recent data from CDC ranks the Baton Rouge metro area third nationally for AIDS cases for 2007, with 31.4 cases per 100,000 people, according to the article. "State health officials, medical professionals and people who work in HIV/AIDS prevention say there are a variety of reasons the Baton Rouge metro area ranks near the top," including delayed testing, denial of high-risk behavior among individuals and medical advances that are allowing people to live longer with the virus, the Advocate reports. Beth Scalco, the Louisiana director of the HIV/AIDS Program for the state Office of Public Health, said the city"s close proximity to four prisons also contributes to the high rates. Arnold "A.J." Johnson, founder of the Baton Rouge AIDS Society, said the government does not adequately fund HIV/AIDS education in the area. He added, "Part of the problem is the culture and atmosphere. The government needs to come here and attack this area like they did when Hurricane Katrina hit" (Ward, 7/26).
The HealthGrades Fourth Annual Bariatric Surgery Trends in American Hospitals Study released today identifies 88 hospitals as "best" performers (five-star rated), with mortality rates, complication rates and patient lengths of stay that are dramatically lower than poorly rated hospitals.
By a wide margin, health care leaders believe that individuals should have a choice of public and private health plans, and strongly support other central components of health reform such as innovative provider payment reform and a national insurance health exchange with strong standard-setting authority. In addition, two-thirds (68%) of opinion leaders feel it is urgent to enact comprehensive health care reform this year, according to the latest Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey.
Being active at age 5 helps kids stay lean as they age even if they don"t remain as active later in childhood, a new University of Iowa study shows.
Audiologists from America Hears, Inc. now make online house calls to hearing aid customers who install the latest version of the company"s Virtual Office hearing aid programming software on their personal computers at home. The leading online supplier of premium digital hearing instruments introduced a new version of its Virtual Office software with remote-control capabilities enabling America Hears professionals to provide technical support and training over the Internet on customers" personal computers at home.
A simple urine test for diagnosing chlamydia in men could help reduce the risks of persistent infection and transmission to sexual partners, finds a study published on bmj.com.
A meta-analysis of more than 50,000 patients has shown that general practitioners (GPs) continue to have difficulty separating those with and without depression, with substantial numbers missed and misidentified. GPs looking for depression make more misidentifications (false positives of depression) than the number of depressions they correctly spot following an initial consultation but accuracy could improved by re-assessment of people suspected of having depression. These are the conclusions of an Article published Online First and in an upcoming edition of The Lancet, written by Dr Alex Mitchell, Dr Amol Vaze, and Dr Sanajay Rao of Leicester Partnership Trust and University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
A study conducted by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health indicates that approximately 16 percent of public health care workers will not report for work in a pandemic flu emergency, regardless of the severity.
For many women, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can alleviate the physical symptoms associated with the change of life. But despite the initial hype generated by post-menopausal women who noticed a marked improvement in their skin"s appearance while on HRT, dermatologists argue that scientific studies of estrogen do not show definitive improvements for skin rejuvenation of photodamaged skin and the potential risks when used long-term outweigh any potential skin benefits.
Despite having access to some of the best health care in the world, many Americans with the most common form of eczema, known as atopic dermatitis, have sought relief from "alternative medicines." However, dermatologists caution that patients seeking alternative treatments to alleviate symptoms of this common, chronic, inflammatory skin disease marked by red, itchy rashes, risk developing more severe symptoms by delaying treatment.
Although acne traditionally has been considered a disease of teenagers, it is also extremely common in adult women. Studies show that acne affects more than 50 percent of women between the ages of 20-29 and more than 25 percent of women between the ages of 40-49 (1). In fact, after age 20, women are far more likely to report having acne than men. While there is no cure for acne, dermatologists are finding that hormonal therapies can help some women fight bothersome acne that occurs in adulthood.
A US study published online ahead of print in a leading medical journal suggests that complications from H1N1 swine flu could hit pregnant
"You can think of Congress"s efforts to pay for health reform as being a little bit like a battle to slay a many-headed Hydra," writes the New York Times" economic columnist, David Leonhardt. Congress has floated idea after idea for paying for comprehensive health reform, but their proposals have failed to make ends meet because they "do not raise revenue as quickly as health costs rise." Most new taxes - such as a surtax on the rich proposed in the House - increase only as quickly as the economy, while health costs have inflated much more quickly over the last decade.
Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and ranking member, Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), on Tuesday "introduced a bill to overhaul the U.S. system for providing global development aid," the Boston Globe reports (Smith, 7/29). The legislation was also introduced by Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), according to a release from Menendez"s office (7/28).
"Three internationally known organizations based in St. Louis - the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, the Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis Children"s Hospital" - have entered into a partnership, known as the Global Harvest Alliance (GHA), which aims to "create inexpensive, nutritionally complete food to help the world"s hungry and undernourished," the AP/Google.com reports. Alliance researchers will focus on several of the most successful approaches used to combat malnutrition and attempt to further enrich foods already used to fight it. "In addition, the alliance aims to help testing and distribution of crops genetically modified to boost nutritional content. They hope to provide the crops cheaply to farmers to produce more nutritious foods," writes the AP/Google.com (Taylor, 7/29).
Researchers at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer have found that head and neck cancer patients who test positive for the human papillomavirus (HPV) have much better survival rates than patients who don"t have the virus, according to a new study in the journal Cancer Prevention Research. The researchers also discovered that blacks in the study had a very low rate of HPV infection, and consequently worse survival, which may explain why African-American patients traditionally have had a poor prognosis for head and neck cancer.
The National Prescribing Service (NPS) warns people are playing Russian roulette with their health when they take medicines inappropriately. Media reports this week about people mixing sleeping tablet, zolpidem (Stilnox), with energy drink Red Bull™ have failed to highlight the risks people are taking when they intentionally misuse pharmaceuticals.
Older people with a history of cancer are more likely to have disabilities and be frail and vulnerable than older adults who have not had cancer, according to a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, published online July 29.
The Council of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain has announced a fee
Stem cell research promises remedies to many devastating diseases that are currently incurable, ranging from diabetes and Parkinson"s disease to paralysis. Totipotent embryonic stem cells have great potential for generating a wide range of different human cells that can be used to restore malfunctioning or damaged cells and tissues in patients. Recent studies have shown that pluripotent stem cells derived from adult bone marrow, the umbilical cord and the placenta could also be induced to differentiate into a variety of different tissues. In this issue, we have invited several scientists in China to summarize their pioneering works in the stem cell research field.
CircuLite®, Inc. announced that it has been awarded a Fast-Track Phase I-II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund the development of a pediatric circulatory assist device based upon CircuLite"s Synergy Pocket Micro-pump. CircuLite, who will collaborate with the University of Maryland School of Medicine on the grant, has received funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at NIH to support the first phase of the grant. The total potential award for Phase I and Phase II could reach up to $3.7 million. Synergy is a micro-blood pump, the size of a AA battery, that can be implanted superficially in a "pacemaker-like" pocket. Synergy is the first and smallest device designed for partial circulatory support (up to 3L/min) and long-term use in adult patients with Class IIIb and early Class IV heart failure. Synergy is currently in a CE Mark clinical trial at multiple centers in Europe.
Helicobacter pylori, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use and smoking are the most important risk factors for peptic ulcer. Alcohol intake may also play a role in the development of gastric ulcers. Psychological stress may also have an impact on the onset and course of ulcer disease. However, very little is known as to whether childhood adversities involving financial problems, conflicts in the family, problems with alcohol, and matters of personal security are associated with peptic ulcer.
Breast cancer patients have for the first time been recruited from China to take part in an international trial of breast radiotherapy.
Older adults who have less strength, poor physical function and low muscle density are at higher risk of being hospitalized compared to adults with more strength and better function. That"s the finding of a new study in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society.
U.S. Senators Mel Martinez (R-FL) and Evan Bayh (D-IN) introduced a measure to create a collaborated system for researching, treating and eliminating Alzheimer"s disease. The proposal will create an Office of the National Alzheimer"s Project within the White House, and will coordinate all research, clinical care and service toward the prevention, care, and cure of Alzheimer"s. This office will produce a national strategic plan to help assure that the millions of Americans who now have Alzheimer"s and the millions of potentially at-risk Americans will have a coordinated effort to target the 6th leading cause of death in the United States.
The American Red Cross is pleased to announce five new additions to its National Celebrity Cabinet, a group of celebrity supporters who promote Red Cross services by donating their time, helping neighbors prepare for emergencies, responding to disasters and lending a helping hand to those in need.
U.S. Senators Mel Martinez (R-FL) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) of the Special Committee on Aging held a hearing to address the issue of transparency in physician-industry financial relationships. Among the hearing"s topics were the industry"s involvement in continuing medical education and its potential use as a method for promoting "off-label" prescribing. The senators heard from witnesses about different ways to achieve balance between appropriate industry involvement in continuing medical education while mitigating unethical and illegal promotion.
Wiley-Blackwell, the scientific, technical, medical and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, Inc (NYSE: JWa), (NYSE: JWb), has announced that it will be publishing a new diabetes journal titled Journal of Diabetes Investigation from 2010.
A new approach to statistical analysis may be better suited to study the relationship between higher "dose" of dialysis and survival time for patients with advanced kidney disease, according to an upcoming paper in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).
With just days to go before the implementation of the 48-hour working week for junior doctors, the BMA"s junior doctors" leader warns that not all of the NHS is prepared for the European Working Time Directive.
With the implementation of the 48-hour working week for workers throughout Europe, including doctors, on 1 August 2009, the BMA in Northern Ireland has said that it will insist that the health service must meet its obligations to implement the European Working Time Directive (EWTD).
A new study investigated the effectiveness of S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) in the prevention and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or primary liver cancer. SAMe, a widely available nutritional supplement, with little known side effects, was found to be effective in preventing the formation of HCC in rats. However, high enough levels of SAMe were not attainable to successfully treat established HCC. The findings are available in the August issue of Hepatology, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
The following summarizes recent research related to ovarian cancer.~ Early periods linked to lower survival: Women who start menstruating at an early age or experience more menstrual cycles over their lifetimes appear to have a lower chance of surviving ovarian cancer, according to a study published this month in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention, Reuters reports. For the study, researcher Cheryl Robbins and colleagues analyzed the medical data of 410 ovarian cancer patients who participated in the Cancer and Steroid Hormone study between 1980 and 1982. The analysis found that the women who had their first period before age 12 had a 51% greater risk of dying than the women who began menstruating at age 14 or older. The women who had the highest number of lifetime menstrual cycles had a 67% greater risk of dying during follow-up than the women with the lowest number of cycles (Reuters, 7/24).~ Lung cancer risk higher for women after hysterectomy with ovary removal: Women who have had hysterectomies in which their uterus and both ovaries are removed to prevent ovarian cancer appear to have a higher risk for developing lung cancer, according to researchers at the University of Montreal, the New York Times reports. The researchers discovered the connection while looking for links between lung cancer and hormones for a study published in May in the International Journal of Cancer. Although they did not find a relationship between lung cancer risk and hormonal factors such as menstruation patterns, child-bearing or breastfeeding, the researchers found that women who had medically induced menopause had 1.92 times greater risk of developing lung cancer than women who had natural menopause (Caryn Rabin, New York Times, 7/24).~ Small tumors present for years before detection: Minute-sized ovarian tumors form and remain in the Fallopian tubes for an average of four years before they grow large enough to be detected, which might suggest why ovarian cancer frequently is diagnosed in its later stages, according to a study published in the journal PLoS Medicine, Reuters reports. For the study, lead researcher Patrick Brown of Stanford University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and colleagues analyzed the tumors of women whose Fallopian tubes and ovaries were removed because they had family histories of and genetic risk for ovarian cancer. They found small tumors -- most less than three millimeters in diameter -- that previously had not been detected in the women. In a statement, Brown said, "There is a long window of opportunity for potentially lifesaving early detection of this disease, but the tumor spreads while it is still much too small to be detected by any of the tests that have been developed or proposed to date." According to Reuters, blood tests for the compound called CA-125 may help guide therapy but do not indicate whether a woman has a tumor (Reuters, 7/28).
New wiki supports collaboration and accelerates progress on using clinical decision support for healthcare performance improvement
Shire plc announced that a study published online in the peer-reviewed journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health found once-daily Vyvanse® (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate) CII significantly reduced the symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children aged 6 to 12 from the first time point measured (1.5 hours) up to the last time point assessed (13 hours) after administration. In this pediatric analog classroom study, treatment with Vyvanse was associated with significant improvement in behavior and attention in children at each time point measured, with improvement at 13 hours after administration.
Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp. ("SCT" or "the Company") (TSX VENTURE:SSS) is pleased to announce the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") has provided a verbal confirmation to remove its clinical hold placed on NTx®-265 on September 18, 2008. This will allow SCT to commence the recruitment of patients under an amended protocol using NTx®-265 for the Company"s Phase IIb clinical trial treating acute ischemic stroke.
It takes a spleen to mend a broken heart - that"s the conclusion of a surprising new report from researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Systems Biology, directed by Ralph Weissleder, MD, PhD. In the July 31 issue of Science the team reports how, in following up an intriguing observation, they discovered an unexpected reservoir of the immune cells called monocytes in the spleen and went on to show that these cells are essential to recovery of cardiac tissue in an animal heart attack model.
Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, today announced that it has requested re-examination of the negative opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), the scientific committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), for the use of Erbitux® (cetuximab) in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy for the 1st-line treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Taking the opinion seriously Merck Serono will work closely with the CHMP to unravel the value of Erbitux for patients benefit most.
In this week"s New England Journal of Medicine, scientists in Singapore, The Netherlands and France report that they have developed a novel immunization method that will induce fast and effective protection in humans against the life-threatening malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, which infects 350 to 500 million people world-wide and kills over one million people each year.
Laboratory studies at Kansas State University and the work of a K-State researcher are making headway in the effort to control the pandemic H1N1 virus.
Continuing to help ensure the identity, purity and quality of heparin, the U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention has revised written and physical standards for the widely used blood thinner. In February, USP released updated heparin standards at the request of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in response to the 2008 public health crisis in which more than 200 people died as a result of heparin adulterated for economic gain. A second phase of revisions is reflected in the newly posted standards. These developments and new information about heparin were discussed by scientists and regulators at the third International Heparin Workshop held at USP headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, July 27.
Recent questions about the death of Michael Jackson have focused media attention on the commonly used intravenous anesthetic propofol. In the April 2009 issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, the leading clinical journal for anesthesiologists, Robert R. Kirby, James M. Colaw and Michael M. Douglas reported on a 24-year-old woman whose 2005 death was attributed to propofol toxicity.
King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: KG) announced additional information regarding the resubmission plan for the REMOXY® New Drug Application (NDA). The Company is not required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct clinical trials in order to provide additional safety or efficacy data in patients with moderate to severe chronic pain. However, as part of the resubmission plan, and in order to strengthen the NDA, King plans to conduct a likeability study and a pharmacokinetic trial in volunteers. The Company continues to anticipate the resubmission could occur mid-year 2010.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday continued work on health care reform legislation (HR 3200), passing an amendment that would neither require nor prohibit insurance companies from providing coverage for abortion services, the New York Times reports. The amendment, offered by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) and approved by a 30-28 vote, excludes abortion services from the "essential benefits package" that would be defined by the government. While the committee"s reform bill includes subsidies to help pay premiums for low-income people, the amendment prohibits these subsidies from paying for abortion services, stipulating that "insurers must use money from private s to pay for any abortion," the Times reports. The amendment also requires that at least one plan covers abortion services and one does not in every part of the country (Herszenhorn/Pear, New York Times, 7/31).The committee also rejected an amendment that would have been a blanket prohibition on abortion coverage in both public and private plans governed by health care reform legislation, except in very limited cases, the AP/Google reports. The amendment initially was approved when conservative Democrats joined Republicans in supporting it. However, hours later, committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) invoked House rules that allowed him to call for a second vote on the amendment. It was then rejected by a 29-30 vote when Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) changed his vote from "yes" to "no," and Rep. Zack Space (D-Ohio) voted "no" after abstaining the first time (AP/Google, 7/31). The failed amendment was introduced by Reps. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) (Amendment text, 7/30).According to the Times, Democrats on the committee also defeated Republican efforts to eliminate a section of the reform bill that would create a public health insurance plan option (New York Times, 7/31). The AP/Yahoo! News reports that the Energy and Commerce Committee is the last of three House committees to act on health care reform legislation. The Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to finish its work on Friday.The Senate has not matched the House"s progress on reform legislation, as bipartisan negotiators on the Senate Finance Committee Thursday said they need more time to produce an agreement for the committee to review (Werner, AP/Yahoo! News, 7/31). The Finance Committee negotiations between three Democrats and three Republicans, including the committee chair and ranking GOP member, are ongoing as they try to agree on a bipartisan bill that can win at least 60 votes on the Senate floor, CQ Today reports (Jansen/Epstein, CQ Today, 7/30).
As lawmakers disagree over which taxes to raise to pay for health care reform, they "also face another problem: They"re confronting the fear that"s made it hard to raise taxes for more than 30 years. Republicans and moderate Democrats think that any tax increase is political poison back home," McClatchy Newspapers reports. "Republicans are pouncing on Democrats, charging that the party is eager to add a new tax burden to already-strapped constituents in the midst of a recession. ò€¦ The current House Democratic plan would raise an estimated $543.9 billion over 10 years by imposing what it calls a "graduated surcharge" on higher-income earners." One criticism of the proposal is that "small businesses will be hurt. Surcharge backers cite data from Congress" Joint Committee on Taxation that indicate that 96 percent of small businesses wouldn"t be affected."
Actually, Failure Is An Option Congress Daily
Global Health Aid Should Take An "Integrated Approach"
Previously untreated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients over the age of 70 respond well to a combination of bevacizumab and erlotinib, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers reported at the annual meeting of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.
UroToday.com - A recent European study demonstrated that 10-year mortality from cardiovascular disease and cancer was decreased in a population of 70 to 90 year olds who adhered to a Mediterranean diet, were physically active, had moderate alcohol consumption and did not smoke. There are also reports suggesting an inverse association between physical activity and risk of prostate cancer (CaP). Yet mechanisms linking lifestyle and longevity are not well investigated. This report in The Prostate investigates an animal model for the association between physical activity and development of CaP.
UroToday.com - Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma Hominis are members of a unique group of microorganisms commonly identified in the genital tract of women. With the onset of sexual intercourse the prevalence of Mycoplasma increases dramatically an isolation is strongly dependent on the number of sexual partners. Convincing evidence of an infection caused by genital Mycoplasma is not easy, because they usually are not isolated in pure culture, making the evaluation even more difficult.
Data presented today at the 8th European Congress on Menopause
The Turner Syndrome Society of the United States (TSSUS) recently concluded its 22nd Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon. The conference drew more than 350 individuals, families, researchers and health care professionals to network and learn about the latest research breakthroughs benefiting women and girls with TS.
InfoLogix, Inc. (Nasdaq: IFLG), a leading technology provider of enterprise mobility solutions for the healthcare and commercial industries, announced the introduction of a new mobility offering for healthcare providers, the InfoLogix M24 mobile clinical assistant: a powerful mobile computing solution that enables medical professionals to access critical patient information at the point-of-care.
Brazos Valley residents, neuroscience researchers, and interested clinicians will each have opportunities to hear from internationally recognized researchers on the topic of aging and Alzheimer"s Disease during the Texas Brain and Spine Institute"s Third Annual Neuroscience Symposium on September 3 and 4. This year"s symposium will consist of an evening of public presentations aimed at helping local residents, Alzheimer"s patients, and their family members better understand early signs of the disease and ways to reduce your risk. The Friday afternoon session will feature a clinical presentation for health providers and researchers.
A recently passed House spending bill that lifts the ban on the use of federal funding for needle exchange programs, which included an amendment addressing the locations of needle exchanges, "according to many health and human rights advocates, has been diluted to the point that it won"t help the same urban areas most afflicted by" blood-borne illnesses such as HIV, the Washington Independent reports. House Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey (D-Wis.) added an amendment to the bill that prohibits needle exchanges from operating "within 1,000 feet of schools, daycare centers and other areas where children are likely to congregate," according to the Independent. Obey "included the restriction, not because he supports it, but to appease conservative critics who might have killed the entire provision otherwise," the article states. William McColl, political director for AIDS Action, said, "In an urban environment, that really is a restriction on almost anywhere."
"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads this week on a seven-nation tour of Africa aiming to prove U.S. commitment to the continent after the administration"s early focus elsewhere," AFP/ABS-CBN News reports. According to the news service, "Clinton will seek to build ties with three African powers -- Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa -- and visit three nations recovering from conflict -- Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC] and Liberia. She will end with a stop in small U.S. ally Cape Verde" (8/3). "Her visit is the earliest in any U.S. administration that both the President and the Secretary of State have visited Africa," VOA News reports (Clottey, 8/2).
About 1.3 million children"s lives could be saved each year by teaching new mothers how to breastfeed, but many women do not receive help and stop trying, the WHO said on Friday ahead of the start of World Breastfeeding Week, which runs from August 1 through August 7, Reuters reports. "Less than 40 percent of mothers worldwide breastfeed their infants exclusively in the first six months, as recommended by the WHO," the news service writes. Constanza Vallenas, a WHO medical officer in the Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development, said women "don"t have the practical support" to help them get their infants to latch on properly and find a technique that prevents pain and discomfort. Vallenas said the problem exists in both rich and poor countries, and she called for "more assistance in hospitals, health clinics and communities for new mothers who need information and help," according to Reuters (MacInnis, 7/31).
The House Energy and Commerce Committee on July 31 approved its health care reform bill (HR 3200) by a 31-28 vote that was mostly along party lines, the AP/Seattle Times reports. Among the many amendments considered during the markup, the committee rejected an amendment offered by Reps. Joe Pitts (R-Pa) and Bart Stupak (D-MI) to prohibit government subsidies to any insurance plans that offers abortion coverage, effectively prohibiting abortion coverage for customers eligible for public premium assistance. The amendment was rejected by a 27-31 vote. Another provision approved on July 30 would neither require nor prohibit insurance companies from providing coverage for abortion services.The approved bill includes provisions limiting how much insurers can increase premiums and gives the federal government the power to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices under Medicaid. The provisions were part of an effort by Democrats on the committee to reconcile the demands of liberals and conservatives, the AP/Times reports. The bill also would require insurance companies to sell coverage to anyone seeking it, regardless of pre-existing conditions. The government would provide subsidies to lower-income families to help them afford policies. In addition, the legislation would establish health insurance exchanges offering a variety of insurance plans, where consumers with or without subsidies could purchase health insurance (Espo/Werner, AP/Seattle Times, 8/1).Five of the committee"s Democrats joined all 23 Republicans in opposing the measure, the Washington Post"s "Capitol Briefing" reports. The five Democrats who voted against the bill were Reps. John Barrow (Ga.), Rick Boucher (Va.), Jim Matheson (Utah), Charlie Melancon (La.) and Bart Stupak (Mich.) (Kane, "Capitol Briefing," Washington Post, 7/31).The committee was the last of three House panels to take action on the legislation, although the vote comes several weeks after the White House and Democratic leaders originally wanted, the AP/Times reports. The full House is expected to vote on the bill after policymakers return from their August recess.Although the House"s agenda has moved slower than party leaders had hoped, it still was faster than the action in the Senate, according to the AP/Times (AP/Seattle Times, 8/1). Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on July 30 announced that the panel will not mark up a health care reform bill this week after Republican negotiators urged that the speed of discussion in the Senate be slowed, the Post"s "44" reports. The announcement means that health care reform legislation will not be out of committee in both chambers before the summer recess (Pershing, "44," Washington Post, 7/31).Catholic Bishops Say That House Bill Could Expand Abortion Coverage In related news, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in a letter to members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee voiced its opposition to the reform bill, arguing that it could be used to require private health insurance plans to cover abortion services, the Post reports. The bill has been opposed by conservative Christian groups for weeks, with the groups arguing that it could be used to expand abortion rights, the Post reports.In the letter, Cardinal Justin Rigali -- chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities -- said the bill could increase federal funding for abortion services because some government funding would not be covered by the Hyde Amendment, which currently bans the use of federal Medicaid funds for abortion services. Rigali also said the bill could overturn state laws that restrict access to abortion services, such as parental notification laws. In addition, Rigali said the bill should continue to ensure provider conscience rights to protect Catholic health care workers who refuse to provide abortion services based on their religious or moral beliefs (Washington Post, 8/1).
Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties last week accused Orange County officials of having "gerrymandered" the process for distributing health grants and hindering the organization"s ability to establish a breast health program, the Los Angeles Times reports.Over the last eight years, Planned Parenthood and 17 other community clinics have received revenue from a tobacco settlement to fund health education programs. In March, the Board of Supervisors suspended Planned Parenthood"s contract after a constituent noted that taxpayer money was going to a group that performs abortions. The contract was reinstated with new guidelines that money go toward providing "direct medical" services and not toward abortion services. To meet the new guidelines, Planned Parenthood created the Breast Health Program for low-income women younger than age 40. The county rejected the program, followed by about two months of negotiations. The plan was abandoned last week after a deal was not reached within the 23-hour deadline imposed by the county Health Care Agency.In a letter sent last week to the Board of Supervisors and the Health Care Agency, PP OSBC President and CEO Jon Dunn wrote, "The county placed obstacle after obstacle in Planned Parenthood"s path, ultimately making [the breast health program] impossible to implement." He noted that the county refused to properly fund the program, held the organization to different accounting standards than other groups, and "refused to negotiate and imposed an unworkable deadline." According to Dunn, the "real reason" for the obstacles and the difficult negotiations was because the organization provides abortion services. He added, "You have eliminated critical health education programs, created barriers to critically needed care. You will be held accountable for your reckless and irresponsible actions."On Thursday, the county health agency released a statement saying that it had "worked in good faith" to reach an agreement but that funding could not be approved because "Planned Parenthood chose not to sign and return their agreement by the deadline date" (Abdollah, Los Angeles Times, 7/31).
Despite "the flimsy arguments" that some Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee made for opposing the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, she "clearly belongs on the court," a New York Times editorial states. Although Sotomayor sometimes avoided "forthright answers on important legal issues" during the confirmation hearings, she consistently "showed an impressive command of the law," according to the editorial.Claims that Sotomayor would not be able to resist "judicial activism" and that she would be "overly influenced by "personal preferences"" if she were to serve on the court are "strikingly weak," the editorial states. It continues, "Some Republicans may be wary of opposing Judge Sotomayor because she would be the first Hispanic justice, and they are reluctant to alienate a large voting bloc," but "[t]here is no need for political calculations." According to the editorial, "Senators should support her because she is eminently qualified."The editorial states, "We hope the vote in the full Senate for Judge Sotomayor will be overwhelming and the rhetoric more high-minded" (New York Times, 8/2).
Scientists at Leeds have prevented epilepsy caused by a gene defect from being passed on to mice offspring - an achievement which may herald new therapies for people suffering from the condition.
Regular yoga practice is associated with mindful eating, and people who eat mindfully are less likely to be obese, according to a study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Use of the HIV antiretroviral treatment raltegravir, in combination with optimum background therapy, is a safe and effective alternative to conventional combination treatment using efavirenz in patients yet to start antiretroviral treatment. Furthermore, the raltegravir regimen is faster acting and causes fewer adverse events than the efavirenz regimen. These are the conclusions of an Article published Online First and in an upcoming edition of The Lancet, written by Dr Jeffrey L Lennox, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA, and colleagues.
Responding to the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee (IUSS) report on "Students and Universities" Professor Paul Wellings, Chair of the 1994 Group of leading research intensive universities and Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University said:
There is mounting evidence that omega-3 fatty acids from fish or fish oil supplements not only help prevent cardiovascular diseases in healthy individuals, but also reduce the incidence of cardiac events and mortality in patients with existing heart disease. A new study, published in the August 11, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, extensively reviews data from a broad range of studies in tens of thousands of patients and sets forth suggested daily targets for omega-3 consumption.
Anorexic patients drastically reduce food intake and are often not capable of changing their behavior. This can lead to life-threatening weight loss. Using MRI technology, scientists at Heidelberg University Hospital have discovered for the first time processes in brain metabolism that explain this disturbed eating behavior.
Biomolecular computers, made of DNA and other biological molecules, only exist today in a few specialized labs, remote from the regular computer user. Nonetheless, Tom Ran and Shai Kaplan, research students in the lab of Prof. Ehud Shapiro of the Weizmann Institute"s Biological Chemistry, and Computer Science and Applied Mathematics Departments have found a way to make these microscopic computing devices "user friendly," even while performing complex computations and answering complicated queries.
Middle aged people who smoke, have high blood pressure or diabetes are far more likely to develop dementia in later life, suggests research published ahead of print in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
With the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States, there is concern that overweight and obese children need to be screened for chronic medical conditions, including high cholesterol levels.
Kefir, one of the world"s oldest "health" drinks, did little to prevent diarrhea in young children being treated with antibiotics, say researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC), who tested the drink in a unique and rigorous double-blind clinical trial.
Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-Texas) sent a letter to President Obama yesterday accepting his invitation to "come over to the White House and go over line-by-line" the health care reform plan the President is pushing.
A determined effort by Audiology teams across the country has led to 99% of people receiving hearing aids or other appropriate treatment within the government"s 18-week target. Figures for February 2009, just released by the Department of Health, show that the situation has been improving every month since April 2008. The improvements have come about as a result of re-instating frozen posts combined with a determined effort by Audiology teams to work in more flexible and creative ways.
Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANPI, TSX: ANP) announced the launch of a series of new, proprietary Quill(TM) SRS product codes specifically designed for laparoscopic, or minimally invasive, gynecology procedures, including hysterectomies and myomectomies. In 2008, there were approximately 750,000 hysterectomies performed in the United States of which approximately 130,000 were performed laparoscopically. In addition, there were approximately 72,000 myomectomies performed in the United States to remove uterine fibroid tumors. Management estimates 6-8% annual growth in laparoscopically assisted hysterectomies through 2014.
While most people who commit violent acts against abortion providers are "characterized as lone nuts," they actually are often associated with "extremist" antiabortion-rights groups, Ms. editor Michele Kort writes in the magazine"s Summer 2009 issue. These groups "track the whereabouts" of providers and "deliver white-hot rhetoric that paints someone like" murdered abortion provider George Tiller "as a murderer rather than a healer," Kort says. Extremists within the antiabortion-rights movement have "even promoted the assassinations of abortion providers as "justifiable homicides,"" leaving the ""lone nuts" ... as good as licensed to kill," she adds. According to Kort, one in five abortion clinics is the target of repeat violence annually. Since the early 1990s, nine doctors and clinic workers have died as a result of violent attacks, Kort states.Tiller, who was shot to death on May 31 in the foyer of his Wichita, Kan., church, "also faced a concerted attack" in Kansas courts, Kort continues. The legal efforts against Tiller included two grand jury investigations resulting from citizen petition drives led by Operation Rescue and other antiabortion-rights groups. Kort notes that neither jury found any basis for indictment against Tiller. In addition, former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline in 2004 subpoenaed Tiller"s patient records, which Kort writes was "supposedly to determine if he hadn"t reported statutory rapes of pregnant girls under 16." The court dismissed the criminal charges Kline filed in the case. Paul Morrison, the current Kansas attorney general, in 2006 "surprisingly" charged Tiller with 19 misdemeanors for failing to get a second opinion on some abortion procedures, Kort states. She also comments, "After nearly two years of legal proceedings, the jurors in the case delivered a resounding "not guilty" in just 25 minutes."The legal issues were "exhaustive and expensive" for Tiller, according to Kort. She adds that Dan Monnat, Tiller"s attorney in Wichita, said that Tiller ""held up like a soldier"" during the legal battles. Kort reports that Tiller"s friends "worried about him" nonetheless. Susan Hill -- who operates several abortion clinics and referred patients needing the procedure later in pregnancy to Tiller -- said he once told her that he would not retire because "I can"t leave these women. There"s no one else for them."Kort also profiled Miriam Kleiman, a woman who had an abortion at Tiller"s clinic after her fetus was diagnosed with a severe brain malformation at 28 weeks" gestation (Kort, Ms., Summer 2009).
New clinical data presented at a major international meeting of interventional cardiologists challenged the conventionalwisdom on the long-term efficacy of drug-eluting stents, medical devices used in the treatment of coronary artery disease.
Officials at an East Texas health care organization, Health Horizons, which provides HIV testing and other services to people in 12 counties, "has seen more East Texans test positive for [HIV] so far this year than it did for all of 2008," the Lufkin Daily News reports. Executive Director Wilbert Brown said, "We"ve had eight people out of more than 800 test positive for HIV in the first seven months of this year. Most of those have been African-American men. Last year we had a total of six out of more than 1,000. I expect us to see two or three more positives before the year is out. The state average for testing positive is one in 100, and we"re getting close to that number." According to the article, "Brown said he attributes the increase to Health Horizon"s aggressive outreach program targeting high-risk groups and to people realizing the importance of getting tested." The Daily News article also profiles a client of Health Horizons (Cooley, 8/2)
Children have certainly mastered the art of selecting, negotiating and even refusing the chores their parents assign to them. This growth in personal autonomy at home over the last few decades could be the result of shrinking opportunities to participate in activities outside the home, without Mom and Dad looking over their shoulder, according to Dr. Markella Rutherford from Wellesley College in the US. Her analysis1 of back issues of the popular US magazine, Parents, maps how the portrayal of parental authority and children"s autonomy has changed over the last century. Her findings are published online in Springer"s journal Qualitative Sociology.
Cooling unconscious cardiac arrest survivors can increase survival and has a cost effectiveness comparable to other widely accepted treatments in modern health care, researchers report in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
If you are 50 or older and you break your hip, you have a one in four chance of dying within five years. Break your back, and you have a one in six chance of dying that soon, says a McMaster University study.
A recent study of more than 2,000 identical twins found that medical problems early in life, rather than the neurotoxic effects of anesthesia, are likely linked to an individual"s risk for developing learning disabilities. The study"s findings, reported in the journal Twin Research and Human Genetics, contradict research published earlier this year, which concluded that receiving anesthesia younger than age four is associated with subsequent learning problems.
Change the lighting; improve your health. It"s a strategy researchers from Case Western Reserve University"s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and the School of Medicine, the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center at the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center (GRECC), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute"s Lighting Research Center and GE Consumer & Industrial have begun to test in a long-term care facility where daylight, which has proven health benefits, is not readily available.
In many types of cancer, parts of the genetic material of tumor cells are switched off by chemical labels called methyl groups. This kind of methyl labeling ranges among the epigenetic changes that do not change the sequence of DNA building blocks. Such labels are found particularly often in genes which act as important inhibitors of pathogenic cell growth.
The fight against obesity has stepped up a gear with the
Two pharmacists, and one non-pharmacist, have been recognised by the Council of the Royal
The number of Americans under care for depression and other mental illnesses nearly doubled between 1996 and 2006, and the overall cost of treating them jumped by nearly two-thirds, according to the latest News and Numbers from HHS" Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
GeoVax Labs, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: GOVX), an Atlanta-based HIV/AIDS vaccine development company announced updates on its ongoing and planned human clinical trials.
Students and staff, among others in the profession, have the chance to make their views
The American Civil Liberties Union has launched an effort to offer no-cost legal advice about an Illinois law requiring providers to notify an unmarried minor"s parents prior to performing an abortion, the AP/KWQC reports. The law, which took effect on Tuesday, was enacted in 1995. However, enforcement of the law was delayed by a series of court challenges. It requires that either a parent, grandparent, stepparent living in the home or a legal guardian be notified prior to a minor obtaining an abortion, although judges are permitted to grant exceptions. Abortion-rights opponents claim the law will ensure that parents are consulted so their children "aren"t forced into abortions," according to the AP/KWQC.In response to the law, ACLU has created a toll-free phone line and a Web site to assist girls seeking information about the judicial bypass process. Lorie Chaiten of the Illinois ACLU said the group also has been training lawyers to assist minors (AP/KWQC, 8/4).
"Attempts to set billions aside for infrastructure projects like bike paths face an uphill battle on Capitol Hill," The Chicago Tribune reports, adding "GOP legislators see no health savings in parks and similar projects," while advocates say preventive efforts will bring down costs. "A draft Senate bill would provide up to $10 billion annually for a "prevention and public health investment fund" -- a portion of which could be used for projects such as bike paths, sidewalks, farmers markets and other community interventions meant to curb chronic and costly conditions like obesity."
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends the human papillomavirus vaccination for all 11- and 12-year-old girls, but results of a recent survey showed that more than half of Texas physicians do not follow these recommendations.
Pfizer will present new data highlighting the company"s commitment to a personalized approach to oncology clinical research, which includes the use of targeted agents in specific patient populations in several advanced and difficult-to-treat cancers. These data will be presented later this month at the 45th Annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Orlando from May 29 to June 2.
According to the latest data in a clinical study supported by St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ), deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy for depression may provide sustainable improvement in depression symptoms among patients with major depressive disorder. Study results will be presented at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) meeting in San Francisco.
A team of researchers from CIC bioGUNE from the Cellular Biology and Stem Cell Unit, alongside a team from Paris" Cardiovascular Research Centre (INSERM U970) have developed a new area of research which looks extremely promising as regards the development of new therapeutic responses to ischemic pathologies and cardiovascular diseases in general. The results of this research project, which was initiated in 2005 and is supported by Bizkaia:Xede and the Basque Government"s Etortek programme, were published in the prestigious scientific journal Circulation.
Direct Flow Medical, Inc. a privately held, emerging medical device Company developing a next generation, minimally invasive implant to treat patients with heart valve disease announced the issuance of its 5th patent on their Percutaneous Aortic Valve (PAV) Technology. The patent (USP# 7,534,259) entitled: "Nonstented Heart Valves with Formed in situ Support" provides further protection for this second generation PAV device.
Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCMP), an international biopharmaceutical company, announced that its subsidiary, Sucampo Pharma, Ltd., has initiated enrollment and completed the randomization of the first patient into the pivotal phase 3 efficacy trial of lubiprostone for chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) in Japan.
The word "endocarditis" comes from the word "endocardium". The endocardium is the innermost tunic of the heart, including the endothelium and subendothelial connective tissue; in the atrial wall, smooth muscle and numerous elastic fibers also occur.