Mental Health
Risk for hepatocellular carcinoma, a primary malignancy of the liver, was statistically significantly higher among women with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection than among women without the virus, according to a study published online June 17 in the JNCI.
The saying "Knowing is half the battle" is never more true than when discussing early treatment of disease. Muscular dystrophy is one such disease where patients can benefit from early treatment. Now, new research is moving doctors and scientists closer to disease diagnosis in advance of patient symptoms.
Researchers have identified a new candidate tumor suppressor gene in colorectal cancer and examined its use as a potential biomarker in stool samples, according to a new study published online June 17 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics (Euronext: AMT), a leader in the field of human gene therapy, announced today new data showing that a one-time administration of its lead product GlyberaTM results in significant long-term health benefits. Long-term follow-up data from two clinical trials show that one administration with GlyberaTM brings significant and clinically important reduction in acute pancreatitis in lipoprotein lipase deficient patients. Recurrent acute pancreatitis is the most debilitating complication of lipoprotein lipase deficiency (LPLD) and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. These data were presented at the International Symposium on Atherosclerosis in Boston, one on the most prestigious conferences on arterial disease well-attended by expert physicians.
Forty-six percent of patients over age 60 currently on the waiting list for a kidney transplant will die before they receive an organ from a deceased donor, reports an upcoming study in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). "Our results emphasize the particular need to consider living donation as an alternative for some older patients or alternatively, the critical importance of navigating the steps to receive a deceased donor transplant as rapidly as possible," comments Jesse D. Schold, PhD (University of Florida, Gainesville).
Billing claims from health insurance companies can provide insights on the long-term health of kidney transplant patients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). The findings indicate that valuable health information can be obtained by analyzing medical insurers" reimbursement documents, a process that is much simpler and cheaper than many other forms of clinical investigation.
Omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish such as tuna and salmon may protect against progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but the benefits appear to depend on the stage of disease and whether certain supplements are taken, report researchers at the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research (LNVR), Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University.
A more effective way to build plastic scaffolds on which new tissues and even whole organs might be grown in the laboratory is being developed by an international collaboration between teams in Portugal and the UK.
Osmetech (LSE:OMH) announced that it has submitted a request to the US FDA for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its Respiratory Pathogen Test Panel test to be used to screen for the swine flu virus.
Researchers found support for an association between the use of stimulants and sudden unexplained death among children and adolescents, according to a study released today by The American Journal of Psychiatry.
The new application syngo iFlow from Siemens Healthcare makes it possible for the first time to
Thousands of unregistered Rohingya refugees living in the Kutupalong makeshift camp, Bangladesh, are being forcibly displaced from their homes, in an act of intimidation and abuse by the local authorities. The international medical organization Doctors Without Border/Mç©decins Sans Frontiç¨res (MSF) has treated numerous people for injuries, of which the majority were women and children. Furthermore, MSF has witnessed countless destroyed homes and heard many reports of people being warned to remove their own shelters or face the consequences.
The American Cancer Society - the nation"s leading voluntary health organization and largest non-governmental funder of cancer research and discovery - will present its Corporate Impact Awards June 19 during the Society-hosted Corporate Impact Conference in Chicago. The awards will recognize companies" engagement in targeted efforts to significantly impact cancer"s effect on the workplace, where disease-related expenditures and lost productivity costs annually surpass $228 billion; in contributing funds to the American Cancer Society to fight the disease; and in addressing responsible community involvement.
Our ability to form long-term memories depends on cells in the brain making strong connections with each other. Yet while it"s not well understood how those connections are made, lost or changed, the process is known to involve the movement of the AMPA receptor protein to and from those neuronal connections.
The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires reports on reaction to the Obama administration"s proposed cuts that may acutely affect hospitals. It notes: "President Obama last weekend called for $313 billion in savings over 10 years through adjustments in Medicare and Medicaid payments - a plan that a "deeply disappointed" American Hospital Association said would mean $220 billion in payment cuts to hospitals, on top of billions in other proposed Medicare cuts."
Mathematica Policy Research: The National Health Plan Collaborative: Overview Of Its Origins, Accomplishments And Lessons Learned
Many doctors believe that the increase in caesarean section births in the U.S. over the last decade has been fueled by three main factors -- fear of malpractice lawsuits, a decrease in vaginal births after c-sections and rising rates of obesity -- the St. Petersburg Times reports. According to the Times, 31.8% of U.S. births were c-sections in 2007, compared with 21% a decade earlier, making c-sections the most commonly performed procedure in the nation"s hospitals.A few decades ago, c-section births were relatively rare, representing only 4% of U.S. births in 1965. According to the Times, c-section rates began to increase when it was believed that many cerebral palsy cases were the result of infants being deprived of oxygen during traumatic vaginal deliveries, which led to malpractice suits against doctors. At the same time, advancements in neonatal care and electronic fetal monitoring in recent decades have helped make the procedure safer and therefore more common. Robert Yelverton, a physician and board member of the Florida Obstetric and Gynecologic Society, said that doctors "tend to opt for the method of childbirth most likely to withstand a legal challenge." Whereas doctors in the past were more likely to use techniques such as vacuum extraction or manually turning an infant during a difficult birth, doctors today automatically opt for a c-section, according to Yelverton. According to the Times, one study found that 76% of U.S. obstetricians reported at least one litigation event, with an average award of $2.3 million for negligence in childbirth.An increase in obesity and a decline in VBACs also have driven the rise in c-section births, the Times reports. VBACs have declined from nearly 30% in the 1990s to 7.9% in 2005, which some doctors say is a result of fear of litigation because of the chance for rare but serious complications during birth. Similarly, obesity puts women at an increased risk for gestational diabetes, delivering prematurely or having larger infants, which can make birth more risky, the Times reports. More than one-third of U.S. women of childbearing age are overweight or obese (Martin, St. Petersburg Times, 6/17).
The amount of time imaging equipment is in use in outpatient settings does not approach use rates President Obama and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommend Medicare utilize to calculate reimbursement for imaging, according to data recently collected by the Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA), a national association of business professionals in radiology.
The Medical Defence Union (MDU) is reminding its GP members about the steps they can take to avoid medication errors when treating children and the importance of learning from errors. The advice follows the publication of the National Patient Safety Agency"s (NPSA) first review of patient safety incidents involving the under 18s reported under the national reporting and learning system (RLS).
Fallopian tubes normally discarded after hysterectomies and other procedures could become rich potential s for mesenchymal stem cells
The Norwegian biopharmaceutical company Lytix Biopharma and Korean company KAEL-GemVax announced the signing of a collaborative agreement to test lead compounds LTX-315 and GV1001 as a combination therapy for the treatment of cancer.
Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy has just released details of the latest developments for the Families of SMA funded therapeutic pipeline.
Gargling with a licorice solution can help reduce postoperative sore throat a common and painful complication of anesthesia in patients undergoing surgery, reports a study in the July issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).
The Computer Vision research group at the Universitat Jaume I of CastellÃö is working with the Hospitals Consortium of CastellÃö to develop a digital analysis system of multispectral images to help physicians distinguish melanoma from other kinds of skin diseases. A cooperation agreement has been signed by UJI, the University-Business Foundation and the CastellÃö Provincial Hospital Foundation to implement this project.
The American Lung Association released its State of the Air: 2009 Report this month. The 10th annual report states that air pollution has significantly improved in some areas of the country, but major cities still have significant problems with pollutants.
Leaders of three national organizations representing nearly a third of a million physicians today visited Capitol Hill offices to express their continued concern for America"s patients who do not have access to primary care physicians. The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American College of Physicians (ACP) and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) represent the majority of physicians who care for Medicare patients. The leaders noted that only 17 percent of U.S. medical school graduates in 2008 expressed a preference for a primary care specialty - an all-time low - at a time when demand for primary care is rapidly increasing.
The Australian Medical Students" Association commends the announcement made by The Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) to withdraw support from the 10-year moratorium imposed on overseas doctors by the government in an attempt to improve patient access to doctors in rural areas.
On June 12, the Heart and Diabetes Center NRW in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, performed the 800th implant of the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart. The 60-year-old patient, who was suffering from biventricular failure, was listed in stable condition post-implant.
The Actuarial Profession has published, for consultation, a prototype model to project future mortality rates. The model has been developed in response to the continuation of significant increases in life expectancy since projections were last published by the Profession in 2002.
UroToday.com - Men undergoing surgical interventions for BPH are still at risk for subsequent development of prostate cancer (CaP) due to residual tissue. It is suggested that PSA decreases approximately 0.1-0.3ng/ml for every 1g of prostate tissue removed. In the online edition of Urology, Dr. Brian Helfand and associates determined the PSA values and PSAV in patients who had undergone TURP, holmium laser resection of the prostate (HoLRP), or open prostatectomy (OP) for treatment of BPH and compare these values in patients with histologic BPH only with the values in those with incidentally found CaP.
World hunger is projected to reach a historic high in 2009 with 1 020 million people going hungry every day, according to new estimates published by FAO today.
Reductions in the flow of the Apalachicola River have far-reaching effects that could prove detrimental to grouper and other reef fish populations in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, according to a new Florida State University study that may provide new ammunition for states engaged in a nearly two-decade water war.
Canada and the United States have reached an agreement that will give organic producers access to more markets and make sure Canadian families can find more organic products in their grocery stores.
HHS Secretary Proclaims: "Single-Payer is Not Part of the Discussion" Allows Health Insurance Corporations to Continue Patient Abuses
School Nutrition Association president Dr. Katie Wilson, SNS announced new data today on the widespread availability of vegetarian school lunch options. Almost two thirds of school nutrition programs now offer a vegetarian school lunch on a consistent basis, up from 22% in 2003, according to the Association"s soon to be released 2009 School Nutrition Operations Report. The availability of vegetarian school lunches in a majority of districts is consistent with the overall trend in the past five years towards more nutritious school lunches emphasizing whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and low-fat dairy. The vegetarian choices also come in spite of federal school lunch reimbursements that have not kept pace with increased food and labor costs. Dr. Wilson presented the research findings at the National Conference on Childhood Obesity in Washington, DC today.
A Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center project called "open notes"" will make doctor"s notes available to as many as 35,000 patients online along with the rest of their medical records for a year, the Boston Globe reports.
CNN examines race disparities in health care during a 4-minute segment that is part of the station"s week-long focus on health care issues.
New research published by the Royal College of Physicians shows that more consultants on Acute Medical Units (AMUs) can reduce hospital stays and prevent inappropriate admissions in the first place. AMUs are now found in hospitals all over the country, despite being a relatively new specialty. This is the first evidence to support arguments that they will bring benefits to patient care.
American Lung Association Calls Upon President Obama to Protect Entire Federal Workforce
AIDS Community Services of Western New York (ACS), a Buffalo-based agency that provides medical treatment and social services for individuals and families affected by HIV/AIDS, has lost a $288,500 grant from the Junior League of Buffalo that was to be used to expand a primary care center, the Charlotte Business Journal reports. The Junior League of Buffalo cited a contract agreement that said construction was to be completed by Dec. 31, 2008 as the reason for the decision; construction has yet to begin. ACS President Ronald Silverio said the agency will move forward with its expansion plans, although they will be further delayed, and anticipates that they will receive other funding to replace the loss. Since the ACS began planning this project, they have also experienced cuts in state funding, according to the Journal (Drury, Charlotte Business Journal, 6/19).
US researchers found that men with prostate cancer who consumed a mix of polyphenols found in green tea experienced a significant reduction in
The Economist examines schistosomiasis in China. The disease, which is also called snail-fever, is the "world"s second-most prevalent tropical disease after malaria, affecting 207 million people of whom 726,000 are Chinese, according to the most recent official figures, from 2004," the Economist reports.
After years of declining teenage pregnancy rates and improved teen contraception use during the 1990s and early 2000s, the trends appeared to have flattened or even reversed among some groups of teens in recent years, according to a study from Columbia University"s Mailman School of Public Health and the Guttmacher Institute, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Researchers found that from 2003 to 2007, teens" contraceptive use declined by 10%, while their level of sexual activity did not change. The decrease in contraceptive use was particularly prevalent among black teens. The figures take into account the rate of contraception use as well as the types of contraceptives used, as methods vary in effectiveness. Teen condom use leveled off and in some cases declined, according to the study. The study also reported that the teen birth rate increased by 5% from 2005 to 2007. According to the study"s authors, the findings suggest a link between declining teen contraception use and the rise in abstinence-only education during former President George W. Bush"s administration. President Obama"s fiscal year 2010 budget proposal calls for redirecting some abstinence-only funds toward increased comprehensive sex education, the Monitor reports. In addition to the effects of abstinence-only sex education, the decline in condom use also could be tied to lessening concern about sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS. A shift in the teen population to include a higher number of Hispanics -- who have the highest rates of teen pregnancy and birth -- also could contribute to the findings. Laura Lindberg, one of the study"s authors and a senior research associate at Guttmacher, said, "In the end, this story is really about the loss of momentum." She added that although the statistical changes are small, "they raise concern about what the next few years will bring in this country." Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, noted that the proportion of births to unmarried women, particularly among women ages 20 to 24, also is on the upswing (Feldmann, Christian Science Monitor, 6/18).
Fresenius Medical Care, which operates the nation"s leading network of dialysis clinics, today endorsed the Performance Excellence and Accountability in Kidney Care (PEAK) campaign recently launched by Kidney Care Partners (KCP) - a coalition of patient advocates, dialysis professionals, care providers and manufacturers working together to improve quality of care for individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The PEAK initiative is designed to significantly reduce the mortality rate for patients in their first year of dialysis.
The emergence of global health initiatives (GHIs), eg, The Global Fund and PEPFAR, has resulted in a striking expansion of key health interventions in recent years, from which millions have benefited. There is also evidence, however, that such initiatives can constrain the health systems of poor countries and that many opportunities to improve efficiency, equity, value for money and outcomes in global public health are still being missed. The health systems strengthening agenda needs more investment, and to be infused with the same sense of ambition and speed that has characterised GHIs. This is one of five key recommendations in a new multi-partner report published in a Health Policy paper in this week"s edition of The Lancet.
Researchers at Brigham and Women"s Hospital and the University of Michigan
"Moving to a more continuous follow-up approach would have the tremendous advantages of enhancing patient safety, decreasing physician and nurse work load, and allowing health staff to focus on medical emergencies," urged Professor Angelo Auricchio, from the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) and official spokesperson of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), adding that such systems may have the additional advantage of being more cost effective for health care providers.
One in five people fall below the official poverty line following the death of their partner. "Hence the recent fall in the value of annuities, savings and investments means an even wider group of older people could face financial difficulties when their partner dies, whether these difficulties are short-lived or longer lasting," says researcher Anne Corden of the Social Policy Research Unit, University of York
As President Obama prepares to sign a bill giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight of the tobacco industry, a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers shows that tobacco manufacturers have continually changed the ingredients and the design of their cigarettes over time, even if those changes have exceeded acceptable product variance guidelines. The result, say the researchers, is that consumers who buy the same brand of product are not made aware of how that product has been altered and what effect those alterations might have on their levels of addiction or harm.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new guidance for nursing home surveyors, further defining and clarifying several important dimensions of care to help improve nursing home residents" quality of life and environment.
When treating the diabetes patient, doctors discussed how a "one size fits all" approach to testing is not enough to reveal an individual"s risk for cardiovascular disease Saturday at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) 18th Annual Meeting & Clinical Congress.
The goal of creating adult blood stem cells from human embryos to prepare a patient for tissue and organ transplant has been brought a step closer by research carried out at the MRC Molecular Haematology Unit at Oxford University.
For more than 3000 years, hundreds of millions of people have died or been left permanently scarred or blind by the relentless, incurable disease called smallpox. In 1967, Dr. D.A. Henderson became director of a worldwide campaign to eliminate this disease from the face of the Earth. SMALLPOX - THE DEATH OF A DISEASE: THE INSIDE STORY OF ERADICATING A WORLDWIDE KILLER (Prometheus Books, $27.98) is Dr. Henderson"s personal story of how he led the World Health Organization"s campaign to eradicate smallpox - the only disease in history to have been deliberately eliminated. Some have called this feat "the greatest scientific and humanitarian achievement of the past century."
Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (19th June 2009) - Prison should be abolished in its current form, according to Joe Sim, Professor of Criminology at Liverpool John Moores University.
The Ministry of Health in Iran has reported the country"s first confirmed case of H1N1 swine flu, in a 16 year-old Iranian boy who lives in the US
PharmaVentures Ltd, announced that it has been engaged by InDex Pharmaceuticals AB to advise and assist in out-licensing its first in class therapeutic, Kappaproct (DIMS 0150), for the treatment of steroid resistant / dependent Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The engagement will utilise PharmaVentures" transactions experience in the healthcare and investment business sectors.
Light Sciences Oncology, Inc. (LSO) announced that a new preclinical study has yielded evidence that the company"s novel light-activated drug Aptocine(TM) (formerly Litx(TM)) may enhance anti-tumor immunity and prevent metastases. Results of the study will be presented in a poster session at the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Orlando, Florida, on May 30, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM. The study was conducted by Dr. Sandra Gollnick at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York.
New research sheds light on how cocaine regulates gene expression in a crucial reward region of the brain to elicit long-lasting changes in behavior. The study, published by Cell Press in the May 14th issue of the journal Neuron, provides exciting insight into the molecular pathways regulated by cocaine and may lead to new strategies for battling drug addiction.
A research team may have broken the stubborn impasse that has frustrated the invention of an effective HIV vaccine, by using an approach that bypasses the usual path followed by vaccine developers. By using gene transfer technology that produces molecules that block infection, the scientists protected monkeys from infection by a virus closely related to HIV -- the simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV -- that causes AIDS in rhesus monkeys.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has launched a new website devoted to women who are approaching or going through menopause to provide them with the necessary information they need to make informed decisions about their health. The ACOG-sponsored website can be found at http://pause.acog.org.
Alabama"s summer climate with its extreme temperatures and high humidity can lead to heatrelated
The one-year-old Florida-based organization Sistas Organizing to Survive on Saturday held a rally in Orlando that sought to raise awareness of HIV among black women and encourage them to be tested, the Orlando Sentinel reports. According to Debbie Tucci, coordinator for the Orange County Health Department"s HIV/AIDS program, one in 68 black women in the state is living with HIV/AIDS and many are unaware they are infected. AIDS has been a leading cause of death for black women ages 25 to 44 in the state for the past 15 years, the Sentinel reports (Ruano Gonzç¡lez, Orlando Sentinel, 6/21).
On Wednesday, a national HIV testing campaign called "Don"t?Guess?Test!" is making a "controversial move" by distributing free HIV testing kits that have not been approved by FDA in the lead up to National HIV Testing Day on June 27, the Washington Business Journal reports. The kits have been clinically tested and are available in Africa, Asia and Europe, according to the Business Journal. Due to the sensitive nature of the non-FDA-approved kits, campaign officials are not disclosing how many tests will be distributed or the location of distribution at this time (Plumb, Washington Business Journal, 6/22).
After the murder last month of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller, "there is a very real danger" that the availability of abortion later in pregnancy "will end in this country -- not after public deliberation, legislative debate and majority vote, but because antiabortion absolutists on the fringe have intimidated and blacklisted doctors and successfully threatened violence against them," Jim Buie, author of the blog The Buie Knife, writes in a Newsweek.com opinion piece. Buie writes that his parents in the early 1950s chose to institutionalize his three-year-old-brother, who was born with severe Down syndrome, after their attempts to care for him left them with "severe emotional distress" and unable "to meet the needs of their healthy children."Buie continues that he "cannot say that the option of a late-term abortion would have been the right one for my parents." However, "some of the arguments advanced by pro-life forces disturb me," he says, especially a "tendency to romanticize, sentimentalize and idealize life with a cute, forever-young Down-syndrome "angel child."" Buie adds, "It"s an argument I find off-putting, especially when it"s espoused by people who have never been through the wringer trying to care for a child whose disability level is on the most severe end of the scale." He continues, "At the same time, it is very disturbing that until recently, the majority of Down-syndrome fetuses were aborted without expectant mothers receiving proper information or support."Because of Tiller"s murder, it is "possible there won"t be any doctors in the country willing to perform" abortion later in pregnancy, "even if prenatal tests indicate severe retardation," according to Buie, who adds that this would mean that "domestic terrorism could win." He concludes, "It would mean that parents like my own would no longer have a choice, and would instead be forced to endure the same harsh realities that were present in the 1950s" (Buie, Newsweek.com, 6/17).
Neovacs, a biotechnology company developing proprietary immunotherapeutics for autoimmune and chronic diseases, announced that subject to regulatory consent, it plans to initiate a Phase II study of its TNF-alpha Kinoid later this year in rheumatoid arthritis patients who have failed treatment with at least one TNF-alpha inhibitor. The decision to proceed with the trial was based on an initial review of encouraging data from the company"s Phase I/II study in Crohn"s disease.
The overall aim of National Falls Awareness Day, held on the 23rd June 2009 is to raise awareness of the increased risk of falling as people age. Many of the products in Mountway"s current extensive portfolio of independent living solutions can be used to aid with falls prevention.
The Department of Health"s Specialist Advisor for Autism, Elaine Hill,
Yesterday morning, AARP CEO A. Barry Rand delivered the following remarks at the White House announcement of a new agreement to substantially fill the Medicare Part D coverage gap:
Zannos Grekos, MD, Associate Clinical Professor at Nova Southeastern University, has announced six month follow-up results for a patient treated with adult stem cells in a clinical study of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. The clinical study is a collaborative effort among physicians at Regenocyte Therapeutic, an American stem cell therapy clinic; researchers and scientists from Theravitae, a biotechnology company from Israel; and physicians from the American Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Dominican Republic.
Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENZN) announced that it has opened its first Phase II trial for PEG-SN38 (EZN-2208), its novel proprietary cancer compound. The trial is open at multiple centers throughout the United States for patients diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer.
Ceragenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc.("Ceragenix") (OTCBB:CGXP), a medical device company focused on infectious disease and dermatology, announced that researchers at National Jewish Health, led by Dr. Donald Y. Leung and Dr. Michael Howell, in collaboration with Dr. Paul B. Savage of Brigham Young University, have demonstrated in a series of in vitro experiments and preclinical animal testing that an investigational drug compound known as CSA-13 shows promise as a potential therapy to treat viral infections from the vaccinia virus. The research appears ahead of print in an advanced online publication of the Journal of Investigate Dermatology, the official journal of the Society for Investigative Dermatology. This work was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Atopic Dermatitis Vaccinia Network.
In a paper in Nature Geoscience, a team from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS), along with colleagues from TÃøbingen (Germany) and Bristol presents a novel continuous reconstruction of sea level fluctuations over the last 520 thousand years. Comparison of this record with data on global climate and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels from Antarctic ice cores suggests that even stabilisation at today"s CO2 levels may commit us to sea-level rise over the next couple of millennia, to a level much higher than long-term projections from the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Researchers at Children"s Hospital Boston have isolated a potent inhibitor of tumor metastasis made by tumor cells, one that could potentially be harnessed as a cancer treatment. Their findings were published in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of June 22.
Companies are being reminded of their duty to protect their workforce, especially workers from other countries, after a migrant worker employed at a pet bedding company suffered serious injuries in a shredder.
New research which suggests a direct link between smoking and brain damage will be published in the July issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry. Researchers, led by Debapriya Ghosh and Dr Anirban Basu from the Indian National Brain Research Center (NBRC), have found that a compound in tobacco provokes white blood cells in the central nervous system to attack healthy cells, leading to severe neurological damage.
Melatonin can slow down the effects of aging. A team at laboratoire Arago in Banyuls sur Mer (CNRS / Universitç© Pierre et Marie Curie) has found that a treatment based on melatonin can delay the first signs of aging in a small mammal. These results appeared in the journal PLoS ONE on 15 June 2009.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), age-related macular degeneration (AMD) ranks third as a cause of visual impairment. It is the primary cause of visual impairment in industrial countries with a blindness prevalence of 8.7 percent. A new medical study indicates, however, that with the use of the Macular Health vitamin supplement there is a way to preserve the vision of millions of aging adults suffering from AMD.
HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a leading provider of managed care market intelligence, reports that while health systems and physician groups in the Phoenix market seem to be ahead of the curve in adopting electronic medical records (EMR), there is a high rate of "deinstallation" wherein physician groups cancel their EMR contracts as a result of training, functionality or affordability issues. According to the recent Phoenix Market Overview, this trend is especially prevalent among smaller physician groups and points to the need for a simplified, affordable solution.
An article published Online First and in a future edition of The Lancet discusses the management of a rare condition called placental-site trophoblastic tumors (PSTTs). They are malignant tumors usually presenting months to years after pregnancy. The chances of surviving those tumors are linked to how much time elapsed since the related pregnancy took place. The article is written by Dr Peter Schmid and Professor Michael J Seckl, of the Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust, London, UK, and colleagues. This paper is a milestone and the first study in thirty years to inform on a complete national experience of the disease. It represents the world"s largest series.
The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) reports 22 new cases of H1N1 swine flu for last week, bringing the state"s total number of cases to 105. The new cases last week were in Lamar (6), Rankin (4), Covington (2), Madison (2), Chickasaw (1), Forrest (1), Harrison (1), Jackson (1), Lafayette (1), Monroe (1), Warren (1) and Winston (1) counties.
What do a college of veterinary medicine and a cancer treatment and research center have in common? The answer may be as plain as the nose on your dog"s face. Researchers from North Carolina State University"s College of Veterinary Medicine and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center are combining their expertise to pinpoint the cause of -- and improve treatments for -- non-Hodgkin lymphoma in human and canine patients.
New York Times Examines Visa Laws Effects On People Living With HIV/AIDS
Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor has not become the "political lightning rod" Republican senators hoped for, leaving doubt among some members of the GOP that the nomination process will be controversial enough to help them or hurt Democrats in the 2010 elections, Politico reports. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said that "at least so far" Sotomayor "doesn"t have the punch put there in terms of fundraising and recruiting." Thune said that one reason the GOP response to Sotomayor has been relatively quiet is that she is nominated to replace retiring Justice David Souter, rather than a more conservative justice. "When one of the conservatives leaves the court, then I think you"ll have a huge fight, and I think that will be very galvanizing," Thune said. Similarly, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said he does not foresee Sotomayor"s nomination becoming a major issue in the 2010 campaigns. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said that the GOP would use witnesses at Sotomayor"s confirmation hearing to present some opposition arguments (Raju, Politico, 6/22). Sessions and other Senate Republicans are preparing a series of speeches to highlight their concerns about Sotomayor, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to a Senate Republican aide, the focus of Sessions" speech will be Sotomayor"s role in the group LatinoJustice PRLDEF, for which she served as a board member from 1980 to 1992. Unless new information surfaces, there are few doubts that Sotomayor will be confirmed, the Journal reports (Bravin, Wall Street Journal, 6/22).
The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries.~ ""Anonymous" Republican Senator Obstructs Resolution To Condemn Clinic Violence," Jodi Jacobson, RH Reality Check: On Thursday, an unnamed Republican senator "used his power to put a "hold"" on a resolution (S.R. 187) "condemning violence against women"s health providers, thereby blocking any vote on the resolution," Jacobson writes. She adds, "So much for agreeing on at least a basic premise in the debate about choice, reproductive rights or even reproductive health." Such holds, which senators can submit anonymously and without explanation, allow Republicans to "get away with sorrowful expressions to the media on violence" without having "to be put to the test of actually voting to denounce the violence against" abortion providers like George Tiller, Jacobson writes. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who introduced the resolution, "intended [it] to be non-controversial," but the "condemnation of violence is apparently too much for some Republicans to bear," Jacobson continues. She adds that the House unanimously passed a resolution (H.R. 505) last week condemning violence in places of worship. The three senators who introduced the Senate resolution "decided to move forward with their resolution" without the House"s language because they "feel condemning violence against women"s health care providers and agreeing not to use violence as a means of resolving differences are not objectionable viewpoints," Jacobson writes. She concludes, "Apparently, there is no common ground in the Senate on not using violence where women"s health is concerned" (Jacobson, RH Reality Check, 6/19).~ "Supporting MAMAs," Amie Newman, RH Reality Check: Under President Obama, who is calling for "an exploration of common ground in the abortion debate and is spearheading the fight for health care reform, we have an opportunity to re-examine the gamut of women"s reproductive and sexual health care in order to improve access to all care," Newman writes. She continues that the Midwives and Mothers in Action campaign, a collaboration of advocacy and consumer groups, is working "to ensure that health care reform remembers midwifery." The group is lobbying for federal recognition of certified professional midwives as a means to increase women"s access to affordable, quality obstetrical care and working to ensure that "Medicaid coverage for certified professional midwives is included in any health care reform," Newman writes. According to Newman, in 25 states "it is illegal to choose the care provider or setting for your birth because certified professional midwives are outlawed as birth facilitators." She continues, "As we work towards immense health care reform, the question for all reproductive health advocates should be: How much longer will we tolerate a system in which women"s and babies" health and lives are compromised, costs to the consumer are rising, access to childbirth care remains inequitable and certified professional midwives must fight for their livelihood?" Newman concludes, "Access to abortion care, contraception and childbirth care should be seen as concentric circles -- they are all connected and all part of the continuum of [women"s] reproductive and sexual health care with which reproductive [health] and rights advocates should be concerned" (Newman, RH Reality Check, 6/22).~ "Roe Protects Pregnant Women, Too," Rachel Roth, RH Reality Check: "Roe v. Wade stands for women"s reproductive self-determination: for the right to have an abortion and the right to have a baby," Roth writes. She adds, "Both dimensions of Roe"s promise are critical to women"s lives, yet most people are far more familiar with one than the other." Roth continues that although most people know that Roe "recognized women"s constitutional right to an abortion," those rights "are not absolute." According to Roth, "Roe did not establish a contest between women"s rights and "feta
The Allied Health Professions Leadership Challenge winners are East Midlands SHA, The Department of Health announced today.
The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) is pleased to announce that Johnson & Johnson has become its newest member company.
Older eyewitnesses can inadvertently add or change aspects of their account if they have the chance to speak to another eyewitness. This is one of the findings of Jane Montague and colleagues from University of Derby who will present their research at the British Psychological Society"s Division of Forensic Psychology"s Annual Conference today, Wednesday 24th June. The conference is being held the University of Central Lancashire, Preston.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will host a daylong meeting on June 24, 2009. During this meeting, the FDA will seek recommendations on how to make information on FDA activities and decision-making useful, understandable, and more accessible to the public. The meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT at the National Transportation Safety Board Conference Center, 429 L"Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C., 20594.
Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell N.V. (Euronext, Nasdaq: CRXL) (SWISS: CRX) today announced the results of a second phase II clinical study of its investigational rabies monoclonal antibody combination, which started in May 2008 in the Philippines.
Eating disorders are frequently seen as psychological or societal diseases, but do they have an underlying biological cause? A new study shows that the levels of a brain protein differ between healthy and anorexic women.
The classic symptoms of Parkinson"s disease involve tremor, stiffness and slow movements. Over the last decade, neurologists have been paying greater attention to non-motor symptoms, such as digestive and sleep problems, loss of sense of smell and depression.
A unique CO2 sensor and a novel approach to user communication via SMS will make the XiltriX® registration, monitoring and alarm system of interest to any laboratory needing to audit the performance of its equipment or the security of stored materials, especially if operating under GLP, GMP or similar norms.
FIRMAGON® (degarelix) a new fast-acting hormone treatment for advanced prostate cancer is being offically launched in the UK yesterday at the British Association of Urological Surgeons Annual Meeting in Glasgow.
Exercise has many benefits from improving cardiovascular capacity to reducing weight, and now a new
Novasys Medical, Inc., a developer of innovative therapies in women"s health, announced that as of July 1, 2009, First Coast Service Options, Inc. ("First Coast"), a large regional Medicare carrier serving over 3 million beneficiaries in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, has removed the non-surgical Renessa(R) treatment for women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) from its noncovered services list and will be looking at claims for the Renessa procedure on an individual case by case basis.
One of every four American adults suffers from a silent condition known as pre-diabetes at a cost of more than $25 billion a year in increased medical costs, according to new data published today. And among the 180,000 pregnant women diagnosed with gestational diabetes, health care costs attributed to the condition are estimated at $623 million a year, a companion study showed.
Women who have migraines with aura may be more likely to have a stroke or heart attack than women who don"t have the condition, and the association varies by migraine frequency, according to research published in the June 24, 2009, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. An aura is a visual or other sensory disturbance that occurs before the migraine starts, such as seeing bright lights.
Iraqi health authorities confirmed yesterday that six people recently returned from the US have tested positive for H1N1 epidemic or swine flu,
Caldera Medical, Inc. announced that it has received FDA clearance and CE Mark certification for the Ascend Pelvic Floor Repair System with Apical Support, a novel treatment for female pelvic organ prolapse. Ascend® is the latest addition to the Caldera Medical family of products designed to treat female stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Caldera"s product line includes the Desara® Sling System, a universal sling that allows surgeons their choice of multiple surgical approaches by utilizing reusable instrumentation. Caldera is the only U.S. company offering this unique solution, which benefits surgeons, hospitals, and the environment.
The Northern California Melanoma Center (NCMC)"s research showed patients who received GM-CSF (Sargramostim, trade name Leukine) may experience prolonged survival. The study appears in next month"s Journal of Immunotherapy (July/August issue) and will appear online today.
The New York Times reports that it has obtained 10 memorandums prepared by conservative groups on President Obama"s possible choices to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter that outline how conservatives hope to frame the coming nomination debate. The memos focus on 10 female potential nominees. Although the groups have gathered information on about three dozen people, both liberals and conservatives expect that Obama will nominate a woman for the position.The memos analyze the possible nominees" records and dissect statements they have made that conservative groups find objectionable. The memorandum on Judge Diane Wood criticizes her as an "outspoken" supporter of "abortion, including partial-birth abortion." In addition, the memo on Judge Sonia Sotomayor says she is willing to expand rights in the Constitution past where the text allows, while the summary on Judge Kathleen Sullivan says she supports same-sex marriage.According to the Times, conservatives have acknowledged that Democrats" control of the Senate gives them little chance of defeating the nomination, but they still aim to mount a formidable debate. Conservative groups hope that rallying their supporters behind a common cause "could help refill depleted coffers and galvanize a movement demoralized by Republican electoral defeats," the Times reports. Gary Marx, executive director of the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network, said that donors have committed to contributing millions of dollars for advertisements on television, radio and the Internet. Richard Viguerie, a conservative fundraiser, said, "It"s an immense opportunity to build the conservative movement and identify the troops out there." Nan Aron, president of the liberal Alliance for Justice, said, "I think the mood and the politics of the country have passed [conservatives] by." According to the Times, liberal groups also have created a shared research pool for the coming debate (Savage, New York Times, 5/17).
Seventy-six percent of U.S. residents believe that abortion should be legal, a finding in keeping with public opinion over the past three decades, according to a Gallup poll released on Saturday, the AP/Boston Globe reports (AP/Boston Globe, 5/16). However, 51% of respondents identified themselves as "pro-life," while 42% said they are "pro-choice" (Gallup poll, 5/16). The finding marks the first time since Gallup began asking about abortion rights in 1995 that a majority of respondents said they consider themselves "pro-life" (Nadeau, Boston Herald, 5/16). Last year"s poll showed that 50% of respondents consider themselves "pro-choice," compared with 44% who said they are "pro-life" (Abcarian, Los Angeles Times, 5/16).The new poll found that 53% of respondents believe abortion should be legal under some circumstances, 23% believe it should be legal under any circumstances and 22% believe it should be illegal under any circumstances (Boston Herald, 5/16). The percentage of respondents who oppose abortion rights in all cases rose slightly from last year, while those who support abortion rights in all cases decreased slightly. The Los Angeles Times reports that the percentage of respondents who oppose abortion rights in all circumstances and those who support abortion rights in all circumstances is "a virtual tie." The results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.Respondents who labeled themselves as moderates and Republicans accounted for most of the change in views compared with past polls, as Democrats" views remained consistent with previous years, according to the Los Angeles Times. Gallup in its analysis wrote that it is "possible" that President Obama "has pushed the public"s understanding of what it means to be "pro-choice" slightly to the left, politically" (Los Angeles Times, 5/16). The survey was conducted between May 7 and May 10 (AP/Boston Globe, 5/16).Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said, "I am pretty confident that Americans really don"t want Roe v. Wade overturned." She added that the increase in respondents identifying as "pro-life" does not "square with what has happened in the last several elections," noting that voters have rejected several antiabortion-rights ballot measures in South Dakota, California, Oregon and Colorado since 2005. However, Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, said, "It tracks pretty much with what we"ve always known: People generally are pro-life depending on how you ask the question" (Los Angeles Times, 5/16).
"As President Obama"s effort to overhaul the health care system seems to hit one roadblock after another in Congress, he is counting on Senator Max Baucus [D-Mont.], a political shape-shifter and crafty deal maker who is not fully trusted by either party, to help him clinch his top domestic priority," the New York Times reports in a profile of the Senate Finance Committee leader. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., has been unable to garner GOP support. Obama"s preferred health leader, Tom Daschle, dropped out of the Obama team because of tax problems and highly partisan House Democrats have failed to work with Republicans, leaving the task of ushering a bill through the legislative process largely to Baucus.
House Democrats readying a health reform bill without a price tag or a budget analysis will hear from business interests today that their plan is irrevocably broken and that they need to start from scratch, CongressDaily reports.
Rural utility co-ops in Colorado could provide an example of how a co-op would work nationally for health care, The Denver Post reports.
Nearly 50 lawmakers in Congress have spouses who work in the health care industry and that may be influencing their thinking on health reform, CQ Politics reports.
The HHS on Tuesday announced its decision to award a $35 million contract to a U.S. company using "insect cell technology" to develop flu vaccines, AFP/Google.com reports (AFP/Google.com, 6/23). CQ HealthBeat reports: "If the Food and Drug Administration approves the new technology [to be safe and effective], Connecticut-based Protein Sciences Corp. will establish the capability to produce a finished vaccine within 12 weeks of a pandemic"s onset and manufacture at least 50 million doses in the following six months."
There was more than a 50 percent drop in the total number of malaria cases reported by public facilities in Cambodia between 2003 and 2008, according to the National Centre for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control"s annual report, which was released on Tuesday, the Phnom Penh Post reports. Officials are attributing the decrease to village-based treatment and education programs.
County public health officials in California say proposed budget cuts could hurt or end the state"s Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Program, which provides care for high-risk women and teenagers during pregnancy and up to one year after giving birth, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports. County health departments operate the program with oversight from the state Department of Public Health. Sarah Mack, a spokesperson for the Riverside County Department of Public Health, said the program provides a safety net for women who are uncertain about how to obtain prenatal care. The program"s nurses and social workers work to identify vulnerable groups with the goal of initiating care within the first trimester of pregnancy. The program aims to reduce incidences of low birthweight, premature delivery, maternal and infant mortality, preventable childhood diseases and disabling conditions.Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has proposed eliminating more than $20 million in funding from the program to help reduce California"s estimated $24 billion budget deficit. Last week, the state Legislature"s joint budget conference introduced a counterproposal that would lower cuts to the program to $8 million.The most recent statistics from the state public health department show that nearly 16,000 California women who gave birth in 2006 had late or no prenatal care. More than 38,500 low-birthweight infants were born that year. Jim Lindley, director of the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, said that Schwarzenegger"s proposal would amount to the elimination of "the bulk of funding" for the program. Mack said that Riverside County officials have identified scenarios to continue providing services if the state funding is eliminated. However, without the funding, "[m]ore people could fall through the safety net," Mack said, adding, "Those who need the program the most would be the most likely to fall through."Schwarzenegger spokesperson Lisa Page has said that the governor believes the state"s budget situation leaves him with little choice about making cuts (Hines, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 6/22).
A team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute, Katholeike Universiteit Leuven, and the University of Antwerp, Belgium, among other institutions, has created a genetically modified fruit fly that mimics key features of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a common neurodegenerative disorder that strikes about one out of every 2,500 people in the United States.
A thorough cost-benefit analysis that includes an assessment of meaningful alternatives is needed to reveal the potential security advantages of deploying new detector systems to screen cargo for nuclear and radiological materials at U.S. ports and border crossings. It is likely that the costs will exceed the savings gained from improved efficiency of the screening systems, says a new report from the National Research Council. There are shortcomings in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security"s testing of these new detector systems, therefore the DHS secretary cannot conclude whether they will consistently outperform the current ones. DHS should not proceed with further procurement of these new detector systems until the issues are addressed and the systems have been shown to be a favored option in the cost-benefit analysis.
Diabetes UK supporters Harrison Ward, 11, and Cole Barnard, 6, appeared on BBC 1"s The One Show this week to highlight inequalities in support for children with diabetes at school.
Prostasin, a relatively unknown protease enzyme expressed in most epithelial cells, may play a role in the genesis of colorectal cancer. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Cancer have associated a reduction in the expression of inhibitors of the enzyme with malignant cellular behavior.
Furthering its mission to improve the quality of medicines worldwide, the U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention has signed a cooperative agreement with nine countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In a drive to strengthen capacities and certification status of national drug quality control laboratories, officials from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand had formed an ASEAN Reference Materials Working Group (ARMWG) to focus on modern, international measurement standards for medicines in the region. The agreement with USP is the culmination of discussions that started in 2008 with the aim of improving the production, precision and quality of ASEAN Reference Substances (ARS).
A multi-center clinical trial led by a Riley Hospital for Children endocrinologist has found that inhaled growth hormone (GH) is well tolerated by children with GH deficiency and that this easy-to-use method can, over a one-week period, safely deliver GH to the blood stream. In addition to having implications for those who need GH, this first pediatric study of administering it through the lungs may also help researchers interested in using this convenient method for effectively delivering other types of medications to children.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) National Rural Faculty has welcomed the increased funding for some existing programs and funding for new programs announced in this week"s federal budget. These increases in funding are welcome given the difficult economic climate in which this budget has been delivered.
The American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society have released official standards for clinical trials and practice with respect to the assessment of asthma. The statement appears in the July 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Retinoic acid, a derivative of vitamin A, could lead researchers to a new set of drug targets for treating breast cancer, researchers from the University of Chicago report in the June 25, 2009, issue of the journal Cell.
SonoSite, Inc. (Nasdaq:SONO), the world leader and specialist in hand-carried ultrasound for point-of-care medicine, announced today the launch of the SonoAccess™ application, the first medical iPhone app from an ultrasound company that provides a multimedia library of ultrasound re materials for medical professionals to access when and where they need it.
Each year, approximately 795,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke1 in the United States, and approximately a half million people in Western Europe are similarly afflicted2. Today, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) announces two significant clinical trials related to medical device interventions for stroke. First enrollments in the global CRYSTAL AF (Study of Continuous Cardiac Monitoring to Assess Atrial Fibrillation After Cryptogenic Stroke) trial have taken place. The trial will use the Reveal® XT Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM) to assess the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with cryptogenic stroke (stroke of an undetermined cause) or transient ischemic attack (TIA) in order to aid physicians in determining the optimal course of treatment for these patients. It is widely recognized that patients with sustained AF are at increased risk of stroke3.