Sexual Health
ZymoGenetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZGEN) announced that Interleukin 21 (IL-21) demonstrated an impressive overall response rate in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. In interim Phase 2 results from 24 patients, 29 percent showed a partial response, with an additional 33 percent of patients showing stable disease in this difficult to treat disease.
A new study of nearly 14,000 U.S. women reveals that those who are in physically abusive relationships are at higher risk for HIV infection.
According to a new Mayo Clinic study, a history of child abuse significantly impacts the wide range of challenges facing depressed inpatients. Included are an increase in suicide attempts, prevalence of substance use disorder, and a higher incidence rate of personality disorder. Additionally, these victims also had an earlier onset of mental illness and an increase in psychiatric hospitalizations for psychiatric issues. The study was presented at the American Psychiatric Association 2009 Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
Endotis Pharma, the biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of small-glyco drugs for applications in thrombosis and oncology, announced that EP42675 has successfully completed its Phase I program.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), vaccination with seasonal flu vaccines made for the 2005 to 2009
The advanced wound management market in Europe is experiencing high growth due to the heightened need for better and more cost-effective treatment. As a result, the market is expanding strongly despite significant hurdles, including intense competition and low reimbursement.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday voted 15-8 to approve a bill (S 982) giving FDA authority to regulate tobacco products, the Wall Street Journal reports. Under the bill, FDA could ban certain tobacco products, such as candy-flavored cigarettes, restrict tobacco advertising to black-and-white ads, and prohibit use of the terms "mild" and "low tar" (Yoest/Mundy, Wall Street Journal, 5/21). FDA also could limit the amount of nicotine in tobacco products, as well as enlarge warning labels. To pay for the new regulatory efforts, the bill would require all tobacco companies to pay a fee that would raise nearly $5.4 billion over the first 10 years. Committee members voted down a number of amendments:
Former President Clinton has joined efforts to raise money for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria from travelers purchasing electronic airline tickets, the New York Times reports. At a press conference in Paris with United Nations special advisor Philippe Douste-Blazy, Clinton said, "If you provide a user-friendly, efficient way of giving, the contributors will use this system."The U.N. is behind the effort, which will enable travelers to voluntarily add a $2 donation for projects to fight malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS when buying an airline ticket, the Times reports. Both Clinton and Douste-Blazy are working with a newly formed group - Leading Innovative Financing for Equity, or LIFE. LIFE is comprised of eight different groups working to raising money for health aid. According to Douste-Blazy, efforts targeting small donors will begin in January 2010. He added that "the idea is that the citizens of the world are connected by the Internet and credit cards and can show their solidarity."The groups also hope to reach people renting cars, booking hotels or buying train tickets, the Times reports (Carvajal, New York Times, 5/21). Clinton said U.S. air passengers will be able to voluntarily participate in the program, adding, "There is no question that huge numbers of people will participate in this. They understand that it doesn"t cost much and that 100% will go to save lives." (AFP/Google.com, 5/20).
POZEN Inc. (NASDAQ: POZN) reported that AstraZeneca has made the decision to have POZEN file the New Drug Application (NDA) for PN 400 with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). POZEN continues to target a mid-2009 NDA filing and expects to receive a milestone payment of $10 million when the NDA is formally accepted for submission by the FDA.
Genta Incorporated (OTCBB:GNTA.OB) announced that the independent Data Monitoring Board (DMB) for AGENDA, a randomized Phase 3 trial of Genasense® in patients with advanced melanoma, has informed the Company that the study has passed its final futility analysis for progression-free survival (PFS). Accordingly, the Board has recommended that the study should continue to completion.
First results from a large tissue survey in Britain of the agent that causes variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) are unable so far to establish that the prevalence is lower than that given by previous estimates, concludes a study published on bmj.com today.
Aerosol delivery of antibiotics via nanoparticles may provide a means to
An international scientific study involving researchers from the University of Glasgow has identified eight common genetic differences which may increase the risk of high blood pressure.
Autism Spectrum Therapies (AST), an agency providing behavior therapy and other autism services, now offers new summer programs for children of all ages and their parents. These fun, kid-friendly programs are designed to help children with autism disorders maintain their academic and communication skills over summer vacation and to develop new skills for the upcoming school year.
IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced it has been selected to help Ling Tung University build a smarter healthcare system to monitor the health of senior citizens in Taiwan anywhere, at anytime. The project is part of the university"s "Health-4U" program, which has been launched as response to the Senior U-Care Flagship Program initiated by the Department of Industrial Technology under Taiwan"s Ministry of Economic Affairs.
One well-known and often deadly consequence of alcohol intoxication is impaired driving. Yet still today, it is difficult for even trained observers to fully identify "intoxication," given that so many factors contribute to it. This review examines the very definition of intoxication, as well as methods designed to prevent impaired driving.
Summaries of several developments related to health care reform appear below.
Researchers of the Max DelbrÃøck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, have gained crucial insight into how mechanosensitivity arises. By measuring electrical impulses in the sensory neurons of mice, the neurobiologists and pain researchers Dr. Stefan G. Lechner and Professor Gary Lewin were able to directly elucidate, for the first time, the emergence of mechanosensitivity. At the same time they were able to show that neurons develop their sensitivity to touch and pain during different developmental phases but always coincidentally with the growth of the neuronal pathways. (EMBO Journal, 2009, doi:10.1038/emboj.2009.73).*
Americans trying to eat healthier are looking to nutrition labels to help make better choices at the grocery store. But consumers who take those labels at face value may find they"re not eating as healthy as they think.
Researchers in Finland who tracked the health of over 1,000 men from middle age into old age found that being overweight and having high risk
Researchers with ConvaTec Wound Therapeutics presented a series of in vitro studies demonstrating the advanced features and fluid handling capacity of the company"s proprietary dressings containing Hydrofiber® Technology this week at the 19th Conference of the European Wound Management Association.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) honored 41 doctors as "Exemplary Psychiatrists" at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) annual conference in San Francisco today.
Two leading HIV charities have today launched a guide for people living with HIV in England and Wales explaining criminal prosecutions for HIV transmission.
The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) today announced a $5 million gift from the Ellison Medical Foundation to support cancer research under the direction of David B. Agus, M.D., a renowned oncologist and cancer researcher who joined the Keck School faculty on April 1 as a professor of medicine.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning employers to ensure they assess the safety of equipment and ensure that it is sufficiently guarded after an employee"s left hand was severely damaged by the rotating blades of a valve that forms part of the extraction system in a metal recycling process.
QIAGEN announced the launch of a novel product for extraction of free circulating fragments of tumor- and fetal-derived nucleic acids as well as viral nucleic acids in human blood. Scientists consider these DNA and RNA fragments to have great potential for the highly sensitive and non-invasive diagnosis of a wide range of diseases, including congenital disorders, malignancies such as colon and lung cancer, and infections. The new QIAamp Circulating Nucleic Acid Kit is expected to significantly facilitate the corresponding biomarker research and the introduction of novel molecular tests in prenatal diagnostics which can replace risky, invasive procedures such as amniocentesis.
Roche announced that two-year data from the LITHE (TociLIzumab Safety and THE Prevention of Structural Joint Damage) study demonstrated that ACTEMRA(R) (tocilizumab) continued to inhibit the progression of structural damage to joints in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The study also showed that patients receiving ACTEMRA experienced improved physical function, as measured by the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) scores(1). The LITHE study is the fifth international Phase III study in the extensive ACTEMRA clinical development program to successfully meet its primary endpoints in patients with moderately to severely active RA.
Scientists in Germany have discovered a gene that links the gum disease periodontitis and increased risk of coronorary heart disease (CHD) and
New light has been thrown on how humans choose their partners, a scientist told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics on May 25. Professor Maria da GraÃýa Bicalho, head of the Immunogenetics and Histocompatibility Laboratory at the University of Parana, Brazil, says that her research had shown that people with diverse major histocompatibility complexes (MHCs) were more likely to choose each other as mates than those whose MHCs were similar, and that this was likely to be an evolutionary strategy to ensure healthy reproduction.
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is an aggressive muscle cancer that mostly affects children. The most common forms of RMS are embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) and alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS). Although ARMS is less common than ERMS, it is associated with a much higher rate of mortality. A therapy tailored to the ARMS form of RMS is therefore badly needed. A team of researchers, at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, and Monash Institute of Medical Research, Australia, has now provided hope that it might be possible to develop such a therapy by showing that the protein ILK promotes the growth of ARMS cells, whereas it suppresses the growth of ERMS cells.
Researchers from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology have pinpointed the cellular defect that increases the likelihood, among eczema sufferers, of developing eczema vaccinatum, a severe and potentially fatal reaction to the smallpox vaccine. The research, conducted in mouse models, was funded under a special research network created by the National Institutes of Health in 2004. The network is working toward the development of a new smallpox vaccine that could be administered to the millions of Americans who suffer from atopic dermatitis, a chronic, itchy skin condition commonly referred to as eczema.
Hospice, a well-established approach to palliative care, has enabled countless people worldwide to die with dignity. Through focusing on the patient rather than the disease, individuals can spend the last weeks of their lives in an environment where hospice caregivers minimize their pain, maximize their comfort, and provide bereavement services for loved ones and family members.
Fibroids are non-cancerous (benign) tumors that grow from the muscle layers of the uterus (womb). They are also known as uterine fibroids, myomas, or fibromyomas. The singular of uterine fibroids is Uterine Fibroma. Fibroids are growths of smooth muscle and fibrous tissue. Fibroids can vary in size, from that of a bean to as large as a melon.
At a time when the drug industry is striving for patient-friendly delivery methods for new and existing drugs, the growing availability of innovative inhaler device designs is driving interest in pulmonary drug delivery technology and devices as an alternative to oral and parenteral routes of administration. While well-established for treating upper respiratory diseases such as asthma and COPD, companies competing in the inhaled drug delivery sector - major players such as GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim as well as pure-play start-ups - continue to view delivery of systemic drugs via inhalation as a major opportunity.
Mister President, honourable ministers, excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,
TeleHealth Services, the nation"s leading provider of healthcare grade televisions and on-demand patient and staff interactive education solutions, has announced the implementation of its TIGR on-demand video education and entertainment system into Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem, Utah.
Spring marks baseball season for more than 19 million children and adolescents who play each year as part of a team or in backyards throughout the United States. The good news for these players is that the number of injuries from the sport is on the decline. A new study by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children"s Hospital found that the number of children and adolescents treated for baseball-related injuries in hospital emergency departments decreased 25 percent from 1994 through 2006 - going from an estimated 147,000 injuries in 1994 to approximately 111,000 injuries in 2006. This is the first national study of youth baseball injuries requiring emergency treatment, and is now available online in the June electronic issue of Pediatrics.
Centocor Ortho Biotech Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended by three months the review timeline for the Biologic License Application (BLA) for STELARA(TM) (ustekinumab) to provide time for a full review of an amendment to the pending application. The application seeks approval to market STELARA for the treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who are candidates for phototherapy or systemic therapy.
A new home test kit called SpermCheck Vasectomy, based on a protein discovered at the University of Virginia (UVA) Health System, marks the launch of a product line that could revolutionize the way men monitor their reproductive status. Based on antibodies that bind to SP-10, a protein discovered in the laboratory of John C. Herr, PhD, SpermCheck Vasectomy is the only FDA-approved immunodiagnostic test for monitoring sperm after vasectomy.
An Ohio State University researcher is shifting his development of an MRI-compatible treadmill to his start-up company and plans to have a device ready for clinical testing in three months. The treadmill could allow physicians to measure a patient"s heart during peak stress more accurately than the echocardiograph and nuclear imaging processes now widely used.
Surgical removal of a tissue sample is now the standard for diagnosing cancer. And while biopsies are accurate, they only offer a snapshot of the tumor at a single moment in time.
UQ Science continues to break new ground with the launch of the Hub of Organics Analysis, giving University of Queensland scientists access to a state-of-the-art testing facility that will cut the time taken to conduct research projects.
Despite reports of pharmacies providing cash incentives to patients to provide them with methadone, the current system is still valid, writes Dr. Aslam Anis from the University of British Columbia in a commentary. It may not be detrimental to the care of those receiving treatment for addiction.
Physicians can now provide potentially safer and more accurate diagnostic procedures with the first and only high-definition endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) needle technology. Cook Medical, the only full-line supplier of endoscopic medical devices, has designed a complete line of high-definition EUS biopsy needles that are up to three-times brighter than others on the market. With the addition of the 19 and 25 gage EchoTip® Ultra with High Definition Fine Needle Aspiration (HDFNA™) needles, the EchoTip Ultra HDFNA represents the next level of precision in EUS, an essential diagnostic tool that yields more accurate images of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract than traditional ultrasound and provides minimally invasive access to areas that are traditionally difficult to reach.
Cancer patients treated with the widely used drug bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy are at significantly greater risk of potentially life-threatening gastrointestinal (GI) perforations (a hole in the wall of the stomach, small intestine or large bowel)-particularly patients with advanced colorectal cancer and renal cell cancer, according to an Article published Online First and in the June edition of The Lancet Oncology.
A study published in the June issue of Anesthesiology has shown that a drug metabolite of the opioid morphine may be a key factor in the paradoxical increased sensitivity to pain caused by chronic morphine use. For the first time, this metabolite (called morphine-6 glucuronide, or M6G) was shown to act independently of the pain receptors typically targeted during morphine administration.
The National Institutes of Health is launching the first integrated, drug development pipeline to produce new treatments for rare and neglected diseases. The $24 million program jumpstarts a trans-NIH initiative called the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases program, or TRND.
In recognition of Stroke Awareness Month in May, a national stroke coalition announced that its member organizations have adopted a new public education message: "Stroke strikes fast. You should too. Call 9-1-1." The Brain Attack Coalition (BAC), chaired by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and composed of leading organizations committed to stroke prevention and treatment, recognized the need for a new actionable message that all member organizations can use with their current stroke awareness efforts. The NINDS is part of the National Institutes of Health.
Synosia Therapeutics announced today that it has started a Phase I clinical trial of SYN-120, its new generation 5-HT6 antagonist under development for the treatment of cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer"s and schizophrenia. The study will assess the safety and tolerability of single ascending doses of SYN-120 in healthy volunteers.
CHICAGO, May 26, 2009 - New data show that nab-paclitaxel (AbraxaneR for Injectable Suspension) prolongs investigator-assessed, median progression-free survival (PFS) by almost seven months versus the highest standard dose of docetaxel in women with metastatic breast cancer.
Coconino County Health Department (CCHD) officials announced today the first case of H1N1 (swine) flu in Coconino County. The Arizona Department of Health Services Lab confirmed that a 24 year-old male from the Navajo Nation has tested positive for the illness. The man went to the Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation Emergency Department with flu-like symptoms and was tested. He is now recovering from the illness.
A growing number of American children are enrolled in child care and questions remain about how these settings may affect them in both positive and negative ways. A new study published in the May/June 2009 issue of the journal Child Development finds that early interpersonal experiences - center-based child care and parenting - may have independent and lasting developmental effects.
Adults with asthma reported increased quality of life and reduced asthma symptoms after 10 weeks of yoga practice, according to research presented today at the 56th Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) in Seattle. The study followed 20 subjects age 20-65 who were beginners at yoga.
A national guideline that young athletes suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury in practice or games be removed from competition until examined or cleared by a medical professional is at the heart of a multi-organizational call-to-action announced today at the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) 56th Annual Meeting in Seattle. ACSM is collaborating with the Brain Injury Association of Washington (BIAWA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to build national momentum on a new Washington state law protecting young athletes from death or disability caused by premature return to play following a concussion.
Babies of East Asian and South Asian descent are between two and three times more likely to be misclassified as underweight at birth when compared to their Canadian counterparts, according to a study led by St. Michael"s Hospital physician Dr. Joel Ray. Dr. Ray and a team of researchers, who developed the first-ever sex-specific birth weight curves for these ethnic groups, suggest the need to consider differences across ethnic groups to reduce parental stress and use of health-care res associated with labelling an infant as underweight, or "small for gestational age" at birth.
Older women, women with a higher grade of precancerous cells and women who undergo a freezing procedure known as cryotherapy to remove abnormal cervical cells are at a higher risk than other groups that the problem cells will return or develop into cervical cancer, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Reuters reports. For the study, Joy Melnikow of the University of California-Davis and colleagues compared 37,000 women who were treated for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia -- abnormal cervical cells -- from 1986 through 2000 with 71,000 women who had no history of abnormal cervical cells.The researchers found that the risk of cervical cancer and recurrence of medium to severe degrees of CIN was highest for women who were older than age 40, who had been previously treated for severe CIN or whose abnormal cells were treated using cryotherapy. The women underwent cone biopsies a surgical procedure to remove abnormal cells were least likely to have a recurrence of CIN. According to Melnikow, recurrence was most likely to occur within the first six years after treatment. Melnikow said that women who have been treated surgically have higher risks of bleeding and preterm labor. Therefore, younger women who are planning to become pregnant might prefer cryotherapy, she said, adding that younger women"s "risk of recurrence is lower, and a recurrence can be treated again" (Steenhuysen, Reuters, 5/12).
Even microbes are governed by the principle of supply and demand - at least at the genetic level. Not all of their gene products, the blueprints for proteins, are required at all times. That means most of their genes only become active when they are needed, as is the case in higher organisms. In the simplest case, a transcription factor will activate the gene in question at the right time. Genes that are regulated in a somewhat more complex manner, on the other hand, are kept inactive by a repressor that is removed only when the gene is needed. Which of these two regulation mechanisms will develop is a question of demand, along the lines of a "use-it-or-lose-it" principle: if genes are frequently active, then, as a rule, they will be directly induced. Genes that encode more rarely used proteins, on the other hand, tend to be kept inactive by repressors. LMU physicist Ulrich Gerland and Professor Terence Hwa of the University of California have now demonstrated using computer simulations and theoretical analyses that another - indeed opposing - principle also comes into play: "wear-and-tear". According to this principle, direct activation can lead to harmful changes. "Which of the two principles prevails depends on evolutionary criteria such as the population size and the periods over which environmental changes take place," says Gerland. "Our study may serve as a useful basis for more detailed studies of the evolution of regulatory systems." (PNAS Early Edition, 22 Mai 2009)
Childhood cancer survivors have a persistent and high risk for a second primary cancer throughout their lives, according to a new study published in the May 26 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
ONCOLOGY: Targeting the more lethal form of the cancer rhabdomyosarcoma
The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, tabled legislation in the House of Commons to protect children and youth from tobacco marketing that encourages them to smoke.
An international team of scientists studying a rare genetic disease discovered that a bundle of proteins with the long-established function of keeping chromosomes together also plays an important role in regulating genes in humans.
Contrary to the industry"s position that visible drink labels will promote responsible drinking, young people are, instead, using these visible standard drink labels to increase or even maximize the amount of alcohol they consume at the lowest cost possible.
Researchers have discovered a novel molecular path that predisposes patients to develop primary biliary cirrhosis, a disease that mainly affects women and slowly destroys their livers. Primary biliary cirrhosis has no known cause.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center"s Gynecologic Oncology Division was named among the nation"s top 10 programs by Contemporary OB/GYN, a leading publication read by the nation"s obstetricians and gynecologists.
A Senior Lecturer from Canterbury Christ Church University has been awarded Fellowship of the Institute of Healthcare Management (IHM) at a ceremony on Thursday 14th May.
About one-fifth of commercial sex workers surveyed in Dublin, Ireland, are HIV-positive, while 78% of the surveyed group is living with hepatitis C, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs, the Irish Times reports. The report surveyed 35 drug users in the city who are or had been involved in the sex industry. The participants had an average age of 29. The report found that a majority of the sex workers surveyed, or 88%, were receiving methadone treatment but also using other drugs simultaneously. In addition, the report included surveys of health workers, who said that it is becoming increasingly difficult to reach sex workers as they are becoming less visible in the city due to the increased use of mobile technology, such as the Internet and cellular phones, to contact clients (Gartland, Irish Times, 5/13). The researchers made several recommendations to address issues surrounding sex workers, including that the government should continue funding services for the population, the PA/Google.com reports. Teresa Whitaker, a researcher who worked on the report, said, "A dominant theme to emerge from the field work was that drug-using sex workers are vulnerable people with complex and multiple needs that span health, social and legal issues." She added, "For the most part, participants grew up in communities associated with social and economic marginalization and high levels of unemployment. They move more or less continually through drug and alcohol services, homeless hostels, the judicial system and other social care agencies" (PA/Google.com, 5/12).
The incidence of cardiovascular disease is rising due to factors such as ageing, obesity, smoking and other cardiac ailments. Each year cardiovascular diseases cause over 4.3 million deaths, accounting for 48 per cent of all mortalities in Europe.
Interactive Medica, the leading Pharma SaaS provider, today launches IM Strategic Selling, a new Software as a Service (SaaS) solution that enables promotional teams, managers and executives to identify, collaborate, plan and manage goals, strategies and activities for current and potential Key Accounts.
Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announced results of a study showing that coadministration of the ADHD medication VYVANSE® (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate) CII with the proton pump inhibitor (PPI) Prilosec OTC® 40 mg (20 mg X 2), did not alter the median time it took for maximum plasma concentration of d-amphetamine to be reached in the subjects evaluated. In the same study, coadministration of Prilosec OTC with ADDERALL XR resulted in a nearly 45 percent reduction in the median time to reach maximum plasma concentrations of amphetamine, the active medication. Other pharmacokinetic parameters (maximum plasma concentration and area under curve) of active medication were not altered for either VYVANSE or ADDERALL XR when coadministered with Prilosec OTC. This study, which is the first to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of VYVANSE and ADDERALL XR taken alone and with Prilosec OTC 40 mg, was recently presented at the International Congress on Clinical Pharmacy, co-sponsored by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), in Orlando, FL.
Over the next 18 months, psychiatrists will revise the American Psychiatric Association"s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is used to determine how U.S. residents" mental health is assessed, diagnosed and treated, the Los Angeles Times reports. Since the manual was last updated in 1994, technologies such as brain imaging and new understandings of the biological and genetic causes of many disorders have "almost guaranteed alterations" in the number of mental disorders included in fifth DSM volume, which is scheduled to be published in 2012, the Times reports.While some psychiatrists argue the manual should be broad enough to determine treatment for those who need it, others are concerned that if too broad, the manual will diagnose conditions that would otherwise be considered normal human behavior. David Kupfer, a psychiatrist at the University of Pittsburgh"s Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinics and chair of the DSM-V task force, said the DSM-V will recognize variations of disorders that have not been seen as part of "classic" illnesses, and will describe disorders in more detail, including how they differ based on race, gender, age, physical health and culture. Health insurance companies use the manual to determine coverage options for certain treatments.People involved in the revisions said the manual will be a better reflection of mental conditions of "real" people, rather than just those with the most severe cases of disorders or obvious diagnoses, the Times reports (Roan, Los Angeles Times, 5/26).
United Auto Workers leaders on Tuesday agreed to accept up to 20% of General Motors stock, as well as concessions on labor rules and retiree health care obligations, as the automaker faces a June 1 deadline to restructure or seek bankruptcy protection, the Detroit News reports (Aguilar/Shepardson, Detroit News, 5/27). Under the deal, the voluntary employees" beneficiary association would receive 17.5% of common GM stock, $6.5 billion of preferred shares, a $2.5 billion note and warrants equal to 2.5% of GM"s stock (Reuters/USA Today, 5/27). In addition, the VEBA would receive $585 million annually in interest income on its preferred stock (Detroit News, 5/27). Another concession included in the tentative deal is the elimination of dental, vision and some prescription drug coverage for hourly retirees (Shepardson/Aguilar, Detroit News, 5/26). UAW also would hold a seat on the GM board of directors (Cho et al., Washington Post, 5/27).Because of a proposed deal announced earlier this month, the Treasury Department and UAW, together, are to own 89% of GM"s stock, meaning that if the UAW-GM deal is approved, the Treasury would own about a 70% share of GM"s stock (Detroit News, 5/26). Current bondholders would hold about a 10% stake in the company (Washington Post, 5/27). The remaining 1% would be held by existing shareholders (Detroit News, 5/26).The total 20% is about half of what was anticipated (Higgins, Detroit Free Press, 5/26). The "significant concessions" made by UAW, which was eligible to receive up to 39% of GM"s equity through the VEBA, "could mean that [GM] is attempting to appease unsecured bondholders, who charged that the UAW was getting a better deal," according to the News (Detroit News, 5/27). UAW said the revised agreement with GM was necessary for the automaker to survive, but the deal will leave hundreds of thousands of GM retirees paying higher out-of-pocket medical expenses, the Wall Street Journal reports (Stoll et al., Wall Street Journal, 5/27).UAW members are scheduled to vote on the agreement on Wednesday and Thursday (Detroit News, 5/26). However, "[e]ven with UAW approval, GM is still likely to file for bankruptcy, since bondholders are unlikely to swallow deep concessions," according to the News (Detroit News, 5/27).
The hospital"s maternity unit provides year-round support for all mothers, whatever their chosen method of feeding, but the maternity team is committed to increasing the support for breastfeeding.
The National Marrow Donor Program, a not-for-profit group that manages a national registry for potential bone marrow donors, is using social networking sites to attract donors from minority communities, the Wall Street Journal reports. The process of finding a genetic match for a bone marrow transplant is often more difficult for minorities or people who identify themselves as multiracial because patients and donors must be genetically compatible. According to the Journal, a white patient has an 88% chance of finding a match, while the odds of most minorities finding a match can be as low as 60%. The odds of some minorities actually receiving a transplant can be as low as 20% because of other factors such as access to care in their communities, the Journal reports. About seven million U.S. residents already have signed up for the national registry -- recently renamed Be the Match -- and the program also has increased outreach to younger potential donors through social networking Web sites, such as Facebook and MySpace (Landro, Wall Street Journal, 5/27).
The very latest information on the 2009 swine influenza (H1N1) outbreak is the subject of a landmark afternoon symposium hosted by the New York Academy of Sciences today, Thursday, May 28. Speakers will discuss the new recombinant virus, epidemiology, treatment, vaccine development and the public health implications of a worldwide pandemic.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) and Penn Medicine have announced a four-year partnership to further develop and disseminate the LIVESTRONG Care Plan Powered by Penn Medicine"s OncoLink. This free service gives cancer survivors, their families and physicians the ability to create an individualized plan of care using up-to-date treatment information based on Institute of Medicine recommendations, as well educating them about their options to maintain optimal health once they are out of treatment.
The Lung Association congratulates Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and the Government of Canada on its announcement of imminent changes to the federal Tobacco Act that include:
When American patients trust their health to a for-profit insurance company, they"re doing nothing less than gambling with their lives. Registered nurses from the National Nurses Organizing Committee and California Nurses Association today announce the launch of a new healthcare video game, based on this idea, called "You Bet Your Health." The game is part of a wide-ranging public education and political mobilization campaign for single-payer health reforms, which is the choice of nurses and doctors. The game can be viewed at http://www.YouBetYourHealth.com
In the rat race of life, one thing is certain: there"s no place like home.
Premature ejaculation can be embarrassing, but a new study suggests that it might be a genetic disorder.
A Canadian researcher working in the U.K. says doctors, authors and educators are doing hyperactive children a disservice by claiming that hyperactivity as we understand it today has always existed.
Celleron Therapeutics Ltd, the Oxford UK based specialist in the development of individually targeted cancer medicines, has secured exclusive rights to AstraZeneca plc"s lead histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor (AZD 9468), for global development in conjunction with its proprietary "CancerNav" predictive biomarker platform. "CancerNav" specifically identifies those tumours which are most likely to respond to an individual cancer drug, thereby enabling a highly focussed clinical development and commercialisation programme, based on a closely linked diagnostic and therapeutic "personalised medicine" approach.
Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is responsible for an estimated 219,000 to 246,000 babies born each year worldwide according to an international study. The study also finds that the number of ART procedures is growing steadily: in just two years (from 2000 to 2002) ART activity increased by more than 25%.
A recent study finds that the antidepressant effects of drugs like Prozac involve both neurogenesis-dependent and -independent mechanisms, a finding that may lead to development of better treatments for depression and anxiety. The research, published by Cell Press in the May 28th issue of the journal Neuron, utilizes a new experimental mouse model of depression/anxiety that is the first to permit simultaneous examination of multiple effects of antidepressant treatment in the same animal.
A new instrument for improving patient understanding and acceptance of long-acting injectable antipsychotic therapy (LAT) has been published in the April edition of Psychiatry 2009.1 This novel, psychosocial approach encompasses Goal setting, Action planning, Initiating treatment, and Nurturing motivation (GAIN) through the use of a clinical discussion tool.
Immunology researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered how two biochemical signals play unique roles in promoting the development of a group of immune cells employed as tactical assassins.
Missouri lawmakers have approved two bills (HB 740 and SB 307) that extend or create health care provider taxes or certification fees as part of an effort to draw in more federal Medicaid matching dollars, the AP/Ann Arbor News reports. HB 740 would create a provider tax for ambulances and in-home care providers and a certification fee for certain mental health care providers. SB 307 would extend until 2011 the expiration date on provider taxes on pharmacies, and Medicaid managed care and intermediate care facilities for the mentally disabled. The taxes and fees are collected to generate additional federal Medicaid dollars, which are then redistributed to the providers. Existing taxes levied on industries such as hospitals, nursing homes, prescription drug providers and Medicaid managed care companies generated nearly $1.1 billion last fiscal year, resulting in an additional $1.8 billion in matching federal Medicaid funds, according to data from the Missouri Department of Social Services and Department of Mental Health (AP/Ann Arbor News, 5/12).