Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles
Natural Remedies

NOW Election Highlights Debate Over Strategy For Future Of Feminist Movement
The AP/Kansas City Star on Sunday examined how the upcoming election for the next president of the National Organization for Women has brought to the forefront a debate over how the feminist movement should define itself moving forward. NOW President Kim Gandy is stepping down after eight years in which she led the group in opposition to many of former President George W. Bush"s policies. Running to replace her are Latifa Lyles, a 33-year-old who serves as a vice president to Gandy, and Terry O"Neill, a 56-year-old who served as NOW"s vice president for membership from 2001 to 2005. Lyles, who is black, would be NOW"s youngest president while O"Neill, who is white, would be its oldest to start a term. According to the AP/Star, the election represents "both an unusual clash of generations and an opportunity for activists to confront some of the challenges facing the feminist movement." The election will be held at NOW"s conference in Indianapolis this weekend.The candidates share the goals of ensuring that women"s needs are represented in health care reform and economic recovery efforts, and they both support working to make abortion and birth control more accessible. Lyles said she contrasts with NOW"s current membership, which is mostly white and older than age 40. Lyles believes she could help give the organization a more diverse, younger image and help encourage participation from a broader range of women. "The profile of NOW is just as important as the work we do," she said, adding, "There are a lot of antiquated notions about what feminism is." Gandy, who has endorsed Lyles, said, "It"s hard to ignore the fact there"s been a generational shift in the country, and an organization that doesn"t recognize that is living in the past." She added that Lyles" "youth is not a detriment, but an advantage. ... She"ll take NOW to a different level." Jessica Valenti, a prominent younger feminist and founder of the blog Feministing, said, "This could be the moment where NOW becomes super-relevant to the feminist movement again."O"Neill said she would focus on grassroots organizing and membership recruitment. She said that "even with a friend in the White House and a lot of friends in the Congress, it"s going to take well-organized, grassroots movement to advance our agenda." O"Neill added, "I keep hearing "Terry, I want to see more activism in my community,"" adding, "The press releases, the media exposure, invitations to the White House -- these are excellent things, but they"re not enough. The grass roots are not personally engaged." Former NOW President Patricia Ireland, who supports O"Neill, said, "There is a role that requires us to take unpopular stands and push on our friends. That"s what I think [O"Neill] really gets. She"s the one I believe will be very willing to use a wide array of tactics -- not just traditional letters and e-mails, but also engage in civil disobedience, organize fasts, be at some congressman"s district office" (Crary, AP/Kansas City Star, 6/14).
generic viagra online
Department Of Justice, HHS Boosts Number Of Investigators, Prosecutors Looking At Medicare, Medicaid Fraud
HHS and the Department of Justice on Wednesday launched the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team to detect and prevent fraud in Medicare and Medicaid, the Washington Post reports (Johnson, Washington Post, 5/21). DOJ also plans to establish teams to address fraud in the Medicare Part D program and CHIP (Kennedy, AP/Houston Chronicle, 5/20). Wednesday"s announcement also included a recommendation by President Obama"s administration to include $311 million in the fiscal year 2010 budget to address health care fraud, which is a 50% increase from FY 2009. According to Attorney General Eric Holder, efforts to combat health care fraud will contribute to the administration"s health care overhaul plans (Clark/Weaver, McClatchy/Kansas City Star, 5/20). The task force, which will include HHS and DOJ staff members, law enforcement agents and prosecutors, will meet biweekly, CQ HealthBeat reports (Norman, CQ HealthBeat, 5/20). Under the plan, existing enforcement teams in Miami and Los Angeles will be expanded and new teams will be established in Houston and Detroit, where officials say suspicious billing patterns have emerged. In addition, the plan will set up task forces in 10 other major cities, which were not named (AP/Houston Chronicle, 5/20). The enforcement teams will increase site visits to durable medical equipment suppliers upon their enrollment. In addition, officials will expand training to help providers identify and prevent fraud or other mistakes (CQ HealthBeat, 5/20). The task force will use electronic claims data to detect "unusual billing problems," according to the Post (Washington Post, 5/21). HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the task force also intends to simplify billing systems and assist state officials in conducting Medicaid audits (CQ HealthBeat, 5/20). According to Holder, the joint task force will allow officials to share real-time intelligence data on health care fraud by monitoring claims payments, billing patterns and targeted surveillance (AP/Houston Chronicle, 5/20). Money
News of the day
AVMA House Of Delegates Welcomes New President; Takes Action To Combat Recession And Uphold Animal Welfare Policy
At the 146th Annual Convention of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), association leaders welcomed a new president and took action on animal welfare and antimicrobial policies as well as cost cutting measures.
Health Insurance

'Provocative' New Evidence Links Vitamin D And Other Nutrients To Heart Disease

Emerging research suggests that nutritional factors including vitamin D, magnesium, and others may influence the risk and progression of cardiovascular disease. The new data on nutrition and heart disease were the topic of a recent symposium and are summarized in the July issue of The American Journal of the Medical Sciences (AJMS), official journal of the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (SSCI). The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and biomedical intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry. "The prospect that macro- and micronutrients may play an important role in the appearance of diseases of the cardiovasculature and their progressive nature is both intriguing and provocative," according to the article"s preface by Dr. Karl T. Weber. The article highlights key findings presented at the SSCI"s Annual Scientific Session in New Orleans earlier this year. The symposium was presented in conjunction with the SSCI"s Cardiovascular Club and the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences/North America. New Evidence Links Vitamin D to Cardiovascular Disease Several recent studies have identified low vitamin D levels as a common problem with many adverse health effects, including increased rates of cardiovascular disease. People with vitamin D deficiency are at increased risk of high blood pressure, heart failure, and ischemic heart disease, according to Suzanne Judd, MPH, PhD, of University of Alabama at Birmingham and Dr. Vin Tangpricha of Emory University. In patients who already have heart disease, low vitamin D may increase the risk of high blood pressure or sudden death. Vitamin D deficiency may also help to explain the apparent relationship between osteoporosis-related fractures and heart failure, according to Dr. Syed H. Raza and colleagues. Osteoporosis and heart failure are both common conditions in older adults and share several risk factors including low vitamin D. Pending further research to clarify this relationship, patients with heart failure need attention to their risks of osteoporosis and fractures. So far, however, there is very little information on whether taking vitamin D supplements can avoid or reduce these risks. Rebecca B. Costello, PhD, of the National Institutes of Health"s Office of Dietary Supplements outlines federal research initiatives to understand the effects of vitamin D on health. She urges rigorous scientific studies to clarify the relationship between vitamin D and cardiovascular disease, as well as other chronic diseases. Other Nutrients May Also Affect Cardiovascular Risk Could folic acid help prevent heart disease? Folic acid (vitamin B9) reduces levels of the amino acid homocysteine, which affects cardiovascular risk, according to Dr. Lydia A. Bazzano of Tulane University. However, studies have found that taking folic acid to reduce homocysteine does not lower cardiovascular risk in adults. Taking folic acid during pregnancy does appear to reduce the risk of congenital heart defects, however. Low levels of nutrient magnesium may lead to a "cascade" of harmful inflammation-promoting events, according to Dr. Jay H. Kramer of George Washington University and colleagues. This may lead to disease of the heart muscle (cardiomyopathy), increasing vulnerability to injury from other forms of stress. Especially with the high rate of magnesium deficiency in the population, antioxidants and other medications in addition to magnesium supplements might help in reducing cardiovascular disease. Patients with heart failure especially African Americans are prone to an imbalance of several nutrients, according to a presentation by Dr. German Kamalov and colleagues. The imbalance is accompanied by activation of certain hormones, leading to inflammation and wasting of soft tissues and bone. The authors discuss approaches to recognizing this nutritional imbalance, and suggest that a "polynutrient supplement" including calcium, magnesium, zinc, selenium, and vitamins D, B12, and B1 might play a role in heart failure management. Despite the tantalizing new evidence, "The role of nutrition in the causation, prevention, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases is largely unexplored," Dr. Weber concludes. "Investigator-initiated, hypothesis-driven research conducted in a mode of discovery by a multidisciplinary team of basic and clinical scientists will undoubtedly open new frontiers and pave the way by identifying simple remedies that could advance the practice of medicine." About The American Journal of the Medical Sciences Founded in 1820, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences (AJMS) is the official journal of the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Regular features include Clinical and Basic Investigation studies, Reviews, Historical Articles, Case Reports, Images in the Medical Sciences. Other special features include contributions from the Southwestern Internal Medicine Conference, Cardiology Grand Rounds from the University of North Carolina and Emory University, Case Records of the VA Maryland Healthcare System/University of Maryland Medicine, and Clinical Pathological Correlation from Texas A&M Health Science/Scott & White Memorial Hospital, Images in the Medical Sciences. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009