Health Insurance
Researchers from the Universities of York and Leeds have been awarded ÷£3.3m from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to find out how a family of proteins known as colicins force their way into bacterial cells before destroying them.
Keri Smith, Ph.D., an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, has received a Career Development Award from the National Hemophilia Foundation.
Statement by APTA President R. Scott Ward, PT, PhD
Few people changed their behaviour in the early stages of the swine flu outbreak, finds a study published on bmj.com. But the results do support efforts to inform the public about specific actions that can reduce the risks from swine flu and to communicate about the government"s plans and res.
Even when she"s well, little Cammy Barber doesn"t like getting her ears
Pregnant women who are indigenous to the Andes Mountains deliver more blood and oxygen to their fetuses at high altitude than do women of European descent. The study helps explain why babies of Andean descent born at high altitude weigh more than European babies born at altitude.
Entangled in all the controversial drama surrounding the sudden death of Pop-Icon Michael Jackson is the issue of his three children"s paternity. With conflicting facts out there, many people are talking about the possibility that his children may have been born through embryo donation and adoption. This practice is not new. Many families are successfully birthing healthy babies from frozen embryos throughout the United States.
US researchers said that undiagnosed cases of celiac disease, where the immune system has a strong adverse reaction to the protein found in
Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center have found a way to use a natural compound to stop one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States. The research appears online this month in the journal Diabetes, a publication of the American Diabetes Association.
In times of doubt and uncertainty, many Americans turn to self-help books in search of encouragement, guidance and self-affirmation. The positive self-statements suggested in these books, such as "I am a lovable person" or "I will succeed," are designed to lift a person"s low self-esteem and push them into positive action. According to a recent study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, however, these statements can actually have the opposite effect.
MPS, a leading medical protection organisation, is advising doctors on the issues they should be aware of when consulting with patients via email.
A ground-breaking Canada-wide clinical trial led by Dr. Katherine Borden, at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Universitç© de Montrç©al, has shown that a common anti-viral drug, ribavirin, can be beneficial in the treatment of cancer patients. Published in the journal Blood (First Edition), the study demonstrates that ribavirin suppresses the activities of the eIF4E gene in patients. This gene is dysregulated in 30 percent of cancers including breast, prostate, head and neck, colon and stomach cancer.
Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) announced data results from the CHAMPIONS (Controlled High-Risk AVONEX® (interferon beta-1a) Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Prevention Study In Ongoing Neurologic Surveillance) study, an open label follow-up to CHAMPS (Controlled High Risk Subjects AVONEX MS Prevention Study). Based on the CHAMPS study, AVONEX was granted approval for use in patients who experienced their first clinical MS episode with MRI findings. The CHAMPIONS ten-year follow up showed that patients treated immediately after their first episode had significantly less chance of experiencing a second attack versus those patients with delayed treatment. These results at ten years also indicate that 80 percent of patients taking AVONEX were below an expanded disability status scale (EDSS) score of three. These data were presented as a poster at the Annual American Academy of Neurology (AAN) meeting.
Genentech, Inc. announced today that the Phase III study BRAVO showed Lucentis® (ranibizumab injection) improved vision, as measured by the primary endpoint of mean change from baseline in best-corrected visual acuity at six months, in patients with macular edema due to branch retinal vein occlusion. The safety profile of Lucentis was consistent with previous experience and no new adverse events related to Lucentis were observed in the study. Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is a common cause of vision loss that occurs when blood flow through a retinal vein becomes blocked, such as by a blood clot.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA), UK, informed yesterday 3rd July, 2009, in its weekly update that the total number of confirmed human cases of Swine Flu A(H1N1) infection has reached 7,447. British health authorities estimate that the figure will be over 100,000 by the end of this summer.
Australians should be able to receive Medicare-type benefits directly from the private health fund of their choice, according to the authors of an article published in the Medical Journal of Australia.
Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) is encouraging gay men to learn more about hepatitis A, B and C today - World Hepatitis Day (May 19).
Leading interventional pain physicians from key U.S. centers gathered at a special clinical symposium to share their experience with Vertos Medical"s mild (Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression), the least invasive surgical procedure for treating lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), with no implants left behind.* Their early clinical experiences suggest that mild may be an appropriate treatment alternative earlier in the LSS progression, as mild patients have shown favorable results when comparing post-treatment improvement at three months to open surgical procedure patient results at one year1. Moreover, mild leaves future surgical options open.
In a bid to reduce levels of undiagnosed HIV in Cardiff, HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) is encouraging people who may have been at risk to attend a local service offering one-hour HIV testing. One in four people who have HIV in the UK are undiagnosed, and there are now more people living with the condition than ever before.
Media coverage of skin cancer advice and sun awareness campaigns may have generated a 47 percent increase in diagnoses of melanoma in just one year, according to research due to be released at the British Association of Dermatologists" Annual Conference next week.
The tonsils are fleshy pieces of lymphatic tissue that rest in the back of the throat above and below the tongue. As part of the immune system, the tonsils help fight infections. However, if bacteria or viruses contaminate the tonsils, the result is an infectious inflammation and swelling of the tonsils - or tonsillitis.
The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, announced the approval of a new of the medical isotope Iodine-131 (I-131) to treat thyroid cancer in Canada.
Parkison"s Disease Drugs Could Treat MDR-TB, XDR-TB
As part of its continued drive to reduce people"s risk of developing coronary heart disease, the Food Standards Agency has today published revised, voluntary salt reduction targets for industry to meet by 2012.
ATS Medical, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATSI), manufacturer and marketer of state-of-the-art cardiac surgery products and services, announced FDA clearance and the first implant of the ATS Simulus(R) Semi-Rigid Annuloplasty Band. The Simulus Semi-Rigid Annuloplasty Band was developed through the Company"s collaboration with Genesee BioMedical and represents the latest addition to the expanding portfolio of valve repair products.
For the first time, families of murder victims have joined with families of persons with mental illness who have been executed to speak out against the death penalty.
"President Obama, strategizing... with congressional leaders about health-care reform, complained that liberal advocacy groups ought to drop their attacks on Democratic lawmakers and devote their energy to promoting passage of comprehensive legislation," The Washington Post reports. "In a pre-holiday call with half a dozen top House and Senate Democrats, Obama expressed his concern over advertisements and online campaigns targeting moderate Democrats, whom they criticize for not being fully devoted to "true" health-care reform." In the call, "Obama said he is hoping left-leaning organizations that worked on his behalf in the presidential campaign will now rally support for "advancing legislation" that fulfills his goal of expanding coverage, controlling rising costs and modernizing the health system."
"The nation"s largest insurers, hospitals and medical groups have hired more than 350 former government staff members and retired members of Congress in hopes of influencing their old bosses and colleagues, according to an analysis of lobbying disclosures and other records," the Washington Post reports. The Post"s analysis of lobbying disclosure records shows that three-quarters of major health firms have hired an insider to lobby on their behalf; half of those insiders once worked for the key senators and congressional committees that are now shaping the reform proposals.
As President Barack Obama pushes to overhaul health care, many look to Europe for examples of government-run health care.
As President Barack Obama and some Democratic lawmakers push for a government-run public plan, Medicare is being scrutinized.
The 57-year-old lawyer in New York had handily completed the New York Times" Saturday crossword puzzle - the hardest of the week - for years. But one Saturday morning, suddenly he couldn"t retrieve the words to fill in the squares.
The emerging field of synthetic biology uses engineering techniques to manipulate biological materials, enabling scientists to create new biological systems or even engineer new life forms. Though these technologies could lead to the creation of beneficial materials and applications for human health, they also raise a host of public policy, legal, and ethical questions.
BioNews publishes a controversial editorial by Dr Gedis Grudzinskas, Director of Fertility Focus Professional Services. If the same standards were applied to ivf centres as cardiac surgery, one in five ivf centres in the uk would be closed immediately.
A new study finds that individuals who have low expression of the "Celebrex gene," 15-PGDH, are actually resistant to Celebrex treatment when used to prevent colon cancer. The study, published in this week"s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), is by Sanford Markowitz, M.D., Ph.D., the Markowitz-Ingalls Professor of Cancer Genetics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and an oncologist at the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center and his colleagues.
Junior doctors working for the NHS in England feel "press ganged" into having HIV tests, reveals a small study published in the Journal of Medical Ethics.
A British company has launched an anti-infection kit specifically designed to protect hospital patients and visitors from MRSA, Norovirus, Swine-flu, E-Coli and other hospital-acquired infections. The PatientGuard kit includes the world"s first dry-on-contact spray suitable for use on hospital bed linen, curtains and other "near patient touch sites." The launch coincides with the release of new figures on ward closures due to Norovirus from the Health Protection Agency, which show a 23 per cent increase on the same period last year.
A new prostate cancer "homing device" could improve detection and allow for the first targeted treatment of the disease.
A common blood test for triglycerides - a well-known cardiovascular disease risk factor - may also for the first time allow doctors to predict which patients with diabetes are more likely to develop the serious, common complication of neuropathy.
Where biology, chemistry and physics intersect, a Kansas State University professor expects to find applications to improve human health.
Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (NasdaqCM:PSTI) (DAX:PJT), a bio-therapeutics company dedicated to the commercialization of unrelated donor-patient (allogeneic) cell therapy products for a variety of disorders, announced today that the first patient has been enrolled in a Phase I clinical trial of the Company"s allogeneic placental-derived adherent stromal cell product, termed PLX-PAD. PLX-PAD is being used in patients afflicted with critical limb ischemia (CLI), the end-stage of peripheral artery disease (PAD). The first patient was enrolled at the Franziskus-Krankenhaus Hospital, Berlin. The initiation of this study follows the recent approval of the Company"s Clinical Trial Application (CTA) to begin clinical trials with PLX-PAD by the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), the German competent authority in the European Union. The Phase I study is designed to evaluate the safety of PLX-PAD in patients with CLI. A total of up to fifteen adults with the disease will be included in the trial which is being conducted at the Franziskus-Krankenhaus Hospital and Charitç© - Universitç¤tsmedizin Hospital, Berlin.
A quick breath check in the palm of your hand can never give accurate results. Whether you"re about to lean in for a smooch or start a job interview, you"re better off asking a trusted friend if your breath is sweet. But what if a friend isn"t around when you need one?
A test that measures oxygen levels in newborns can detect "critical" congenital heart disease, but there are variables involved with the test that require more study before it is adopted for universal newborn screening, according to a new joint statement from the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
A tightly controlled system of checks and balances ensures that a powerful tumor suppressor called p53 keeps a tight lid on unchecked cell growth but doesn"t wreak havoc in healthy cells. In their latest study, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies suggest just how finely tuned the system is and how little it takes to tip the balance.
The active form of vitamin D3 seems to have anticancer effects. To try and understand the mechanisms underlying these effects, researchers previously set out to identify genes whose expression in a human colon cancer cell line was altered by the active form of vitamin D3. One gene identified in this previous study was CST5, which is responsible for making the protein cystatin D. Now, a team of researchers, at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientÃficas-Universidad AutÃönoma de Madrid, Spain, and the Universidad de Oviedo, Spain, has studied this protein in detail and determined that it has tumor suppressor activity that likely accounts for some of the anticancer effects of the active form of vitamin D3.
With the first innings of the Ashes commencing this week, celebrity TV
ERT (Nasdaq: ERES), a leading provider of centralized ECG, ePRO, eClinical technology and other services to the biopharmaceutical, medical device and related industries, announced today the launch of a unique online web interface - My Study Portal(TM). Following the successful launch of ERT"s new website, My Study Portal is aimed at enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of cardiac safety data management in clinical trials.
CSC (NYSE: CSC) today announced that it has been named a leading technology provider in multiple categories of Celent"s 2009 Insurance Software Deal Trends study, published in two editions. Celent, a financial services technology research and advisory firm, reported in the Life/Health Edition that CSC is the leader in Life, Health and Annuity Core Processing with 56 percent of the deals in 2007 and 2008, as well as a leader in Life, Health and Annuity Infrastructure and Accounting. In addition, Celent identified CSC in the Property/Casualty Edition as a leader in Property and Casualty (P&C) Core Processing and P&C Distribution.
With the recall of the cold remedy Zicam nasal spray for possibly causing some people to lose their sense of smell and the prior failures of vitamin C and echinacea to prove effective in trials, viruses seem to be winning the war on colds.
Dozens of the nation"s leading organizations in health care, science, medicine and public health are meeting in Washington, D.C., this week with one goal in mind: to develop a national physical activity plan that will make America healthier. Congressional leaders and members of the public both agree that emphasizing disease prevention measures, such as increasing physical activity, is essential to combating chronic diseases, which account for 70 percent of all deaths in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
New studies that analyse genetic differences across thousands of human genomes
The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries.~ "Just the Facts, Sir: The False Dichotomy of Catholics vs. "Pro-Choice" on Common Ground," Jodi Jacobson, RH Reality Check: In anticipation of the release of the White House"s "common ground" proposal to reduce the need for abortion and help prevent unintended pregnancies, "numerous members of the male pontificator commentariat are trying to spark anxiety by claiming Obama will have to make a choice between "the Catholic vote" and "the pro-choice community,"" Jacobson writes. However, "[n]othing could be further from the truth," she states, noting that Obama received the majority of the Catholic vote in the election and that a "majority of Catholic voters approve of [his] performance to date." There is "no danger" of Obama losing Catholic support "on this particular issue, as long as the administration makes clear its values and principles and goals and objectives, and as long as it sticks to the facts," Jacobson continues. She lists several steps that the White House should take with its proposal, including making it clear that the administration is "committed to evidence-based policies in public health" and that "the best way to reduce unintended pregnancies, and hence the need for abortion, is to provide universal access to prevention services." By focusing on evidence-based public health policies, the Obama administration "can, in the long run, actually bring profound change to this debate," Jacobson writes. She concludes that "evidence-based policies put into practice will achieve many of the goals we seek and take the air out of the ideological fight in which we have been engaged" (Jacobson, RH Reality Check, 7/2).~ "Is Denying Women Abortions the Price of Bipartisanship?" Igor Volsky, Think Progress" "The Wonk Room": Volsky writes that Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Republican colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee reportedly are pushing health care reform legislation that would require insurers participating in a new national health insurance exchange to exclude coverage for abortion services. According to Volsky, the committee"s version of the bill would be the only piece of health care reform legislation "that specifically prohibits -- takes away, rations, if you will -- a medical service." Meanwhile, health care reform legislation being considered by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the House"s three committees that govern health care "leaves the coverage decisions -- the design of the so-called essential benefit packages" -- to the HHS secretary or an expert committee. Volsky notes that approximately one in three U.S. women will have an abortion by age 45 and that private insurers usually cover the procedure. He writes, "As Republicans often argue, Congress should leave benefits decisions to the medical professionals." He adds that "if denying abortion services to women is the price of bipartisanship, then perhaps winning those one or two Republican votes isn"t worth the price of jeopardizing women"s health and well-being" (Volsky, "The Wonk Room," Think Progress, 7/6).~ "House Moves To Lift Bans On Abortion Funding, Needle Exchange, Domestic Partnership and Medical Marijuana in D.C.," Choice Words: The fiscal year 2010 appropriations bill currently under review in the House "would lift a number of reproductive justice-related funding bans" in the District of Columbia, including a ban on using locally-raised funds for abortion, the blog entry states. "Access to abortion in D.C. has been severely limited by anti-choice Congresspeople playing politics with the district," the blog says, noting that Congress has "supreme authority" over the district"s funding. The bill also would end bans on using funds for certain other purposes, such as domestic partnership registration and benefits, according to the blog. The blog concludes that the "fight to lift these funding bans is just beginning" and is an "important first step towards protecting reproductiv
"Health care overhaul legislation from President Barack Obama"s congressional allies would create a federal insurance czar with sweeping new powers to oversee medical plans nationwide, an idea already drawing fierce criticism," The Associated Press reports. "State insurance commissioners are objecting, saying it would duplicate what they now do without offering any better protection for consumers. Conservatives are calling it a textbook example of a big government mentality."
Michael R. Taylor, J.D., a nationally recognized food safety expert and research professor at George Washington University"s School of Public Health and Health Services, will return to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to serve as senior advisor to the commissioner.
The G8 summit is scheduled to open Wednesday in L"Aquila, Italy. The World Food Program (WFP) on Tuesday issued a statement praising the G8 leaders" focus on food security and calling for support of its efforts to combat hunger among the world"s poorest people, Xinhua reports. In the statement, WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran recommended leaders take a "twin-track" approach to food security, which includes supporting long-term agricultural production along with immediate hunger assistance.
The White House announced on Monday that the U.S. and Russia have signed on to a "memo of understanding" to cooperate on several public health and medical science projects, ModernHealthcare.com reports. The agreement calls for USAID and other scientific research institutions to work on specific health goals with Russian institutions, including the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (Rhea, 6/6).
The Wall Street Journal examines the "strategic shift in the $770 billion pharmaceutical industry to target the working poor in the developing world" through the eyes of a Pfizer pharmaceutical representative working in the slums overlooking Caracas, Venezuela. The newspaper writes: "For the first time in a half-century, sales of prescription drugs are forecast to decline this year in the U.S., historically the industry"s biggest and most profitable market ò€¦ As a result, developing countries ò€¦ have begun to look more attractive to the industry."
Lack Of Funds Prevents HIV-Positive People In Uganda From Receiving Antiretroviral Treatment
There is not enough evidence to support using gels and creams containing rubefacients for chronic and acute pain, according to a systematic review by Cochrane Researchers. Rubefacients cause irritation and reddening of the skin, due to increased blood flow. The review focused on formulations containing salicylates, which are widely prescribed or sold over the counter as topical treatments for sports injuries and muscle pain.
The first findings from a one-of-a-kind, patient-driven effort to provide lung tissue for research might help doctors predict when patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are becoming dangerously ill and also could point the way to interventions that could sustain them until life-saving transplants can be performed.
Catastrophic epilepsy - characterized by severe muscle spasms, persistent seizures, mental retardation and sometimes autism - results from a mutation in a single gene, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appears in the current issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
A national fellowship program focused on expanding the role of nurses to lead change in the U.S. health care system has named its 2009 cohort of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation® (RWJF) Executive Nurse Fellows. Twenty nurses, selected from among the top nursing leaders nationwide, will join more than 200 nurse leaders who have participated in the program since 1998. With nurses from Oklahoma and Rhode Island, two states new to the program, the Executive Nurse Fellows network now extends across 46 states.
Iatrogenic perforation of cancer of the esophagus or the gastroesophageal (GE) junction is a severe complication. Its incidence has increased most likely because of more aggressive palliative endoscopic therapy and the current widespread use of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) for accurate preoperative staging. Therapy, i.e. conservative versus surgical treatment remains controversial.
GTx, Inc. (Nasdaq: GTXI), announced the initiation of a Phase I multiple ascending dose clinical trial evaluating GTx-758, an oral LH inhibitor for first line treatment of advanced prostate cancer. A Phase I single ascending dose clinical trial in 96 subjects was successfully completed in June.
Since its introduction in 1993, molecular adsorbent recirculating system (MARS) albumin dialysis has been a subject of research, with the hope of effectively treating patients with acute liver failure. The impact of MARS treatment on outcome as well as clinical and laboratory variables has been investigated widely in small non-randomized studies. However, larger studies with longer follow-up time are required to determine the true usefulness of MARS treatment in different liver failure etiologies.
As leaders at the G8 summit in L"Aquila gather to discuss global
AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond released
ChemoCentryx, Inc. announced that Thomas J. Schall, Ph.D., ChemoCentryx"s President and Chief Executive Officer, will give a keynote lecture at The 9th World Congress on Inflammation in Tokyo, Japan. Dr. Schall"s lecture titled, "Treating Inflammation by Inhibition of Chemokine Receptors: Practical Requirements and Efficacy of CCR9 Antagonism in Inflammatory Bowel Disease" will be given on Thursday, July 9, 2009 at 9:00 am local time.
According to a new Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs report, parents should be skeptical if their doctors offer them free prescription drug samples, especially for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Free samples can hook consumers on high-priced brand name drugs that are not any better or safer than less expensive generic medicines. In addition, when doctors give out free samples, they often fail to give patients information inserts that highlight important safety and side effect information.
Governor Edward G. Rendell announced that representatives of his office, the departments of Health and Education, and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency will participate in a federally sponsored H1N1 Influenza Preparedness Summit in Maryland on July 9.
Many global companies have activated a pandemic response plan to the threat of an A(H1N1) "swine flu" pandemic, according to a survey released by The Conference Board.
The following is a statement of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:
AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., issued the following statement on the agreement reached by the hospital community, the Obama administration, and the Senate Finance Committee in support of health care reform:
Pope Benedict XVI, as part of a 144-page encyclical critiquing the international economic system, argues that the use of birth control is poor economic policy, the Washington Post reports. According to the document, birth control is not only immoral but also harmful to the economy because it narrows the "brain pool" of qualified labor. The document makes similar arguments about abortion.The document was released ahead of Wednesday"s Group of Eight industrialized nations summit, which will focus on the world economy. According to the Post, the timing of the document"s release indicates that Benedict "aims to insert his voice into that discussion by focusing on the moral underpinnings of the meltdown" (Salmon, Washington Post, 7/8).
The Wall Street Journal reports: "Industry representatives met at the White House Tuesday with officials to consider specifics of a cost-saving agreement the industry reached last month with health-care negotiators and to discuss other concerns that the pharmaceutical industry has with the larger health-care overhaul being considered by Congress. As a presidential candidate, President Barack Obama endorsed re-importation, an idea the industry opposes. White House officials have told the industry if the larger health care bill passes, the cost savings will be so great that reimportation will be unnecessary, according to Billy Tauzin, president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America." Some of the pharmaceutical companies represented at the Tuesday meeting included Merck & Co., Pfizer Inc., Amgen Inc., Abbott Laboratories and AstraZeneca.
Researchers have identified a genetic signature that can predict an improved clinical outcome in patients with breast cancer, and which could help in the development of new targeted therapies.
More than one-third of Americans use complementary or alternative medicine (CAM). The vast majority of patients use CAM in addition to, rather than instead of, a conventional medical regimen.
Noncommunicable diseases such as heart attacks, strokes, cancers, diabetes, respiratory diseases, and common injuries account for the vast majority of all global deaths, but because they are not yet included as priorities in the global development agenda, donors and international organizations have yet to pledge support to help developing countries address these leading health problems.
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that survival among women with ovarian cancer is influenced by age of menarche and total number of lifetime ovulatory cycles.
Public health experts throughout the UK and Somerset are now implementing new national guidance regarding the treatment and management of swine flu in the UK.
The relationship between migraine headaches in women and a significant reduction in breast cancer risk has been confirmed in a follow-on study to landmark research published last year and conducted by scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The new study found a 26 percent reduced risk of breast cancer among both premenopausal and postmenopausal women with a clinical diagnosis of migraines.
A team of researchers from DuPont and Lehigh University has reported a breakthrough in the quest to produce carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that are suitable for use in electronics, medicine and other applications.
With appointment waiting periods stretching as long as three-months to see a psychiatrist, Delaware County patients often don"t know where to turn for "best in class" mental health services. This barrier to care is further compounded by the fact that 67 percent of primary care physicians nationwide have trouble accessing mental health services on behalf of their patients.
John Csernansky wants to take your measurements. Not the circumference of your chest, waist and hips. No, this doctor wants to stretch a tape measure around your hippocampus, thalamus and prefrontal cortex.
Hospital doctors must learn the basics of NHS finance to help drive greater efficiency and better outcomes for patients, according to the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and the Audit Commission.
The Department of Health and Human Services" Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has again granted The Joint Commission deeming authority for the accreditation of critical access hospitals.
For the past half-century or more, conservation goals
Wiley-Blackwell, the scientific, technical, medical and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, Inc (NYSE: JWa), (NYSE: JWb), has announced that the inaugural issue of its new journal, Asia-Pacific Psychiatry, is now live online.
EFSA"s Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW) has published five scientific opinions and a scientific report on the overall effects of the most relevant farming systems on the welfare of dairy cows and related diseases. The Panel concluded that long term genetic selection for higher milk yield and the nature of the farming systems used - i.e. housing and equipment, as well as management and handling practices - are major factors affecting the health and welfare of dairy cows. Lameness and mastitis are the most significant indicators of poor dairy cow welfare, as well as reproductive, metabolic and behavioural disorders. The Panel proposed a series of recommendations which could be taken into account by risk managers in view of further improving welfare in the areas of housing, feeding and the genetic selection of dairy cows.
As far as earning more, it appears that size really does matter, or at least it does in Australia, where researchers recently discovered a significant link
PharmAthene, Inc. (NYSE Amex: PIP), a biodefense company developing medical countermeasures against biological and chemical threats, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed its review of the Company"s proposed development plan for SparVax(TM), PharmAthene"s next generation recombinant protective antigen (rPA) anthrax vaccine.
Life Spine announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given 510(k) marketing clearance to the FS3 Minimally Invasive Spinal System.
Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have devised a laboratory test for predicting whether microbicides against HIV are safe for human use. The researchers have also discovered why several supposedly "safe" microbicides made women more susceptible to HIV infection. The study appears today in the online version of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Peter Werner Christensen, CPIP, Senior Quality Professional with NNE Pharmaplan, and Sam DeMarco, CPIP, President of Compliance Team, Inc., have met the global competency standard and have been conferred the Certified Pharmaceutical Industry Professional (CPIPTM) credential by the ISPE Professional Certification Commission (ISPE-PCCTM).
US researchers have recently confirmed the findings of an earlier smaller study they published last year that suggested women with a history of
In recent news reports, there was a statement made that abuse experienced as a child can later lead to the development of autoimmune diseases, including lupus. There is no scientific evidence to support this statement, either in humans or animal models of lupus. Stress is sometimes listed as a "trigger" for a lupus flare in a patient that has lupus. Even this hypothesis is only supported by anecdotal data and not a well defined clinical study. There is clearly a connection between the immune system and the nervous system. Stress can induce a number of physiologic changes that can last for varying periods of time. To suggest, however, that child abuse is an accepted cause of lupus is inaccurate and unsupportable until there is clear data linking childhood abuse with later development of lupus.
President Obama on Wednesday nominated Francis Collins, a physician and genetics researcher, to be NIH director, the Washington Post reports (Brown, Washington Post, 7/9). Collins worked at the agency during the administrations of former Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush and served as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, where he helped lead the Human Genome Project to sequence all human DNA (Young, The Hill, 7/8). He is also known for a 2006 best-selling book presenting scientific evidence for a belief in God. Collins resigned as head of the institute last year but remained a consultant. Since then, he established the BioLogos Foundation to "contribute to the public voice that represents the harmony of science and faith" (Maugh, Los Angeles Times, 7/9).Many researchers and health care experts praised Collins" nomination, though some others were not "entirely enthusiastic," according to the New York Times. The two major objections to his nomination involve his "very public embrace of religion" and his "important role in raising expectations [of gene research] impossibly high," according to the New York Times (Harris, New York Times, 7/9). Collins and his colleagues at the University of Michigan discovered the defective gene that causes cystic fibrosis in 1989. According to the Los Angeles Times, Collins is expected to be quickly confirmed (Los Angeles Times, 7/9).Broadcast Coverage NPR"s "Morning Edition" on Thursday included a discussion with NPR science correspondent Jon Hamilton about the nomination (Inskeep, "Morning Edition," NPR, 7/9).
"In the face of mounting Republican opposition to its healthcare agenda, the Obama administration received a boost Wednesday, winning a preliminary agreement with leading hospital groups to cut federal payments to the industry over the next decade," The Los Angeles Times reports. "Under the plan, negotiated primarily by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), hospitals would accept $155 billion in cuts if the administration and its congressional allies succeeded in extending health insurance to tens of millions of people who are now without coverage. None of the hospital groups has signed a written agreement backing the cuts, nor is there any guarantee that the cuts will be included in versions of the healthcare legislation being developed by lawmakers other than Baucus" (Levey, 7/9).
The World Food Programme (WFP) issued an urgent appeal on Tuesday for $23 million in "financial support from international donors for food aid to Yemen specifically targeted at women and children," AFP/Google.com reports. The agency said that the "figure represents 42 percent of the 55 million dollars that it needs for the current year to improve the nutrition of more than 1.6 million vulnerable people in Yemen," the news service writes.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) warned property owners to ensure that they keep accurate records of asbestos in their buildings and pass any information on to contractors.
Replacing a joint in any part of the body often leads to a long recovery process and the possibility of not being able to return to a sport or activity. However, a new study presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine"s (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in Keystone, Colorado, (July 9 -12) presents findings that even an older individual who receives a total shoulder joint replacement can return to full participation within approximately six months of surgery.
The majority of post-menopausal women are uncomfortable talking about vaginal dryness and pain and are reluctant to seek medical help, according to results from a new international survey presented today at the European Congress on Menopause in London. Results from the survey show that over a third (39 percent) of post-menopausal women experience these symptoms of vaginal atrophy and 40 percent of women who have recently experienced vaginal dryness and pain said it interferes with their sex life, yet seven out of ten would not discuss the problem with their physician (only 30 percent of women would consider talking to a gynaecologist, and only 29 percent would consider talking to a GP).
Chemists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the Scripps Research Institute have developed an innovative technique to create cheap but highly stable chemicals that have the potential to take the place of the antibodies used in many standard medical diagnostic tests.
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Strasbourg University and North Carolina State University, both leading academic institutions in the field of bioproduction, have entered into an agreement to collaborate on a unique set of training capabilities for industry. The Alsace Biovalley cluster has played and will continue to play a key role in the program by bringing together industry players in support of the project, ensuring that training programs meet industry needs, structuring the financial engineering required and securing funding for the infrastructures.
A clinical report from Dresden supports the impression that "Spice Gold" is strongly addictive. In the current edition of Deutsches Arzteblatt International (Dtsch Arzteblatt Int 2009: 106[27]: 464-7), Ulrich S. Zimmermann, from Dresden Technical University, and his colleagues describe a young man who developed physical withdrawal symptoms after regular consumption of this designer drug, accompanied by a dependence syndrome.
BioAlliance Pharma SA (Paris:BIO), the specialty pharmaceutical company focused on therapy and supportive care in cancer and AIDS, announced Europe-wide approval for embossing its Loramyc® mucoadhesive buccal tablet, developed for the treatment of oropharyngeal candidiasis.
Attractive males release fewer sperm per mating to maximise their chances of producing offspring across a range of females, according to a new paper on the evolution of ejaculation strategies. The findings by researchers at UCL (University College London) and the University of Oxford suggest that, paradoxically, matings with attractive males may be less fertile than those with unattractive ones.
Investigators from Hospital for Special Surgery have shown that a biodegradable scaffold or plug can be used to treat patients with damaged knee cartilage. The study is unique in that it used serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and newer quantitative T2 mapping to examine how the plug incorporated itself into the knee. The research, abstract 8372, was presented during the annual meeting of the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, June 9-12, in Keystone, Colo.
Dialysis treatments do not affect the heart health of kidney disease patients who have had a heart attack, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). Since cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in kidney disease patients, the findings are good news for individuals who need the treatments.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published its first Annual Report on Pesticide Residues, which provides an overview on the pesticide residues in food observed throughout the European Union (EU) during 2007 and assesses the exposure of consumers through their diets. The report showed that the majority of the samples complied with the legal maximum residue levels (MRLs) of pesticides and made a series of recommendations to further improve the collection of data required for pesticide exposure assessment.
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.
22nd Congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), 12 - 16 September 2009, Istanbul, Turkey
Medical information of more than 35 million persons from the general European population will be studied with the goal of better guiding clinicians how to balance the risk of gastrointestinal and cardiovascular events when prescribing NSAIDs.
Kaiser Health News reports on health insurance exchanges, a concept now being considered in the context of Congress"s health overhaul proposals. "The seemingly simple idea behind exchanges - one-stop shopping for insurance - masks the cornerstone role they may play in a national overhaul of the health system. President Obama supports the idea, and exchanges are included in most of the health care proposals now before Congress. Done right, proponents say, exchanges could transform how insurance is sold, giving individuals and small businesses improved purchasing power, increasing price competition among insurers and creating standardized benefits. Done poorly, analysts and critics say, exchanges could drive up insurance costs and encourage employers to drop coverage, unraveling the system that insures most working Americans. While it"s still unclear what Congress will do, Senate Democrats have looked closely at Massachusetts. Here"s how it works there: The state established its exchange, called the Health Connector, mainly for the benefit of individuals who aren"t insured by employers. They include the self-employed and the unemployed, two categories of people who traditionally have the most difficulty obtaining policies. Although not required to buy through the exchange, doing so gives them group-purchasing power. Lower-income people are eligible for state subsidies."
The Health Care Follies CBS News /The New Republic
President Obama is expected to arrive in Accra, Ghana, Friday night, the AP/Google.com reports. White House adviser Michelle Gavin said the president chose to travel to Ghana "because it"s such an admirable example of strong, democratic governance, vibrant civil society" (Babington, 7/10). The following are opinion pieces reflecting on his trip and Africa policy:
Partnering with local physicians, working with local clinics, and conducting educational seminars and health fairs were found to be the most effective tools in recruiting people for Alzheimer"s clinical studies, according to new research reported at the Alzheimer"s Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease (ICAD 2009) in Vienna.
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and collaborators have discovered and analyzed several new compounds, collectively called the ""EUK-400 series,"" which could someday be used to prevent radiation-induced injuries to kidneys, lungs, skin, intestinal tract and brains of radiological terrorism victims. The findings, which appear in the June issue of the Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, describe new agents which can be given orally in pill form, which would more expedient in an emergency situation.