Mental Health
The results of an international study led by a Toronto-area doctor were unveiled today that show there"s a more effective way to treat patients with a severe arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, than the current treatment methods.
The University of San Pablo CEU, a major academic and research institution in Madrid, Spain, yesterday presented Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the American Association for Cancer Research, with an honorary doctorate in medicine that recognizes her exceptional contributions to cancer research and leadership of the AACR, which have done so much to help those suffering from cancer.
A polyomavirus known as MCPyV is associated with clinical outcomes, including fewer metastases and better survival, in patients with a rare form of skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma, according to a new study published online June 17 in the JNCI.
The saying "Knowing is half the battle" is never more true than when discussing early treatment of disease. Muscular dystrophy is one such disease where patients can benefit from early treatment. Now, new research is moving doctors and scientists closer to disease diagnosis in advance of patient symptoms.
Brian Andrew Tully, Esq., an attorney specializing in elder law, argues against POLST (Physicians" Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment). In his article "A Counterview: Objections to the POLST Paradigm," which was published in the February 2009 issue ofThe Elder Law Report, Mr. Tully states that POLST gives physicians autonomy in the decision-making process, without having to consult with the patient or the health care proxy.
A new landmark collaboration between the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance), a not-for-profit, product development partnership, and Tibotec Inc., (Tibotec), a global pharmaceutical company, has been announced at the Pacific Health Summit in response to the urgent need to accelerate the discovery and development of new drugs to fight tuberculosis (TB).
Provectus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTC BB: PVCT), a development-stage oncology and dermatology biopharmaceutical company has completed patient accrual and initial PV-10 treatment in its Phase 2 trial of PV-10 for metastatic melanoma. The study involved treatment of 80 subjects with Stage III or Stage IV metastatic melanoma.
Omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish such as tuna and salmon may protect against progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but the benefits appear to depend on the stage of disease and whether certain supplements are taken, report researchers at the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research (LNVR), Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University.
US consumer watchdog Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has informed Bayer Healthcare that it will sue them and file a complaint
Senator Byron Dorgan (ND) on Tuesday introduced legislation that would for the first time establish a national coordinated system to collect and analyze data on multiple sclerosis and Parkinson"s disease. Accurate incidence and prevalence information on these two diseases currently does not exist. Click here to ask your Senator to support this legislation.
The American Cancer Society - the nation"s leading voluntary health organization and largest non-governmental funder of cancer research and discovery - will present its Corporate Impact Awards June 19 during the Society-hosted Corporate Impact Conference in Chicago. The awards will recognize companies" engagement in targeted efforts to significantly impact cancer"s effect on the workplace, where disease-related expenditures and lost productivity costs annually surpass $228 billion; in contributing funds to the American Cancer Society to fight the disease; and in addressing responsible community involvement.
Newspapers highlight a few of the key congressional players in the health care debate.
"Employers who offer health insurance coverage could see a 9 percent cost increase next year, and their workers may face an even bigger hit, according to a report Thursday from consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers," the Associated Press reports. Workers concerned about losing their jobs" and their insurance, while it lasts - are using more health care than usual, contributing to rising costs, the report says. As the costs increase, employers are also likely to shift more of the burden to employees. "A total of 42% of employers surveyed said they would increase employees" share of costs," the AP reports.
A Delaware-based organization that has provided HIV prevention, outreach, education and other services for the past 28 years will be closing due to lack of funding, the Bethany Beach Wave reports. The Sussex County AIDS Committee (SCAC) also provided financial assistance, transportation services and assistance with medical appointments to people living with HIV/AIDS from as far as Philadelphia, according to the Wave. SCAC was funded by both private and government funding. "We just ran out of money," Curt Barrows, president of the SCAC board, said. CAMP Rehoboth, another local organization, said it will step in to assist SCAC clients (Shockley, Bethany Beach Wave, 6/18).
The drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis will donate millions of doses of a vaccine that offers protection against the H1N1 (swine flu) virus to the WHO once the vaccine is ready, the company"s chief executive officer announced Tuesday, Reuters reports (Elsner, Reuters, 6/17). The AP/Google.com writes, "Exceptional times require exceptional responses. We need to act responsibly and we all have to play our part," Sanofi CEO Christopher Viehbacher said in a statement released during the Pacific Health Summit in Seattle. "This flexible donation aims to help the WHO address the needs of these most vulnerable populations," he said.
"Decibels for Life", the new campaign from Siemens Hearing Instruments, has been launched to maintain awareness of hearing loss. It will also champion hearing innovations that help overcome impairments leading to an improved quality of life.
Ambulance Trusts across the country have significantly reduced the time taken to reach patients, according to data published today by the NHS Information Centre. 74.3% of the most urgent calls (Category A) were responded to in less than 8 minutes from a call being received.
American Public Media"s "Marketplace" on Tuesday examined how some women and their partners are deciding to have more children, a choice that runs contrary to birth rate trends during past economic recessions. Stephanie Ventura, a demographer at the National Center for Health Statistics, said that in previous severe economic recessions, birth rates have decreased or stabilized. It is too soon to tell whether the current recession will affect birth rates because the most recent birth data are from July 2008. Ventura also noted that the data will encompass a broad range of personal choices, including people who delayed pregnancy and those who went forward with plans to have children despite the recession.According to "Marketplace," some women who have lost jobs but have other s of income believe that having time away from work is a good opportunity to plan a pregnancy. Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute, called this rationale "very clever" but added that being out of work only "gives you a break as long as you"ve got health insurance coverage, or unemployment, or some other of income that you can depend on." Galinsky said, "This country is increasingly becoming family centric. There is much more of an emphasis on children and families and being with them and taking good care of them than there has been before" (Keith, "Marketplace," American Public Media, 6/16).
Panasonic Toyota Racing Formula 1 drivers will team up with the
- 3 confirmed cases in Wales.
The U.S. healthcare system is in critical need of basic change to enable more equitable, effective, efficient care. Experts in various fields of medicine, public health, and industry propose that telemedicine, or information technology enhanced healthcare, must be a core component of a viable healthcare reform strategy, a view they forcefully present in a white paper published online ahead of print in Telemedicine and e-Health, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association. The white paper is available free online
Well-heeled donors, private corporations and average citizens sending money to their favorite charities are changing the landscape of global health funding, according to a new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.
Bioengineers at Duke University have developed a laboratory robot that can successfully locate tiny pieces of metal within flesh and guide a needle to its exact location -- all without the need for human assistance.
- Using a lawn mower can be as routine as bike riding or barbeques during spring and summer months. But often, people find themselves in terrifying situations with these seemingly safe household machines. In fact, 200,000 people - 16,000 of them children - are injured in lawn mower-related accidents each year, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports. However, lawn mowers don"t "attack" on their own. Most injuries - such as severed fingers and toes, limb amputations, broken bones, burns and eye injuries - are caused by careless use and can be prevented by following a few simple safety tips.
Money spiders infected with Rickettsia bacteria are less likely to "balloon" - that is, to use their silk as sails to catch gusts of wind and travel long distances. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology suggest that it may be in the bacteria"s interests to ground the spiders and that this reduction in dispersal could reduce gene flow and impact on reproductive isolation within the meta-population.
The British Climate Act is flawed and comprised of unrealistic and unobtainable targets, writes US academic Roger A Pielke Jr, in a journal paper published on the 18th June, 2009, in IOP Publishing"s Environmental Research Letters.
Light touch - the sense that lets musicians find the right notes on a keyboard, a seamstress revel in the feel of cool silk, the artisan feel a curve in material and the blind read Braille - truly depends on the activity of Merkel cells usually found in crescent-shaped clusters in the skin, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and colleagues in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Science.
Cephalon, Inc. (Nasdaq: CEPH) announced results from a pivotal clinical trial of lestaurtinib (CEP-701) in patients with relapsed acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) expressing FLT3 activating mutations. The study was designed to show the benefit of lestaurtinib in this patient population when given in sequence with standard induction chemotherapy compared to those treated with standard induction chemotherapy alone. An analysis of the study showed that patients who were treated with lestaurtinib showed similar rates of complete response but no increased benefit in overall survival, compared to those who received induction chemotherapy alone.
Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), a global leader in the field of radiosurgery, announced that the Turkish Ministry of Health has purchased two CyberKnife(R) Robotic Radiosurgery Systems for installation in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey.
Electrical spinal cord stimulation (SCS) provides an option for military personnel with back pain and other chronic pain conditions in appropriate cases, allowing soldiers to return to combat and other strenuous duties, according to a study in the July issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).
UroToday.com - To take the adrenal or not at the time of radical nephrectomy, that is the question. These researchers from New York University School of Medicine performed an extensive literature search to determine the role of adrenalectomy at radical nephrectomy and discovered that the incidence of solitary, synchronous, ipsilateral adrenal involvement, and therefore potentially curable tumor disease with ipsilateral adrenalectomy occurred extremely infrequently - in only 1% to 5% of cases.
The Australian Medical Students" Association commends the announcement made by The Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) to withdraw support from the 10-year moratorium imposed on overseas doctors by the government in an attempt to improve patient access to doctors in rural areas.
TranSenda International, LLC announced today that it is developing a new solution, Cortex, designed to improve an organization"s ability to manage a clinical trial"s performance. Based upon patent-pending ClinBUS® data interchange technology already in use in TranSenda"s Office-Smart solutions, Cortex will enable organizations to leverage the power of access to centralized operational data from all applications used across all clinical studies. For years the industry has struggled with an increasingly fragmented environment of disconnected clinical applications, sites and partners. TranSenda"s Cortex, with its proven ClinBUS technology, represents a breakthrough in managing and controlling studies within a common environment-independent of study data formats and clinical trial applications.
The Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC), an innovative research model comprised of a network of 15 academic Member Institutions across North America and leadership in Norwalk, Connecticut, announced preliminary data from an analysis showing that clinical trials opened through its clinical trials network were activated 30 to 40 percent faster than comparable clinical trials in oncology. Based on the implementation of specific business solutions, particularly scientific leadership, standardized clinical contracts and on-site project management res, the MMRC has been able to decrease by an average of 100 days the time from the development and finalization of the trial"s protocol to actual patient enrollment.
British Lung Foundation celebrity ambassador and ex Coronation Street actress Liz Dawn met Health Secretary Andy Burnham MP at the NHS Innovations Expo. Liz encouraged Andy Burnham MP to have a lung test and talked to him about living with the lung disease COPD. Health minister Lord Darzi and David Nicholson, Chief Executive of the NHS, also met with Liz and were given a lung test by a BLF specialist nurse.
UroToday.com - In the online issue of the World Journal of Urology, a group headed by Professor Markus Hohenfellner compared the outcomes of radical prostatectomy (RP) in men younger and older than age 70 years. They suggest that in well-selected men over age 70 years, the outcomes are comparable.
BERKELEY, CA (UroToday.com) - I was trained and board certified as a urologist (University of Virginia) and pathologist (Cornell and UVA) and arrived at Johns Hopkins in 1991 to do a research fellowship with Dr. William B. Isaacs, funded by the American Foundation for Urologic Disease (now the AUA Foundation).
Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have developed a new breast cancer diagnostic marker that could enable physicians to more easily determine which patients have a less aggressive form of the disease that may not require chemotherapy treatment.
An estimated 675,000 Americans died from the A/H1N1 pandemic influenza in the United States in 1918-1919. Many of these deaths were from ensueing bacterial pneumonia rather than directly from the viral infection. The United States Public Health Service conducted surveys in twelve cities and rural areas of the country in late 1918 to early 1919 to determine the case-fatality rate in each city or area. Case-fatality rates varied from 0.78 deaths/100 cases in San Antonio, Texas to 3.14 deaths/100 cases in New London, Connecticut. The strong variation with location suggested that solar ultraviolet-B (UVB) irradiance, through production of vitamin D, reduced the risk of death following infection by this pandemic influenza.
Women are under too much pressure to lose weight quickly after giving birth, according to German Institute
Food supplementation programs for women, infants and children are among the strategies that should be trialled to improve nutrition in Indigenous communities, according to an editorial published in the May 18 Indigenous Health issue of the Medical Journal of Australia.
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Responding to the publication of the Public Accounts Committee report, NHS pay modernisation in England: Agenda for Change, Dr Peter Carter, RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary, said:
Bartering for health care is on the rise as the recession drags on.
The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, announced today that the Government of Canada is proposing new regulations to prevent the use of six chemicals (phthalates) in soft vinyl toys and child-care articles. Regulations are also being proposed to further reduce lead limits in consumer products.
Just in time for Father"s Day weekend, the Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced a new public service campaign today promoting fatherhood that features a PSA by President Obama. The campaign, sponsored by the department"s Administration for Children and Families and the Advertising Council, can be found at http://www.fatherhood.gov. The public service announcements and supporting campaign materials highlight the critical role fathers play in their children"s lives.
As part of an effort to encourage Staten Island, N.Y., residents to be tested for HIV, the CARE Network, the Black Leadership Commission on AIDS and the City Council"s Communities of Color Faith Initiative, have partnered to launch the "Staten Island HIV Status Check Campaign," the Staten Island Advance reports. "Status Check" postcards that include information on free local HIV testing locations, HIV educational literature and condoms will be distributed by local organizations and businesses as part of the initiative. The goal is to reach the 56 percent of local residents who have never been tested for HIV, Karina Ryan, CARE Network coordinator, said (Slepian, Staten Island Advance, 6/18).
The Economist examines schistosomiasis in China. The disease, which is also called snail-fever, is the "world"s second-most prevalent tropical disease after malaria, affecting 207 million people of whom 726,000 are Chinese, according to the most recent official figures, from 2004," the Economist reports.
Lancet Commentary Examines How PEPFAR Failing To Reach IDUs
The U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a "landmark resolution" acknowledging that "preventable maternal mortality and morbidity" is a human rights issue and that national and international efforts to protect women worldwide should be scaled up, the Hudson Valley Press Online reports. More than 70 U.N. member states cosponsored the resolution, led by Colombia and New Zealand (Hudson Valley Press Online, 6/18). Pakistan was one of the member states that signed on to the resolution, the International News reports (International News, 6/19).
After years of declining teenage pregnancy rates and improved teen contraception use during the 1990s and early 2000s, the trends appeared to have flattened or even reversed among some groups of teens in recent years, according to a study from Columbia University"s Mailman School of Public Health and the Guttmacher Institute, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Researchers found that from 2003 to 2007, teens" contraceptive use declined by 10%, while their level of sexual activity did not change. The decrease in contraceptive use was particularly prevalent among black teens. The figures take into account the rate of contraception use as well as the types of contraceptives used, as methods vary in effectiveness. Teen condom use leveled off and in some cases declined, according to the study. The study also reported that the teen birth rate increased by 5% from 2005 to 2007. According to the study"s authors, the findings suggest a link between declining teen contraception use and the rise in abstinence-only education during former President George W. Bush"s administration. President Obama"s fiscal year 2010 budget proposal calls for redirecting some abstinence-only funds toward increased comprehensive sex education, the Monitor reports. In addition to the effects of abstinence-only sex education, the decline in condom use also could be tied to lessening concern about sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS. A shift in the teen population to include a higher number of Hispanics -- who have the highest rates of teen pregnancy and birth -- also could contribute to the findings. Laura Lindberg, one of the study"s authors and a senior research associate at Guttmacher, said, "In the end, this story is really about the loss of momentum." She added that although the statistical changes are small, "they raise concern about what the next few years will bring in this country." Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, noted that the proportion of births to unmarried women, particularly among women ages 20 to 24, also is on the upswing (Feldmann, Christian Science Monitor, 6/18).
Sports & Orthopaedic Specialists, a national leader in orthopedic care for women, in collaboration with Sister Kenny Sports and Physical Therapy, launched the renowned Prevent Injury and Enhance Performance (PEP) program to the local and regional market. PEP is an exercise and training program designed to significantly reduce the incidence of ACL injury and enhance performance as an added benefit.
Obesity is probably the most important factor in the development of insulin resistance, but science"s understanding of the chain of events is still spotty. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have filled in the gap and identified the missing link between the two. Their findings, to be published in the June 21, 2009 advance online edition of the journal Nature, explain how obesity sets the stage for diabetes and why thin people can become insulin-resistant.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to switch to a new generation of animal-free tests for predicting the toxicity of chemicals to humans, according to an article scheduled for the June 22 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS" weekly newsmagazine.
One in five people fall below the official poverty line following the death of their partner. "Hence the recent fall in the value of annuities, savings and investments means an even wider group of older people could face financial difficulties when their partner dies, whether these difficulties are short-lived or longer lasting," says researcher Anne Corden of the Social Policy Research Unit, University of York
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that the United States Senate unanimously confirmed Dr. Howard Koh as the next Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that $6 billion in new federal funds will be made available to states and U.S. territories for fiscal year 2009 to provide health care to millions of children across America through their Children"s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP).
A London surgeon is pioneering a new way to remove abdominal organs through the belly button using an approach called single incision
PharmaMar SA (Grupo Zeltia, ZEL.MC) announces the initiation of Phase I clinical trials with PM1183, a new antitumor compound developed by
"Latest research raises important ethical issues concerning our care for patients with chronic consciousness disorders," said Professor Gustave Moonen (Liege, Belgium), past president of the European Neurological Society (ENS), at a press conference at the current ENS Congress. This major meeting in European neurology is gathering more than 2,900 experts from all over the world in Milan. "This is all the more important as studies have shown that more than a third of patients given an initial diagnosis of vegetative state or persistent vegetative state show minimal signs of consciousness under more detailed examination."
A research project, which has the potential to bring relief to the estimated 3.5 million UK sufferers of oral thrush, has won the ÷£25,000 Armourers & Brasiers Venture Prize. This will allow the project to proceed to clinical evaluation.
Amicus Therapeutics (Nasdaq: FOLD) announced it has commenced the U.S. registration Phase 3 trial with its investigational drug, Amigal(TM) (migalastat hydrochloride) for the treatment of Fabry disease. The Company has reached agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the key protocol design elements of the pivotal trial, including the use of the surrogate primary endpoint of the change in the amount of kidney interstitial capillary GL-3, the substrate that accumulates in the cells of Fabry patients. In addition, the FDA is in agreement that the Company is eligible to seek Accelerated Approval for Amigal according to Subpart H regulations. The Company has begun submitting the Phase 3 protocol to investigational sites worldwide and expects to begin the dosing of subjects in the second half of this year.
New research sheds light on how cocaine regulates gene expression in a crucial reward region of the brain to elicit long-lasting changes in behavior. The study, published by Cell Press in the May 14th issue of the journal Neuron, provides exciting insight into the molecular pathways regulated by cocaine and may lead to new strategies for battling drug addiction.
Last week the FDA knocked the wind out of asthmatics by requesting the manufacturers of Singulair, a popular leukotriene blocking asthma and allergy drug, to upgrade their warning against psychotic side effects. Further respiratory distress was imposed on Zicam users when the FDA also last week announced warnings that the drug may cause a loss of smell.
Loss of muscle strength, speed and dexterity is a common consequence of aging and a well-established risk factor for death, disability and dementia. Yet little is known about how and why motor decline occurs when it is not a symptom of disease.
New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found substantial reductions in binge drinking since the national drinking age was set at 21 two decades ago, with one exception: college students. The rates of binge drinking in male collegians remain unchanged, but the rates in female collegians have increased dramatically.
In the area of secondary prevention as well - guarding against renewed events in patients who already suffered from a stroke or a TIA - Professor Ferro points to important new research: "In this patient population, the direct comparison between Clopidogrel and the combination of aspirin with extended release Dipyridamole did not reveal any difference between both strategies." Both approaches have proven to be slightly more effective than aspirin alone.
There is also increasing knowledge about higher frequency of compulsive behavior in patients with PD compared to the general population. "These impulse control disorders such as pathological gambling, hyper-sexuality, compulsive shopping, compulsive eating or compulsive overuse of dopaminergic drugs can lead to monetary losses or worsen social handicap of PD patients," Professor Bassetti explains.
The total cost for treating a child with autism can reach $5 million, but insurance companies rarely cover autism therapy and few states mandate it. CBS News reports that "an estimated one in every 150 children in America has autism and the number of reported cases is growing" while "parents are increasingly demanding that insurance companies cover the newest treatment."
THT is calling for people to join its support group "Telling it straight". The group is aimed at heterosexual men and women living with HIV in Sussex. The group meets every fourth Tuesday of each month in the evening. The next group session will take place on Tuesday 23rd at 6-8pm at THT"s centre in Brighton.
MMR Information Systems, Inc. (OTCBB: MMRF) (the "Company"), which through its wholly-owned operating subsidiary, MyMedicalRecords, Inc. ("MMR") provides consumer-controlled Personal Health Records ("PHRs") (http://www.mymedicalrecords.com) and electronic safe deposit box storage solutions (http://www.myesafedepositbox.com), announced that it has taken the necessary steps to file for extensions of the Company"s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) patent application on anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies to the national phase through filings in major European, Asian, North American, and South American markets.
When a dad changes diapers and makes pediatrician"s appointments, he"s more likely to stay interested and involved when his child makes the transition to school, said a new University of Illinois study that explores the role of parent involvement on student achievement.
In the fruit fly"s developing brain, stem cells called neuroblasts normally divide to create one self-renewing neuroblast and one cell that has a different fate. But neuroblast growth can sometimes spin out of control and become a brain tumor.
A global healthcare senior executive has called the latest infection threat to confront the NHS "a national epidemic". Whilst Government statements imply that hospital acquired infections are in decline Jim Taylor, a former Smith & Nephew President and now CEO of infection prevention specialist Saniguard International, says that Norovirus is now an increasing threat to our NHS wards. His company is launching PatientGuard this month - an anti-infection kit created specifically for the UK public, designed to help halt the spread of viruses (including Norovirus & H1N1) & bacteria (including MRSA).
A new study shows that older people who are thinner or are losing weight quickly are at a higher risk of developing dementia, especially if they started out overweight or obese. The research is published in the May 19, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Collaboration in prostate cancer translational research in Europe is not only vital to sustain the progress achieved in recent years but also to streamline current efforts between researchers and clinicians and avoid duplication or overlaps. This was amongst the goals of the two-day Prostate Cancer Translational Research in Europe (PCTRE) Meeting which opened recently in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
ISPE, a global not-for-profit association of 25,000 pharmaceutical science and manufacturing professionals, announced that it is accepting proposals from pharmaceutical professionals for content that can be included in a variety of its educational res.
Physiological and biochemical changes that occur during fasting in Ramadan are not a risk factor for stroke and do not affect the short-term survival of patients. This is the result of a study by a team of researchers from the Isfahan University of Medical Sicences (Iran). The data are being presented at the annual meeting of the European Neurological Society in Milan (Italy).
The best ways of managing patients with H5N1 infection (avian influenza)
Primary care clinicians and their staff appear to fail to inform some patients, or to fail to document informing patients, about abnormal results on outpatient medical tests, according to a report in the June 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
It is possible to determine which patients run a high risk of developing Alzheimer"s disease and the dementia associated with it, even in patients with minimal memory impairment. This has been shown by recent research at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Medical scientists at the University of Leicester are investigating how a species of fish from the Pacific Ocean could help provide answers to tackling chronic conditions such as hereditary high blood pressure and kidney disease.
The Magnetic Resonance Center of the University Children"s Hospital Zurich has achieved a world first break through in MR-guided, non-invasive neurosurgery. Ten patients have been successfully treated by means of transcranial high-intensity focused ultrasound. This fully non-invasive procedure opens new horizons for neurosurgery and the treatment of different neurological brain disorders.
Depression in older adults too often goes unrecognized and untreated, resulting in untold misery, worsening of medical illness, and early death. A new study has identified one important remedy: Adding a trained depression care manager to primary care practices can increase the number of patients receiving treatment, lead to a higher remission rate of depression, and reduce suicidal thoughts.
A Queensland University of Technology researcher is calling for volunteers to take part in a project examining the role of childhood visual experience on eye growth. Stephen Vincent, a practising optometrist, is conducting the research as part of his PhD and will spend the next 12 months examining volunteers with specific eye conditions such as amblyopia (lazy eye) and strabismus (turned eye).
U.S. Senator Herb Kohl released the following statement on the announcement from U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz that banning pay-for-delay settlements that keep generic drugs off the market would save consumers at least $3.5 billion per year and provide significant cost savings for federal government, which pays approximately one-third of all prescription drug costs. Senator Kohl"s bill, the Preserve Access to Affordable Generic Drugs Act (S. 369), would prohibit the anti-consumer practice of brand-name drug manufacturers using pay-off agreements to keep cheaper generic equivalents off the market. Introduced in February with Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the bill is scheduled to be marked up by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
CNN looks at the lives of teenagers and young adults who were born with HIV before advancements in antiretroviral drugs in the 1990s helped prevent mother-to-child transmission. According to CNN, these children "have defied initial expectations" and "danced at their high school proms, walked on stage to receive their diplomas and even experienced the birth of their children." The article profiles a group of HIV-positive teenagers and young adults in Miami called the Kool Kids. The group was established in 1995 to help children living with HIV cope with the "usual complications of adolescence" and also the "broken families, medical complications and fights for acceptance" that exist as a result of their HIV (Park, CNN, 6/22).
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) will offer free mammograms through a televised phone bank on FOX 9 KMSP-TV in Minneapolis on Thursday, June 25, 2009. The phone bank will air during the 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts. The mammograms are offered through the Sage Screening Program, a state and federally funded program that provides free breast and cervical cancer screenings to uninsured and underinsured women age 40 and older. Newly enrolled women in the program will also receive $20 for being screened, which has been shown to increase screening rates.
Missouri Judge Patricia Joyce last week dismissed conspiracy allegations against three state officials and approved the summary and cost estimate for a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban public funding for abortions and certain types of embryonic stem cell research, the AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.The Missouri Roundtable for Life proposed the ballot measure earlier this year. Supporters of the measure subsequently argued that a summary written by Missouri"s secretary of state was biased. At the same time, opponents of the measure argued that the original petition was improperly drafted and should not have been allowed to proceed.Joyce dismissed the challenges to the summary and cost estimate, which was prepared by the state auditor. She also rejected the Roundtable"s claims that three state officials -- Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, Attorney General Chris Koster and State Auditor Susan Montee -- conspired to violate sponsors" constitutional rights. Joyce ruled that the allegations "are without merit and rise to the level of being frivolous."Steve Clark, an attorney representing the Roundtable, said his clients have not yet decided whether they will appeal. If they appeal and the summary is changed, new signatures will be required to support the new language. Supporters hope to place the measure on the 2010 ballot (Blank, AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 6/20).
The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries.~ ""Anonymous" Republican Senator Obstructs Resolution To Condemn Clinic Violence," Jodi Jacobson, RH Reality Check: On Thursday, an unnamed Republican senator "used his power to put a "hold"" on a resolution (S.R. 187) "condemning violence against women"s health providers, thereby blocking any vote on the resolution," Jacobson writes. She adds, "So much for agreeing on at least a basic premise in the debate about choice, reproductive rights or even reproductive health." Such holds, which senators can submit anonymously and without explanation, allow Republicans to "get away with sorrowful expressions to the media on violence" without having "to be put to the test of actually voting to denounce the violence against" abortion providers like George Tiller, Jacobson writes. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who introduced the resolution, "intended [it] to be non-controversial," but the "condemnation of violence is apparently too much for some Republicans to bear," Jacobson continues. She adds that the House unanimously passed a resolution (H.R. 505) last week condemning violence in places of worship. The three senators who introduced the Senate resolution "decided to move forward with their resolution" without the House"s language because they "feel condemning violence against women"s health care providers and agreeing not to use violence as a means of resolving differences are not objectionable viewpoints," Jacobson writes. She concludes, "Apparently, there is no common ground in the Senate on not using violence where women"s health is concerned" (Jacobson, RH Reality Check, 6/19).~ "Supporting MAMAs," Amie Newman, RH Reality Check: Under President Obama, who is calling for "an exploration of common ground in the abortion debate and is spearheading the fight for health care reform, we have an opportunity to re-examine the gamut of women"s reproductive and sexual health care in order to improve access to all care," Newman writes. She continues that the Midwives and Mothers in Action campaign, a collaboration of advocacy and consumer groups, is working "to ensure that health care reform remembers midwifery." The group is lobbying for federal recognition of certified professional midwives as a means to increase women"s access to affordable, quality obstetrical care and working to ensure that "Medicaid coverage for certified professional midwives is included in any health care reform," Newman writes. According to Newman, in 25 states "it is illegal to choose the care provider or setting for your birth because certified professional midwives are outlawed as birth facilitators." She continues, "As we work towards immense health care reform, the question for all reproductive health advocates should be: How much longer will we tolerate a system in which women"s and babies" health and lives are compromised, costs to the consumer are rising, access to childbirth care remains inequitable and certified professional midwives must fight for their livelihood?" Newman concludes, "Access to abortion care, contraception and childbirth care should be seen as concentric circles -- they are all connected and all part of the continuum of [women"s] reproductive and sexual health care with which reproductive [health] and rights advocates should be concerned" (Newman, RH Reality Check, 6/22).~ "Roe Protects Pregnant Women, Too," Rachel Roth, RH Reality Check: "Roe v. Wade stands for women"s reproductive self-determination: for the right to have an abortion and the right to have a baby," Roth writes. She adds, "Both dimensions of Roe"s promise are critical to women"s lives, yet most people are far more familiar with one than the other." Roth continues that although most people know that Roe "recognized women"s constitutional right to an abortion," those rights "are not absolute." According to Roth, "Roe did not establish a contest between women"s rights and "feta
Two years ago more than one in four newborns screened for metabolic and other inherited
Wiley-Blackwell, the scientific, technical, medical and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., has launched an online reference website offering free access to top quality research articles and publications relating to Influenza A H1N1. The complimentary content includes articles from the Cochrane Library, The Hospitalist, and From Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, among other books and journals.
Men blame male victims of rape for not fighting off their attacker. This is one of the findings of Dr Michelle Davies and Dr Paul Rogers from University of Central Lancashire who will present their research at the British Psychological Society"s Division of Forensic Psychology Annual Conference today, Wednesday 24th June 2009. The conference is being held the University of Central Lancashire, Preston.
A family-based prevention program designed to help adolescents avoid substance use and other risky behavior proved especially effective for a group of young teens with a genetic risk factor contributing toward such behavior, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), components of the National Institutes of Health, supported the study, which appears in the May/June issue of Child Development.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will host a daylong meeting on June 24, 2009. During this meeting, the FDA will seek recommendations on how to make information on FDA activities and decision-making useful, understandable, and more accessible to the public. The meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT at the National Transportation Safety Board Conference Center, 429 L"Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C., 20594.
Young adults who are overweight or obese have an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, and being obese at an older age is associated with a lower overall survival rate for patients with pancreatic cancer, according to a study in the June 24 issue of JAMA.
New research indicates that a finding on a routine electrocardiogram that signals a disorder of the electrical conducting system in one part of the heart and previously believed to be benign is associated with an increased risk for atrial fibrillation, the implantation of a pacemaker or death, according to a study in the June 24 issue of JAMA.
In order to recognize and encourage cutting-edge research in key areas of orthopaedic sports medicine, the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) will present eight research awards and two grants during its Annual Meeting, July 9-12th in Keystone, Colorado. As a leader in orthopaedic sports medicine, AOSSM annually provides more than $150,000 to research initiatives and projects around the country. Highlights of this year"s award recipients include:
The global economic crisis has had a devastating impact on the world"s hungry. In the past year, approximately 100 million people have been added to the ranks of the roughly 1 billion people worldwide considered by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization to be undernourished, according to its report issued June 19, 2009.
FIRMAGON® (degarelix) a new fast-acting hormone treatment for advanced prostate cancer is being offically launched in the UK yesterday at the British Association of Urological Surgeons Annual Meeting in Glasgow.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists" discovery of a cancer-causing gene the first in its family to be linked to cancer demonstrates how the panoramic view of genomics and the close-up perspective of molecular biology are needed to determine which genes are involved in cancer and which are mere bystanders. The findings are reported in the June 25 issue of the journal Nature.
New research from two Philadelphia-area cardiologists finds that an over-the-counter dietary supplement sold at pharmacies and health food stores may be an alternative for patients who cannot take traditional statin medications to lower cholesterol because of statin-related muscle pain. The findings of their study, "Red Yeast Rice for Dyslipidemia in Statin-Intolerant Patients," appear in the June 16, 2009 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
Scientists in the US have discovered that cancer tumors that don"t spread to other parts of the body secrete a protein called prosaposin and that
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School jointly announce the successful implant of the AbioCor® Total Replacement Heart, the world"s first completely self-contained, fully implantable artificial heart, as well as the first internal artificial organ. The surgery was led by Mark Anderson, MD, associate professor of surgery at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and chief of the section of cardiac surgery at both the medical school and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, and assisted by Juan Plate, MD, assistant professor of surgery at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and an attending surgeon at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is one of only three centers nationwide approved to perform the surgery and the only one in the New York and Philadelphia areas. Dr. Anderson is one of a handful of physicians nationwide trained to perform this procedure. This is the first time the AbioCor has been implanted in a patient since the completion of clinical trials and approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
Experts have long suspected that part of the process of turning fleeting short-term memories into lasting long-term memories occurs during sleep. Now, researchers at the RIKEN-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics of MIT"s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have shown that mice prevented from "replaying" their waking experiences while asleep do not remember them as well as mice who are able to perform this function.
The method of building a rabbit rectal VX2 carcinoma model by injecting the cell suspension of VX2 cells into the wall of the rectum guided by X-ray fluoroscopy is feasible. The advantages of the model are ease of establishment, short growth period, and high stability. The rectal VX2 carcinoma established in this rabbit model is similar to human rectal carcinoma in aspects of pathological representation, tumor development, and metastasis. It offers an ideal major animal model for the study of rectal carcinoma, and especially profits the study of the staging of rectal carcinoma in imaging.
A new study suggests that a drop in colorectal cancer incidence seen nationwide has not occurred among people living in poorer communities, and suggests that barriers to health care may be to blame. The study appears online in the journal Cancer Causes and Control.
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) today announced that the 2009 NACDS Pharmacy & Technology Conference will provide a forum at which to provide further recognition to Leonard J. DeMino, RPh., a chain pharmacy icon whose resume already includes some of the industry"s highest honors and achievements. This news comes as DeMino announces his retirement as senior pharmacy consultant to NACDS, effective in June 2009.
National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) expressed its support for postponing the removal of the Universal Product Code (UPC-A) barcode system - scheduled for January 1, 2010. NACDS compliments and supports the Grocery Manufacturers Association"s (GMA) recommendation that the GS1 DataBar system implementation be delayed until January 1, 2011.
A team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute, Katholeike Universiteit Leuven, and the University of Antwerp, Belgium, among other institutions, has created a genetically modified fruit fly that mimics key features of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a common neurodegenerative disorder that strikes about one out of every 2,500 people in the United States.
The NPA has launched an exciting new service enabling members to offer seasonal flu vaccinations to customers under a private Patient Group Direction (PGD) that the NPA is facilitating for its members, in line with our objective to provide additional business opportunities. Currently regulators require registration with the Health Care Commission and the involvement of a medical agency before a private PGD service can be set up. Members can now set up new services under private PGD without having to undertake this bureaucratic burden themselves.
As many as 15,000 people over 75 could be dying prematurely from cancer each year in the UK, according to research presented today at the National Cancer Intelligience Network (NCIN) conference.
Diabetes UK supporters Harrison Ward, 11, and Cole Barnard, 6, appeared on BBC 1"s The One Show this week to highlight inequalities in support for children with diabetes at school.
The Washington Post on Saturday examined the role of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society in lobbying for the national adoption of health information technology as part of health reform efforts. According to the Post, HIMSS has collaborated with various allies, including technology vendors and research groups, "in a sophisticated, decade-long campaign to shape public opinion and win over Washington"s political machinery."HIMSS in the early part of this decade forged a "strategic alliance" with the Center for Information Technology Leadership, a not-for-profit health IT research group in Massachusetts, to develop and distribute data reports on the cost efficiency and benefits of health IT, the Post reports. CITL also had sponsorship ties with several health and technology companies, including Google, Microsoft, Kaiser Permanente and Siemens Medical Solutions. In 2004, CITL issued a report that concluded in part that a national health IT system could reduce spending by as much as $77.8 billion by limiting drug prescribing errors and notifying providers of more cost-effective drug alternatives.According to the Post, the findings of the report were used by the Obama administration in developing the $787 billion federal economic stimulus package, which included billions in new spending for the creation and adoption of health IT systems. Although a Congressional Budget Office report found that the assumptions of CITL report were "overly optimistic" -- a follow-up CBO analysis projected that electronic health records would reduce health care spending by $17 billion over 10 years -- the health IT measures in the stimulus package "represented a triumph" for HIMSS, "whose members now stand to gain billions in taxpayer dollars," the Post reports. The Post notes that HIMSS" "sudden success shows how the economic crisis created a remarkable opening for a political and financial windfall: the enactment of a sweeping new policy with no bureaucratic delays and virtually no public debate about an initiative aimed at transforming a sector that accounts for more than a sixth of the American economy" (O"Harrow, Washington Post, 5/16).Please note: The Kaiser Family Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.
DrugScope has today welcomed the National Treatment Agency"s announcement of a pilot scheme that will see families and carers of opiate users trained in drug overdose management and the administration of naloxone, a drug which reverses the effects of a drug overdose [1].
While cancer touches the lives of many humans, it is also a major threat to wild animal populations as well, according to a recent study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
South London Healthcare NHS Trust (SLHT) is delighted to announce a new partnership with the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement as part of the trust"s drive for
Research co-led by an academic at the University of Hertfordshire, concludes that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is of no value in schizophrenia and has limited effect on depression. Professor Keith Laws, at the University"s School of Psychology, is one of the lead authors on a paper entitled: Cognitive behavioural therapy for major psychiatric disorder: does it really work? A meta-analytical review of well-controlled trials, which has just been published online in the journal Psychological Medicine. The paper reviews the use of CBT in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression.
Frankenman International Ltd, the manufacturer and supplier of surgical instruments, announced that its entire CHEX™ range of surgical staplers had been granted FDA approval. This development complements the CE and ISO accreditation it has already acquired. FDA approval endorses Frankenman"s commitment to total quality in surgical stapling and wound closure devices, and further validates its position as a trusted alternative supplier in these markets.
A new survey released shows 70 percent of women report having experienced a sexual health issue, of which 22 percent felt very or extremely concerned. The survey also found that many women claim they would be comfortable talking to a health care provider about a sexual health issue, but less than one-fifth (18%) actually visited their health care provider when they experienced one.
Kidney injury that can arise after undergoing certain medical imaging procedures increases a patient"s risk of having a stroke or heart attack over the next year or two, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). The findings indicate that seemingly minor and reversible kidney damage from these common clinical procedures is a serious health threat.