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Obama Nominates Genetics Researcher Collins To Be NIH Director
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).
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Lobbyists Play Ball, Flex Muscles On Health Care Reform
The Associated Press reports on lobbying around biotechnology legislation. A letter urging the protection of biotech drug makers from generics from "the private National Health Council, sent to House leaders drafting health overhaul legislation, said the plea was on behalf of "the more than 133 million Americans living with chronic diseases and disabilities and their family caregivers." It urged lawmakers to protect the makers of high-technology biological medicines against early competition from lower-cost generic copycats. The letter did not mention that nearly $1.2 million of the council"s $2.3 million budget in 2007 came from the pharmaceutical industry"s chief trade group and 16 companies that sell or are developing the brand-name biotech drugs." Drugshop to buy zoloft online and other pills.
News of the day
FDA Takes Enforcement Action Against Cheese Manufacturer
The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, filed a complaint seeking injunctive relief against Peregrina Cheese, Inc., (Peregrina Cheese), Brooklyn, N.Y. and two of its officers: Javier Peregrina and Isabel Peregrina.
Mental Health

What Is The Risk Of Obesity While Taking Antidepressant Drugs?

Cross-sectional studies have reported an association between major depressive episode (MDE) and obesity. The objective of this longitudinal analysis was to determine whether MDE increase the risk of becoming obese over a 10-year period. Data from the Canadian National Population Health Survey (NPHS) were used, a longitudinal study of a representative cohort of household residents in Canada. The incidence of obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30, was evaluated in respondents who were 18 years or older at the time of a baseline interview in 1994. MDE was assessed using a brief diagnostic instrument. At the end of the investigation, the risk of obesity was not elevated in association with MDE, either in unadjusted or covariate-adjusted analyses. The strongest predictor of obesity was a BMI in the overweight (but not obese) range. Effects were also seen for (younger) age, (female) sex, a sedentary activity pattern, low income and exposure to antidepressant medications. Unexpectedly, significant effects were seen for serotonin-reuptake-inhibiting antidepressants and venlafaxine, but neither for tricyclic antidepressants nor antipsychotic medications. MDE does not appear to increase the risk of obesity. The cross-sectional associations that have been reported, albeit inconsistently, in the literature probably represent an effect of obesity on MDE risk. Pharmacologic treatment with antidepressants may be associated with an increased risk of obesity, and strategies to offset this risk may be useful in clinical practice. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics


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