Cardiovascular
Edema, is swelling caused by fluid retention - excess fluid is trapped in the body"s tissues. In the UK/Ireland/Australasia and some other countries the word is spelled oedema. Swelling caused by edema commonly occurs in the hands, arms, ankles, legs and feet. It is usually linked to the venous or lymphatic systems. Edema was formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy.
The unique association between microorganisms and their hosts, whether insects, plants, or mammals, provides a fascinating view into how microbial symbionts adapt to changing biological environments. Insights into the diversity and complexity of symbiotic relationships are the focus of the current special issue of DNA and Cell Biology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The issue is available free online at http://www.liebertpub.com/dna
Over 50 pharmacists have been trained to provide seasonal flu vaccinations under a private Patient Group Direction that the NPA is facilitating. Training days were conducted in London and Birmingham with further training days scheduled at the start of September 2009 in Newport, Durham, St Albans and Haydock.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a final regulation classifying dental amalgam and its component parts - elemental mercury and a powder alloy-used in dental fillings. While elemental mercury has been associated with adverse health effects at high exposures, the levels released by dental amalgam fillings are not high enough to cause harm in patients.
A new report finds nearly 10 percent of health care costs are due to obesity and per capita medical spending is significantly higher for obese people.
Researchers may be able to predict future severe cardiac events in patients with known, stable coronary artery disease (CAD) using coronary calcium scoring, according to a study published in the online edition of Radiology.
The Baton Rouge Advocate on Sunday examined reasons behind Baton Rouge, La."s high AIDS rate. The most recent data from CDC ranks the Baton Rouge metro area third nationally for AIDS cases for 2007, with 31.4 cases per 100,000 people, according to the article. "State health officials, medical professionals and people who work in HIV/AIDS prevention say there are a variety of reasons the Baton Rouge metro area ranks near the top," including delayed testing, denial of high-risk behavior among individuals and medical advances that are allowing people to live longer with the virus, the Advocate reports. Beth Scalco, the Louisiana director of the HIV/AIDS Program for the state Office of Public Health, said the city"s close proximity to four prisons also contributes to the high rates. Arnold "A.J." Johnson, founder of the Baton Rouge AIDS Society, said the government does not adequately fund HIV/AIDS education in the area. He added, "Part of the problem is the culture and atmosphere. The government needs to come here and attack this area like they did when Hurricane Katrina hit" (Ward, 7/26).
Mitochondrial diseases disrupt the power generating machinery within cells and increase a person"s susceptibility to bacterial infection, particularly in the lungs or respiratory tract. A new study published in Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM), shows that infection with the pneumonia causing bacteria Legionella, is facilitated by an increased amount of a signaling protein that is associated with mitochondrial disease.
New research supports the findings of a landmark drug comparison study published in 2002 in which a diuretic drug or "water pill" outperformed other medications for high blood pressure. A scientific team including investigators from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston reports the findings in the May 11 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Rodger McFarlane, a leader in gay rights and HIV/AIDS advocacy efforts, died on Friday in New Mexico at age 54, the New York Times reports. According to McFarlane"s brother, John, he committed suicide. In a letter, McFarlane wrote that he did not want to become further debilitated by heart and back problems, the Times reports. McFarlane was the director of the Gay Men"s Health Crisis from 1982 to 1985, and served as the executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS from 1989 to 1994. He also served as president of the HIV/AIDS and housing organization Bailey House, and from 2004 to 2008 was the executive director of the Gill Foundation in Denver. "AIDS pointed to the inequitable status of gays," McFarlane said in the Times in 1983, adding, "We were forced to take care of ourselves because we learned that if you have certain diseases, certain lifestyles, you can"t expect the same services as other parts of society" (Hevesi, New York Times, 5/19). Tim Sweeney, president of the Gill Foundation, said in a statement, "We will eternally be in his debt as a result of his many, lasting contributions" (AP/Google.com, 5/18).
The GMC has launched a series of challenging online tutorials that tackle tricky ethical scenarios.
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian announced promising data from a clinical study showing patient-specific cancer vaccines derived from patients" own cancer cells and immune cells were well tolerated and resulted in impressive long-term survival rates in patients with metastatic melanoma whose disease had been minimized by other therapies.
Acceleron Pharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics that modulate the growth of cells and tissues including red blood cells, bone and muscle, and Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) announced the initiation of a second Phase 2 clinical study of ACE-011. This Phase 2 clinical trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study designed to evaluate the potential of ACE-011 to treat chemotherapy-induced anemia in patients with metastatic breast cancer. ACE-011 is a novel therapeutic agent that has been shown to increase levels of red blood cells and hemoglobin and stimulate new bone formation. ACE-011 works through a novel mechanism by inhibiting certain members of the TGF-beta superfamily while potentially avoiding the erythropoietin pathway.
Scientists in the UK who systematically reviewed research from the last 50 years concluded that from a nutritional point of view, organically
Breakthrough Breast Cancer scientists have taken a significant step towards personalising cancer treatment by developing a method to predict a patient"s response to the drug Herceptin.
Sanofi-aventis U.S. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Sculptra(R)Aesthetic (injectable poly-L-lactic acid) for the correction of shallow to deep nasolabial fold (smile lines) contour deficiencies and other facial wrinkles which are treated with the appropriate injection technique in healthy patients. Sculptra(R)Aesthetic works gradually to offer natural-looking results that can last up to two years.
User Centric, Inc. will be hosting a full-day seminar on Health Information Technology (HIT) Usability on September 3, 2009 at the University of Chicago"s Gleacher Center. "Learn How to Improve the User Experience in Health IT", led by usability expert Robert Schumacher, PhD, will discuss techniques and answer questions surrounding usability as it relates to HIT.
Trusted health care s and continuity of care may help reduce the risk of prostate cancer deaths in African-American men, according to a study published in the current issue of the journal Cancer. James Mohler, MD, Chair of the Department of Urology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), and William R. Carpenter, PhD, Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina, are lead investigators.
Inhibiting an enzyme in the brains of newborns suffering from oxygen and blood flow deprivation stops a type of brain damage that is a leading cause of cerebral palsy, mental retardation and death, according to researchers at Cincinnati Children"s Hospital Medical Center.
The Senate Judiciary Committee"s approval on Tuesday of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor "cleared the way" for a vote next week in the full Senate, where she is expected to be confirmed, the New York Times reports. The committee"s 12 Democrats voted in favor of Sotomayor, with one Republican -- Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) -- joining them in the 13-6 vote (Lewis, New York Times, 7/28). According to Roll Call, Sotomayor"s confirmation is not in doubt, as members of both parties have predicted as many as 70 votes in her favor. So far, five GOP senators have said they will support the nomination, including Graham, Susan Collins (Maine), Richard Lugar (Ind.), Mel Martinez (Fla.) and Olympia Snowe (Maine) (Stanton, Roll Call, 7/29). Strategists on both sides who have been following the nomination said that as many as five more Republicans could announce intentions to vote for Sotomayor, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports (Hirschfeld Davis, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 7/29). According to the Chicago Tribune, other Republicans initially appeared open to supporting Sotomayor, but pressure from antiabortion-rights groups and gun-rights advocates has swayed them in the other direction (Savage/Simon, Chicago Tribune, 7/29).The Times reports that Tuesday"s partisan vote indicates that Senate Republicans are "determined to deny ... an easy path" for President Obama in his nominations to fill the dozens of open federal appeals courts seats and any future Supreme Court vacancies. Obama is expected to announce several appeals court nominees in the coming weeks. On some appeals courts, including the Richmond, Va.-based Fourth Circuit, Obama"s nominations could change the ideological balance on the bench (New York Times, 7/28).According to the Tribune, Republicans believe that their strategy in Sotomayor"s confirmation hearings "succeeded in setting a new, conservative standard for judging." Throughout the hearings, Democrats portrayed Sotomayor as a moderate, cautious jurist, while many Republican senators sought to portray her as an activist judge. Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), the Senate Judiciary Committee"s ranking Republican, said that the confirmation process has been a "repudiation of activist legal thought" and that it "will now be harder to nominate activist judges" (Chicago Tribune, 7/29). Committee member John Cornyn (R-Texas), who serves as the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said he hopes Sotomayor"s hearings serve as an example for future judicial nomination debates. He added that the Republicans on the committee have "made clear that radical views on judging have no place on the federal bench. And we have set expectations for future nominees." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday said that he intends to bring Sotomayor"s nomination to a full Senate vote prior to Congress" August recess. He has not said what day the debate is scheduled to begin or how many days are scheduled, although he noted that debate could take several days (Roll Call, 7/29).
The NPA is pleased by today"s decision from the MHRA to keep pseudoephedrine a P medicine and have no doubt that community pharmacies will continue to ensure pseudoephedrine is sold in line with MHRA guidance.
Health officials are growing increasingly concerned over the impact the H1N1 (swine) flu is having on populations living in Latin America, a region "which accounts for around two-thirds of the 816 confirmed deaths so far from the disease," the AFP/channelnewsasia.com reports. "The outlook is especially unsettling for the estimated 380 million people grappling with winter in South America, where the A(H1N1) virus is speedily propagating," the news service writes. The article examines the number of H1N1 cases and deaths across countries and how government officials are working to prevent the spread of the virus (7/29).
On the 16th May Member of European Parliament Magor Imre Csibi (Romanian MEP of the Alliance for Liberals and Democrats), the UK National Obesity Forum (NOF) and the Belgian Obese Patients organisation (BOLD) launched the "European Obesity Day" online survey. With excess weight and obesity increasing across Europe at an alarming rate, the online survey seeks to understand to what degree this is of concern to European citizens and what steps we think should be taken to address this pressing issue.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has completed the first comprehensive assessment of substances used as s of vitamins and minerals in food supplements which are currently sold in the European Union. EFSA has examined 533 applications since 2005, relating to 344 different substances. The assessments were based on scientific evidence provided by food supplement manufacturers to demonstrate the safety of these nutrient s and the extent to which they are absorbed in the body (i.e. their bioavailability).
Commenting on figures released on Tuesday on Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in Scotland, Dr Charles Saunders, chairman of the BMA"s Scottish Consultants Committee, said:
The US-based PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Malaria Vaccine Development Program (MVDP), and Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell N.V. (Euronext, Nasdaq: CRXL; Swiss Exchange: CRX) today announced a collaboration to accelerate development of a promising type of malaria vaccine. Through funding from the USAID MVDP, the partners will conduct studies to determine the effectiveness of Crucell"s novel prime-boost vaccine approach against the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. This approach uses Crucell"s proprietary recombinant adenoviruses (a type of virus associated with the common cold and other mild respiratory infections) to deliver a malaria antigen to the immune system.
Researchers at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer have found that head and neck cancer patients who test positive for the human papillomavirus (HPV) have much better survival rates than patients who don"t have the virus, according to a new study in the journal Cancer Prevention Research. The researchers also discovered that blacks in the study had a very low rate of HPV infection, and consequently worse survival, which may explain why African-American patients traditionally have had a poor prognosis for head and neck cancer.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society welcomed the decision by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency that medicines containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine should retain their status as pharmacy (P) medicines.
Stem cell research promises remedies to many devastating diseases that are currently incurable, ranging from diabetes and Parkinson"s disease to paralysis. Totipotent embryonic stem cells have great potential for generating a wide range of different human cells that can be used to restore malfunctioning or damaged cells and tissues in patients. Recent studies have shown that pluripotent stem cells derived from adult bone marrow, the umbilical cord and the placenta could also be induced to differentiate into a variety of different tissues. In this issue, we have invited several scientists in China to summarize their pioneering works in the stem cell research field.
Sirona Biochem Corp. (TSX-V: SBM), an emerging biotech company focused on diabetes and obesity, announced today that it has now taken delivery of its first batch of unique SGLT compounds from its French partner TFChem (Rouen, France) for screening and evaluation.
Spiration, Inc., a developer of novel medical devices designed to benefit patients with acute and chronic conditions of the lung, announced today that several new clinical sites are now actively recruiting patients for participation in a pivotal trial of the company"s minimally invasive treatment for severe emphysema.
By systematically analysing MRI changes occuring in the brains of children with the metabolic disease glutaric aciduria type I researchers at Heidelberg University Hospital have succeeded for the first time in demonstrating reversible and permanent brain damage as well as elucidating its temporal evolution.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a dynamic process with variable biochemical, virological and histological profiles at different stages of the infection, depending on host and viral factors. Furthermore, this profile may change at a variable pace over time. The correlation between detection of T-cell response and HBV load in chronic HBV infection remains unknown. In each of the clinical stages of chronic HBV infection, whether the composition of T-cell subpopulations is different and relates to viral load. Thus characterization of T-cell profile is relevant to improved understanding of chronic HBV infection and the design of antiviral therapy.
With a novel therapeutic delivery system, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has successfully targeted a protein that is over-expressed in ovarian cancer cells. Using the EphA2 protein as a molecular homing mechanism, chemotherapy was delivered in a highly selective manner in preclinical models of ovarian cancer, the researchers report in the July 29 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
An international team of scientists and clinicians from the United States and Saudi Arabia are working to develop gene therapy for treating a rare, hereditary retinal disease. The therapy has been shown to restore lost vision in animal models of retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Their work is being funded in part by a $1.5 million grant from the Prince Salman Center for Disability Research in Saudi Arabia, where the recessive gene mutation that leads to the eye disease RP has been found in children from several families.
Breast cancer patients have for the first time been recruited from China to take part in an international trial of breast radiotherapy.
In cancer research, as in most other biomedical sciences, they are playing a key role: living cells, kept in sterile plastic containers with red culture media populating incubators in laboratories around the world. But do researchers always know what is really living in their culture dishes? Under the microscope, different cell lines are almost impossible to distinguish from each other. When these important research objects stop growing without apparent reason - is it because of the manipulations by the scientists or because of an invisible viral or bacterial infection?
A UK hospital that combined its bereavement and donation services saw a forty-fold increase in tissue donations, such as corneas, in just five years, according to research in the August issue of Anaesthesia.
The typical dose of a medication considered pivotal in treating tuberculosis effectively is much too low to account for modern-day physiques, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers said.
Older adults who have less strength, poor physical function and low muscle density are at higher risk of being hospitalized compared to adults with more strength and better function. That"s the finding of a new study in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society.
Memory is a fundamental function of nerve cells in the brain, and loss of memory is a key symptom in many people with Alzheimer"s disease.
With an estimated 57 million Americans with pre-diabetes, the American Diabetes Association today launches My Health Advisor, an online tool that helps people understand their personal risk for developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. My Health Advisor is available at http://www.CheckUpAmerica.org/MHA.
Doctors" leaders are warning that unless urgent action is taken to plug the gap in the shortage of middle grade doctors, the NHS in Wales could become unsafe both for staff and patients.
Alzheimer"s disease is a progressive neurologic disease of the brain leading to the irreversible loss of neurons and the loss of intellectual abilities, including memory and reasoning, which become severe enough to impede social or occupational functioning. Alzheimer"s disease is also known as simply Alzheimer"s, and Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (SDAT) .
One of the "most lethal forms of sex discrimination" is the "systematic inattention to reproductive health care, from family planning to childbirth" in developing countries, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof writes. According to Kristof, a woman dies every minute somewhere in the world from pregnancy or childbirth complications, and 20 times that number suffer childbirth injuries. Providers of foreign aid, including the U.S., "have never shown much interest in maternal mortality, and impoverished women are typically the most voiceless, neglected people in their own countries -- so they die at astonishing rates," Kristof writes.Kristof highlights the childbirth experience of a 19-year-old Pakistani woman named Shazia Allahdita whose infant died in childbirth after her relatives refused to take her to the hospital because they did not want to pay for the taxi fare. Kristof writes that "[i]f men had uteruses, "paternity wards" would get res, ambulances would transport pregnant men to hospitals free of charge, deliveries would be free, and the Group of Eight industrialized nations would make paternal mortality a top priority." Kristof notes that there is "the dawn of a global movement against maternal mortality," with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon working with the U.S. and other countries to plan a "landmark global health session" on Sept. 23. The session will focus, in part, on maternal health, which Kristof terms a "milestone." He concludes, "My dream is that Barack and Michelle Obama will leap forward and adopt this cause -- and transform the prospects for so many young women like Shazia" (Kristof, New York Times, 7/29).
Today, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Al Franken (D-MN) introduced legislation to reform the Medicare payment system to reward hospitals for quality, efficient care. The Medicare Payment Fairness Act of 2009 would reform Medicare by paying hospitals for the quality, not quantity, of care. These changes would reduce the regional differences in Medicare spending by shifting the nation to a coordinated, integrated delivery system - like Minnesota, Wisconsin, and other states. Studies have shown that more integrated care could save taxpayers an additional $100 billion a year.
Columnist Sees "Dawn Of A Global Movement Against Maternal Mortality"
America"s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) released the following statement from spokesman Robert Zirkelbach.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a proposed 2.2 percent home health market basket update to the home health prospective payment system (HH PPS) rates for calendar year (CY) 2010. Also, as part of ongoing efforts to address potential fraud and abuse with regards to outlier payments under the HH PPS, CMS is proposing modifications to its outlier policy.
In this week"s New England Journal of Medicine, scientists in Singapore, The Netherlands and France report that they have developed a novel immunization method that will induce fast and effective protection in humans against the life-threatening malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, which infects 350 to 500 million people world-wide and kills over one million people each year.
The second wave of Integrated Care Pilots should be developed among existing promising commissioners and providers to encourage a complete restructuring of the way primary and secondary work together.
A new chemical imaging technique could one day help in the fight against atherosclerosis, suggests research published in the August 2009 edition of the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved its fiscal year 2010 spending bill (HR 3293) for health, education and labor programs, CQ Today reports. The bill does not include funding for abstinence-only sex education, instead providing $104.5 million for a comprehensive "Teen Pregnancy Prevention" program. The recently passed House version of the bill takes a similar approach, according to CQ Today.The committee voted 29-1 to approve the $730 billion bill, with abstinence-only advocate Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) being the sole opponent (Wolfe, CQ Today, 7/30).In related news, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) in the FY 2010 spending bill did not request funding for abstinence-only sex education programs in his home state, despite routinely requesting such funds as a Republican, CQ Politics reports.When he was a Republican, Specter sponsored 22 earmarks totaling $550,000 for abstinence-only programs in the FY 2009 version of the bill. Specter"s aides said that he wanted to focus earmark requests on hospitals and universities in the FY 2010 version of the bill. However, the "likely" explanation for the absence of abstinence-only earmark requests is the senator"s 2009 switch to the Democratic Party, which often advocates for comprehensive sex education programs as a way to reduce teen pregnancy, CQ Politics reports (Clarke, CQ Politics, 7/29).
Kaiser Health News reports that an agreement by House Democrats with fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats has a cadre of detractors, including "state officials worried about increased Medicaid costs and liberal lawmakers upset about a proposed reduction in subsidies for low-income families to buy insurance."
Just one day after it appeared negotiators were on the cusp of a deal, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus said Thursday that his committee will not vote on a health reform bill before the August recess, Politico reports. "Baucus"s announcement came after a day in which Republican negotiators on the committee made clear they were not comfortable with the Democratic timetable - pushed by President Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders."
"Health care costs are killing small businesses. Their insurance premiums are rising dramatically and unpredictably," NPR reports. "Jody Hall, who owns Seattle"s Cupcake Royale, now pays as much in health insurance for her employees as she does in rent for four choice Seattle storefronts. A majority of working Americans are employed by small businesses, but according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, only 6 in 10 small businesses provide health care. What"s more, the National Federation of Independent Business reports that small companies pay substantially more in premiums than large firms do. Hall, for example, has just three or four insurers to choose from, and she says they won"t negotiate on price."
International patients spending $3 billion a year on care in the United States are helping fund a gap for hospitals waiting with bated breath to see how health care reform will affect them, Marketplace reports.
Nearly one in four women living with HIV did not receive an annual Pap test in the year prior to being interviewed, according to a study published in the Aug. 1, Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, Reuters reports. Women with HIV have an increased risk for cervical cancer, which the test detects, the article states. According to Reuters, "To see if guidelines for annual cervical cancer screening for HIV-infected women were being performed, ò€¦ [researchers] analyzed information on 2417 HIV-infected women from 18 states. Records showed that 23 percent of those interviewed had not undergone a Pap test during the year before the interview." The article states, "The risk of cervical cancer has not decreased since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection, "highlighting the continued importance of cervical cancer screening in this population," health officials from" CDC note in the journal (Reuters, 7/30).
Patients with second primary lung cancers (SPLC), when compared to those with one primary lung cancer (OPLC), are more likely to have localized disease at the time of diagnosis and are more likely to receive surgical treatment rather than radiation treatment. However, patients with SPLC have a 12% higher lung cancer specific mortality, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers reported at the annual meeting of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.
Adults who struggle with CPAP treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) should be considered candidates for reconstructive surgery on the upper airway, because it holds the same quality-of-life (QOL) benefits but with more permanence. This thesis is in new research published in the August 2009 edition of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
Common and clumsy-looking, the blow fly is a true artist of flight. Suddenly changing direction, standing still in the air, spinning lightning-fast around its own axis, and making precise, pinpoint landings - all these maneuvers are simply a matter of course. Extremely quick eyesight helps to keep it from losing orientation as it races to and fro. Still, how does its tiny brain process the multiplicity of images and signals so rapidly and efficiently?
Survivors of the childhood cancer neuroblastoma are eight times more likely to have chronic health conditions, less likely to be married, and more likely to have lower incomes than their siblings, according to a study published online July 31 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Low blood pressure is also known as hypotension. For millions of people who suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure) hypotension may seem great. If symptoms are mild hypotension usually requires no treatment. However, it can cause serious heart disorders, fainting and also lead to neurological and endocrine disorders. If hypotension is severe key organs can become deprived of oxygen and nutrients and the body can go into shock, a life-threatening condition.
UroToday.com - An unspoken and perhaps forgotten enigma of cancer is its relative drug sensitivity. After all, when treated with cytotoxic agents, a tumor may regress while most normal tissues and organs are either left virtually intact or become eventually healed. Only because a tumor rarely gets into a complete remission, and keeps recurring despite treatment, do we consider cancer generally drug-resistant. Does this dichotomy of drug sensitivity versus resistance allude to a secret about cancer"s complex nature and mysterious origin?
Scientists who found a new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in a Cameroonian woman living in Paris, have discovered it is an unusual
Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-Texas), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, released the following statement after the Committee favorably reported HR 3200, the Democrat health care reform bill, by a vote of 31 to 28
A school-based program that integrates information about healthy relationships into the existing ninth-grade curriculum appears to reduce adolescent dating violence and increase condom use two and a half years later, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The effects of the low-cost intervention appear stronger in boys.
The intake of added sugars in the United States is excessive, estimated by the US Department of Agriculture in 1999-2002 as 17% of calories a day. Consuming foods with added sugars displaces nutrient-dense foods in the diet. Reducing or limiting intake of added sugars is an important objective in providing overall dietary guidance. In a study of nearly 30,000 Americans published in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers report that race/ethnicity, family income and educational status are independently associated with intake of added sugars. Groups with low income and education are particularly vulnerable to eating diets with high added sugars.
Brazos Valley residents, neuroscience researchers, and interested clinicians will each have opportunities to hear from internationally recognized researchers on the topic of aging and Alzheimer"s Disease during the Texas Brain and Spine Institute"s Third Annual Neuroscience Symposium on September 3 and 4. This year"s symposium will consist of an evening of public presentations aimed at helping local residents, Alzheimer"s patients, and their family members better understand early signs of the disease and ways to reduce your risk. The Friday afternoon session will feature a clinical presentation for health providers and researchers.
The Society of Gynecologic Oncologists (SGO) has published the first in a series of four papers on a variety of cervical cancer issues and topics that were the focus of its Forum "The Future Strategies for Cervical Cancer Prevention: What Do We Need to Do Now to Prepare," held last September in Chicago, Illinois. The paper, entitled "The Impact of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination on Cervical Cancer Prevention Efforts," is featured in the August, 2009 issue of Gynecologic Oncology. It includes data relevant to HPV natural history as well as excerpts from Forum discussions regarding the limits of current screening, the impact that eliminating HPV 16/18 through vaccination may have on rates of cervical precancer and cervical cancer screening, strategies to measure vaccine uptake and obstacles surrounding separate screening for vaccinated women.
Ovarian cancer is any cancerous growth that may occur in different parts of the ovary. The majority of ovarian cancers arise from the epithelium (outer lining) of the ovary. According to the American Cancer Society it is the 8th most common cancer among women in the USA (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers). In the UK ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer among females, after breast cancer, bowel cancer, lung cancer and uterine cancer (cancer of the uterus).
In an interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler called the American health system an out-dated, World War II-era obstacle to economic progress. "We"ve been talking about health-care reform in this country for over 100 years, and its never happened," he said. However, he added, "I believe that Congress will be successful." Kreidler, a Democrat, was a member of Congress in the 1990s, when the Clinton administration attempted an overhaul. This time around, he said, "We"re still in July, and they"re making huge progress" (Pulkkinen, 8/2).
A new deal to balance California"s budget may have serious repercussions for the health of the state"s children, while South Carolina grapples with health cuts of its own. Meanwhile, New Jersey may become one of the first states to publically disclose hospital errors.
"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads this week on a seven-nation tour of Africa aiming to prove U.S. commitment to the continent after the administration"s early focus elsewhere," AFP/ABS-CBN News reports. According to the news service, "Clinton will seek to build ties with three African powers -- Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa -- and visit three nations recovering from conflict -- Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC] and Liberia. She will end with a stop in small U.S. ally Cape Verde" (8/3). "Her visit is the earliest in any U.S. administration that both the President and the Secretary of State have visited Africa," VOA News reports (Clottey, 8/2).
The Washington Post examines the devastating toll the conflict in the Congo has had on the health of the country"s displaced civilians, as told through the death of a 36-year-old farmer, who succumbed to typhoid fever far away from the home he abandoned. The newspaper writes, "By some estimates, at least 5 million Congolese have died in more than a decade of conflict touched off by the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda, which sent a flood of militiamen across the border into mineral-rich eastern Congo."
UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman, who visited Nigeria to launch the country"s first ever National Child Health Week, said an unacceptably high number of children in the country are dying from preventable diseases, and she called on Nigerian government officials to provide integrated healthcare, Xinhua reports (8/3).
Study 1 Twins born as a result of assisted reproductive technology (ART) are more likely to be admitted to neonatal intensive care and to be hospitalised in their first three years of life than spontaneously conceived twins, according to new research published online in Human Reproduction [1].
About one in four HIV-positive women in the U.S. does not opt to undergo an annual Pap test for cervical cancer even though they are at an increased risk for the disease, according to a study in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, Reuters reports. For the study, Alexandra Oster and colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed the responses of 2,417 HIV-positive women from 18 states who participated in interviews for the Supplement to HIV/AIDS Surveillance Project.The researchers found that 23% of the women had not undergone a Pap test in the year before the interviews and that older age and a poorly functioning immune system were independent predictors of whether women had Pap tests.They wrote, "The risk of cervical cancer has not decreased since the introduction of (highly active antiretroviral) therapy, highlighting the continued importance of cervical cancer screening in this population." They added that "cervical cancer screening should be a high priority" for HIV-positive women (Reuters, 7/30).
Our cells are controlled by billions of molecular "switches" and chemists at UC Santa Barbara have developed a theory that explains how these molecules work. Their findings may significantly help efforts to build biologically based sensors for the detection of chemicals ranging from drugs to explosives to disease markers.
A new oral vaccine against sylvatic plague is showing significant promise in the laboratory as a way to protect prairie dogs and may eventually protect endangered black-footed ferrets who now get the disease by eating infected prairie dogs, according to results by a USGS researcher at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center. Sylvatic plague is an infectious bacterial disease usually transmitted from animal to animal by fleas. This exotic disease is usually deadly for black-footed ferrets and their primary prey, prairie dogs, resulting in local extinctions or regional population reductions. Along with other wild rodents, prairie dogs are also considered a significant reservoir of plague for other wildlife, domestic animals, and people in the western U.S. Prevention of plague in wild rodents by immunization could reduce outbreaks of the disease in animals, thereby reducing the risk for human exposure to the disease.
Positive data from a
A new study published in the August issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine shows that positron emission tomography (PET) is an important tool for depicting the extent of neuroblastoma in some patients, particularly for those in the early stages of the disease. Neuroblastoma accounts for six to ten percent of all childhood cancers in the United States and 15 percent of cancer deaths in children. Accurately identifying where in the body the disease is located and whether it is spreading is critical for choosing appropriate types of treatment, which can include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and-in the most advanced cases-a combination of all of these treatments along with bone marrow transplant or investigational therapies.
About half of the car trips in the U.S. are less than five miles - a distance easily navigated by walking or cycling. Reducing short-distance car trips has many benefits - it decreases car accidents, has positive benefits for the environment and increases physical health and activity, says communication professor Edward Maibach of George Mason University. An expert in climate change communication research, Maibach says that community leaders should make promotion of physical activity a priority.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota and National Institutes of Health have identified a new function for the protein missing in people with the most common and ultimately lethal form of childhood muscular dystrophy.
An international team of researchers has identified a new method for selectively killing metastatic melanoma cells, which may lead to new areas for drug development in melanoma - a cancer that is highly resistant to current treatment strategies.
Flasks, beakers and hot plates may soon be a thing of the past in chemistry labs. Instead of handling a few experiments on a bench top, scientists may simply pop a microchip into a computer and instantly run thousands of chemical reactions, with results - literally shrinking the lab down to the size of a thumbnail.
Almost all organisms evolve from a single cell, a fertilised egg. In the first hours after fertilisation, the fate of its future development is determined. It is dictated by the separation of cells that will become sperm and ovules - germ cells-, from the remaining cells, which will be responsible for forming the body - organs and tissues -, and that comprise the somatic cell line. Scientists at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), headed by Jordi Casanova, research professor at CSIC, have identified the mechanism that protects somatic cells against the behaviour of germ cells. When this mechanism fails, the embryo dies. Made in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, this finding could be universal. This research was published yesterday in the advanced online edition of EMBO Reports.
As a fetus does not mount an immune response to maternal proteins that cross the placenta, it has been assumed that a fetus would not reject non-genetically matched blood cells (specifically allogeneic blood cells) if they were transplanted while the fetus was in utero. The hope is that this procedure, which is known as IUHCT, could provide a viable approach for treating congenital blood disorders. However, studies using a mouse model of IUHCT indicate that most fetal recipients of allogeneic blood cells lose their transplanted cells 3-5 weeks after transplantation. Alan Flake and colleagues, at Children"s Hospital of Philadelphia, have now identified an immune mechanism responsible for graft failure in this model of IUHCT. Surprisingly, although fetal immune cells eliminated the transplanted allogeneic blood cells, they were triggered to do so by immune molecules known as alloantibodies that they obtained from their mother"s breast milk. The maternal alloantibodies were produced in response to IUHCT and so the authors conclude that in the absence of either a maternal immune response or transmission of the maternal alloantibodies to the fetus, transplanted blood cells should not be rejected, leaving open the door for IUHCT as a potential clinical strategy.
Recent research has uncovered an unexpected vulnerability in deadly melanoma cells that, when exploited, can cause the cancer cells to turn against themselves. The study, published by Cell Press in the August issue of the journal Cancer Cell, identifies a new target for development of future therapeutics aimed at selectively eliminating this aggressive skin cancer which is characterized by a notoriously high rate of metastasis and treatment-resistance.
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute scientists have found that a population of breast cells called luminal progenitor cells are likely to be responsible for breast cancers that develop in women carrying mutations in the gene BRCA1.
UCLA scientists have discovered a way to measure the amount of amyloid beta that is being absorbed by immune cells in the blood. Amyloid beta forms the plaques considered the hallmark of Alzheimer"s disease, and if the immune system isn"t adequately clearing amyloid beta, it may indicate Alzheimer"s risk, according to the researchers.
Two common anti-influenza drugs - Relenza and Tamiflu - appear equally effective at preventing common flu symptoms when given before infection, say researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine. However, data is lacking on the effectiveness and safety of the two drugs in vulnerable groups such as the very young and people with compromised immune systems.
Feelings of depression could be one reason patients fail to follow their doctors" orders on exercising and eventually become less physically active, a new research review finds.
Covidien (NYSE: COV), a leading global provider of healthcare products, has announced a key milestone in the continued growth and use of the OxiNet™ III remote respiratory monitoring system in U.S. hospitals. With the recent system installation at the Mayo Clinic campus in Jacksonville, FL, the Nellcor™ OxiNet III system currently monitors 10,000 beds and is integrated into more than 450 U.S. hospitals, including the Mayo Clinic campus in Rochester, MN, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX), St. Anthony Central Hospital (Denver, CO) and Sumner Regional Medical Center (Gallatin, TN). The OxiNet III remote monitoring system enhances the safety of patients throughout the hospital, enabling continuous monitoring of patients" oxygen saturation levels via the trusted Nellcor OxiMax™ product platform, even when the clinician is not at the bedside.
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."
"When President Barack Obama said at a recent news conference that he has the best health care in the world, he wasn"t exaggerating," The Chicago Tribune reports. "The White House medical unit with a staff of four doctors and even more nurses and physicians" assistants is just steps from his office, ready to provide free treatment to him and his family. ... Air Force One is stocked with equipment to rapidly assemble an onboard operating room. ò€¦ White House physicians provide free medical coverage for the first family and the vice president"s family, as well as urgent treatment to White House staff and visitors as needed."
Congressional Quarterly examines a "three-page concept paper" issued by the House Foreign Affairs Committee that lays out a plan to overhaul U.S. foreign aid. The committee suggests "giving the administration greater flexibility to control aid in exchange for greater public oversight and a performance- and need-driven allocation system," the news service writes. "The plan would reorganize aid programs around seven purposes, including "reducing poverty and alleviating human suffering," "supporting human rights and democracy," and "expanding prosperity through trade and investment,"" according to CQ. The House committee wants to enhance USAID"s role, "giving the agency a seat on the National Security Council and putting it in charge of the U.S. global AIDS plan and the Millennium Challenge Corporation," the news service writes.
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) is leading a project to provide technical assistance to the Libyan government to finalise the development of a national HIV strategy and programme of support. The project is supported by a 1 million euro grant from the Delegation of the European Commission to Libya.
Rates of infant death remain high in parts of England, largely among deprived communities and ethnic minorities, finds a study published on bmj.com today.
Data presented on Sunday at the The International Society of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 13th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in San Francisco highlight the screening of over 3,000 patients for MAGRIT (MAGE-A3 as Adjuvant Non-Small Cell LunG CanceR ImmunoTherapy)1, the largest-ever treatment trial in lung cancer. The rapid screening of patients into the MAGRIT trial is unprecedented given so few eligible lung cancer patients (less than 1% in the U.S.2) traditionally enter clinical trials and benefit from the potential hope of novel treatments.
GP Surgeries in Camden are successfully sending out text messages advising patients on what to do if they think they have Swine Flu.
In a finding that challenges the increasingly popular belief that smoking marijuana is less harmful to health than smoking tobacco, researchers in Canada are reporting that smoking marijuana, like smoking tobacco, has toxic effects on cells. Their study is scheduled for the Aug. 17 issue of ACS" Chemical Research in Toxicology, a monthly journal.
Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX) announced it has manufactured a virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine candidate against the H1N1 pandemic influenza virus under current good-manufacturing practices (cGMP) at its new vaccine manufacturing facility in Rockville, MD. This milestone was accomplished in only 11 weeks after receiving the gene sequence for the H1N1 strain from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The Company was able to reach this manufacturing goal by employing proprietary, novel production technology which is not dependent on growing influenza virus in eggs. Chicken eggs are used to produce almost all of the world"s influenza vaccine supply. In addition, Novavax has produced essential reagents for measuring vaccine potency. The Company also has plans to produce additional batches of the pandemic H1N1 VLP vaccine to support human clinical studies and stands ready to assist with additional public health needs in the US as well as foreign countries.
NeurogesX, Inc. (Nasdaq: NGSX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing novel pain management therapies, announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) date from August 16, 2009 to November 16, 2009 to review the new drug application (NDA) for Qutenza(TM) to manage pain associated with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN).
The World Health Organization (WHO) has cut short its annual health ministers meeting because of influenza A (H1N1) preparations and has postponed discussions about Chagas disease. Much needed progress in diagnosing and treating people for this neglected disease must not be further delayed, warned the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Mç©decins Sans Frontiç¨res (MSF) today.
Most people who carry a genetic mutation for a movement disorder called dystonia will never develop symptoms, a phenomenon that has puzzled scientists since the first genetic mutation was identified in the 1990"s. Now, scientists at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have figured out why these mutation carriers are protected from symptoms of the disorder they have an additional lesion that evens the score.
UroToday.com - Microdissection testicular sperm extraction is a procedure used to extract sperm from patients with irreversible non-obstructive azospermia. Sperm extracted are then used for in vitro fertilization (IVF). While this technique has improved the sperm retrieval rate compared to other biopsy techniques, sperm are still often not retrieved. The purpose of our research was to develop a technique for identifying small foci of sperm for retrieval for use in IVF.
Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have isolated a unique protein that appears to have a dual function and could lead to a "boon in medicine." The findings are published in the August issue of the Journal of Cell Biology.
Noninvasive imaging (MRI) may aid physicians in the early diagnosis, staging and treatment of diabetes, according to a study performed at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. This is the first study of its kind to apply noninvasive imaging techniques to diabetes research.
Nationally, about ten percent of women in the US are recalled for a second mammogram after an abnormality is detected on the first one - for most women this can be very stressful. However the use of digital breast tomosynthesis and full-field digital mammography combined may be associated with a substantial decrease in recall rate, according to a study performed at UPMC in Pittsburgh, PA. Some researchers believe that digital breast tomosynthesis depicts the breast tissue in a way which may allow radiologists to identify some tumors which could be missed with standard two-dimensional mammography.
"Attempts to set billions aside for infrastructure projects like bike paths face an uphill battle on Capitol Hill," The Chicago Tribune reports, adding "GOP legislators see no health savings in parks and similar projects," while advocates say preventive efforts will bring down costs. "A draft Senate bill would provide up to $10 billion annually for a "prevention and public health investment fund" -- a portion of which could be used for projects such as bike paths, sidewalks, farmers markets and other community interventions meant to curb chronic and costly conditions like obesity."
A team of researchers from CIC bioGUNE from the Cellular Biology and Stem Cell Unit, alongside a team from Paris" Cardiovascular Research Centre (INSERM U970) have developed a new area of research which looks extremely promising as regards the development of new therapeutic responses to ischemic pathologies and cardiovascular diseases in general. The results of this research project, which was initiated in 2005 and is supported by Bizkaia:Xede and the Basque Government"s Etortek programme, were published in the prestigious scientific journal Circulation.
Predicting the infection patterns of influenzas requires tracking both the ecology and the evolution of the fast-morphing viruses that cause them, said a Duke University researcher who enlists computers to model such changes.
Victoria, Australia researchers have developed a wristwatch that continuously monitors the health status of people with Parkinson"s disease to help doctors manage their treatment, Victorian Minister for Innovation Gavin Jennings said today.
ViraCor Laboratories, the leader in molecular diagnostic testing for infectious diseases, announced the launch of a new ultrasensitive molecular test to detect JC Virus in cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). The second JCV test to be developed in ViraCor"s laboratories, the ultrasensitive JCV PCR test can accurately detect the virus in a patient sample with as few as 25 viral copies per milliliter of sample.
Direct Flow Medical, Inc. a privately held, emerging medical device Company developing a next generation, minimally invasive implant to treat patients with heart valve disease announced the issuance of its 5th patent on their Percutaneous Aortic Valve (PAV) Technology. The patent (USP# 7,534,259) entitled: "Nonstented Heart Valves with Formed in situ Support" provides further protection for this second generation PAV device.