Cardiovascular
The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) announced they have released the 2009 updated Interventional Pain Management (IPM) guidelines.
A new study from Thomson Reuters found that patients with bipolar disorder were at greater risk for a wide range of medical conditions than a control group of patients with no mental health diagnoses.
Two people with the same kind of cancer who receive the exact same treatment may nevertheless have different chances of their tumors coming back years later. Now a team of scientists has developed a computer model that predicts cancer recurrence in an individual based on how her tumor changes size in response to the first rounds of radiation therapy.
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
DLX5, a gene crucial for embryonic development, promotes cancer by activating the expression of the known oncogene, MYC, according to researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center. Since the DLX5 gene is inactive in normal adults, it may be an ideal target for future anti-cancer drugs, they reason. Their findings are published in the July 31 edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, available online now.
A health care reform proposal that would allow employers and insurers to give large discounts to employees who lose weight or lower their cholesterol is facing push back from several groups worried about premium disparities, Kaiser Health News reports.
Eating fish - long considered "brain food" by generations of housewives - really is good for the old grey matter, as is a healthy dose of sunshine, new research suggests.
Various states weigh in about health care reform with particular concerns about financial difficulties and different reform models. Massachusetts looks to its own experience to offer advice.
In an open letter to Cambodia"s prime minister and health minister, more than 100 international HIV/AIDS advocates and human rights organizations "accused the Cambodian government of herding HIV-affected families into an "AIDS colony" outside the capital, Phnom Penh," the Guardian reports (McCurry, 7/28).
Uganda"s Health Ministry announced Monday it has ordered investigations into whether the deaths of 17 patients living with HIV in Northern Uganda were caused by their inability to get antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, the AP/mlive.com reports. According to Zainab Akol, manager of the ministry"s HIV/AIDS control program, the ministry is exploring "whether apart from the lack of ARVs, another disease like malaria or any epidemic could have contributed to the deaths," according to the news service.
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.
Smokeless tobacco products, as used in Europe and North America, do not appear to increase cancer risk. A large meta-analysis, published in the open access journal BMC Medicine, has shown that snuff as used in Scandinavia has no discernible effect on the risk of various cancers. Products used in the past in the USA may have increased the risk, but any effect that exists now seems likely to be quite small.
The Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney TD, announced the commencement of the outstanding Sections of the Pharmacy Act 2007 to provide for the introduction of a Complaints, Inquires and Discipline regime for pharmacists and pharmacy businesses. Also included are Sections 63 and 64 of the Act, which relate to the prohibition of certain economic relationships between pharmacists or pharmacies and medical practitioners, or medical practices.
Sylentis, a bio-pharmaceutical company Zeltia Group (MC: ZEL), a
Concerns are being raised by a growing number of British academics that bureaucratic overload is stifling their ability to undertake clinical research, compromising the future of this activity in the UK, and ultimately doing patients a disservice. The issues are discussed in a Special Report in the August edition of The Lancet Oncology, written by freelance journalist Adrian Burton.
Three studies published on bmj.com examine the merits of conservative versus aggressive treatment policies of women with low-grade abnormal results detected by cervical screening.
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.
People in less affluent countries appear to suffer from more severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) than people in wealthy countries, suggests research published ahead of print in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
The growth of acute stroke care centres and systems of care could revolutionise clinicians" ability to treat patients with stroke, according to an analysis of services published ahead of print in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery.
Underscoring the need for meaningful health system reform for America"s patients and physicians, the American Medical Association (AMA) is running an ad emphasizing common ground on health reform to remember what"s at stake - access to care for millions. The AMA ad runs nationally today in the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Online advertising will run in various medical trade publications.
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.
"Although the number of mentally ill immigration detainees" at the La Mesa, Calif.-based private psychiatric hospital Alvarado Parkway Institute "at any one time seems to range from as few as two to only five or so, their situation needs to be addressed quickly," a San Diego Tribune editorial states (San Diego Tribune, 5/19). Some disability rights lawyers and advocates for the mentally ill say that conditions at many of the private facilities, including API, violate state and federal laws governing treatment of mentally ill people. Ann Menasche, a lawyer with the legal advocacy group Disability Rights California, last month sent a letter to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement claiming that after visiting API and interviewing detainees, she found that the conditions are "excessive, unjustifiable and punitive" (Kaiser Health Disparities Report, 5/18).According to the Tribune, "California"s strict patients" rights laws specify that psychiatric patients can have daily visitors, use the telephone, exercise, socialize and be free from restraint unless the chief of the facility determines that a specific individual is a threat to himself or others," but, according to Menasche, patients at API are being denied those rights. The editorial adds that the conditions Menasche describes "may sound appalling, but it is unclear whether they are proper for the circumstances," and an "independent probe by the state Department of Public Health ... is needed to determine whether the detainees are being treated properly" (San Diego Tribune, 5/19).
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.
Scientists in New York and North Carolina are reporting assembly of the first functioning prototype of an artificial Golgi organelle. That key structure inside cells helps process and package hormones, enzymes, and other substances that allow the body to function normally. The lab-on-a-chip device could lead to a faster and safer method for producing heparin, the widely used anticoagulant or blood thinner, the researchers note. Their study is scheduled for the Aug. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a weekly publication.
Servier Laboratories Limited has been granted permission by the Court of Appeal to challenge a High Court decision made at a Judicial Review in February this year, in which Servier was previously successful in its claim that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) had unlawfully failed to provide the economic model underlying its Guidance for the primary and secondary prevention of osteoporotic fractures in postmenopausal women. 1,2
The 1,450 registered nurses of Good Samaritan Hospital and San Jose Regional Medical Center voted overwhelming last night to ratify their new contract with the facility-and in so doing set new standards for patient safety at HCA, the nation"s largest hospital chain, announces the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee today.
The Congressional Budget Office has so far "failed to attribute any savings to increased efforts to provide preventive efforts like stop-smoking programs," challenging the notion that preventive care saves money for the health care system, NPR reports. "Former CBO health analyst Joe Antos, now at the American Enterprise Institute, says preventive services often cost more than they save. In screening people for cancer, for example, he says, "you screen literally millions of people, sometimes at fairly high cost per screen. You"ll pick up some true positives, people who really have the disease. You"ll pick up some false positives." Then all those people have to be followed up by the medical system, which costs even more money."
China Daily explores how a new anti-smoking initiative in China targets the country"s medical professionals. According to the newspaper, "China is the world"s largest tobacco producer and consumer," with "350 million smokers, plus 450 million people exposed to second-hand smoke." Annually, 1 million deaths are smoking-related, according to China"s Ministry of Health.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Tuesday signed a state budget in which he made $489 million in line-item veto cuts that "will affect child welfare and children"s health care, the elderly, state parks and AIDS treatment and prevention, going beyond the dramatic cuts that were part of the deal Schwarzenegger negotiated with legislative leaders," the Los Angeles Times reports (Rothfeld/Goldmacher, 7/28). "Services for people with AIDS, which had previously been spared by the Legislature, were reduced by $52 million by Schwarzenegger on Tuesday. That cut will mean no state spending on HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, education or housing services for people with the disease. The state will continue paying for AIDS medications and for tracking the epidemic," the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Buchanan, 7/29). Schwarzenegger said, "The legislators have given me a budget with a $156 million negative reserve, so now I had to go in over this weekend and work with my team and make additional cuts." He added, "That"s ugly, when already we have cut so much, and then we had to make additional cuts" (Steinhauer, New York Times, 7/28). Mark Cloutier, executive director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, said of the cuts to HIV/AIDS programs, "This means there are going to be more people who are HIV-positive who are unwittingly infecting others" (Buchanan, 7/29).
Today there are an estimated 5.3 million Americans with Alzheimer"s disease. Although the majority of Alzheimer cases are individuals age 65 and older, there is still a significant number of individuals under age 65 impacted by this fatal disease that today has no cure. For people under age 65 with Alzheimer"s disease or a related dementia, their cognitive impairment can quickly reach a point where they can no longer maintain gainful employment. The Alzheimer"s Association applauds the Social Security Administration (SSA) for holding a hearing today to examine whether these individuals with younger-onset Alzheimer"s disease or related dementias should be included in its Compassionate Allowances Initiative.
A novel anticancer agent, consisting of a monoclonal antibody linked to a chemotherapy drug, showed substantial antitumor activity in ovarian cancer cell lines and in mice, according to a study published online July 29 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The American Nurses Association (ANA) and the International
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.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week held an inaugural conference on obesity prevention and control. The CDC"s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity convened in Washington, D.C. to chart ways to improve access to healthy places, discuss opportunities for obesity prevention, and plan physical education standards in schools through federal policy.
Breast cancer patients have for the first time been recruited from China to take part in an international trial of breast radiotherapy.
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.
Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp. ("SCT" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:SSS) is pleased to announce the acceptance and publication of the paper entitled "Open labeled, uncontrolled pharmacokinetic study of single intramuscular hCG dose in healthy male volunteers" by the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Vol. 47, August 2009. This paper was authored by Drs. Alan Moore, President & CEO, Allen Davidoff, VP Product Development and Yan Yang, Clinical Research Associate, all of SCT; Dr. Michael D. Hill of Foothills Hospital at the University of Calgary, and Dr. Steven C. Cramer, from the University of California, Irvine.
VisEn Medical Inc., a leader in fluorescence in vivo imaging from research through medicine, announced that scientists reporting in the July 31 issue of SCIENCE have discovered a key disease-related biologic pathway using an integrated and innovative array of in vitro readouts and advanced in vivo imaging technologies. The newly reported biologic pathway relates to monocyte deployment from the spleen to inflammatory sites, including myocardial infarction. The findings are expected to open up new areas of research and potentially advance therapeutic approaches to key disease areas including inflammation and myocardial injury.
As the body creates antibodies to fight invaders, a three-protein DNA repair complex called MRN is crucial for a normal gene-shuffling process to proceed properly, University of Michigan research shows.
An Article published Online First (http://www.thelancet.com) and in an upcoming edition of The Lancet shows that pregnant women could be at increased risk for complications from H1N1 flu. Furthermore, the study, from the USA, shows that the rate of hospitalisation for pregnant women is more than four times that of the general population. Pregnant women with H1N1 flu should start antiviral treatment as soon as possible, while those who are well should be vaccinated once a vaccine becomes available. The Article is written by Dr Denise J Jamieson, Division of Reproductive Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA, and colleagues.
With the implementation of the 48-hour working week for workers throughout Europe, including doctors, on 1 August 2009, the BMA in Northern Ireland has said that it will insist that the health service must meet its obligations to implement the European Working Time Directive (EWTD).
In research that could lead to new asthma drugs, scientists at Yale School of Medicine, Hydra Biosciences of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the University of California, San Francisco have discovered that a protein may be a trigger of allergy-induced asthma in mice. They also demonstrated how a drug known to reduce inflammatory and neuropathic pain may also inhibit asthma symptoms in mice. Their paper is published in the May 18-22 online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Today experts from the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society (PCCS) and HEART UK - the Cholesterol Charity, are calling upon primary care clinicians to embrace new guidance designed to support optimal care and treatment of post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients. Published in the latest issue of the British Journal of Cardiology, the guidance is unique as it is aligned to both patients and primary care, thereby recognising the vital role of empowering patients and their families in achieving the best possible clinical outcomes.2
"Earnings from the nation"s big health insurers show signs of a new uptick in medical costs related to the recession: As unemployment rises, people who have lost their jobs or are fearful of losing them are rushing to see doctors to get medical tests before their benefits expire," the Wall Street Journal reports. WellPoint, the nation"s largest insurer by volume, reported a 7.6 percent dip in profits and the loss of 338,000 members in the second quarter, further illuminating the trend. Other insurers have experienced similar patterns in which policyholders are seeking more - and more expensive - health services.
Health plans reiterated their strong support for new market rules and consumer protections to cover all Americans and guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions.
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a substance in the liver that helps process fat and glucose. That substance is a component of the common food additive lecithin, and researchers speculate it may one day be possible to use lecithin products to control blood lipids and reduce risk for diabetes, hypertension or cardiovascular disease using treatments delivered in food rather than medication.
Multiple sclerosis patients managed by a specialty pharmacy program were more compliant with medication, and had a lower risk of being hospitalized for their disease than those who were not managed by a specialty pharmacy program, according to a study completed by HealthCore, Inc.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius provided the down payment for a nationwide effort to reduce health care associated infections in stand-alone or same-day surgical centers. The first effort will begin later this month in 12 states under provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
A study by Kansas State University researchers is looking at how children perceive and interact with peers who have various undesirable characteristics, such as being overweight or aggressive.
Johns Hopkins experts in applied physics, computer engineering, infectious diseases, emergency medicine, microbiology, pathology and surgery have unveiled a 7-foot-tall, $10,000 shower-cubicle-shaped device that automatically sanitizes in 30 minutes all sorts of hard-to-clean equipment in the highly trafficked hospital emergency department. The novel device can sanitize and disinfect equipment of all shapes and sizes, from intravenous line poles and blood pressure cuffs, to pulse oximeter wires and electrocardiogram (EKG) wires, to computer keyboards and cellphones.
King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: KG) announced additional information regarding the resubmission plan for the REMOXY® New Drug Application (NDA). The Company is not required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct clinical trials in order to provide additional safety or efficacy data in patients with moderate to severe chronic pain. However, as part of the resubmission plan, and in order to strengthen the NDA, King plans to conduct a likeability study and a pharmacokinetic trial in volunteers. The Company continues to anticipate the resubmission could occur mid-year 2010.
The world"s top lung cancer specialists, medical professionals and researchers are convening this week in San Francisco, CA for the 13th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC), organized by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). According to a series of studies presented today at the WCLC, targeted therapies, as first-line treatment, have the potential to slow cancer growth and improve patient outcomes. Unlike traditional chemotherapy-based treatments, which destroy cancerous and non-cancerous cells alike, targeted therapies are designed to inhibit only cancer cell replication and tumor growth and are generally well tolerated by patients.
The American Dietetic Association has released an updated position paper on food and water safety that reviews the current situation in this country, identifies new tools that can help decrease illness and encourages continued research, education and technological advances to keep the food and water supply safe.
Rush University Medical Center has opened the first multidisciplinary center in the Midwest for the treatment of asthma, addressing a chronic respiratory disease that affects 22 million Americans, including 6 million children.
Intrauterine devices "seem like the perfect form of contraception: simple to use, long-lasting, reversible, hormone-free, economical," Slate columnist Kate Klonick writes. She asks, "So why are American women so late to this party? Perhaps the better question is: Why did they leave the party to begin with?"Klonick explains the benefits of IUDs, calling them a "foolproof method of birth control" and noting that they are 99% effective and "can last up to 10 years." Although IUDs can cost between $300 and $500, it is a one-time expense that is often covered by insurance, according to Klonick. She notes that although efficacy studies show that birth control pills, patches and vaginal rings can be "99% effective in a clinical setting, real-life compliancy -- like forgetting to take the pill at the same time every day -- reduces its success rate." Klonick adds that the availability of hormone-free IUDs makes them an "ideal" option for "women prone to some of the negative effects of hormonal birth control, like weight gain, mood swings, acne or high blood pressure."According to Klonick, IUDs were used by almost 10% of U.S. women taking birth control in the late 1970s but are now used by less than 2% of such women. She writes that Katharine O"Connell, a gynecologist at Columbia University who specializes in contraception, believes IUDs still carry a stigma "due to the erroneous belief that they"re highly dangerous" partly due to a number of deaths that occurred in the early 1970s tied to a specific brand of IUD known as the Dalkon Shield. Because of bad publicity surrounding the devices, "the U.S. pharmaceutical industry abandoned the research and manufacturing of IUDs in the mid-1980s, claiming the devices were no longer profitable," Klonick states. According to O"Connell, most experts now agree that the Dalkon Shield"s problems were related to its design, which made users more susceptible to infection, and a lack of testing for sexually transmitted infections before insertion.There are now two major brands of IUDs -- Mirena and ParaGard -- on the U.S. market, but physican training remains a problem, according to Klonick. She writes that studies show that premedical students are not educated regarding IUDs to the extent they are about oral contraceptive pills. O"Connell also noted that many medical schools limit classes on contraception to one lecture, which often omits IUDs. Klonick writes, "This lack of training can leave many doctors feeling uncomfortable recommending the once-controversial devices to their patients." She adds that many physicians who know how to insert and remove IUDs "still refuse to recommend it to childless patients because of the device"s checkered history." She concludes, "With Mirena advertising on television, the downturn in the economy forcing people to economize, and more women concerned about the long-term effects hormones have on their bodies, perhaps the IUD"s stigma will finally become a thing of the past" (Klonick, Slate, 7/29).
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.
The National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors and the Kaiser Family Foundation released a report that "provides the first, comprehensive inventory of HIV prevention efforts at the state and local levels" and is based on a survey of 65 state health departments, including all state and territorial jurisdictions and six U.S. cities. The report "is intended to offer a baseline picture of how HIV prevention is delivered across the country. ... " ("The National HIV Prevention Inventory: The State of HIV Prevention Across the U.S.," July 2009).
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.
Researchers at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health are working with Argentina"s National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the National Administration of Laboratories and Health Institutes (ANLIS), and Roche 454 Life Sciences to decode the complete genomic sequences of influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus from patients with severe respiratory disease. The scientists will be comparing sequences of viruses associated with the current outbreak in Argentina with those found in other locations to determine if there are differences that may be linked to higher mortality rates or provide insights into virus evolution.
The human eye lens consists of a highly concentrated mix of several proteins. Protective proteins prevent these proteins from aggregating and clumping. If this protective function fails, the lens blurs and the patient develops cataracts. Two research groups at the Department of Chemistry of the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) have succeeded in explaining the molecular architecture of this kind of protective protein. Their findings, which are published online in the current early edition of PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), shed new light on the work of these proteins and may be able to help in the development of new treatments.
Data presented today at the 8th European Congress on Menopause
Major depression and coronary artery disease are only modestly related throughout an individual"s lifetime, but studying how the two interact over time and in twin pairs paints a more complex picture of the associations between the conditions, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. For example, the association between coronary artery disease onset and major depression risk is much stronger over time than vice versa.
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.
Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: SVNT) announced that the Company has received a complete response letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stating that the FDA can not at this time approve the Company"s Biologics License Application (BLA) for KRYSTEXXA(TM) (pegloticase) as a treatment for chronic gout in patients refractory to conventional therapy.
A carbon nanosensor "electronic nose" first developed by Technion-Israel Institute of Technology researchers to detect cancer from breath samples has been modified to identify chronic renal failure (CRF). The findings, reported in the May 26, 2009 issue of ACS Nano, could lead to a non-invasive and fairly inexpensive way to detect kidney diseases in their earliest and most treatable stages.
A paper just published in the British Journal of Pharmacology reports that a compound originally isolated from a soft coral (Capnella imbricate) could lead scientists to develop a new variety of treatments for neuropathic pain. This composite is collected at Green Island off Taiwan and could be a new option for treatment. Neuropathic pain is chronic and occasionally follows damage to the nervous system. Presently this type of pain is very poorly controlled by the usual analgesics: aspirin like drugs (NSAIDS) or even opioids like morphine. New treatments are urgently required.
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).
Democrats are finding points they agree on in a tenuous accord for the message they want to relay to constituents during the August recess: The health insurance industry is the bad guy, The Washington Post reports.
The NZMA has welcomed the Government"s announcement that it will increase funding over four years to boost maternity services, but has concerns that the potential benefits of some of this extra funding will not be fully realised under the currrent maternity system.
Drug companies "boosted their lobbying in Washington during the three months (that) ended June 30 amid a flurry of congressional action on health care," while overall, "Washington"s lobbying business continued to slump as the economy pinched budgets at some big companies and trade associations," The Wall Street Journal reports. "Drug manufacturers increased lobbying spending 13% to $68 million in the second quarter from a year earlier, according to the data ò€¦ Overall, the health-care sector reported a 5% increase in lobbying expenditures to $133 million, making it the single largest spender on lobbying of the 10 major industry sectors tracked by the Center for Responsive Politics. Health-insurance companies increased lobbying activity by 11% to $7.8 million, according to the data" (Mullins and Farnam, 8/3).
A recently passed House spending bill that lifts the ban on the use of federal funding for needle exchange programs, which included an amendment addressing the locations of needle exchanges, "according to many health and human rights advocates, has been diluted to the point that it won"t help the same urban areas most afflicted by" blood-borne illnesses such as HIV, the Washington Independent reports. House Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey (D-Wis.) added an amendment to the bill that prohibits needle exchanges from operating "within 1,000 feet of schools, daycare centers and other areas where children are likely to congregate," according to the Independent. Obey "included the restriction, not because he supports it, but to appease conservative critics who might have killed the entire provision otherwise," the article states. William McColl, political director for AIDS Action, said, "In an urban environment, that really is a restriction on almost anywhere."
To combat the many fetal deaths that occur annually because the placenta is too small, researchers at Yale School of Medicine have developed a method to measure the volume of the placenta, which provides nourishment to the fetus.
Francis Collins, President Obama"s pick to head NIH, and Regina Benjamin, Obama"s surgeon general nominee, have spoken publicly about their religious beliefs but also have expressed views on issues such as embryonic stem cell research that conflict with church teachings, USA Today reports. Collins, who headed the Human Genome Project, is an evangelical Christian who supports the use of human embryonic stem cells in some medical research. Focus on the Family in a newsletter lauded Obama"s choice of an evangelical to lead NIH but said that abortion-rights opponents cannot support Collins" views, "particularly since he supports destructive human embryonic stem cell research."Benjamin is a Roman Catholic and sits on the board of the Catholic Health Association. She also is active in her local church and received a papal medal in 2006. According to USA Today, Catholic leaders from her native state of Alabama say they have not heard Benjamin voice support for abortion rights. The Bayou La Batre, La., medical clinic that she oversees does not perform abortions. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, initially expressed support for Benjamin"s nomination, saying, "Her tireless and selfless efforts are a model for all physicians." He later said that he opposes any possible support she might give "mandated abortion coverage" in health reform.The White House has said that Benjamin agrees with Obama "on reproductive issues." Retired archbishop Oscar Lipscomb, who nominated Benjamin for the papal medal, said, "She is a practicing Catholic and faithful and, to the best of my knowledge, in all those questions that have arisen so far, there has never been a conflict in her practice and in her conversation with regard to what the church expects of medical practitioners." Former Surgeon General David Satcher, who taught Benjamin at Morehouse School of Medicine, said, "While the religion of the surgeon general may very well influence his or her ... approach, the message has to be the public health science," adding, "It"s not a religious message. It"s a public health science message."Emilie Townes, associate dean of academic affairs for Yale Divinity School, said that Obama"s choices represent his aim to "break the mold" of traditional politics, adding that Collins and Benjamin are examples of "big tent" evangelicalism and Catholicism (Banks, USA Today, 8/3).
Nearly two-thirds of parents reported they felt the need to watch over their child"s care to ensure that medical errors are not made during their hospital stay, according to a study led by Beth A. Tarini, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Brain cancer is among the deadliest of cancers. It"s also one of the hardest to treat. Imaging results are often imprecise because brain cancers are extremely invasive. Surgeons must saw through the skull and safely remove as much of the tumor as they can. Then doctors use radiation or chemotherapy to destroy cancerous cells in the surrounding tissue.
Children"s after-school activities often consist of sedentary behavior such as watching television, but after-school programs that offer physical activity and healthy snacks could be the best place for children"s health.
UK clinical research is currently benefiting from significant additional investment from Government and other research funders. A challenge for funders and institutions is to allocate res across the range of clinical academic specialties, to most effectively pursue research and its translation into improved healthcare.
A consultation on whether, and if so, how, practitioners of acupuncture, herbal medicine and traditional Chinese medicine should be regulated was launched today by the Department of Health.
As the field of stem cell based therapies has progressed, there have been numerous questions about the exact way one of the most promising lines of adult stem cells works to repair damaged heart muscle. Although cells obtained from adult bone marrow are proving to be useful to treat heart disease, there has been a major controversy over whether they are true stem cells capable of forming new heart muscle.
Over two-thirds of American families are "blended," which means they are made up of remarried adults and often stepchildren. Although it"s good news that many divorced people remarry, the bad news is that too many of them carry the animosities and negative behavior patterns of their former heartbreaks into their new situation.
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.
ARUP Laboratories, a national clinical and anatomic pathology reference laboratory and a leader in innovative laboratory research and development, supports the U.S. Food and Drug Administration"s (FDA) decision to put KRAS on the label of two targeted drugs, Vectibix (panitumumab) and Erbitux (cetuximab). On July 17, 2009, the FDA noted that, "retrospective analyses of metastatic colorectal cancer trials have not shown a treatment benefit for Erbitux/Vectibix in patients whose tumors had KRAS mutations in codon 12 or 13," and that the use of the drugs is not recommended for the treatment of colorectal cancer patients with these mutations.
Palatin Technologies, Inc. (NYSE Amex: PTN) announced that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its U.S. Patent Application Number 11/694,260, titled "Cyclic Natriuretic Peptide Constructs." Allowed claims cover a family of cyclic compounds that bind to natriuretic peptide receptor A (NPRA), including PL-3994, Palatin"s lead heart failure drug candidate. Palatin expects the patent will issue in the second half of 2009; the patent"s 20-year term would expire in 2027.
Eczema is a chronic skin disorder characterized by dry, itchy, scaly skin and rashes. It is commonly known as "the itch that rashes." (1) While the exact cause of eczema is not known, it appears to result from a complex interaction of factors including personal and family genetics, immune response and environmental factors. (2)
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.
Cervical cancer, or cancer of the cervix, is cancer of the entrance to the uterus (womb). The cervix is the narrow part of the lower uterus, often referred to as the neck of the womb. Cervical cancer occurs most commonly in women over the age of 30.
The full Senate on Tuesday is set to begin debate on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who is widely expected to be confirmed by the end of the week, the Los Angeles Times reports (Savage/Oliphant, Los Angeles Times, 8/4).Six Republicans have announced that they will vote to confirm Sotomayor, while most are aligning with the party base to vote against her confirmation. No Democrats have announced that they will oppose her nomination. At the risk of alienating his state"s large Hispanic population, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Monday announced that he will oppose Sotomayor"s confirmation (AP/USA Today, 8/4). "An excellent resume and an inspiring life story are not enough to quality oneself for a lifetime of service on the Supreme Court," McCain said, adding, "I do not believe she shares my belief in judicial restraint" (Los Angeles Times, 8/4). Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), an advocate for gun-rights, had been under pressure to vote against her but on Monday said that he supports the nominee and will vote to confirm her. Nelson said that he believes Sotomayor has "a great respect for the law" (AP/USA Today, 8/4).
DNA-Prokids (http://www.dna-prokids.org), an international project on human trafficking prevention and fight using genetic identification of victims and their relatives, was officially presented, at the University of Granada (UGR) headquarters, in Spain.
"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."
Efforts to standardize quality measures for medical tourism are underway as Mexico tries to attract medical tourists. Such efforts come after the swine flu outbreak significantly hurt Mexico"s tourism industry, which ranks third as the country"s of foreign income
The Boston Public Health Commission has allocated $100,000 to a new campaign that uses social networking sites and other media outlets to raise sexual health awareness among teenagers, the Boston Globe reports. The city is facing increasing rates of sexually transmitted diseases among those age 15 to 19, according to the Globe. The new campaign will include educational videos featuring teenagers that will air on the MTV, FX and BET television networks; radio and mass transit advertisements; and theater performances. Facebook, YouTube and other social networking sites also will be used to reach teenagers with safer sex messages. Officials hope to address teenagers" "casual attitudes" toward sexually transmitted diseases, the Globe reports. Lydia Shrier, an adolescent medicine specialist at Children"s Hospital Boston, said teenagers might say ""Hey, I may get HIV, but it"s treatable and I"m going to live." It"s not a death sentence to them" (Smith, 8/4).
The so-called "Khmer Rouge trials" now underway are likely to have an impact on the mental health of many Cambodians, according to a new study published in the August 5 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on violence and human rights.
Children have certainly mastered the art of selecting, negotiating and even refusing the chores their parents assign to them. This growth in personal autonomy at home over the last few decades could be the result of shrinking opportunities to participate in activities outside the home, without Mom and Dad looking over their shoulder, according to Dr. Markella Rutherford from Wellesley College in the US. Her analysis1 of back issues of the popular US magazine, Parents, maps how the portrayal of parental authority and children"s autonomy has changed over the last century. Her findings are published online in Springer"s journal Qualitative Sociology.
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.
The Mount Sinai Medical Center has a new re center for prostate cancer treatment. Led by David B. Samadi, M.D., Chief of the Division of Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgery in the Department of Urology, the new state-of-the-art facility at 625 Madison Avenue in New York City specializes in pre- and post-surgery care for patients who undergo a robotic prostatectomy at Mount Sinai"s main campus. It also provides expertise in the treatment of other urologic cancers, including bladder and kidney. A multilingual staff offers assistance with patient travel arrangements, accommodations, and translation services when required.
In its fight against an intruding virus, an enzyme in our immune system may sense certain types of viral RNA pairs, according to scientists.
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.
Growing scientific evidence indicates that people who adhere to a special calorie-restricted diet can improve their health and could potentially add years to their lifespan, according to an article in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS" weekly newsmagazine.
A study just published on bmj.com reports that the risk of heart attack is multiplied by two for men who have angina. Also their risk of suffering a heart disease-related death is three times higher than for women with the same condition.
An estimated 200 people die each year in the U.S. after being struck by lightning. An extremely brief but intense hit delivers more than 10 million volts and is fatal in about 30 percent of cases. Recent lightning strikes in Newark resulted in one death and three injuries.
In today"s troubled economy, saving money is a hot topic. No matter what gets cut from your budget, however, experts at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center believe that healthy choices to prevent cancer shouldn"t be on the list.
A new study raises the possibility that flies and other insects that encounter nanomaterial "hot spots," or spills, near manufacturing facilities in the future could pick up and transport nanoparticles on their bodies, transferring the particles to other flies or habitats in the environment. The study on carbon nanoparticles - barely 1/5,000th the width of a human hair - is scheduled for the Aug. 15 issue of ACS" Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.
The Senate on Tuesday began its floor debate on the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, the Wall Street Journal reports (Bravin, Wall Street Journal, 8/4). The debate will continue for the rest of the week before a final floor vote is held Thursday or Friday (Oliphant/Savage, Los Angeles Times, 8/5). Twenty-eight Republicans have said they will oppose her nomination. As of Tuesday, six Republicans were undecided (Stern, CQ Today, 8/4). In addition, at least six Republicans plan to vote for Sotomayor"s confirmation, while none of the 60 Democrats in the Senate have come out against her.Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who has announced his opposition, said, "I have expressed the view since this process began that we are at a fork in the road," asking, "Will we continue to adhere to the classical idea of American jurisprudence? Or will we follow results-oriented judging in which judges cease to be committed to equal justice?" He also said that "certain aspects of her record troubled me, ... whether she is deeply committed to the ideal of objectivity and impartiality" (Los Angeles Times, 8/5). Sotomayor opponent Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) expressed concern about Sotomayor"s statement in a speech that "a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion" than a white male judge. Inhofe said, "Well, that"s pretty emphatic. There"s no other way you can interpret that," adding, "She thinks a woman with her experience can make a better conclusion than a white male," and "to me, I consider that racist" (CQ Today, 8/4).However, Sotomayor supporter Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said, "Those who struggle to pin the label of judicial activist on Judge Sotomayor are met by her solid record of judging based on the law." He added, "She is a restrained, experienced and thoughtful judge who has shown no biases in her rulings." Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said, "You can"t find a nominee with better experience than Judge Sotomayor. She has seen the law from all sides." Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said, "When Judge Sotomayor takes her seat at the Supreme Court, America will have come of age" (Los Angeles Times, 8/4).
Washington, D.C., officials are planning to make testing for sexually transmitted infections available at all public high schools in the coming school year, adding D.C. to a growing list of cities that test students for STIs, the Washington Post reports. All 50 states and the district allow minors older than age 12 to be tested for STIs without parental consent.The new program requires all students to attend a lecture about STIs, after which they are escorted into restroom areas in groups of 15 to 20. They are then given paper bags with urine collection cups and go into the stalls, at which point they can decide whether to provide a sample. All students return the paper bags, regardless of whether they provided samples. Students give a password and can call a week later to receive their confidential results and, if necessary, treatment at the school or an STI clinic, which is paid for by the city. The district first offered the program two years ago at two charter schools, and eight high schools were included during the past school year.A 2007 study by the D.C. public school system found that 60% of high school students and 30% of middle school students reported having sex. According to the study, 20% of high school students reported having sex with four or more partners and 12% of middle school students reported having three or more partners.According to the D.C. Department of Health, the program at eight high schools last year found that 13% of 3,000 students tested positive for an STI, most commonly chlamydia or gonorrhea. Fifty percent of the chlamydia and gonorrhea cases in the district are among teenagers.According to the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, the new program is an important step toward curbing the district"s HIV/AIDS rate, which is among the highest in the U.S. Walter Smith, executive director of D.C. Appleseed, said, "If 13% of these students are testing positive for [STIs], those same kids could get HIV," adding, "A lot needs to be done to get the message out to the schools, ... and this very high [STI] rate is an indication that what we"ve been doing is not effective" (Fears/Hernandez, Washington Post, 8/5).
Worldwide collaborative ties among researchers investigating the debilitating neurological condition multiple sclerosis (MS) have been strengthened thanks to the introduction of the first UK and Australian Fellowship Exchange programme.
"As if hedging their bets on health reform, Democrats are emphasizing smaller but still significant health-related investments this year, from food safety and community health centers to a greater emphasis on rooting out abuses in Medicare and Medicaid," Politico reports. "It"s a far cry from the more ambitious government-backed insurance option proposed by President Barack Obama and House Democrats. But it does add up to a major expansion of the government"s role in public health - and one that shows a greater willingness to add personnel to regulate and administer programs."
News organizations continue to cover contentious town hall meetings.
"The increasingly heated fight over health-care legislation is saturating the summer airwaves, with groups on all sides of the debate pouring tens of millions of dollars into advertising campaigns designed to push the cause of reform forward, slow it down or stop it in its tracks," the Washington Post reports. So far, drug makers, labor groups, Democrats and Republicans - among others - have spent $52 million to finance the ad campaigns, a heady start that could lead to a "record-breaking legislative battle."
"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."
According to the latest data in a clinical study supported by St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ), deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy for depression may provide sustainable improvement in depression symptoms among patients with major depressive disorder. Study results will be presented at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) meeting in San Francisco.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) have today published their
Altair Therapeutics, Inc., a privately-held, biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for respiratory diseases, reported results from its phase I study evaluating the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of its lead product, once-weekly inhaled AIR645, in healthy volunteers. AIR645 is a non-steroidal dual inhibitor of cellular responses to interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13, cytokines that play a critical role in development and progression of asthma, rhinitis and other allergic disorders. Results presented today at the 2009 International Conference of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) within the Mini-Symposium "New Treatment Approaches for Asthma and Allergy" showed that inhaled AIR645 was safe, well tolerated and had dose-dependent exposure in the airways. These results demonstrate the potential of AIR645 as a convenient once-weekly treatment for asthma and other respiratory disorders. Later this year, Altair plans to initiate a phase II efficacy study in patients with asthma.
Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: RNN), announced that it has enrolled 50% of the total projected enrollment required for its Phase IIa trial to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of Serdaxin™ as a central nervous system based treatment for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The complete trial calls for the enrollment of up to 80 patients at multiple clinical trial sites in the United States.
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.