Mental Health
The National Re for Aplysia at the University of Miami"s Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science has had its res grant with the National Institute for Health (NIH) extended for an additional five years. The National Re for Aplysia is the only facility in the world that cultures and raises Aplysia californica, commonly known as sea hares or sea slugs. Over the course of the next five years, the facility will receive $2.7 million from the NIH to raise these animals, which are used to study the basic mechanisms of memory and learning while providing insight into diseases such as Alzheimer"s and Parkinson"s.
Mental health refers to our cognitive, and/or emotional wellbeing - it is all about how we think, feel and behave. Mental health, if somebody has it, can also mean an absence of a mental disorder. Approximately 25% of people in the UK have a mental health problem during their lives. The USA is said to have the highest incidence of people diagnosed with mental health problems in the developed world. Your mental health can affect your daily life, relationships and even your physical health. Mental health also includes a person"s ability to enjoy life - to attain a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Ilaris(R) (canakinumab) for the treatment of children and adults with cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome (CAPS), which includes a number of rare, but life-long, auto-inflammatory disorders with debilitating symptoms and limited treatment options. The FDA granted priority review to Ilaris based on its potential to meet an important clinical need for patients with CAPS.
The following statement can be attributed to Steven G. Hentges, Ph.D. of the American Chemistry Council"s (ACC) Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group. Dr. Hentges" comments are in regard to a study from researchers at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The study, "Neonatal bisphenol A exposure alters rat reproductive development and ovarian morphology without impairing activation of gonadotropin releasing hormone neurons," was funded by NIEHS and published online June 17 by the journal Biology of Reproduction. The study was co-authored by Heather B. Patisaul and Heather B. Adewale of NCSU and Wendy N. Jefferson and Retha R. Newbold of NIEHS.
CentraState Medical Center (Freehold, New Jersey) has purchased two new state-of-the-art Elekta radiation therapy treatment systems, both with Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT). The first site in the world to have both Elekta Axesse and Elekta Infinity, CentraState will offer the most advanced cancer care available to its patients.
The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) applauds the recommendations regarding chronic disease in the report by the Bipartisan Policy Center"s (BPC) Leaders" Project, entitled "Crossing Our Lines: Working Together to Reform the U.S. Health System." The report outlines key health care reform policy recommendations from a bipartisan perspective to ensure that all Americans have quality, affordable health care.
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) applauds the American Medical Association (AMA) for reaffirming its policy in support for universal vaccination.
The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, and Dr. Chen Zhu, Minister of Health for the People"s Republic of China, today signed a Plan of Action for continued cooperation between the two countries on health priorities of mutual concern. The signing ceremony followed discussions among senior Canadian and Chinese health officials and experts on a range of health issues, including strengthening and reform of health-care systems, primary health care and food safety.
The House State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee "unanimously approved its FY10 funding measure without any amendments" on Wednesday, "deferring expected fights for the full committee markup in a week," CongressDaily reports.
The National Infertility Awareness Campaign (NIAC) welcomed the document "Standardising Access Criteria to NHS Fertility Treatment"1 produced by Infertility Network UK (I N UK) and funded by the Department of Health.
China Aoxing Pharmaceutical Company, Inc. (OTCBB: CAXG) ("China Aoxing"), a pharmaceutical company specializing in research, development, manufacturing and marketing of narcotic and pain-management products, announced that it has completed the registration trial with Codeine Phosphate, a compound oral solution for the treatment of acute moderate to severe cough. Top-line results from this trial are expected to be announced by the end of the third quarter of 2009.
Under legislation reported by the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, small companies that receive the majority of their financing from venture capital will once again be considered eligible to compete for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants. The change will allow more small biotechnology start-ups to compete for these funds and continue critical research and development of medical advancements and breakthroughs. Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) President and CEO Jim Greenwood made the following statement today:
The Medical Defence Union (MDU) is reminding its GP members about the steps they can take to avoid medication errors when treating children and the importance of learning from errors. The advice follows the publication of the National Patient Safety Agency"s (NPSA) first review of patient safety incidents involving the under 18s reported under the national reporting and learning system (RLS).
Studies performed in three animal models confirmed the safety and intensive immunogenicity of a new type of intranasal H5N1 influenza vaccine, according to the latest preclinical study data announced today by the Vienna based firm, Avir Green Hills Biotechnology. The study data was just published in PloS One, the Public Library of Science.
Some parents may be unnecessarily switching infant milk formulas for their healthy infants. A study published in BioMed Central"s open access Nutrition Journal, found that many parents misinterpret common baby behaviors as milk intolerance and needlessly switch formulas without consulting a health professional.
Detailed, accurate evolutionary trees that reveal the relatedness of living things can now be determined much faster and for thousands of species with a computing method developed by computer scientists and a biologist at The University of Texas at Austin.
Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have shown that past experience really does help when we have to make complex decisions based on uncertain or confusing information. They show that learning from experience actually changes the circuitry in our brains so that we can quickly categorise what we are seeing and make a decision or carry out appropriate actions. The research is published in Neuron.
New animal research suggests that a noninvasive therapy called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) may help treat chronic migraines.
Gargling with a licorice solution can help reduce postoperative sore throat a common and painful complication of anesthesia in patients undergoing surgery, reports a study in the July issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).
On June 12, the Heart and Diabetes Center NRW in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, performed the 800th implant of the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart. The 60-year-old patient, who was suffering from biventricular failure, was listed in stable condition post-implant.
Using virtual reality simulators to train surgeons improves performance and reduces operating time, finds a study published on bmj.com today.
A shocking four out of every ten people who suffer from a skin disease in the UK have been bullied as a result of their condition, a new snapshot survey reveals.
BERKELEY, CA (UroToday.com) - I was trained and board certified as a urologist (University of Virginia) and pathologist (Cornell and UVA) and arrived at Johns Hopkins in 1991 to do a research fellowship with Dr. William B. Isaacs, funded by the American Foundation for Urologic Disease (now the AUA Foundation).
Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have developed a new breast cancer diagnostic marker that could enable physicians to more easily determine which patients have a less aggressive form of the disease that may not require chemotherapy treatment.
"A draft proposal in the Senate to overhaul the nation"s health-care system would require most people to buy health insurance, authorize an expansion of Medicaid coverage and create consumer-owned cooperative plans instead of the government coverage that President Obama is seeking," the Washington Post reports. The proposal, a preliminary version of legislation being shaped by the Senate Finance Committee, also contained "an array of coverage provisions that were drastically scaled back from earlier versions, as lawmakers seek to shrink the bill"s overall cost."
News outlets are searching out interesting quotes from players in the health reform debate.
This data shows the NHS" progress in tackling the waiting times for
"Global health funding boosted by private donors has quadrupled since 1990, but the extra money has not always gone to the right countries and diseases, according to a pair of studies released Friday," in the journal Lancet, AFP/Google.com reports (Hood, AFP/Google.com, 6/18).
Senate Passes Bill Including Flu Funds
Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: OCLS), a healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a family of products based upon the Microcyn® Technology platform, announced that preliminary results from its U.S. 40-patient feasibility study, in which an enhanced formulation of the company"s Microcyn Technology-based hydrogel was used in the treatment of acne, are highly encouraging and warrant further examination.
After years of declining teenage pregnancy rates and improved teen contraception use during the 1990s and early 2000s, the trends appeared to have flattened or even reversed among some groups of teens in recent years, according to a study from Columbia University"s Mailman School of Public Health and the Guttmacher Institute, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Researchers found that from 2003 to 2007, teens" contraceptive use declined by 10%, while their level of sexual activity did not change. The decrease in contraceptive use was particularly prevalent among black teens. The figures take into account the rate of contraception use as well as the types of contraceptives used, as methods vary in effectiveness. Teen condom use leveled off and in some cases declined, according to the study. The study also reported that the teen birth rate increased by 5% from 2005 to 2007. According to the study"s authors, the findings suggest a link between declining teen contraception use and the rise in abstinence-only education during former President George W. Bush"s administration. President Obama"s fiscal year 2010 budget proposal calls for redirecting some abstinence-only funds toward increased comprehensive sex education, the Monitor reports. In addition to the effects of abstinence-only sex education, the decline in condom use also could be tied to lessening concern about sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS. A shift in the teen population to include a higher number of Hispanics -- who have the highest rates of teen pregnancy and birth -- also could contribute to the findings. Laura Lindberg, one of the study"s authors and a senior research associate at Guttmacher, said, "In the end, this story is really about the loss of momentum." She added that although the statistical changes are small, "they raise concern about what the next few years will bring in this country." Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, noted that the proportion of births to unmarried women, particularly among women ages 20 to 24, also is on the upswing (Feldmann, Christian Science Monitor, 6/18).
Researchers from the newly-established VGTI Florida and the University of Montreal have uncovered a possible method for eradicating HIV infection in the human body. The researchers have also revealed new information which demonstrates how HIV persists in the body - even in patients receiving drug treatments - and how the virus continues to replicate itself in individuals undergoing treatment. The research findings were published in the online version of the journal Nature Medicine on June 21 and will be featured in an upcoming print edition of the journal.
Riders of mass transit are exposed to noise at levels that may exceed recommended limits, and thus may experience noise-induced hearing loss given sufficient exposure duration times, reports a new study.
It is unethical to stop healthy people from taking methylphenidate (Ritalin) to enhance their mental performance, says John Harris, Professor of Bioethics at the University of Manchester, in an article published on bmj.com today. He adds that society "ought to want [enhancement]" and that "it is not rational to be against human enhancement."
Rearrangements of all sizes in genomes, genes and exons can result from a glitch in DNA copying that occurs when the process stalls at a critical point and then shifts to a different genetic template, duplicating and even triplicating genes or just shuffling or deleting part of the code within them, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a recent report in the journal Nature Genetics. The report further elucidated the effect of the fork stalling and template switching mechanism involved in some forms of copy number variation.
Rapamycin, a drug given to transplant recipients to suppress their immune systems, has a paradoxical effect on cells responsible for immune memory, scientists at the Emory Vaccine Center have discovered.
The latest statistics regarding the use of pacemakers and implantable cardiac devices in Europe was presented on Sunday 21 June, at EUROPACE 2009, the meeting of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA)1 which takes place in Berlin, Germany from 21 to 24 June.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that $6 billion in new federal funds will be made available to states and U.S. territories for fiscal year 2009 to provide health care to millions of children across America through their Children"s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP).
Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II alpha (CaMKII alpha) is an enzyme that adds phosphates to a variety of protein substrates to modify their functions. CaMKII alpha is enriched in the hippocampus, the memory center of the brain, and is believed to be an essential mediator of activity-dependent synaptic plasticity and memory functions. However, the causative role of the enzymatic activity of CaMKII alpha in such processes has not been demonstrated yet, because this enzyme has multiple protein functions other than the kinase activity. A Japanese research group, led by Dr Yoko Yamagata of the National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Japan, has successfully generated a novel kinase-dead mutant mouse of the CaMKII alpha gene that completely and exclusively lacks its kinase activity. They examined hippocampal synaptic plasticity and behavioral learning of the mouse, and found a severe deficit in both processes. They reported their findings in the Journal of Neuroscience, published on June 10, 2009.
For more than 3000 years, hundreds of millions of people have died or been left permanently scarred or blind by the relentless, incurable disease called smallpox. In 1967, Dr. D.A. Henderson became director of a worldwide campaign to eliminate this disease from the face of the Earth. SMALLPOX - THE DEATH OF A DISEASE: THE INSIDE STORY OF ERADICATING A WORLDWIDE KILLER (Prometheus Books, $27.98) is Dr. Henderson"s personal story of how he led the World Health Organization"s campaign to eradicate smallpox - the only disease in history to have been deliberately eliminated. Some have called this feat "the greatest scientific and humanitarian achievement of the past century."
A London surgeon is pioneering a new way to remove abdominal organs through the belly button using an approach called single incision
A PET scan uses radiation, or nuclear medicine imaging, to produce 3-dimensional, color images of the functional processes within the human body. PET stands for positron emission tomography. The machine detects pairs of gamma rays which are emitted indirectly by a tracer (positron-emitting radionuclide) which is placed in the body on a biologically active molecule. The images are reconstructed by computer analysis. Modern machines often use a CT X-ray scan which is performed on the patient at the same time in the same machine.
Neuroimaging is a wide-open theme on the congress agenda. The innovative look at the brain opens not only completely new roads to early diagnosis and therapy involving numerous neurological illnesses. It also helps to better understand numerous activities in the central nervous system. As Professor Filippi notes, "Brain mapping techniques have contributed significantly to the study of the neural basis of behavioural and cognitive function.
A concerned Rotherham nurse has forced manufacturers of an infant medicine feeder to withdraw its product following a safety scare. Nurse Karen Ray, a clinical procurement specialist at Rotherham Hospital, took her concerns to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) after a six-month-old baby was admitted to Rotherham Hospital following a liquid paracetamol overdose.
Amicus Therapeutics (Nasdaq: FOLD) announced it has commenced the U.S. registration Phase 3 trial with its investigational drug, Amigal(TM) (migalastat hydrochloride) for the treatment of Fabry disease. The Company has reached agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the key protocol design elements of the pivotal trial, including the use of the surrogate primary endpoint of the change in the amount of kidney interstitial capillary GL-3, the substrate that accumulates in the cells of Fabry patients. In addition, the FDA is in agreement that the Company is eligible to seek Accelerated Approval for Amigal according to Subpart H regulations. The Company has begun submitting the Phase 3 protocol to investigational sites worldwide and expects to begin the dosing of subjects in the second half of this year.
A groundbreaking study conducted by Children"s Hospital & Research Center Oakland is the first to reveal a new avenue for harvesting stem cells from a woman"s placenta, or more specifically the discarded placentas of healthy newborns. The study also finds there are far more stem cells in placentas than in umbilical cord blood, and they can be safely extracted for transplantation. Furthermore, it is highly likely that placental stem cells, like umbilical cord blood and bone marrow stem cells, can be used to cure chronic blood-related disorders such as sickle cell disease, thalassemia, and leukemia.
David L. Shern, Ph.D., President and CEO of Mental Health America, will testify on Tuesday, June 23 before the Health Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee in a hearing to discuss a comprehensive health care reform bill unveiled last week by the Chairmen of the three lead health care reform committees in the House of Representatives: Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Education and Labor.
A new study reports that about one-fourth of Americans say they"ve struggled in the last 12 months to pay for health care, Reuters reports.
The total cost for treating a child with autism can reach $5 million, but insurance companies rarely cover autism therapy and few states mandate it. CBS News reports that "an estimated one in every 150 children in America has autism and the number of reported cases is growing" while "parents are increasingly demanding that insurance companies cover the newest treatment."
Scrubbing In: Good Health Care Doesn"t Come Cheap The Philadelphia Inquirer
On Wednesday, a national HIV testing campaign called "Don"t?Guess?Test!" is making a "controversial move" by distributing free HIV testing kits that have not been approved by FDA in the lead up to National HIV Testing Day on June 27, the Washington Business Journal reports. The kits have been clinically tested and are available in Africa, Asia and Europe, according to the Business Journal. Due to the sensitive nature of the non-FDA-approved kits, campaign officials are not disclosing how many tests will be distributed or the location of distribution at this time (Plumb, Washington Business Journal, 6/22).
To mark World Refugee Day on June 20, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) urged the "international community to do more to protect and care for refugees around the world," VOA News reports (Schlein, VOA News, 6/20).
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on Friday resigned from an all-women group in an effort to avoid claims that she belonged to a discriminatory organization, according to a letter she wrote to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the Wall Street Journal reports. The group, the Belizean Grove, calls itself a "constellation of influential women" formed in response to the all-male Bohemian Club. Sotomayor wrote, "I believe the Belizean Grove does not practice invidious discrimination, and my membership did not violate the Judicial Code of Ethics, but I do not want questions about this to distract anyone from my qualifications and record." A Senate Republican aide said that GOP members did not plan to object to Sotomayor"s involvement in the group but aimed to compare their position with Democratic objections to previous judicial nominees who were members of all-male groups (Bravin, Wall Street Journal, 6/20).Sotomayor also sent Leahy and Sessions a list of events taken from her own handwritten calendar between 1992 and 1995, which included several entries about events where she spoke. Sessions had told Leahy that he would delay the confirmation proceedings if she did not provide missing information on about 50 speeches she had given. Sotomayor told the senators that she was unable to find drafts or recording of the speeches, noting that her calendar notes did not include details from the speeches (Swanson, The Hill, 6/19).In related news, the New York Times on Saturday examined how "it is far from clear that [Sotomayor"s] judicial record supports the accusation that she is an activist," who, as some critics have claimed, "legislates from the bench." According to the Times, "[s]everal empirical studies have concluded that she is not particularly prone to overriding policy decisions by elected branches." Her decisions that have "attracted the most criticism from conservatives" are "instances in which she deferred to policy decisions by elected branches that conservatives hoped judges would strike down," according to the Times (Savage, New York Times, 6/20).
The largest analysis of its kind has found that Caucasians are much more likely than people in other racial/ethnic groups to develop a rare bone and soft tissue cancer called Ewing"s sarcoma. In addition, among Caucasians with this cancer, men are more likely to die than women. Published in the August 1, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates that examining the gender and racial differences related to Ewing"s sarcoma could provide a better understanding of the disease and could lead to improved treatments for patients.
Neovacs, a biotechnology company developing proprietary immunotherapeutics for autoimmune and chronic diseases, announced that subject to regulatory consent, it plans to initiate a Phase II study of its TNF-alpha Kinoid later this year in rheumatoid arthritis patients who have failed treatment with at least one TNF-alpha inhibitor. The decision to proceed with the trial was based on an initial review of encouraging data from the company"s Phase I/II study in Crohn"s disease.
A University of Pennsylvania-collaboration of bioengineers studying the physical forces generated by individual cells has created a tiny micron-sized device that allows researchers to measure and manipulate cellular forces as assemblies of living cells reorganize themselves into tissues.
A global healthcare senior executive has called the latest infection threat to confront the NHS "a national epidemic". Whilst Government statements imply that hospital acquired infections are in decline Jim Taylor, a former Smith & Nephew President and now CEO of infection prevention specialist Saniguard International, says that Norovirus is now an increasing threat to our NHS wards. His company is launching PatientGuard this month - an anti-infection kit created specifically for the UK public, designed to help halt the spread of viruses (including Norovirus & H1N1) & bacteria (including MRSA).
Today, President Obama took historic action to save lives, reduce health care costs, and help reduce suffering from heart and lung diseases, cancer, and other tobacco-related illnesses. These illnesses kill hundreds of thousands of Americans every year, and the new law gives us the tools to effectively address this major public health issue. This is a key step forward and an important part of health reform.
Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. (KPA), a privately-held specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in Montgomery, AL, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Cambia™, a diclofenac-based non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ("NSAID") combined with potassium bicarbonate, for the treatment of acute migraine with or without aura in adults.
Collaboration in prostate cancer translational research in Europe is not only vital to sustain the progress achieved in recent years but also to streamline current efforts between researchers and clinicians and avoid duplication or overlaps. This was amongst the goals of the two-day Prostate Cancer Translational Research in Europe (PCTRE) Meeting which opened recently in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
High cholesterol levels are considered to be a risk factor not only for cardiovascular disease including stroke, but also for the development of Alzheimer"s disease. Therefore, many cholesterol lowering drugs, including statins, have been developed in recent years. In addition to the cholesterol reducing effect of statins Amalia Dolga, PhD, of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, and her co-investigators have demonstrated that statins can protect nerve cells against damage which we know to occur in the brain of Alzheimer"s disease patients. The results are published in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer"s Disease.
Warts are skin growths which are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) - they are non-cancerous. The virus causes keratin, a hard protein in the epidermis (the top layer of the skin) to grow too fast. Warts are different from moles. While moles are dark and can be quite large, warts tend to be small, skin-colored rough lumps. Warts most commonly appear on a person"s hands and feet.
To bring together serious female athletes and teach them the latest injury-prevention techniques and enhance their mental training, nutrition, leadership and team-building skills, UPMC Sports Medicine is hosting Empowering the Female Athlete: ACL Injury Prevention and Beyond, June 14 to 19 at the Petersen Events Center, 3719 Terrace St., Oakland. Female athletes between ages 12 and 18 are invited to attend the conference, led by a range of UPMC experts who care for all types of patients, including scholastic and professional athletes.
The European Medicines Agency has been formally notified by Menarini
Cross-sectional studies have reported an association between major depressive episode (MDE) and obesity. The objective of this longitudinal analysis was to determine whether MDE increase the risk of becoming obese over a 10-year period. Data from the Canadian National Population Health Survey (NPHS) were used, a longitudinal study of a representative cohort of household residents in Canada. The incidence of obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30, was evaluated in respondents who were 18 years or older at the time of a baseline interview in 1994. MDE was assessed using a brief diagnostic instrument.
The Magnetic Resonance Center of the University Children"s Hospital Zurich has achieved a world first break through in MR-guided, non-invasive neurosurgery. Ten patients have been successfully treated by means of transcranial high-intensity focused ultrasound. This fully non-invasive procedure opens new horizons for neurosurgery and the treatment of different neurological brain disorders.
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OGXI) announced the release of two abstracts to be presented during oral presentations at the upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. Abstracts are now available to the public online on the OncoGenex Web site at http://www.oncogenex.com in addition to the ASCO Web site, http://www.abstract.asco.org.
Researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health have developed a game for HIV-positive youth, +CLICK, designed to reduce secondary transmission of the virus.
An international team of researchers found that middle-aged women who had migraines with aura (perceptual disturbance that may precede or
BMA Scotland has warned that children who smoke face years of tobacco addiction that can lead to life-threatening diseases and premature death. The association also called on MSPs to support the proposals contained in the Tobacco and Primary Medical services (Scotland) Bill in order to reduce children"s exposure to tobacco products.
The Australian Medical Association will work with the Federal Government to ensure patients benefit from the introduction of new prescribing rights for nurse practitioners and midwives.
A Queensland University of Technology researcher is calling for volunteers to take part in a project examining the role of childhood visual experience on eye growth. Stephen Vincent, a practising optometrist, is conducting the research as part of his PhD and will spend the next 12 months examining volunteers with specific eye conditions such as amblyopia (lazy eye) and strabismus (turned eye).
Tonia Odom, a 35-year-old patient with rheumatoid arthritis, a sick father and a young son, each of whom has multiple health problems, has found some relief to the problems of managing her families" array of illnesses in at a Duke University clinic that"s a model of the "medical home" approach to medicine, the New York Times reports. "As President Obama and Congress try to create a national system that provides better care for more people at lower cost, you are likely to hear a lot more about this idea. The term, coined by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 1967, is admittedly confusing. It does not mean a return to house calls. Nor need it apply only to people with complex health problems like those of the Odom family."
What can"t the iPhone do? Now, thanks to a University of Houston professor, it can even count how many calories you"ve burned in a given day.
CNN looks at the lives of teenagers and young adults who were born with HIV before advancements in antiretroviral drugs in the 1990s helped prevent mother-to-child transmission. According to CNN, these children "have defied initial expectations" and "danced at their high school proms, walked on stage to receive their diplomas and even experienced the birth of their children." The article profiles a group of HIV-positive teenagers and young adults in Miami called the Kool Kids. The group was established in 1995 to help children living with HIV cope with the "usual complications of adolescence" and also the "broken families, medical complications and fights for acceptance" that exist as a result of their HIV (Park, CNN, 6/22).
"Just because something is legal -- and should be legal -- does not mean it is always ethical," Frances Kissling, former president of Catholics for Choice, writes in a Salon opinion piece, adding that "sometimes the right thing to say to a woman [seeking abortion] is "I am so sorry, I cannot do what you ask."" According to Kissling, there has "always been a fear in the choice movement that if we deal with "morality," we are going to lose." However, "tough issues come up more frequently than they did in the first years after" Roe v. Wade, and such issues "should make us pause and think hard," Kissling writes, adding, "The thought of putting every woman through the indignity of meeting with an ethics committee, or getting a doctor to sign off on her reasons for abortion, has forced most of us to stick with the principle that women must be allowed to make their own private ethical decisions, without the state getting involved." However, Kissling comments that "we express moral views about every other issue under the sun." She continues, "Expressing our views about controversial issues is how society develops norms and shared values."Kissling adds that if abortion-rights supporters "follow the example of those opposed to abortion and present only one value -- a woman"s right to make this decision -- as the only ethical consideration worth discussing in difficult cases, do we not become as extremist as we say they are?" She continues, "Is there not, in an ethical sense, an important weighing of women"s rights and needs against a respect for life, even the life of nonpersons? Is there a point in pregnancy when our respect for life might outweigh a woman"s right to make this choice?" Kissling asks, "[I]s the fact that we have avoided it part of the reason that polls show that more people are willing to call themselves pro-life than ever before?"According to Kissling she has "come to believe that women"s autonomy does not require that all efforts be made to protect women from pain or from hearing the word "no."" Kissling writes, "I still have a twinge of doubt when I write these words," adding, "For most of my years as an advocate of a woman"s right to decide, I stepped back from this conclusion" and "could not bring myself to say that there are circumstances in which I would force a woman to continue a pregnancy." The piece continues, "What changed for me? ... Mostly, I feared that single value ethics about abortion, on either side of the debate, would result in a coarsening of our respect for both women and for life" (Kissling, Salon, 6/21).
Two years ago more than one in four newborns screened for metabolic and other inherited
Older eyewitnesses can inadvertently add or change aspects of their account if they have the chance to speak to another eyewitness. This is one of the findings of Jane Montague and colleagues from University of Derby who will present their research at the British Psychological Society"s Division of Forensic Psychology"s Annual Conference today, Wednesday 24th June. The conference is being held the University of Central Lancashire, Preston.
Male and female perpetrators of domestic violence exhibit similar levels of controlling behaviour. This is one of the findings of a study presented at the British Psychological Society Division of Forensic Psychology annual conference yesterday, 23 June 2009 at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston.
Mothers who breast feed their babies are also more likely to follow recommendations to delay the introduction of solid foods finds a study of over 1500 infants across 5 European countries published this month in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition.
Differences in growth factor (GF) signaling may cause the poor prognosis in some breast cancer cases. A new study, published in the open access journal BMC Medical Genomics, suggests that some estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers respond poorly to tamoxifen because of increased GF signaling.
People with a learning disability will be helped into paid jobs to close the employment gap, Jonathan Shaw, Minister for Disabled People and Phil Hope, Minister for Care Services pledged today.
A new study at the University of Leicester aims to investigate the DNA of sleep. The research in the renowned Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester is being carried out by Ms Mobina Khericha and Dr Eran Tauber. It represents a new approach to study the genetics of sleep. Using fruitflies as models the researchers aim at understanding the genetics of sleep and identifying genes involved in this process.
Approximately 5 million adults age 19 to 23 in the United States had no health insurance in 2006 for the entire year and 30 percent of them said they didn"t think it was worth the cost, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX) announced publication of the preclinical study results that supported the clinical development of the company"s investigational VLP vaccine against the H3N2, H1N1 and B influenza strains. The study, which was conducted by scientists from the University of Pittsburgh, Center for Vaccine Research and Novavax, was published in the June 24, 2009 online issue of PLoS ONE. The vaccine contains three VLPs mixed together in a single formulation; each made up of the hemagglutinin (HA), neuraminidase (NA) and matrix 1 (M1) proteins from the representative strains. These proteins are important for broad protection against influenza, which is responsible for nearly 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. The vaccine is currently in Phase 2 clinical testing.
In the recently completed 12 week Phase IIb clinical trial in 494 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), "Melogliptin", Glenmark"s investigational medicine from a new class of diabetes treatments called dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, improved glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and exhibited excellent safety and tolerability profile. In addition, patients taking Melogliptin experienced low incidence of hypoglycemia and neutral effect on body weight.
From the west to east coast, Americans are experiencing record-breaking temperatures. Some states are reporting triple-digit numbers and the heat has been the cause of several reported deaths. "Children and the elderly are considered the most vulnerable population. It is harder for their bodies to respond to these high temperatures," said Richard N. Bradley, M.D., associate professor of emergency medicine and chief of EMS and disaster medicine at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.
Iraqi health authorities confirmed yesterday that six people recently returned from the US have tested positive for H1N1 epidemic or swine flu,
New research from two Philadelphia-area cardiologists finds that an over-the-counter dietary supplement sold at pharmacies and health food stores may be an alternative for patients who cannot take traditional statin medications to lower cholesterol because of statin-related muscle pain. The findings of their study, "Red Yeast Rice for Dyslipidemia in Statin-Intolerant Patients," appear in the June 16, 2009 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
In his address at the University of Notre Dame"s commencement ceremony on Sunday, President Obama urged advocates on both sides of the abortion-rights debate to treat each other with civility and find ways to work together on common goals, such as reducing the number of unintended pregnancies, the New York Times reports. Obama, who also received an honorary degree from the Roman Catholic university, called for more "open hearts, open minds, fair-minded words" on an issue that has long polarized the U.S. Obama said that although not all will agree on abortion rights, people "can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for any woman is not made casually" and "has both moral and spiritual dimension." He continued, "So let us work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions," by reducing unintended pregnancies, making "adoption more available," and providing "care and support" to women who carry pregnancies to term. Obama also said he supports a "sensible conscience clause" that would allow health care workers to withhold services they find morally or religiously objectionable, the New York Times reports. The president said that "[e]ach side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature" (Baker/Saulny, New York Times, 5/18).According to the Wall Street Journal, Notre Dame"s invitation to Obama "amplified longstanding tensions" between the Catholic Church"s position against abortion rights and Catholic universities" academic freedom. Several Catholic bishops and antiabortion-rights advocates argued that it was wrong to honor Obama because of his support for abortion rights, while the university"s leadership and others said it is necessary to communicate with people of opposing views (Meckler, Wall Street Journal, 5/18). Notre Dame"s president, the Rev. John Jenkins, in his introduction of Obama praised the president for agreeing to speak at the ceremony. He said that although some individuals "might have avoided this venue" because of the abortion issue, Obama "is not someone who stops talking to those who differ with him" (Evans, USA Today, 5/18). Jenkins also said, "If we want to extend courtesy, respect and love and enter into dialogue, then surely we can start by acknowledging what is honorable in others" (Dinan, Washington Times, 5/18).The New York Times reports that about 100 abortion-rights opponents protested on the edge of Notre Dame"s campus, and nearly 40 protesters were arrested trying to enter the campus (New York Times, 5/18). According to the Washington Post, more than 70 Catholic bishops criticized the university"s invitation, and more than 360,000 people signed a petition calling for the university to rescind the invite. The Post also reports that 26 of the 2,900 graduates chose to skip the commencement ceremony in protest of Obama"s speech (Shear, Washington Post, 5/18). However, the bulk of the audience at the ceremony "enthusiastically supported" the president, the New York Times reports. A few graduates pasted crosses and replicas of infants" feet on their mortarboards in protest of Obama"s visit, while some supporters displayed Obama"s campaign logo. Four protesters interrupted the speech with shouting and were removed by security guards; audience members responded to the shouting with Notre Dame chants and shouts of "Yes, we can," an Obama campaign slogan. The New York Times reports that while Obama has tried to avoid confrontation on the issue of abortion rights, the controversy over this Notre Dame speech and his pending nomination to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter have "pushed the issue to the forefront" (New York Times 5/18). Obama"s speech comes as his administration initiates its first meetings between advocates on both sides of the debate to discuss ways to reduce unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion. The meetings, which began at the beginning of May, are expected to continue for the next few
Hospitalist programs designed and managed by Cogent Healthcare have been found by a recent academic study to have exceptionally low readmission rates, especially for Medicare patients, officials announced today.
St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE: STJ) commends the efforts of investigators in the Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial with Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (MADIT-CRT). The early results of the trial indicate that early intervention with CRT-D therapy can slow a patient"s progression from early stage heart failure (NYHA Class I-II) to late stage heart failure (NYHA Class III-IV).
Caldera Medical, Inc. announced that it has received FDA clearance and CE Mark certification for the Ascend Pelvic Floor Repair System with Apical Support, a novel treatment for female pelvic organ prolapse. Ascend® is the latest addition to the Caldera Medical family of products designed to treat female stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Caldera"s product line includes the Desara® Sling System, a universal sling that allows surgeons their choice of multiple surgical approaches by utilizing reusable instrumentation. Caldera is the only U.S. company offering this unique solution, which benefits surgeons, hospitals, and the environment.
On the heels of a successful partnership between MDVIP and Project Access in Palm Beach County, Florida, MDVIP will now roll out their second initiative to support the uninsured community in Northern Virginia. In collaboration with The INOVA Health Systems and Project Access of Northern Virginia (PANV), four of the local MDVIP-affiliated physicians will participate in a pilot program to provide services to uninsured patients who have diabetes, cardiovascular disease or may be considered a high-risk patient for either chronic condition.
Acucela, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing new treatments for blinding eye diseases, announced today that data on the company"s novel visual cycle modulator, ACU-4429, a potential oral treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), will be featured at the Aegean Retina XI Meeting being held in Crete, Greece from July 3 to 5, 2009. Dry AMD is a leading cause of vision loss in people over the age of 50, yet there are no therapies currently approved to treat this condition.
There will be a new drive to ensure GPs spot cervical cancer symptoms earlier in young women and refer patients correctly, Health Minister Ann Keen announced today.
An entomology professor at the University of California, Davis who discovered a novel therapeutic target for treating inflammation, has received a three-year $750,000 grant from the American Asthma Foundation to investigate whether his discovery will work on asthma, a chronic disease affecting 300 million people worldwide, including 23 million Americans.
Cytos Biotechnology Ltd (SIX:CYTN) announced results from a biochemical analysis from a phase IIa study (study 02) with the vaccine
Rural utility co-ops in Colorado could provide an example of how a co-op would work nationally for health care, The Denver Post reports.
Fear, religious beliefs and cultural differences are among the reasons why blacks do not get tested for HIV, participants of the National Baptist Convention USA"s annual Congress of Christian Education conference being held in Detroit, said on Monday, the Detroit Free Press reports. As part of the five-day conference, religious leaders discussed ways to address the high rates of HIV and AIDS among the black community. Participants also said that concerns of racism by medical professionals may be a reason why blacks do not get tested. Simone Phillips of the St. Louis chapter of the American Red Cross said, "A lot of people are leery" in the black community and "we [need] to get rid of the stigma" surrounding HIV/AIDS (Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, 6/23).
IRIN Examines Hardships Facing Parents, Guardians Of Children Living With HIV/AIDS
The journal Lancet Infectious Diseases examines the worldwide spread of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). Currently, about 500,000 of the 9 million new cases of TB that are identified each year are strains of XDR-TB. "Drug resistance is largely man-made - it is vitally important to review antibiotic treatment strategies and to ensure the Stop TB Strategy is fully applied to prevent further selection of drug-resistant mutants," Leonard Amaral of Universidade Nova de Lisboa said.
County public health officials in California say proposed budget cuts could hurt or end the state"s Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Program, which provides care for high-risk women and teenagers during pregnancy and up to one year after giving birth, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports. County health departments operate the program with oversight from the state Department of Public Health. Sarah Mack, a spokesperson for the Riverside County Department of Public Health, said the program provides a safety net for women who are uncertain about how to obtain prenatal care. The program"s nurses and social workers work to identify vulnerable groups with the goal of initiating care within the first trimester of pregnancy. The program aims to reduce incidences of low birthweight, premature delivery, maternal and infant mortality, preventable childhood diseases and disabling conditions.Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has proposed eliminating more than $20 million in funding from the program to help reduce California"s estimated $24 billion budget deficit. Last week, the state Legislature"s joint budget conference introduced a counterproposal that would lower cuts to the program to $8 million.The most recent statistics from the state public health department show that nearly 16,000 California women who gave birth in 2006 had late or no prenatal care. More than 38,500 low-birthweight infants were born that year. Jim Lindley, director of the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, said that Schwarzenegger"s proposal would amount to the elimination of "the bulk of funding" for the program. Mack said that Riverside County officials have identified scenarios to continue providing services if the state funding is eliminated. However, without the funding, "[m]ore people could fall through the safety net," Mack said, adding, "Those who need the program the most would be the most likely to fall through."Schwarzenegger spokesperson Lisa Page has said that the governor believes the state"s budget situation leaves him with little choice about making cuts (Hines, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 6/22).
A new study by a University of Arizona professor shows employee involvement programs that executives adopt to increase efficiency also end up improving their record on diversity.
A new study suggests that a drop in colorectal cancer incidence seen nationwide has not occurred among people living in poorer communities, and suggests that barriers to health care may be to blame. The study appears online in the journal Cancer Causes and Control.
Nominations for the prestigious 2009 Pharmaceutical Society of Australia Awards for
Despite recent declines in cigarette use in the U.S., nicotine dependence has remained steady among adults and has actually increased among some groups. The finding by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health suggests that public health initiatives have been far more successful in preventing Americans from taking up smoking than in persuading hard-core smokers to stop. The study is available online in the American Journal of Public Health and will be published in the August 2009 issue.
The Government of Canada revealed the new organic logo that will give organics producers access to more markets and make sure Canadian families can find more certified organic food products in their grocery stores.
This year"s results from the Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project (MINAP) show that nearly half of heart attack patients are receiving primary angioplasty rather than thrombolytic (clot-busting) drugs. Primary angioplasty is a medical procedure to re-open the blocked coronary artery causing the heart attack, and has better outcomes than thrombolytic drugs.
The six industry groups that pledged to reduce health care spending growth by $2 trillion over 10 years on Friday issued a statement reaffirming their commitment to work toward the goal, Roll Call reports (Murray, Roll Call, 5/15). The industry groups in a letter sent to President Obama on May 10 wrote, "We will do our part to achieve your administration"s goal of decreasing by 1.5 percentage points the annual health care spending growth rate. ... This represents more than a 20% reduction in the projected rate of growth." The letter -- which was signed by the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the Advanced Medical Technology Association, America"s Health Insurance Plans and the Service Employees International Union -- did not elaborate on what specific measures the groups would take to achieve such reductions (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/12). Obama in a May 11 public announcement of the groups" pledge said the coalition"s goal was to cut the growth rate by 1.5 percentage points "each year," which would total $2 trillion over 10 years (Norman, CQ HealthBeat, 5/15).However, industry leaders who attended the meeting with Obama said that they did not promise specific year-by-year savings, but instead agreed to a more incremental approach (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/15). Richard Umbdenstock, president of AHA, said, "There"s been a lot of misunderstanding that has caused a lot of consternation among our members." AHA sent its members a bulletin stating that "the groups did not support reducing the rate of health spending by 1.5 percentage points annually," and that the pledge was to eventually reduce the growth rate by 1.5 percentage points (CQ HealthBeat, 5/15).In response to media reports that said they were backing away from their pledge, the groups on Friday in a joint statement reiterated their vow. They wrote, "Our organizations are currently engaged in an intensive process to develop proposals to reduce the rate of increase in future health care costs" (Young, The Hill, 5/15). The statement also said, "We are committed to working together to bend the health care cost curve" and "to doing our part to make reform sustainable and to make the system more affordable and effective for patients and purchasers" (Budoff Brown, Politico, 5/18). It continued that "to be successful, we must take action in public-private partnership. We look forward to offering cost-savings recommendations in the weeks ahead." The Obama administration has requested specifics on the coalition"s cost-cutting plans by June 1. White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag on Friday in a blog post wrote that it is "understandable" that the groups need to "ramp up" to the 1.5 percentage point reduction in spending. According to Orszag, "The groups have committed to significant reductions in the growth rate, thereby recognizing that substantial efficiencies can be captured in the health system. Some ramp-up time also does not materially affect the long-term impact from reducing the growth rate, on either national health expenditures or the federal budget" (CQ HealthBeat, 5/15). Orszag"s blog posting is available online.
Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Cambridge and the University of Michigan have carried out the first international comparison of cognitive function in nationally representative samples of older adults in the US and England and discovered that US seniors performed significantly better that their English counterparts.
A free card from the Michigan Retailers Association can lift some of the weight of concern and worry for seniors buying expensive prescription drugs.
Parts of the right hemisphere of the brains of people with dyslexia have been shown to differ from those of normal readers. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to compare the two groups, and were able to associate the neurological differences found with different language difficulties within the dyslexic group.
Global warming will likely mean more unpredictable weather, scientists say, and a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia pins down, possibly for the first time, how drought conditions in an area"s fall and winter may effect tornado activity the following spring.
The Welsh Assembly Government is today encouraging people to nominate health professionals for a major UK-wide award aimed at highlighting their contribution to the care of armed services personnel.
The University of Miami (UM) School of Nursing and Health Studies has received a $98,000 grant from the Pan American Health and Education Foundation (PAHEF) for an initiative designed to address issues of maternal and infant health in Haiti. Financed by PAHEF from a fund created through the generosity of the People of Taiwan, the program will assist the Haitian Ministry of Health in addressing one of its foremost national objectives: the reduction of maternal and infant morbidity through increased access to family planning, pregnancy care, and labor and post-partum health services.
At the 8th International Conference on Bipolar Disorder this week in Pittsburgh, four distinguished individuals will be honored for their contributions to bipolar disorder research, education and service. The conference is the only venue in the world devoted exclusively to highlighting new research into bipolar disorder
A multi-center clinical trial led by a Riley Hospital for Children endocrinologist has found that inhaled growth hormone (GH) is well tolerated by children with GH deficiency and that this easy-to-use method can, over a one-week period, safely deliver GH to the blood stream. In addition to having implications for those who need GH, this first pediatric study of administering it through the lungs may also help researchers interested in using this convenient method for effectively delivering other types of medications to children.
Stroke patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who undergo treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) following their stroke may substantially reduce their risk of death, according to Spanish research to be published in the July 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Retinoic acid, a derivative of vitamin A, could lead researchers to a new set of drug targets for treating breast cancer, researchers from the University of Chicago report in the June 25, 2009, issue of the journal Cell.