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Blogs Comment On Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings, Health Reform, Other Topics
The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries.~ "Judge Sotomayor Provides Important Testimony on the Constitutional Right to Privacy and Its Application to Reproductive Rights," Marcia Greenberger, Womenstake: "One major line of questions, asked repeatedly throughout the hearings" for President Obama"s Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was her "views on the constitutional right to privacy," Greenberger writes, adding, "Given that this right is central to women"s lives, protecting" such "decisions involving whether to bear children ... and having consensual adult sexual relations, it is important to analyze Judge Sotomayor"s answers carefully." According to Greenberger, because Sotomayor "had not ruled directly on the right to privacy as a federal judge, her testimony in this area warrants particular attention." Following questions from senators such as Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Sotomayor portrayed a "clear agreement with the right to privacy and strong description of the court"s current precedents regarding Roe and women"s health," which "lend[s] further support to the view from her legal record that she would not undermine Roe v. Wade if confirmed to the Supreme Court" (Greenberger, Womenstake, 7/16). ~ "Major Steps Forward for Health Care Reform," Thao Nguyen, Womenstake: Nguyen, outreach manager for the National Women"s Law Center, reports that the health care reform legislation passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is "particularly important for women because of the critical headway it makes towards women"s ability to secure access to quality, affordable health care throughout their lives." The bill "works towards confronting many of the particular obstacles faced by women in our current health care system," such as banning the "discriminatory" practice of basing insurance premiums on gender, even when maternity benefits are excluded, Nguyen writes. The bill also bans insurance companies from rejecting patients based on medical history, which has prevented many domestic violence survivors and women who have had caesarean sections from obtaining coverage. Nguyen concludes that "the momentum for health care reform could not have come at a more needed time" because women and their families "need quality, affordable and comprehensive health more than ever" (Nguyen, Womenstake, 7/15).~ "Democrats for Life of America Ousts Member Who Supports Contraception," Feministing: Feministing reports that Democrats for Life of America removed Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) from its advisory board because he supports efforts to improve access to contraception. According to Ryan, he was dismissed from the board after four years after attempting to persuade the group to support contraceptive use as a way to avoid unintended pregnancies. According to the blog, "This is why we call anti-choicers "anti-choice": because they"re not just about making abortion illegal." It adds, "They don"t want women to have access to contraception either -- something that 98% of American women will use at some point in their lives" (Feministing, 7/15). ~ "Umpires, Perspective and the Supreme Court," Jim Wallis, Sojourners" "God"s Politics": "During his opening remarks for his own confirmation hearing in 2005, Chief Justice [John] Roberts made" an analogy between judges and umpires "that has gotten a lot of play in the media and has already been used quite a few times during" Sotomayor"s confirmation hearing, Wallis writes. He adds that "nothing in the world would frustrate me more than an umpire who would call the game differently based upon the color of the jersey that" players were wearing. "But I haven"t seen that happen," Wallis writes, adding, "In fact, the biggest problem we face isn"t an umpire that has favored one team over the other, but umpires who make mistakes in their rulings and judgment because of their lack of perspective." He adds that Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and "others w
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H1N1 Confirmed In Three More African Countries; Cambodia, Indonesia Confirm First Cases
The H1N1 (swine flu) virus has reached the sub-Saharan African countries of Cape Verde, Ethiopia and Ivory Coast, according to the WHO, the AP/Boston Herald reports. Last week, South Africa became the first country in the region to confirm a 12-year-old, who had returned from the U.S., tested positive for the H1N1 virus.
News of the day
Structures From Immune System's Oldest Branch Shed Light On A Range Of Diseases
How molecules of the oldest branch of the human immune system have interconnected has remained a mystery. Now, two new structures, both involving a central component of an enzyme important to the complement system of the immune response, reveal how this system fights invading microbes while avoiding problems of the body attacking itself.
Endocrinology

Laser Microsurgery For Tongue Cancer Is As Effective As Invasive Open Surgery

Transoral (through-the-mouth) laser surgery to remove cancer at the base of the tongue is as effective as more invasive open surgery and may improve quality of life according to a new study by Rush University Medical Center. The study is published in the July issue of the scientific journal Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery. The study involved a retrospective chart review of 71 patients who underwent transoral laser microsurgery for squamous cell carcinoma of the base of the tongue. At 24 months, overall survival was 90 percent and disease specific survival was 94 percent. Quality-of-life data, obtained for 46 patients, revealed the majority had mild or no pain, minimally impaired to normal swallowing, and normal speech.. Historically, the tongue base could only be safely accessed through complicated open surgical approaches through the neck. Delicate structures in the neck, such as the voice box, the trachea, the esophagus, lymph nodes, muscles and large nerves make surgical resection difficult with significant complications including speech and swallowing impairment.. Advances in transoral laser microsurgery have transformed the surgeon"s ability to treat cancer that was not otherwise amenable to surgical therapy. The surgery is performed through the opening of the mouth using an endoscope with a lighted camera and microscopic lens to view the area. Using a CO-2 laser and micro-staging, surgeons carefully remove the tumor in small pieces minimizing disruption to nearby tissues, thereby reducing complications and the likelihood of infections. With magnification of normal and abnormal tissue the surgery is very precise which contributes to very good cancer outcomes.. "Due to the precision of this surgery, most patients require less adjuvant chemotherapy and in some cases patients will not need chemotherapy," said Dr. Guy Petruzzelli, study author and chief of the Section of Head, Neck and Skull Base Surgery and the Charles Arthur Weaver Professor of Cancer Research at Rush University Medical Center. "And the functional outcomes are superior. Patients are able to speak and swallow much sooner and better than with an open technique.". In the study, 91 percent of patients responding experienced "mild" or "no pain." Also, 97 percent had "minimal impairment" or "normal" swallowing function. In fact, no patients interviewed were using a gastrostomy tube after 18 months, with average gastrostomy use of just over three months overall. Finally, 69.6 percent of patients reported "normal" speech.. "Transoral laser surgery is an acceptable and in many cases preferred option for managing appropriately sized tumors of the back of the tongue. Its overall safety and functional outcomes are in many cases superior to traditional open surgeries and potentially high dose chemotherapy and radiation," said Petruzzelli.. Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery is the official scientific journal of the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) and the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy (AAOA).. Rush University Medical Center is an academic health center that encompasses a hospital for adults and children with more than 613 staffed beds (including Rush Children"s Hospital), the 61-bed Johnston R. Bowman Health Center for older adult and rehabilitative care, and Rush University. It also operates Rush Oak Park Hospital.. Rush is also a thriving center for basic and clinical research, with physicians and scientists involved in hundreds of research projects developing and testing the effectiveness and safety of new therapies and medical devices.. Rush University Medical Center


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