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IOM Report Calls For Big Boost In Global Health
To fulfill America"s humanitarian obligations as a member of the international community and to invest in the nation"s long-term health, economic interests, and national security, the United States should reaffirm and increase its commitment to improving the health of developing nations, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.
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Washington, D.C., Officials Urge 'Opt-Out' HIV Testing, Discuss Prevention
City council members and health officials in Washington, D.C., are asking "health care providers to make HIV testing part of routine patient treatment," the Washington Examiner reports. According to the Examiner, "Health officials want all medical providers in the city to implement an "opt-out" policy in which patients would be tested automatically for HIV unless they choose to refuse the test." Shannon Hader, director of the HIV/AIDS Administration, said 70 percent of district residents newly diagnosed with HIV had been to a medical provider in the previous 12 months and were not offered HIV testing. "Health officials also are working to improve condom access and distribution, one the most critical preventative measures in combating HIV," and "the city has asked for $4 million from [CDC] to support a campaign aimed at encouraging people to get tested and practice safe sex," the Examiner reports (7/9).
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One Step Closer To An Artificial Nerve Cell

Scientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet and Linkç¶ping University are well on the way to creating the first artificial nerve cell that can communicate specifically with nerve cells in the body using neurotransmitters. The technology has been published in an article in Nature Materials. The methods that are currently used to stimulate nerve signals in the nervous system are based on electrical stimulation. Examples of this are cochlear implants, which are surgically inserted into the cochlea in the inner ear, and electrodes that are used directly in the brain. One problem with this method is that all cell types in the vicinity of the electrode are activated, which gives undesired effects. Scientists have now used an electrically conducting plastic to create a new type of "delivery electrode" that instead releases the neurotransmitters that brain cells use to communicate naturally. The advantage of this is that only neighbouring cells that have receptors for the specific neurotransmitter, and that are thus sensitive to this substance, will be activated. The scientists demonstrate in the article in Nature Materials that the delivery electrode can be used to control the hearing function in the brains of guinea pigs. "The ability to deliver exact doses of neurotransmitters opens completely new possibilities for correcting the signalling systems that are faulty in a number of neurological disease conditions", says Professor Agneta Richter-Dahlfors who has led the work, together with Professor Barbara Canlon. The scientists intend to continue with the development of a small unit that can be implanted into the body. It will be possible to program the unit such that the release of neurotransmitters takes place as often or as seldom as required in order to treat the individual patient. Research projects that are already under way are targeted towards hearing, epilepsy and Parkinson"s disease. The research is being carried out in collaboration between the research groups of Professor Agneta Richter-Dahlfors and Professor Barbara Canlon, together with Professor Magnus Berggren"s group at Linkç¶ping University. The work falls under the auspices of the Center of Excellence in Organic Bioelectronics, financed by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research and led by Magnus Berggren and Agneta Richter-Dahlfors. Publication: "Organic electronics for precise delivery of neurotransmitters to modulate mammalian sensory function", Daniel T. Simon, Sindhulakshmi Kurup, Karin C. Larsson, Ryusuke Hori, Klas Tybrandt, Michel Goiny, Edwin W. H. Jager, Magnus Berggren, Barbara Canlon and Agneta Richter-Dahlfors, Nature Materials, Advance Online Publication, 5 June 2009. Sabina Bossi Karolinska Institutet


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