Mental Health
A radically different approach to choosing the best treatment options for early breast cancer has been proposed by an international panel of experts in a report from the 11th St Gallen conference.
With an estimated price tag around $30 billion, Hurricane Ike ranks as the third-costliest hurricane in U.S. history. Yet Ike delivered only a glancing blow to Houston, and it was just a Category 2 hurricane when it made landfall.
The Texas Diesel Testing and Research Center at the University of Houston, in partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation, has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to test a system designed to reduce emissions produced by construction vehicles.
Sanofi-aventis, a French global healthcare company that makes vaccines announced on Wednesday that it will be giving the World Health
Around 2000 multiple myeloma sufferers in the UK could have their lives extended by around three months after a decision by The UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to approve lenalidomide in those patients who have received two or more previous therapies-provided that the cost of cycles beyond the 26th cycle of treatment are met by the drug manufacturer. A summary of the NICE decision is published in a Special Report Online First and in the July edition of The Lancet Oncology.
Queen"s University Belfast academics have helped develop an antioxidant supplement which may slow down sight loss in elderly people.
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.
Senator Byron Dorgan (ND) on Tuesday introduced legislation that would for the first time establish a national coordinated system to collect and analyze data on multiple sclerosis and Parkinson"s disease. Accurate incidence and prevalence information on these two diseases currently does not exist. Click here to ask your Senator to support this legislation.
Senators delayed work Wednesday on one health care reform bill and hit partisan roadblocks on another as key lawmakers insisted they are still on track to have a bill on the floor by the middle of summer, The Washington Post reports.
Three former Senate majority leaders unveiled a health care reform plan Wednesday that would tax health benefits with value over what members of Congress are given and would mandate that both employers and individuals carry insurance, Kaiser Health News reports.
Newspapers highlight a few of the key congressional players in the health care debate.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have discovered a potential strategy for cancer therapy by focusing on what"s missing in tumors.
The GOP Can Stop ObamaCare Wall Street Journal
The Ugandan ministry of health said that everyone in the country will receive free insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) to prevent malaria beginning in September, James Kakooza, the state minister for primary health care, said, New Vision/allAfrica.com reports. Kakooza said children and mothers will be the priority, but that the goal is to make the 17.4 million imported ITNs available to everyone. The ITNs will supplement 6 million ITNs that were distributed over the last three years, Richard Ndyomugyenyi, the malaria control program officer, said.
CNN examines the success of an HIV testing campaign in Swaziland that urges couples to get tested together. "The nationwide initiative - funded by the United States government and implemented by global charity "Population Services International" (PSI) - is aimed at couples because tests can be useless if partners are not aware of the others" HIV status," CNN writes.
"Decibels for Life", the new campaign from Siemens Hearing Instruments, has been launched to maintain awareness of hearing loss. It will also champion hearing innovations that help overcome impairments leading to an improved quality of life.
11-month old Dallas-born twins Justin and Jordan have different fathers, a phenomenon known as heteropaternal superfecundation that is so rare there
Having partnered last year with an international team that surveyed the genomes of 12,000 individuals to find a genetic cause for gout, Johns Hopkins scientists now have shown that the malfunctioning gene they helped uncover can lead to high concentrations of blood urate that forms crystals in joint tissue, causing inflammation and pain - the hallmark of this disease.
Blast-induced traumatic brain injury (TBI) has reached critical levels in modern-day warfare. The current issue of Journal of Neurotrauma focuses on the intensive efforts to develop effective treatment strategies and model systems for studying the cause and effects of explosive blast TBI. This special issue of Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., is free online.
The amount of time imaging equipment is in use in outpatient settings does not approach use rates President Obama and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommend Medicare utilize to calculate reimbursement for imaging, according to data recently collected by the Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA), a national association of business professionals in radiology.
Well-heeled donors, private corporations and average citizens sending money to their favorite charities are changing the landscape of global health funding, according to a new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.
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:
Researchers at Oregon State University recently completed the largest animal study ever done in the field of toxicology, and the findings challenge some basic concepts about how to determine what level of a cancer-causing compound can be considered safe.
Folic acid, or vitamin B9, may help treat allergic reactions and allergy symptoms, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children"s Center.
Surgeons from Arizona Heart Institute performed the first procedure in the U.S. Anaconda Phase II Study using the Vascutek Anaconda Stent Graft System, an investigational, minimally invasive treatment for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).
Congress can help diminish barriers to quality care for people with serious illness, according to Howard Tuch, MD, MS, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). AAHPM was one of three groups that presented information at a Capitol Hill briefing coordinated by the offices of US Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Charles Boustany, MD, sponsors of legislation (HR 1898) that would provide Medicare coverage for "end of life" care consultations.
The physical and mental health needs of juvenile offenders should be treated as a priority if offenders held in detention have any real hope of rehabilitation, according to new research from the University of Adelaide, Australia.
German children are taller than 30 years ago, but the increase in height observed during the last century has become slower. In the current edition of Deutsches Arzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2009; 106(23): 377-82), Bettina Gohlke and Joachim Woelfle of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Bonn summarize the current state of knowledge of changes in height and of the physical development of young people.
The Computer Vision research group at the Universitat Jaume I of CastellĂö is working with the Hospitals Consortium of CastellĂö to develop a digital analysis system of multispectral images to help physicians distinguish melanoma from other kinds of skin diseases. A cooperation agreement has been signed by UJI, the University-Business Foundation and the CastellĂö Provincial Hospital Foundation to implement this project.
Researchers have identified a genetic glitch that could lead to development of neuroblastoma, a deadly form of cancer that typically strikes children under 2.
ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. (OTC: IMUC.OB) (IMUC), a biotechnology company, announced the filing of a provisional U.S. patent application relating to its novel vaccine technology targeting cancer stem cells. The patent application relates to new peptide candidates that may significantly expand the potential target patient population for the company"s cancer stem cell vaccine product candidate, ICT-121. Many cancer therapies are limited by their ability to be used only in patients with certain human leukocyte antigen (HLA) types. Identification of the new peptides for use in IMUC"s vaccine should enable the use of IMUC"s product candidate in patients with many different HLA types. The Company currently has 25 issued or pending patents.
The Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC), an innovative research model comprised of a network of 15 academic Member Institutions across North America and leadership in Norwalk, Connecticut, announced preliminary data from an analysis showing that clinical trials opened through its clinical trials network were activated 30 to 40 percent faster than comparable clinical trials in oncology. Based on the implementation of specific business solutions, particularly scientific leadership, standardized clinical contracts and on-site project management res, the MMRC has been able to decrease by an average of 100 days the time from the development and finalization of the trial"s protocol to actual patient enrollment.
Researchers have determined that individuals with mild to severe symptoms of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are more likely to suffer from metabolic syndrome (MetS), a collection of cardiovascular risk factors thought to be linked by insulin resistance). LUTS encompass voiding (incomplete emptying, weak stream, intermittency, straining) and storage (frequency, urgency, nocturia) difficulties.
GP groups and Aboriginal community controlled health services from around
In light of Air Canada"s decision to follow WestJet"s lead and allow pets to travel in the passenger cabin of airplanes, The Canadian Lung Association today released the following statement:
Women are under too much pressure to lose weight quickly after giving birth, according to German Institute
The press for health care reform hit a snag this week as Congress sputtered to resolve its differences, but President Barack Obama continues his call, almost daily, to continue to try to change the system, The New York Times reports.
The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, announced today that the Government of Canada is proposing new regulations to prevent the use of six chemicals (phthalates) in soft vinyl toys and child-care articles. Regulations are also being proposed to further reduce lead limits in consumer products.
As part of an effort to encourage Staten Island, N.Y., residents to be tested for HIV, the CARE Network, the Black Leadership Commission on AIDS and the City Council"s Communities of Color Faith Initiative, have partnered to launch the "Staten Island HIV Status Check Campaign," the Staten Island Advance reports. "Status Check" postcards that include information on free local HIV testing locations, HIV educational literature and condoms will be distributed by local organizations and businesses as part of the initiative. The goal is to reach the 56 percent of local residents who have never been tested for HIV, Karina Ryan, CARE Network coordinator, said (Slepian, Staten Island Advance, 6/18).
The Economist examines schistosomiasis in China. The disease, which is also called snail-fever, is the "world"s second-most prevalent tropical disease after malaria, affecting 207 million people of whom 726,000 are Chinese, according to the most recent official figures, from 2004," the Economist reports.
Lancet Commentary Examines How PEPFAR Failing To Reach IDUs
As summer pests are a natural part of the outdoors and typically viewed simply as a nuisance, many believe that they have a full understanding of the risks associated with such. Yet, the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) warns that there are a multitude of myths about summer insects that homeowners subscribe to - most of which wrongly minimize the threats of stinging insects, mosquitoes and ants.
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).
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to switch to a new generation of animal-free tests for predicting the toxicity of chemicals to humans, according to an article scheduled for the June 22 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS" weekly newsmagazine.
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.
AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond issued this statement following today"s release of a draft health care reform bill in the House of Representatives:
The fulfilment which so many people increasingly derive from competitive sports and endurance training comes with a real - even if rare - twist. Because, while most people will enjoy the benefits and pleasures of exercise, there are a few for whom regular athletic training will increase the risk of cardiac arrhythmias and even sudden death, especially among those in middle-age or with pre-existing cardiac diseases.
One in five people fall below the official poverty line following the death of their partner. "Hence the recent fall in the value of annuities, savings and investments means an even wider group of older people could face financial difficulties when their partner dies, whether these difficulties are short-lived or longer lasting," says researcher Anne Corden of the Social Policy Research Unit, University of York
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).
The goal of creating adult blood stem cells from human embryos to prepare a patient for tissue and organ transplant has been brought a step closer by research carried out at the MRC Molecular Haematology Unit at Oxford University.
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."
Around 100 of the region"s psychologists are meeting in Sheffield on 26th June 2009 to hear the latest theories and research, at the British Psychological Society"s North East of England branch Annual Conference.
Scientists are focusing on a new concept in fighting airborne pathogens by manipulating what is called the "switching time," the point at which a highly regulated immune response gives way to powerful cells that specialize in fighting a specific invading bug.
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.
Shingles is caused by the herpes varicella-zoster (or simply zoster) virus. This virus also causes chickenpox. Most of us get chickenpox during childhood, but after we recover the virus remains inactive (dormant) in our nervous system. Our immune system stops the virus from becoming active. However, later in life it may become reactivated, causing shingles. Shingles is an infection of a nerve and the area of skin around it.
The American Hospital Association (AHA) announced the winners of the AHA NOVA Award. These five collaborative hospital-led programs work to improve community health by improving health habits and other social and educational factors leading to better health status and improving access to care. Each program will be honored at a July 25 ceremony held during the association"s annual Health Forum Leadership Summit in San Francisco.
House Democrats" health care bill draft released Friday is likely to survive relatively intact, "including a robust new Medicare-like public health plan that would compete with private companies in a national health insurance exchange," Roll Call reports.
"Democrats and Republicans locked horns Friday over inclusion of medical comparative effectiveness study language in a draft health care overhaul measure, suggesting that majority plans to spend only eight days debating and amending the bill may be ambitious," CQ Politics reports. The head-to-head comparisons of medical treatments show how easily a seemingly small provision can become embroiled in major controversy, and demonstrate the potential for indefinite debate. Republicans raise the flag of rationing, saying comparative effectiveness research shouldn"t be used to deny care, while Democrats say they basically agree, but insist on looser language. The current legislative language at the center of the battle? The research "shall not be construed as mandates" (6/19).
Janssen(R), Division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Supplemental New Drug Applications (sNDAs) for the use of RISPERDAL(R) CONSTA(R) (risperidone) Long-Acting Treatment as both monotherapy and adjunctive therapy to lithium or valproate in the maintenance treatment of Bipolar I Disorder.
Two studies recently published in the journal Nature Genetics report identifying new genes and gene regions that contribute to making people susceptible to developing MS. The findings, by the International Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Consortium and the Australia/New Zealand MS Genetics Consortium, add to a growing list of gene variations linked to MS susceptibility. Identifying all MS genes will likely lead to the development of more effective ways to treat the disease, and open the door to uncovering the cause of MS, which may lead to its prevention.
A bill (H.B. 189) before the Utah Legislature"s Health and Human Services Interim Committee would allow parents to choose between two sex education curriculums, the Salt Lake City Deseret News reports. The first curriculum would be "abstinence-based and teach strategies for waiting until marriage but also offer information about issues such as sexually transmitted" infections. The "other class would emphasize abstinence but also offer facts," including STI prevention and contraceptive options.State Rep. Lynn Hemingway (D), who proposed the bill, cited data from the state Department of Health showing that 4,356 young women became pregnant in 2007 and that there were 1,805 reported cases of chlamydia among girls ages 15 to 19 in 2008, an increase from 1,332 in 2005. Hemingway said, "These numbers are frightening. This isn"t a moral issue anymore. This is a health issue." Hemingway"s bill is modeled after similar legislation under consideration in North Carolina.According to the Deseret News, the state Office of Education"s rule on sex education currently states that educators are allowed to instruct on contraception options if they have parental consent. Some advocates, policymakers and teens argue that students are receiving inadequate sex education because instructors are leaving out important information over concern that they will be accused of advocating sex. Hemingway"s bill allows instructors to provide information on contraception "without fear of reprimand," according to the Desert News (Stewart, Salt Lake City Deseret News, 6/18).
In a recent phase II clinical trial, the drug alemtuzumab (Campath-1H) was found to be a highly effective treatment for individuals with early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. However, a substantial proportion of the patients treated (30%) went on to develop another autoimmune disease, mostly thyroid autoimmunity. Now, Joanne Jones and colleagues, at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, have determined that individuals with higher levels of the soluble factor IL-21 in their blood prior to alemtuzumab treatment were those that went on to develop an autoimmune disease. Further analysis identified a mechanism by which IL-21 contributes to the development of autoimmunity and determined that in some patients the higher levels of IL-21 were genetically predetermined. The authors therefore suggest that measuring levels of IL-21 in the blood of individuals with early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis might identify those that would be at greatest risk of developing autoimmunity if treated with alemtuzumab. Terri Laufer and Gregory Wu, at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, further discuss the importance of this in an accompanying commentary, noting that determining one reason why some patients succumb to autoimmune disease after alemtuzumab treatment, while others do not, is likely to increase enthusiasm for this new therapeutic.
Rates of death and hospital admissions for cardiovascular disease declined 30% over a 10-year period in Canada, according to a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal), pointing to successful efforts to prevent heart disease, the leading cause of death globally. However, for the first time, more women than men are dying of cardiovascular causes.
Patients admitted to hospital with coronary artery disease are twice as likely to quit smoking after receiving intensive smoking cessation support compared to minimal support, found a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Schizophrenia, a chronic and debilitating disorder marked in part by auditory hallucinations and paranoia, can strike in late adolescence or early adulthood at a time when people are ready to stand on their own two feet as fully independent adults.
Only 37, Janie Lee had endured excruciating back pain for 20 years. She couldn"t stay in one position for more than five minutes, and walking hunched over was the only way she could get around. Her search for help took her to several doctors and an emergency room, but it wasn"t until she found Hyun Bae, M.D., a renowned spine specialist at Saint John"s Health Center in Santa Monica that she received the diagnosis and care that would return her life to her.
Zannos Grekos, MD, Associate Clinical Professor at Nova Southeastern University, has announced six month follow-up results for a patient treated with adult stem cells in a clinical study of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. The clinical study is a collaborative effort among physicians at Regenocyte Therapeutic, an American stem cell therapy clinic; researchers and scientists from Theravitae, a biotechnology company from Israel; and physicians from the American Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Dominican Republic.
U-Systems, the leader in dedicated breast ultrasound systems, together with Medical Director Jessica A. Guingrich, MD of OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, Susan G. Komen Breast Center and Centers for Breast Health announced that they have initiated the SOMOň€˘INSIGHT Clinical Study. The first participants have been enrolled and the first pathologically confirmed cancer has been detected in a mammographically-negative screening patient. The clinical study is examining whether Digital Mammography along with the somoň€˘v™ Automated Breast Ultrasound (ABUS) is more sensitive to detecting breast lesions when compared to Mammography alone in women with dense breasts.
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.
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.
We humans prefer to be addressed in our right ear and are more likely to perform a task when we receive the request in our right ear rather than our left. In a series of three studies, looking at ear preference in communication between humans, Dr. Luca Tommasi and Daniele Marzoli from the University "Gabriele d"Annunzio" in Chieti, Italy, show that a natural side bias, depending on hemispheric asymmetry in the brain, manifests itself in everyday human behavior. Their findings were just published online in Springer"s journal Naturwissenschaften.
What are the costs of caring? A new project in the School of Psychology explores nurses" experience of distress and aims to determine if empathy with patients is associated with traumatic experience in nurses.
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.
According to a recent article in the New Yorker, college students are taking neurological drugs like Adderall and Ritalin to help them party hard -- while giving them an academic edge. What"s even worse is that this trend isn"t just occurring in colleges. Parents are giving their young kids Ritalin to help them gain a competitive advantage over their peers, even when they"re not suffering from ADD or ADHD.
Pediatric researchers have identified hundreds of gene variations that occur more frequently in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than in children without ADHD. Many of those genes were already known to be important for learning, behavior, brain function and neurodevelopment, but had not been previously associated with ADHD.
HealthCare Insight® (HCI), a Verisk Health company and a provider of clinically validated fraud, abuse, and overpayment prevention solutions for private and public-sector payors, announced today that the company launched StopHealthCareFraud.com to help consumers identify and report health care fraud.
Today the House Energy and Commerce Committee"s subcommittee on Health began what will be week-long hearings on a draft of the Democrats" health care reform plan. Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-Texas), a member of the Health subcommittee, said he looks forward to learning more about the draft plan, but believes the hearings are a far-cry from real bipartisan efforts.
GE Healthcare"s Trends in Sepsis Management online program - based on the six-year Surviving Sepsis Campaign - is designed to engage clinicians in real-life situations involving the identification and treatment of sepsis. Sepsis is the body"s response to infection, which, in more severe forms, can lead to potentially deadly systemic blood vessel inflammation and clotting, organ shutdown and cardiovascular system failure. The rate of severe sepsis cases is expected to rise to one million cases per year by 2010, as the average age of the population increases, the SSC predicts.
More than 500 scientific abstracts to be presented across 20 types of
An elderly Baltimore metro area resident with serious underlying medical conditions and a novel H1N1 influenza virus infection has died, according to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH). Among other complications, H1N1 flu was a contributing factor, making this Maryland"s first death confirmed to be associated with the novel flu strain. Personal details about the case, including specific underlying health conditions, will not be released to protect the privacy of the resident and the resident"s family.
The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services recently announced a fifth death of a New Jersey resident with novel H1N1 influenza.
The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) reports 22 new cases of H1N1 swine flu for last week, bringing the state"s total number of cases to 105. The new cases last week were in Lamar (6), Rankin (4), Covington (2), Madison (2), Chickasaw (1), Forrest (1), Harrison (1), Jackson (1), Lafayette (1), Monroe (1), Warren (1) and Winston (1) counties.
"House Democrats are pushing forward with a partisan health care bill even as a key Senate Democrat labors to achieve an elusive bipartisan compromise on President Barack Obama"s top legislative priority," The Associated Press reports. "The draft legislation, written without Republican help, would require all Americans to purchase health insurance and would put new requirements on employers, too." The House bill was unveiled last week and "is to be weighed in hearings beginning Tuesday."
"Some governors are pushing to scale back or kill proposals to expand Medicaid to provide health-care coverage to the uninsured, raising a new challenge to President Barack Obama"s effort to overhaul the system," The Wall Street Journal reports. Health care proposals in the House and Senate "would expand the program to cover at least a third of the nation"s 46 million uninsured, but states are worried they would get stuck with a big part of the tab." Medicaid is "expected to be a primary topic" when a group of governors -- "including Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire of Washington and Republican Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi" -- head to Washington, D.C., this week "to discuss health care with White House and congressional officials."
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.
The H1N1 (swine flu) virus has now infected more than 52,000 people, leaving 231 dead, the WHO said Monday, AFP/Washington Post reports. "Swine flu has now been reported in 100 countries and territories, and figures yet to be incorporated into the U.N. health agency"s official figures indicate an even higher toll," AFP/Washington Post writes, adding, "The WHO said, however, that its figures could not be considered reliable because some countries were no longer keeping total figures while other poor countries did not have the means to reliably detect cases." Since Friday, the number of cases has grown by more than 7,873 cases and 51 deaths, "highlighting the steady spread of the virus," the newspaper writes (AFP/Washington Post, 6/23).
The State Interagency Child Abuse Prevention Task Force and the Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP) at the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) are accepting nominations for awards to recognize persons and organizations for their demonstrated outstanding commitment and dedication to child abuse prevention in Oklahoma.
The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries.~ ""Anonymous" Republican Senator Obstructs Resolution To Condemn Clinic Violence," Jodi Jacobson, RH Reality Check: On Thursday, an unnamed Republican senator "used his power to put a "hold"" on a resolution (S.R. 187) "condemning violence against women"s health providers, thereby blocking any vote on the resolution," Jacobson writes. She adds, "So much for agreeing on at least a basic premise in the debate about choice, reproductive rights or even reproductive health." Such holds, which senators can submit anonymously and without explanation, allow Republicans to "get away with sorrowful expressions to the media on violence" without having "to be put to the test of actually voting to denounce the violence against" abortion providers like George Tiller, Jacobson writes. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who introduced the resolution, "intended [it] to be non-controversial," but the "condemnation of violence is apparently too much for some Republicans to bear," Jacobson continues. She adds that the House unanimously passed a resolution (H.R. 505) last week condemning violence in places of worship. The three senators who introduced the Senate resolution "decided to move forward with their resolution" without the House"s language because they "feel condemning violence against women"s health care providers and agreeing not to use violence as a means of resolving differences are not objectionable viewpoints," Jacobson writes. She concludes, "Apparently, there is no common ground in the Senate on not using violence where women"s health is concerned" (Jacobson, RH Reality Check, 6/19).~ "Supporting MAMAs," Amie Newman, RH Reality Check: Under President Obama, who is calling for "an exploration of common ground in the abortion debate and is spearheading the fight for health care reform, we have an opportunity to re-examine the gamut of women"s reproductive and sexual health care in order to improve access to all care," Newman writes. She continues that the Midwives and Mothers in Action campaign, a collaboration of advocacy and consumer groups, is working "to ensure that health care reform remembers midwifery." The group is lobbying for federal recognition of certified professional midwives as a means to increase women"s access to affordable, quality obstetrical care and working to ensure that "Medicaid coverage for certified professional midwives is included in any health care reform," Newman writes. According to Newman, in 25 states "it is illegal to choose the care provider or setting for your birth because certified professional midwives are outlawed as birth facilitators." She continues, "As we work towards immense health care reform, the question for all reproductive health advocates should be: How much longer will we tolerate a system in which women"s and babies" health and lives are compromised, costs to the consumer are rising, access to childbirth care remains inequitable and certified professional midwives must fight for their livelihood?" Newman concludes, "Access to abortion care, contraception and childbirth care should be seen as concentric circles -- they are all connected and all part of the continuum of [women"s] reproductive and sexual health care with which reproductive [health] and rights advocates should be concerned" (Newman, RH Reality Check, 6/22).~ "Roe Protects Pregnant Women, Too," Rachel Roth, RH Reality Check: "Roe v. Wade stands for women"s reproductive self-determination: for the right to have an abortion and the right to have a baby," Roth writes. She adds, "Both dimensions of Roe"s promise are critical to women"s lives, yet most people are far more familiar with one than the other." Roth continues that although most people know that Roe "recognized women"s constitutional right to an abortion," those rights "are not absolute." According to Roth, "Roe did not establish a contest between women"s rights and "feta
"Smart Pod", ideas for the ambulance of the future - was unveiled to the NHS and the healthcare industry at the NHS Innovation Expo in London.
Men blame male victims of rape for not fighting off their attacker. This is one of the findings of Dr Michelle Davies and Dr Paul Rogers from University of Central Lancashire who will present their research at the British Psychological Society"s Division of Forensic Psychology Annual Conference today, Wednesday 24th June 2009. The conference is being held the University of Central Lancashire, Preston.
While Ontario women live longer than men, a majority are more likely to suffer from disability and chronic conditions, according to a new women"s health study by St. Michael"s Hospital researcher Dr. Arlene Bierman. What"s more, low-income women have more chronic conditions, greater disability and a shorter life expectancy than women in high-income groups.
The Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) is seeking proposals for grant funding for research studies on lupus, an unpredictable and potentially fatal autoimmune disease. Grants will support areas of study in pediatric lupus and adult stem cell transplantation. The purposes of the studies are to advance adult stem cell transplantation research in humans as a treatment for lupus and address key understanding of pediatric/adolescent lupus research issues.
The AOAC Research Institute, the approval body for all U.S. food safety tests, has certified Vacci-Test"s FoodChekTM-E.Coli as a Performance Tested(SM) method for detecting E.coli O157 in raw ground beef. This extremely rapid and accurate new test is seen as a technological breakthrough for meat-processors. This approval clears the way for FoodChekTM-E.Coli to be sold as a certified food safety test in the United States and internationally.
The classic symptoms of Parkinson"s disease involve tremor, stiffness and slow movements. Over the last decade, neurologists have been paying greater attention to non-motor symptoms, such as digestive and sleep problems, loss of sense of smell and depression.
In the world of Disney, falling in heterosexual love can break a spell, save Christmas, change laws, stop wars and even, in the case of The Little Mermaid, cause an individual to give up her personal identity.
Genital warts are also called venereal warts or condylomata acuminate. Genital warts are one of the most common kinds of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) or STIs (sexually transmitted infections). According to Medilexicon"s medical dictionary, a genital wart is "a contagious projecting warty growth on the external genitals or at the anus, consisting of fibrous overgrowths covered by thickened epithelium showing koilocytosis, due to sexual contact with infection by human papillomavirus; it is usually benign, although malignant change has been reported, associated with particular types of the virus."
Students wishing to pursue a career in nursing will have a helping hand thanks to an innovative partnership between City University London, five London colleges and one other university, in an agreement brokered by Linking London, a Lifelong Learning Network. The partners have signed a unique Progression Agreement which facilitates student progression, from Access Diploma courses and Certificates of Higher Education, to studying adult nursing at City University"s School of Community and Health Sciences.
The world has suddenly discovered that the so-called "Nordic diet" is comparable in terms of nutrition and healthiness with the well-known sun-ripened Mediterranean diet. Scientists are constantly on the lookout for answers to how food affects our health and how to give people guidelines on a balanced diet that will both keep us healthy and at a normal weight.
Narcolepsy - from the French narcolepsie, which was derived from the Greek narke meaning numbness and lepsis meaning attack or seizure - is a chronic sleep disorder where the brain is unable to regulate the body"s sleep-wake cycles. People with narcolepsy may feel an overwhelming urge to sleep at various points in the day, and they will often fall asleep spontaneously for a few seconds to a few minutes. In extreme cases, narcoleptics (people with narcolepsy) will remain asleep for over an hour.
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).
The New York Times reports that it has obtained 10 memorandums prepared by conservative groups on President Obama"s possible choices to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter that outline how conservatives hope to frame the coming nomination debate. The memos focus on 10 female potential nominees. Although the groups have gathered information on about three dozen people, both liberals and conservatives expect that Obama will nominate a woman for the position.The memos analyze the possible nominees" records and dissect statements they have made that conservative groups find objectionable. The memorandum on Judge Diane Wood criticizes her as an "outspoken" supporter of "abortion, including partial-birth abortion." In addition, the memo on Judge Sonia Sotomayor says she is willing to expand rights in the Constitution past where the text allows, while the summary on Judge Kathleen Sullivan says she supports same-sex marriage.According to the Times, conservatives have acknowledged that Democrats" control of the Senate gives them little chance of defeating the nomination, but they still aim to mount a formidable debate. Conservative groups hope that rallying their supporters behind a common cause "could help refill depleted coffers and galvanize a movement demoralized by Republican electoral defeats," the Times reports. Gary Marx, executive director of the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network, said that donors have committed to contributing millions of dollars for advertisements on television, radio and the Internet. Richard Viguerie, a conservative fundraiser, said, "It"s an immense opportunity to build the conservative movement and identify the troops out there." Nan Aron, president of the liberal Alliance for Justice, said, "I think the mood and the politics of the country have passed [conservatives] by." According to the Times, liberal groups also have created a shared research pool for the coming debate (Savage, New York Times, 5/17).
Spectranetics Corporation (Nasdaq:SPNC) reported that it has received the CE mark approval for its next-generation ThromCat® XT Thrombus Removal System, a single-use, disposable device indicated for mechanical removal of thrombus from native coronary arteries and infra-inguinal arteries. The launch of the product will commence immediately within the European Union. The approval triggers a milestone payment of $1.5 million pursuant to the Company"s Amended Development and Regulatory Services agreement with Kensey Nash Corporation (Nasdaq:KNSY).
AARP President Jennie Chin Hansen is
The British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) is hosting a meeting at Number 11, Downing Street today to raise awareness of how more than half of Britain"s hospitals are providing patients with inadequate services. A UK-wide audit shows that 60% of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding episodes occurred out of "normal" working hours yet 45% of hospitals do not provide out of hours endoscopy.
The California Senate last week approved a bill (S.B. 54) that would prohibit health insurance companies from charging different rates for individual insurance policies based on gender, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Buchanan, San Francisco Chronicle, 5/15). The state Assembly last Monday voted 48-29 in favor of a similar measure (A.B. 119). Insurance companies maintain that the practice, known as gender rating, is justified because younger women typically seek health care services more frequently than men. According to a report by the National Women"s Law Center, women can pay up to 20% more than men for the same individual coverage. Federal law already prohibits employers that offer health plans from charging different rates based on gender, and ten states have similar laws that apply to individual plans. However, the remaining 40 states allow the practice.State Sen. Mark Leno (D) authored the Senate legislation after San Francisco filed a lawsuit against the state seeking to outlaw gender rating. The lawsuit is on hold pending the outcome of the two bills (Buchanan, San Francisco Chronicle, 5/14).
A Christian-theater troupe and other area religious leaders are participating in HIV testing efforts targeting the black community in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky as part of National HIV Testing Day, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. According to the Enquirer, local public health officials have long struggled to encourage blacks and other groups to get tested for HIV. Increased awareness efforts by black religious leaders and national initiatives - such as the "Test One Million" campaign organized by the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles - have recently focused attention on HIV/AIDS in the black community, Mamie Harris, founder and executive director of IV-Charis, the lead agency in Cincinnati for the "Test One Million" campaign, said (O"Farrell, Cincinnati Enquirer, 6/23).
Health Minister Edwina Hart and Minister for Rural Affairs Elin Jones will speak at an event held as part of the consultation process on a major new plan to drive forward improvements in healthcare services in rural areas.
There was more than a 50 percent drop in the total number of malaria cases reported by public facilities in Cambodia between 2003 and 2008, according to the National Centre for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control"s annual report, which was released on Tuesday, the Phnom Penh Post reports. Officials are attributing the decrease to village-based treatment and education programs.
-- 8 confirmed cases in Wales, including 3 new cases:
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.
Almost half of kidney transplant candidates older than 60 who are put on the waiting list for a deceased-donor organ will die before getting a transplant, according to new findings from the University of Florida, Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University.
New imaging research in the June 24 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience helps explain why sleep deprivation affects some people more than others. After staying awake all night, those who are genetically vulnerable to sleep loss showed reduced brain activity, while those who are genetically resilient showed expanded brain activity, the study found. The findings help explain individual differences in the ability to compensate for lack of sleep.
With action heating up in Washington for enactment of comprehensive healthcare reform, the nation"s largest RN union and professional association joined with progressive Democratic Party activists today in calling for the most "robust" reform of all to repair the nation"s healthcare crisis, by enacting a single-payer system in the form of an expanded and updated Medicare for all.
New research1 conducted by Asthma UK suggests that people with asthma are struggling to afford the medicines they need to stay well and out of hospital, and that this situation has been made even worse since the recession began.
Tobacco acts as a precipitating factor for headaches, specifically migraines. This is indicated in a study which shows that smokers have more migraine attacks and that smoking more than five cigarettes a day triggers this headache. The work has appeared in the Journal of Headache and Pain.
The Washington Post on Saturday examined the role of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society in lobbying for the national adoption of health information technology as part of health reform efforts. According to the Post, HIMSS has collaborated with various allies, including technology vendors and research groups, "in a sophisticated, decade-long campaign to shape public opinion and win over Washington"s political machinery."HIMSS in the early part of this decade forged a "strategic alliance" with the Center for Information Technology Leadership, a not-for-profit health IT research group in Massachusetts, to develop and distribute data reports on the cost efficiency and benefits of health IT, the Post reports. CITL also had sponsorship ties with several health and technology companies, including Google, Microsoft, Kaiser Permanente and Siemens Medical Solutions. In 2004, CITL issued a report that concluded in part that a national health IT system could reduce spending by as much as $77.8 billion by limiting drug prescribing errors and notifying providers of more cost-effective drug alternatives.According to the Post, the findings of the report were used by the Obama administration in developing the $787 billion federal economic stimulus package, which included billions in new spending for the creation and adoption of health IT systems. Although a Congressional Budget Office report found that the assumptions of CITL report were "overly optimistic" -- a follow-up CBO analysis projected that electronic health records would reduce health care spending by $17 billion over 10 years -- the health IT measures in the stimulus package "represented a triumph" for HIMSS, "whose members now stand to gain billions in taxpayer dollars," the Post reports. The Post notes that HIMSS" "sudden success shows how the economic crisis created a remarkable opening for a political and financial windfall: the enactment of a sweeping new policy with no bureaucratic delays and virtually no public debate about an initiative aimed at transforming a sector that accounts for more than a sixth of the American economy" (O"Harrow, Washington Post, 5/16).Please note: The Kaiser Family Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.
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.
Video gaming computers and video game consoles available today typically contain a graphics processing unit (GPU), which is very efficient at manipulating and displaying computer graphics. However, the unit"s highly parallel structure also makes it more efficient than a general-purpose central processing unit for a range of complex calculations important to defense applications.
UA scientists looking at the link between BMI over a lifetime and the risk of developing pancreatic cancer found that overweight and obese young
Joel B. Nelson, M.D., chairman of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center"s (UPMC) Department of Urology, performed his 2,000th radical prostatectomy at UPMC Shadyside, a milestone achieved by only a handful of surgeons worldwide. Radical prostatectomy, or removal of the entire prostate gland, is the most common treatment for patients with localized prostate cancer. Studies show that recovery from prostate cancer is significantly associated with a surgeon"s lifetime experience performing this operation.
Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY), announced that the company has been able to increase the supply of its Hib-containing vaccines to enable the return to a full series of vaccinations for U.S. children. Based on the increased supply, on July 1, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will reinstate its recommendation that children receive a booster dose of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine after 12 months of age. The CDC also provided guidance on a phased approach to immunize children whose booster dose was previously deferred at their next regularly scheduled medical visit. The CDC had recommended a temporary deferral of the booster dose of Hib vaccine in 2007 due to supply constraints caused by another manufacturer"s withdrawal of Hib vaccine from the market. Since that time, Sanofi Pasteur has been, and continues to be, the sole supplier of Hib vaccine to the U.S. market.