Oncology
President Obama on Wednesday signaled in a letter to top Senate Democrats that he may be open to requiring all Americans to have health insurance coverage as part of health care reform.
"Medical bills are involved in more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, an increase of 50 percent in just six years, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday," according to Reuters. The researchers found that "more than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts." Most of them were "well-educated, owned homes and had middle-class occupations," the researchers from Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University wrote in the American Journal of Medicine.
A Veterans Affairs study found that people treated by doctors being compensated under pay-for-performance arrangements weren"t short-changed and received high-quality care. Health Day News reports that the study, which used data from both medical charts and patients" ratings of their care, "should reassure patients and the doctors who treat them." The study calms concerns that doctors might avoid patients who are very sick because their quality ratings and pay might suffer if they take the time to properly treat people with multiple conditions.
Capitol News Service reports that an estimated 50,000 additional uninsured children may receive medical coverage from legislation that Gov. Charlie Crist signed Tuesday. "The Kid Care program offers low cost insurance to children up to ages 19. But penalties and a lengthy application process have kept thousand of families out," Capitol News Service reports. "The legislation shortens the waiting time to enroll in the state"s Kid Care program and lessens the penalties for missing a premium payment." Children"s advocates have been pushing for the legislation for three years and call it a good start. The program enrolls 1.5 million children, but a lack of advertising money has hindered its ability to "spread the word" further (Ray, 6/2).
Health Care Crippling The Economy - Chicago Tribune
On Friday, HIV/AIDS advocates in California will appear at the state Legislature"s Budget Conference Committee hearing to urge lawmakers to block proposed health-related budget cuts, the Bay Area Reporter reports. According to the Reporter, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger"s (R) latest budget proposal includes cutting $67.8 million from state HIV programs and an additional $12.3 million from the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. Anne Donnelly of Project Inform said, "We realize we may have to take cuts to our programs. But let"s make sure they are minimized and that we continue to deliver the essential services to those people living with HIV and those also at risk." Next week HIV/AIDS advocates also plan to convene on the steps of the state Capitol to protest the proposed budget cuts (Bajko, Bay Area Reporter, 6/4).
TCT Symposium will feature strategies for nurses and technologists to improve care for angioplasty patients
With more than $19 billion in new spending planned for health information technology, the Obama administration is taking serious steps toward modernizing the U.S. health care system. Implementing health IT can reduce both costs and errors, but it requires extensive information infrastructure upgrades. Few hospitals, clinics or private practices have the funds to pay for new technology. The new Brookings Institution Press book Digital Medicine: Health Care in the Internet Era investigates the factors affecting digital technology"s ability to remake health care.
A new study suggests that over 60 per cent of all bankruptcies in the US are down to medical reasons, with most victims being health-insured
Approximately 30 percent U.S. children live more than one hour away from a pediatric trauma center by ground or by air transportation, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
American Innovative Research (A.I.R.) cofounders, David Palmer and Judy Piscione, explain how the impact of the avian flu pandemic originally motivated their company"s researching a home option of an isolation and containment unit.
Disc Dynamics, Inc., a leading developer of minimally invasive treatment options for low back pain caused by degenerative disc disease (DDD), announced that the CE Mark received in the European Union for its DASCOR® Disc Arthroplasty System has been expanded to incorporate a posterior-lateral surgical approach, as well as an endoscopic approach.
There are many indications that computer aided surgery has a major role to play in improving results in orthopaedic surgery, says Dr. Stefano Zaffagnini, who has played a pioneering role in the use of this technology and who moderates a symposium on this theme at the Congress of the European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (EFORT), taking place from June 3 to 6 in Vienna, with more than 8,000 participants from around the world. This technology should allow total knee prosthesis using minimally invasive surgery to become a standard procedure within a decade. Osteotomy and hip operations are only two of the many other fields where computer aided surgery can also markedly improve results for patients, experts state at the EFFORT Congress in Vienna.
Manchester based software engineering company, Godel Technologies Europe Ltd, is to implement a virtual learning portal for the NHS.
The Department of Health is rolling out a new systems-based approach to improve stop smoking interventions in primary care. This new approach has increased referrals to local NHS Stop Smoking services by up to 49% in pilot areas.
A pair of Michigan State University professors have received a total of nearly $400,000 for their cardiovascular research projects as part of the first wave of stimulus funding from federal agencies.
With just $399 and a bit of saliva in a cup, consumers can learn about their genetic risk for diseases from breast cancer to diabetes. Now, thanks to social networking sites set up by personal genomics companies, they can also share that information with family, friends and even strangers on the Internet.
Scientists and engineers at UC Santa Barbara and other researchers have developed a nanoparticle that can attack plaque - a major cause of cardiovascular disease. The new development is described in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Legislation requiring an independent review of decisions by health plans and insurers to rescind coverage for patients passed the Assembly on a 46-24 vote today.
Cigarette smoking induced COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a disease that results in severe breathing difficulty. According to World Health Organization (WHO) it is the fourth leading killer worldwide. However the mechanisms responsible for some smokers developing COPD and others evading the disease have not been well understood.
Westminster Kingsway College has launched a new Access to Higher Education programme in Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences at its new King"s Cross Centre in central London. The College is already a leading provider of Access to Higher Education courses in London as well as specialising in courses for Pharmacy Technicians in conjunction with the University of London"s School of Pharmacy and Birkbeck College.
Cervical Cancer Awareness Week 8-14 June 2009 is a key time to remind women that it is of huge importance that they attend their screening appointment when asked. The Improvement Foundation (IF) aim to help tackle the decline in screening uptake by addressing levels of complacency among clinicians and the public through their national Cervical Screening Improvement Programme.
A new partnership between NHS Counter Fraud and law firm Capsticks will strengthen support to health bodies seeking to recover NHS funds lost to fraud.
An Australian psychiatrist believes Britain"s stiff upper lip culture, class system and the NHS means we are not supporting the mental health needs of war veterans adequately.
Scientists in Michigan and California are reporting an advance toward development of a new generation of drugs that treat disease by orchestrating how genes in the body produce proteins involved in arthritis, cancer and a range of other disorders. Acting like an "on-off switch," the medications might ratchet up the production of proteins in genes working at abnormally low levels or shut off genes producing an abnormal protein linked to disease. Their report is in the current issue of ACS Chemical Biology, a monthly journal.
Versartis, Inc., a new company developing novel biologics with enhanced properties for patients with metabolic diseases, published abstracts for preclinical data on its two product candidates, VRS-859 (exenatide-rPEG) and VRS-808 (glucagon-rPEG), at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions annual meeting beginning today in New Orleans.
ActoGeniX, a development stage biopharmaceutical company, announced that the United States÷´ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Company÷´s Investigational New Drug (IND) application for AG013, a novel therapeutic product for the treatment of oral mucositis in cancer patients. This IND application approval allows ActoGeniX to initiate a phase 1B clinical trial with AG013, which will now become the second clinical development program in ActoGeniX÷´s portfolio.
In recent decades, there have been periodic reports of a worldwide decline in sperm count and quality. Male infertility has ostensibly been on the rise, accompanied by increases in testicular cancer and hypospadias -- a congenital defect in which the opening of the urethra is on the underside, rather than at the end, of the penis. Taken together, these three conditions have been termed testicular dysgenesis syndrome.
Dandruff affects the scalp and causes flakes of skin to appear - it is a common condition. Our skin cells are forever renewing themselves. When the skin cells on our scalp are renewed the old ones are pushed to the surface and out of the scalp. For a person with dandruff the renewal is faster, meaning more dead skin is shed, making the dandruff more noticeable. Dandruff can also occur if the scalp is frequently exposed to extreme temperatures. Dandruff is also known as scurf - its medical term is Pityriasis capitis.
Both blood pressure and serum lipid levels have improved in Swedish middle-aged women during the past 30 years. Levels of perceived mental stress, however, have increased significantly. These are the of a thesis presented at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
UroToday.com - Together with Drs. Heruti, Bechor, Justo and Galor, we studied 815 Israeli male adults of whom 305 had complete data and were included in the statistical analysis. In the analyzed population, 2.1% of people without erectile dysfunction (ED) had advanced periodontal disease (defined as recession of periodontal bone of 6 mm or more) in comparison to 9.8% of the mild ED and 15.8% of the moderate/severe ED populations, respectively. However, due to the relatively small groups, we could not present the odds ratio. We are now planning a large-scale study to further establish the association between the two conditions.
The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, is pleased to announce another measure to address the H1N1 flu virus. The Government of Canada will fund a national influenza research network focused on pandemic vaccine evaluation. The network will strengthen Canada"s capacity to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a pandemic influenza vaccine and vaccination programs.
Ortho Biotech Oncology Research & Development, a unit of Centocor Research & Development, Inc., has announced that it has entered into a five-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), with Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., chief, Surgery Branch, serving as the NCI principal investigator, to research and develop novel cell therapy technologies as potential treatments for a variety of cancers. These adoptive immunotherapy technologies are designed to work by helping the immune system fight cancer. Standard cancer treatments still have not progressed much beyond surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, which are effective at killing tumor cells but also can harm or kill healthy tissues. Adoptive immunotherapies have the potential to spare healthy tissue because they are designed to directly find and destroy cancerous tumor cells using a patient"s own immune system T cells.
SAGE have announced that flagship medical journal Palliative Medicine is to become the official journal of the Association for Palliative Medicine.
CSIRO and a local water authority in Queensland, SEQWater, have joined forces to monitor the Lake Wivenhoe catchment, which spans an area about the size of the city of Brisbane, and supplies water to the region"s 1.5 million residents.
The Washington Post on Friday examined the renewed attention on abortion procedures performed later in pregnancy following Kansas provider George Tiller"s shooting death on Sunday. Tiller was one of the few physicians in the U.S. who performed late abortions. The Post reports that these abortions make up a small portion of the 1.2 million abortions performed each year -- more than 88% of abortions are performed in the first trimester and less than 1% are performed after 21 weeks" gestation. Data published in 2001 from 15 states and New York City show that as many as 2,400 abortions after 24 weeks" gestation were performed in the U.S. that year, according to Stanley Henshaw, a senior fellow at the Guttmacher Institute. He added that most of those abortions likely were performed in the 25th or 26th week.Henshaw said that little is known about the circumstances surrounding third trimester abortion procedures and that "information just isn"t available." The government does not collect detailed data regarding the number of such procedures, who is performing them and under what circumstances. In addition, abortion providers who perform the procedure later in pregnancy supply very little published information, the Post reports. According to the Post, most abortion providers will not perform the procedure after 22 or 24 weeks" gestation because of legal and other concerns, social stigma, or inadequate training and lack of experience. A 2001 survey of 1,819 abortion providers indicated that 18 clinics and 12 hospitals performed abortions at 26 weeks" gestation. However, the Post reports that the number of providers offering abortions later in pregnancy likely has declined in correlation with the decreasing number of overall providers. Henshaw said the number of providers offering the procedure later in pregnancy also likely has declined.Abortion-rights supporters say that third-trimester abortions are performed only when medically necessary, such as when a fatal abnormality is detected in the fetus or a life-threatening complication in the woman is discovered. Other circumstances include cases when the woman suffers serious emotional issues or is undergoing cancer treatment, the Post reports. Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation, said that women who experience such pregnancies have "no good choice" and "nee[d] to terminate their pregnancies to protect their own health." Tiller "provided both the emotional and physical care for women in that situation," she said (Stein, Washington Post, 6/5).Los Angeles Times Profiles Abortion Provider Hern The Los Angeles Times on Friday profiled Warren Hern, a Colorado-based abortion provider who performs the procedure later in pregnancy and was a close friend of Tiller"s. Hern has provided abortions since 1973 when the Supreme Court legalized the procedure with Roe v. Wade. He said he "felt doing abortions was the most important thing I could do with my life." Hern opened the Boulder Abortion Clinic in 1975, and in the 1980s authored and self-published a textbook, Abortion Practice. He said that he eventually began to focus on abortion procedures later in pregnancy, which currently make up the majority of his practice. Such abortions usually are performed because of medical complications in the woman or abnormalities in the fetus. Patients at Hern"s clinic receive counseling to explain the procedure and to ensure the woman wants it, although he said many women have already made their decision with their own physician. Hern said that although Tiller"s death has been an emotional situation, his clinic is "pretty busy taking care of people who said they couldn"t find anyone else" to perform abortions later in pregnancy (Correll, Los Angeles Times, 6/5).Bond Set for Tiller Shooting Suspect Sedgwick County, Kan., District Judge Warren Wilbert on Thursday set a $5 million bond for Scott Roeder, the man charged with shooting and killing Tiller, the AP/Yahoo! News reports. A preliminary hearing for Roeder is scheduled for June 16. If convicted, Roeder face
Screening adults for diabetes could result in significant cost-savings for health care systems compared to the costs of not screening individuals at all.
The results of the LEAD-6 study are published in an article Online First and in a future edition of The Lancet. The findings are presented at the same time at the American Diabetes Association meeting in New Orleans, USA. They indicate that taking liraglutide once a day is more efficient in controlling blood glucose in type 2 diabetes than the presently marketed treatment - two doses a day of exenatide.
Call it a Breathalyzer for the hands.
Argenta Discovery and Porsolt announced they have entered into an alliance to provide unparalleled CNS and pain drug discovery services and expertise on a fee-for- service basis. The collaboration enables Argenta and Porsolt to undertake fully integrated CNS and pain-focused drug discovery programmes for their clients, from hit identification to development candidate nomination. Both companies bring a wealth of "Big Pharma" industry based experience and know-how in CNS and pain research. This alliance will leverage those key skills for its partners to ensure the rapid generation of high quality development candidates.
Using zebrafish because they have similar genes to humans, US researchers discovered that hydrogen peroxide, the chemical that we use to bleach
More than 1,500 registered dental hygienists (RDH) from across the United States will travel to Washington D.C. to attend the 86th Annual Session of the American Dental Hygienists" Association (ADHA) June 17-23.
New results from a one-year Phase III study have confirmed that the investigational biological therapy Ilaris® (canakinumab, formerly ACZ885)[1] produced rapid and sustained remission of symptoms in the majority of children and adults with a rare and potentially life-threatening auto-inflammatory disease called cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome (CAPS)1,2,3.
AARP Executive Vice President John Rother issued the
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) is demanding the closure of a
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is streaming
-- 0 confirmed cases in Wales.
Masimo (Nasdaq: MASI), the inventor of Pulse CO-Oximetry(TM) and Measure-Through Motion and Low-Perfusion pulse oximetry, announced that two new studies - one conducted in patients undergoing general surgery and published in the Journal of American College of Surgeons and another conducted in patients undergoing cardiac surgery and published in the Anesthesia & Analgesia provide additional new evidence that transfusion of just one or two units of blood significantly increases infection, pneumonia, sepsis, and mortality after surgery.(1,2) These studies suggest that transfusions and their associated risks could be "largely avoided" through implementation of better blood management techniques and "more appropriate indicators" for transfusions.
Research presented at the American Diabetes Association"s 69th Scientific Sessions points to increased risk for people with diabetes associated with two widely used drug classes; while another study shed new light on a different class of drugs that faced increased scrutiny from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
New data show that Afinitor(R) (everolimus) tablets significantly shrunk tumors in 33% of patients with relapsed non-Hodgkin"s lymphoma (NHL) and Hodgkin"s disease(1). Based on results from this study and other early-stage research, Novartis has initiated a Phase III trial in the most common NHL, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).
The UK"s first guide to help secondary breast cancer1 patients struggling to access necessary levels of support and care has been launched today.
At a June 12 forum cosponsored by Health
The Washington Independent examines a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, which found that a federal law requiring most international food aid to come from U.S. farmers could be "hobbling efforts to feed the world"s hungry." Currently, Food for Peace - the nation"s largest food aid program - "requires that the crops be purchased from U.S. growers, processed through U.S. companies, and shipped using U.S.-flagged vessels," according to the article.
Nile Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: NLTX), a company focused on the development of novel therapeutics for heart failure patients, received notification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the agency has released the Company"s CD-NP development program from clinical hold.
Four leading patient and medical associations announced the formation of AF AWARE (Atrial Fibrillation AWareness And Risk Education), a joint initiative to highlight and address issues that contribute to the growing burden of atrial fibrillation (AF) worldwide.
"When a Supreme Court nominee such as Judge Sonia Sotomayor comes before the Senate for confirmation, she is promised a full, fair hearing," yet "every nominee"s path is booby-trapped by the history of previous confirmation battles," Washington Post columnist David Broder writes. Broder examines prior confirmation hearings, noting that the "[o]ne thing that may make it harder to forget the partisan and ideological battles of the past is that President Obama found reasons to oppose" Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito while he was in the Senate.During Roberts" confirmation hearing, Obama said that although he was "sorely tempted to vote for Judge Roberts," he had issues with Roberts in cases where "precedent and rules of construction" are insufficient and where justice "can only be determined on the basis of one"s deepest values." Obama added that the rights of women and minorities are dependent on cases in which "the critical ingredient is supplied by what is in the judge"s heart." Obama said Roberts" record on women"s rights and other issues was not strong enough to quell doubts about Roberts" "deepest values."Broder continues, "Based on the Obama precedent, the White House can hardly complain if Republicans push beyond the question of Sotomayor"s qualifications and examine her values -- and her biases." He concludes, "Someday, the Senate may again be satisfied to examine only professional credentials, recognizing the uncertain dynamics of a nine-person bench," but while past precedents survive, "that is not likely" (Broder, Washington Post, 6/4).
St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ) announced the completion of patient implants in its U.S. pivotal clinical study of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the symptomatic treatment of Parkinson"s disease, a neurological disorder affecting approximately 6.3 million people worldwide that progressively diminishes a person"s control over his or her movements. The announcement was made at the Movement Disorder Society"s 13th International Congress of Parkinson"s Disease and Movement Disorders in Paris.
Athletes who extended their nightly sleep and reduced accumulated sleep debt reported improvements in various drills conducted after every regular practice, according to a research abstract presented on June 8, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.
In recognition of World Blood Donor Day on June 14th, the National Anemia Action Council (NAAC) is providing the online tutorial Anemia & Blood Donation to blood donors who have been deferred because of a low blood count.
Men with insomnia and sleep duration of six or fewer hours of nightly sleep are at an increased risk for mortality, according to a research abstract presented on June 8, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies
Diabetes UK has released a short, gritty video called "Setting the record straight", to show schoolchildren and young people about Type 1 diabetes.
Six scientists from The University of Queensland have received Smart Future Fellowships to help further their research into areas such as disease detection and clean energy.
- Nearly two thirds (59%) of the British public are neglecting
In a case study of a type of melanoma skin cancer typically found on chronically sun-exposed skin, Saint Louis University researchers found that imiquimod, a topical cream, produced good results for patients when used together with surgery to treat the cancer, potentially helping doctors cut less.
MDRNA, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) announced that it has obtained full U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for generic calcitonin-salmon nasal spray for the treatment of osteoporosis and that Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc. (NYSE: PAR) has launched the product.
If somebody asks you "Do you remember what you did on March 13, 1985?" you are very likely to answer "I don"t know", even if your memory is excellent. In a study conducted by Dalla Barba and Decaix from the Institut National de la Santçİ et de la Recherche Mçİdicale and the Department of Neurology of the Hç´pital Saint Antoine in Paris and published by Elsevier in the May 2009 issue of Cortex, researchers found that a patient with severe amnesia reported detailed false memories in answering this type of question. People with normal memories are unable to answer this type of question because it is beyond their memory capacity. This is the first reported case of a pathological condition that the authors of the article named "Confabulatory Hyperamnesia".
A consortium of research centers in the Tri-state Region, including Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, has received a $46 million grant to conduct research on emerging infectious diseases.
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has published a new collection of essays, "Using Imaging to Identify Deceit: Scientific and Ethical Questions," examining the scientific support for using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to recognize deception.
On June 4, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it is considering a pathway for coverage of Sodium Fluoride (NaF-18) for PET bone imaging as an alternative to Technetium-99m imaging. Currently, Tc-99m bone imaging is one of the more commonly performed procedures using this radioisotope. Technetium-99m is in scant supply because of ongoing production outages, resulting in serious delays in patient imaging studies for many medical problems, including oncologic, cardiac and neurologic conditions.
An electrolyte is "any compound that, in solution or in molten form, conducts electricity and is decomposed (electrolyzed) by it. It is an ionizable substance in solution" (Medilexicon"s medical dictionary). An electrolyte is any substance that contains free ions that behaves as an electrically conductive medium (conducts electricity). All higher forms of life cannot exist without electrolytes, and that includes humans.
Roche announced it will start Phase III clinical investigations for aleglitazar, its innovative PPAR co-agonist R1439 which is uniquely designed to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in high risk patients with type 2 diabetes. This decision is supported by data from the Phase II SYNCHRONY study published today in The Lancet(1) and announced at the American Diabetes Association meeting in New Orleans. The Phase III program is anticipated to start in the second half of 2009.
A long-term study by researchers at UCLA"s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center found that the three most common treatments for localized prostate cancer had significant impacts on patients" quality of life, a finding that could help guide doctors and patients in making treatment decisions.
Unilever and the World Heart Federation announce a joint initiative to promote awareness of Heart Age - a new, personally motivating way of expressing an individual"s risk of developing heart disease and stroke.
The Pharmacists" Support Service (PSS) has been boosted with the announcement that
According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer, America"s third leading type of cancer, is also one of the most preventable. One-third of all colorectal cancer deaths could be avoided by simple screening, they say. But colonoscopies, though highly effective, can also be painful, and current diagnostic techniques are time-consuming and sometimes inaccurate.
A majority of Southwesterners - 86 percent - think the U.S. health care system is in need of some reform, and more than half - 53 percent - indicate "a great deal of reform" is needed, according to the most recent Arizona State University-Southwest Poll.
Two chemicals - trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) - found to have contaminated drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune from the 1950s to 1985 have been linked to certain diseases and disorders, including various cancers. A new report from the National Research Council, Contaminated Water Supplies at Camp Lejeune - Assessing Potential Health Effects, reviews scientific evidence about the potential adverse health effects that could occur after exposure to TCE, PCE, and other contaminants; recommends the usefulness of conducting additional studies on former residents of the base; and identifies scientific considerations that could help the U.S. Department of the Navy, under which the Marine Corps operates, set priorities on future actions. The report will be released at a 90-minute public briefing.
On Monday, HIV/AIDS advocates staged a rally in Fresno, Calif., to protest a budget proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) that would cut an estimated $80 million statewide in HIV/AIDS services, KMPH.com reports. The proposed cuts would eliminate or reduce funding for HIV testing services, financial assistance for people living with HIV and other programs, according to KMPH.com. A larger rally at the state capitol is planned for Wednesday (KMPH.com. 6/9).
Washington state"s cash-strapped health insurance program, Basic Health Plan, "is resorting to steep premium increases to achieve what [its officials] were loath to do on their own - expel thousands of working-class people," the Seattle Times reports. Price hikes for the poorest plan members - who earn less than 125 percent of the poverty line - could double their premiums, while spikes are expected to be much higher for members with bigger incomes.
Body chemistry changes that lead to Type 2 diabetes begin several years before symptoms become apparent, according to new research.
Naps with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep refresh the brain"s empathetic sensitivity for evaluating human emotions by decreasing a negative bias and amplifying recognition of positive emotions, according to a research abstract that will be presented on Wednesday, June 10, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.
Brookdale Care, the specialist provider of care services for
A leading anxiety charity has today criticised Veteran Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman for using Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder as an excuse for, by his own admittance "bizarre and daft" MP expense claims.
While back pain, blurred vision and mouse-related injuries are now well-documented hazards of long-term computer use, the number of acute injuries connected to computers is rising rapidly. According to a study published in the July 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers from the Center for Injury Research and Policy and The Research Institute at Nationwide Children"s Hospital; and The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus have found a more-than-sevenfold increase in computer-related injuries due to tripping over computer equipment, head injuries due to computer monitor falls and other physical incidents.
There is a high probability of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in non-obese, middle-aged patients, according to a research abstract presented at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.
In a world-first breakthrough, University of New South Wales (UNSW) medical researchers have used stem cells cultured on a simple contact lens to restore sight to sufferers of blinding corneal disease.
The most important factors for a successful stay in hospital short-stay units (SSUs) are the types of diagnostic tests performed and whether or not specialty consultations are needed. When hospitalists staff these units, they can ensure that only patients who need readily accessible services are admitted. These are the findings of a study published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.
The virus that causes winter vomiting disease invades cells by attaching to particular sugar molecules on the surface of the cells. This is the conclusion of a thesis presented at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. This result may be an important step in the development of a drug against the regular hospital-based epidemics caused by the virus.
Alcohol consumption by pregnant women hinders brain development in their children by interfering with the genetic processes that control thyroid hormone levels in the fetal brain, a new animal study found. Results were presented at The Endocrine Society"s 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Weekly tablet delivers major new benefits for patients, doctors and payors: avoiding the need for burdensome and costly infusions and related infection risks; weekly tablet dosing offers potential for better safety and side effect profile of a "gold standard" oncology drug.
President Obama on Friday appointed New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden as CDC director, according to Obama administration officials, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, Frieden, an infectious disease specialist, has "cut a high and sometimes contentious profile" in his seven years as health commissioner in New York City, during which time he has advocated for a smoking ban in restaurants and bars, made HIV testing part of routine medical exams and protected a program that distributes 35 million condoms a year. According to the Times, Frieden is expected to take office next month. The Times reports that he will "inherit a host of immediate and long-term problems," including questions surrounding a vaccine for the H1N1 influenza virus, also known as swine flu, health care reform and organizational issues at CDC.The Times reports that a potential advantage for Frieden is a positive relationship with likely FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, who also was New York City health commissioner. Frieden would work with Hamburg to combat the H1N1 flu virus and to re-evaluate the U.S. food safety system (Harris/Hartocollis, New York Times, 5/15).
The Automation Partnership (TAP), a world leader in the design and development of innovative advanced automation for life science applications, announced it is collaborating with world leading academics on the prestigious, Technology Strategy Board funded, RAFT (Rapid Automated Fabrication of Tissues) Project to develop and commercialise novel technology for rapid production of 3D tissues, which have the potential to transform drug discovery and regenerative medicine.
Researchers trying to uncover why premature birth is a growing problem in the United States and one that disproportionately affects black women have found that pre-pregnancy depressive mood appears to be a risk factor in preterm birth among both blacks and whites.
Osteoarthritis is commonly diagnosed in the late and irreversible stages, when treatment can only be expected to decrease pain and slow progression of disease. Because osteoarthritis is a widespread problem in dogs, horses and humans, doctors and veterinarians need a precise way to diagnose the disease early and accurately. Now, University of Missouri researchers are investigating potential biomarkers in dogs for early diagnosis of osteoarthritis, which could help identify patients at increased risk of developing osteoarthritis.
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to approve a $91.3 billion defense and foreign aid spending bill that includes President Obama"s request for $1.5 billion in emergency funds to fight a potential influenza pandemic, the AP/Winston-Salem Journal reports. The House version of the bill, approved Thursday in a 368-60 vote, adds $500 million to the pandemic preparedness funds (AP/Winston-Salem Journal, 5/15). Last month, the public health emergency involving the H1N1 influenza virus spurred congressional lawmakers to rethink the elimination of $870 million from the economic stimulus package that would have been used to combat an influenza pandemic. Democratic legislators eliminated the funds in order to garner support from congressional Republicans to pass the stimulus package (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/28).
"Immigrant and health-care advocacy groups" are calling on New Jersey to "restore $1 million in funding that has been eliminated in the latest round of budget tightening," the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports. "The money was earmarked for community-outreach efforts to educate legal immigrants on available state health programs." A report released yesterday by Rutgers University concluded that "New Jersey"s percentage of uninsured immigrant children is higher than the national average, and the state has a poor track record of making sure those children receive health coverage."
DxNA announced that it has submitted a request to the FDA for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its GeneSTAT(R) pathogen platform, for the detection of the H1N1 virus (known as swine flu). EUA allows for the early availability of important diagnostic and therapeutics tools to diagnose, treat, or prevent critical or life-threatening diseases or conditions, when an alternative or approved solution is not available(1).
After the murder of abortion provider George Tiller and the closure of his Wichita, Kan., clinic, residents of the city face about a three-hour drive to the nearest abortion provider, a distance experts say is not uncommon for access to abortion services in southern and midwestern states, the Wichita Eagle reports. Jenny O"Donnell of the Abortion Access Project said that southern and midwestern states have the heaviest restrictions on abortion, adding that "substantial populations don"t have an abortion provider" in states such as Mississippi and Arkansas. According to 2005 statistics from the Guttmacher Institute, 87% of U.S. counties have no abortion provider; the figure rises to 94% of counties in the Midwest and 96% of counties in Kansas. The number of abortion providers in Kansas declined from 15 in 1992 to seven in 2005, while the number of providers nationwide dropped from 2,380 to 1,787 over the same time period, according to Guttmacher. Experts say the decline is the result of several factors, including public pressures, increased regulation that has driven up the cost and complexity of providing abortion and a general trend in the health care industry toward consolidated, more specialized practices.Vicki Saporta, president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, said that the decrease in the number of abortion providers is misleading on some levels. The decline primarily has occurred among hospitals and small providers who perform a few procedures a year, while major clinics that specialize in abortion have remained essentially stable, Saporta said. Peter Brownie, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said that the group"s clinics have experienced an increase in contacts from women from south-central Kansas since Tiller"s clinic closed a little more than one week ago. He added, "At the present time, there"s no place between Denver and Kansas City where a woman can obtain abortion care. That"s a significant barrier for women throughout the state that have that need." NAF has established a national hotline to offer referrals for women who have to make new arrangements for abortion care because of the closure of Tiller"s clinic, Saporta said (Lefler, Wichita Eagle, 6/9).
Kansas State University once again is host to a noted microbiology workshop that helps the scientists who test food and other samples for microorganisms. K-State"s 29th annual Rapid Methods and Automation in Microbiology workshop will be June 19-26.
EUROPACE, the official congress of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), is the foremost European meeting on cardiac arrhythmias and pacing. More than 4,000 participants are expected to attend this year"s event, whose main themes are atrial fibrillation and sudden cardiac death.
David Brooks, New York Times: Health care costs have become "the crucial issue of [President Obama"s] whole presidency," Times columnist Brooks writes. According to Brooks, Obama"s original plan was to fund his priorities, including education and energy, with debt that would be paid off with future savings resulting from health care reform. Brooks writes that Obama"s aides have been discussing "game-changers" -- such as health information technology, wellness programs, preventive medicine, comparative effective measures and altering reimbursement policies -- that would result in cost reductions. However, Brooks writes that most experts do not think such efforts would "produce much in the way of cost savings over the next 10 years" and that "nobody is sure" the efforts would "ever produce significant savings." Brooks writes that because "there are deep structural forces, both in Medicare and the private insurance market" that make it "nearly impossible to put together a majority coalition for a bill" challenging those structures, reform efforts this year likely will produce a "medium-size bill that expands coverage to some groups but does relatively little to control costs." Brooks concludes, "Without serious health cost cuts," Obama"s agenda "will hasten fiscal suicide" (Brooks, New York Times, 5/15).
DrugScope has welcomed the publication of the Association of Public Health Observatories report into drug use in England.
Commenting on the publication of the NHS Confederation report Dealing with the downturn: the greatest ever leadership challenge for the NHS, Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said:
Hawaii-based Kai Sensors announced it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for the Kai Sensors Non-Contact Respiratory Rate Spot Check, also called the Kai RSpot. The 510(k) clearance allows Kai Sensors to market the Kai RSpot to physicians, hospitals, and clinics.
The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) announced its official product endorsement of the NESS L300 Foot Drop System, manufactured by Bioness Inc. of Valencia, CA, the first functional electrical stimulation (FES) foot drop system to be endorsed by APTA.
New data presented at the 13th International Congress of Parkinson"s Disease and Movement Disorders show that Requip-Modutab* (ropinirole prolonged release tablets) improves nocturnal symptoms experienced by patients with advanced Parkinson"s disease (PD).[i] The data showed that patients with more significant nocturnal symptoms had a greater improvement with Requip-Modutab, when used as an adjunct to levodopa (L-dopa), versus placebo. These data indicate that once-daily Requip-Modutab remains effective in treating PD symptoms over the night as well as during the day and provides benefit to those in most need. Sleep disturbances, a key element of nocturnal symptoms, are one of the most common non-motor complications of PD and can affect up to 98% of patients.[ii]
The following statistics were released by the Department of Health: Patient experience PSA scores update based on data up to and including 2008 patient surveys. This publication updates the patient experience scores previously published on 24 November 2008. The patient experience PSA has been rolled forward as one of the indicators against "PSA delivery agreement 19: Ensure better care for all" for 2008-11. These figures report initial progress against the PSA target for sustained improvement in patient experience for the 2008-11 spending review period. Results are updated to include scores derived from survey results published by the Care Quality Commission in 2008. There are new data points for "adult inpatients" and "emergency department service users".
The most important factors for a successful stay in hospital short-stay units (SSUs) are the types of diagnostic tests performed and whether or not specialty consultations are needed. When hospitalists staff these units, they can ensure that only patients who need readily accessible services are admitted. These are the findings of a study published today in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.
A new report commissioned by UNICEF and CDC and recently published in the journal Lancet found that one in three girls in Swaziland has experienced sexual violence by age 18, which can lead to serious health issues such as HIV, IRIN/PlusNews reports. In addition, the researchers found that 22% of Swazi women between ages 15 and 24 are HIV-positive, noting that sexual violence could be a common HIV transmission mode among women in high-burden countries such as Swaziland. Sexual violence was defined as forced sex, coerced sex and forced touching. Five percent of girls had experienced forced sex before age 18, and coerced intercourse was reported by 9% of girls, according to the report. In addition, almost 90% of girls who had experienced sexual violence said that it first occurred between ages 13 and 17. The authors recommended that efforts to address issues surrounding sexual violence should "focus on prevention of perpetration by men of sexual violence, and since sexual- and intimate-partner violence might have common roots, local and national initiatives could be reviewed, adapted and scaled up for this purpose." According to the researchers, three-quarters of the boys and men who perpetrated the sexual violence were related or known to the girls (IRIN/PlusNews, 5/13).
Two signals - an external one from retinoic acid and an internal one from the transcription factor Neurogenin2 - cooperate to activate chromatin (the basic material of chromosomes) and help determine that certain nerve progenitor cells become motor neurons, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report in the current issue of the journal Neuron.
ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP (ENTA), is pleased to announce the formation of OASIS (i.e., Otolaryngology, Allergy Specialty Insurance Services), a separate company that will be a vehicle to provide Otolaryngology and Allergy Specific medical malpractice coverage. OASIS, which will be domiciled in the State of Vermont, is the first RRG to provide medical malpractice coverage exclusively to ENT physicians and Allergists. ENTA decided to embark on this path as a means of stabilizing its malpractice premiums in the face of mounting deficits among the State"s largest carriers and the failure of the legislature to pass any meaningful tort reform. These factors will most likely result in substantial premium increases well into the future. In addition, ENTA, now a 96 physician practice, will be able to focus on controlling the risks unique to its specialty to ensure patient safety and physician compliance with its risk management policies.
When is a cataract
At 66 years old, Elizabeth Adeney is set to become Britain"s oldest mother when she gives birth to a child conceived following fertility treatment at a clinic in Ukraine. The example highlights the growing trend among fertility patients to travel abroad to access treatment which in Britain often involves high cost and a long wait.