Medical Devices
Vision loss costs Canadian society a staggering $15.8 billlion per year - significantly higher than previously estimated, according to new research study released on June 23, 2009, by CNIB and the Canadian Ophthalmological Society (COS). The study"s proponents say these costs, which are expected to increase dramatically in the years ahead, underscore the urgent need for Canada to develop a comprehensive national vision health plan.
"A bipartisan group of governors told President Obama yesterday that they share his urgent desire to restructure the nation"s health-care system but warned that any changes should not place more burdens on strained state budgets or eliminate innovative programs they already have in place," The Washington Post reports. "With many state budgets burdened by ballooning... Medicaid costs, the five governors who met with Obama at the White House agreed that changes are needed to expand health-care coverage and contain its costs." But they were also "adamant that the restructuring of the health-care system not push new costs on states. "If we"re going to add more population onto the Medicaid rolls, there has to be a way to pay for that," said Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, D-Mich., adding that it is a position Obama supported." Republican governors Jim Douglas of Vermont and Mike Rounds of South Dakota, and Democrats Granholm, Jim Doyle of Wisconsin and Chris Gregoire of Washington, attended the meeting (Fletcher, 6/25).
The shortage in primary care doctors is causing older doctors to stay on the job while young ones opt for specialties.
UCLA Health Policy Research Brief: Health Coverage in the Safety Net: How California"s Coverage Initiative Is Providing A Medical Home to Low-Income Uninsured Adults in Ten Counties, Interim Findings -- As medical homes continue to gain attention for being used as "a potential remedy to access system-wide problems of high health care costs and limited access," a team of UCLA researchers "present interim findings on the efforts of ten California counties to explore the medical home model as part of the state"s Health Care Coverage Initiative (HCCI), a three-year program to expand health care coverage for eligible low-income, uninsured individuals not otherwise covered by Medi-Cal" in a policy brief. "Among the innovations described are efforts to create electronic health and medical records, modify e-referrals to two-way communication between primary care physicians and other providers and standardize chronic disease registries" (6/09).
A Lifeline For Primary Care The New England Journal of Medicine
The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced on Capitol Hill on Wednesday that it will help fight the spread of HIV in Washington D.C., New York City and Oakland, Calif., cities among the 20 areas in the U.S. with the highest rates of HIV and AIDS, the Washington Post reports. The coalition - which includes Pfizer, the National Basketball Association, Facebook, Nike, Nokia and others - said it will offer financial donations to city health departments, marketing expertise to promote prevention and treatment campaigns and appearances by professional basketball players for events, as part of their effort. John Newsome, a spokesperson for the coalition, said, "I think the ability of our corporate partners to help develop really effective messages, help provide res to get the message out, contribute talent, air time and media space" is crucial to HIV/AIDS awareness efforts. The coalition plans to expand the effort to other cities in the future (Fears, Washington Post, 6/25).
Taiwan
The world is slowly losing the fight against hunger in the Horn of Africa, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), which renewed its call for emergency food supplies, water and recovery activities to help about 2.5 million food insecure people in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, Xinhua/CRIENGLISH.com reports. The IFRC"s revised emergency appeal seeks $67 million to assist 2.5 million people over five years.
Several Democratic female senators on Wednesday took to the floor in a series of speeches praising Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor and highlighting her judicial qualifications, the Boston Globe"s "Political Intelligence" reports. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) -- a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- was joined by Sens. Mary Landrieu (La.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.) and Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.).In her address, Klobuchar said that Sotomayor"s experience "particularly resonated with me," adding that Sotomayor "understands the law is not just some dusty book in your basement" and that its interpretation has consequences. McCaskill said that Sotomayor is a nominee with "integrity, grit, intellect and the ability to pass judgment in the most difficult intellectual challenges that face a Supreme Court justice."According to "Political Intelligence," the floor speeches came after Klobuchar and others praised Sotomayor"s nomination at Monday"s annual convention of the left-leaning legal organization the American Constitution Society. In her speech, Klobuchar defended Sotomayor against conservative critics who have questioned the nominee"s temperament, citing complaints that Sotomayor was impatient with unprepared lawyers. Klobuchar said that she is "hoping that we would get to a point in this country where we could be appointing and confirming as many as rough and to-the-point female judges as we have appointed male judges" ("Political Intelligence," Boston Globe, 6/24).
An enzyme that naturally occurs in the brain helps destroy the mutated protein that is the most common cause of inherited Parkinson"s disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
In an article published in the June 25th edition of the journal Neuron, researchers at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, have found that synaptic plasticity, long implicated as a device for "change" in the brain, may also be essential for stability.
It is now possible to engineer tiny containers the size of a virus to deliver drugs and other materials with almost 100 percent efficiency to targeted cells in the bloodstream.
As a woman gets older, physical problems are less likely to influence whether she is sexually active than her partner"s health or interest in sex, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and Kaiser Permanente.
Providing reliable evidence of viruses in human blood presently requires time- and labor-intensive molecular-biological procedures. Established methods are particularly hard pushed to produce evidence when the viral burden is very low, for example during a phase of therapy. This could soon change. While developing new types of micro-pumps without movable parts, scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT came across an unexpected phenomenon: stable turbulence structures formed in the microscale pump channels. The nano- and microparticles actually intended to verify the pump effect accumulated in large quantities in the channels. The vortex patterns completely filled the whole microchannel, creating a virtually 100% trap for the particles that followed the generated flow profile, although there is a very large cross-section to flow through. "The development of flow vortices is nothing unusual on the macroscopic scale. However, in microchannels the flow lines almost run in parallel," explains Richard Stein from the IBMT. "The question, therefore, was, how is it possible for vortices to be formed from this which were sufficiently stable and effective for the concentration of nanoparticles?"
In a review in Science, a University of Rochester Medical Center researcher sorts out the controversy and promise around a dangerous subtype of cancer cells, known as cancer stem cells, which seem capable of resisting many modern treatments.
Although the recorded HIV prevalence in Pakistan is relatively low, health officials are concerned that a concentrated epidemic of the virus among injection drug users could carry over to commercial sex workers and other high risk groups in the country, IRIN/PlusNews reports. To address the issue, the National AIDS Control Program and the United Nations Population Fund recently held a meeting, called the National Consultation on HIV and Sex Work, in an effort to improve HIV prevention efforts targeted at sex workers by consulting with workers in the field.Sex workers at the meeting made various recommendations, including HIV testing, referrals and increased efforts to decrease stigma. The Ministry of Health reports that from 2006 to 2007, female sex workers were at a high risk of HIV in 12 cities across Pakistan. A survey of 4,639 female sex workers found that less than 25% reported condom use; 10% had a partner that had used injection drugs during the past six months; and that illiterate sex workers were less likely to use condoms than those with a higher level of education. A female sex worker at the meeting said, "It is very hard for us to convince [partners] to put on a condom, but I feel that a female condom would put us in a position where we can protect ourselves against HIV and sexually transmitted infections." She added that female condoms are not widely available. Legalizing sex work would make it easier for sex workers to protect their rights, another female sex worker at the conference said. She added that often, outreach workers face barriers from police forces. Daniel Baker, UNFPA"s country representative for Pakistan, said that sex workers should have greater involvement in creating and implementing HIV programs. He added, "The female sex workers have to be in there as managers, workers and leaders to benefit in the long run." Safdar Kamal Pasha with UNFPA agreed that the recommendations from sex workers are critical points to address in future programming. "The female sex workers agreed that there should be vocational training and the means for alternative work opportunities for those who want to move out of sex work, as well as those who are past their prime and do not find sustainability in sex work," Pasha said (IRIN/PlusNews, 5/14).
In primates including ourselves, the ability to register where others are looking is key in social circles. And, according to a new report published online on June 25th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, the way our brains process gaze-direction is much more sophisticated than a simple eyes-right versus eyes-left.
Pieces in the complex autism inheritance puzzle are emerging in the latest study from a research team including geneticists from the University of
UroToday.com - Prostate and breast cancer appear to be homologous cancer in males and females respectively. Both cancers share hormone etiologies and are treated with hormonal manipulation. The incidence of these two hormone-dependent cancers has steadily risen throughout the twentieth century. Both cancers have race-based links: there is a higher incidence of prostate cancer in African-American men than Caucasian men followed by Asian men and under the age of forty, breast cancer is more lethal in African-American women than Caucasian women and Asian women[1-2] . Beyond genetic and cultural explanations for these differences, an alternative environmental hormone disruptor may be at play as follows.
Eric Goosby, U.S. global AIDS coordinator and administrator of the President"s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, said that slowing the spread of HIV among pregnant women is one of his top priorities, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. In an interview with the Chronicle, Goosby said he also plans to focus U.S. global efforts on education and prevention, as well as convincing other nations to increase their involvement in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Although Goosby stressed the importance of indentifying people who could benefit from antiretroviral drugs, he added that "[w]e"re not going to be able to treat ourselves out of the epidemic, and prevention efforts will need to be continued and increased." He continued, "We also need to look for concentration of patients who have a higher probability of HIV infection, such as pregnant women -- getting them tested, getting them on antiretrovirals, which will prevent transmission to the fetus." Goosby estimated that only around 35% of pregnant women who are HIV positive and could benefit from antiretrovirals receive the drugs.Goosby also praised the efforts of PEPFAR, which was established six years ago under former President George W. Bush. However, he said that more work must be done and that the disease is not controlled. Sub-Saharan Africa, where about 23 million people are living with HIV, "is clearly the epicenter on the planet of this epidemic," Goosby said. He also noted that HIV/AIDS has begun to spread more rapidly among certain populations in Russia, Ukraine, China and Southeast Asia (Doyle, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/24).
In Ohio, a nursing home coalition warns of "life-threatening health risks" if Medicaid reimbursements are cut under Gov. Ted Strickland"s proposed budget plan while diabetes patients in the state are threatened by a lack of coverage.
In malaria-endemic areas, vitamin A supplements - which cost about 2 U.S. cents each - can help reduce infections in children by one-third, according to a study published in the Malaria Journal, IRIN reports. The study analyzed results from previous studies conducted in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Papua New Guinea since 1995. It found that vitamin A supplements decreased malaria cases by one-third in Papua New Guinea and Burkina Faso.
Many people who test positive for HIV are diagnosed late in the course of their infection when treatment might be less effective, according to a report published Thursday in CDC"s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Reuters Health reports. The report looked at data on people who were diagnosed with HIV from 1996 to 2005 and found that 45 percent had developed AIDS within three years of their initial HIV diagnosis, 38.3 percent within one year and an additional 6.7 percent within the next two years (Reuters Health 6/25). R. Luke Shouse of CDC"s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention in the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, said, "This means that they may have unknowingly transmitted HIV. It also means that there is a time when they had HIV when they were not under appropriate medical care, so there are missed opportunities for prevention and care." A separate CDC report also published yesterday found that 22.3 percent of high school students who are sexually active and 12.9 percent of all students have been tested for HIV (Reinberg, HealthDay/KATC.com, 6/25).
The Miami-Dade County Department of Health on Thursday launched a campaign called "Test Miami,"" which is designed to educate physicians, at-risk communities and pregnant women on the importance of routine HIV testing, the Miami Herald reports. ""A major emphasis of the campaign is to train and educate physicians, particularly in hospitals and other medical facilities,"" Evelyn Ullah, director of the Office of HIV and AIDS in Miami, said. As part of the campaign, over the next year, four area physicians will appear in advertisements and speak at forums to encourage medical providers to offer routine HIV testing. Florida is one of the states hardest hit by HIV/AIDS (Montes-Delgado, Miami Herald, 6/26). Separately, nonprofit groups and public health departments in Southwest Florida are offering free HIV testing as part of National HIV Testing Day (Freeman, Naples Daily News, 6/25).
Staphylococcus epidermidis is quite an opportunist. Commonly found on human skin, the bacteria pose little danger. But S. epidermidis is a leading cause of infections in hospitals. From catheters to prosthetics, the bacteria are known to hitch a ride on a range of medical devices implanted into patients.
Gonorrhea (from Late Latin gonorrhoia where gonos means "seed" and rhoe means "flow") is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection that tends to attack the mucous membranes of the body. It is the second most common sexually transmitted disease in the U.S.; the first being Chlamydia. The bacteria reside in the warm and moist body cavities of both men and women and are highly contagious. Gonorrhea is the most common cause of female infertility and is also known as "the clap" or "the drip". Only a fraction of women infected with the disease show any symptoms, leaving them unaware of their condition. If left untreated, gonorrhea patients can develop pelvic inflammatory disease or PID (women), or an inflammation of the epididymis, prostate gland, or urethral structure (men), all of which are far more difficult to treat.
Transferring heart attack patients to specialized hospitals to undergo angioplasty within six hours after receiving clot-busting drugs reduces the risk of life-threatening complications, according to a Canadian-led study published today. The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that routine early transfer of patients after clot-busting drugs are administered results in significantly better outcomes than the current practice of transferring patients only when the clot-busting drugs fail.
Researchers at UC Davis have developed a new test that will measure the protein deficit responsible for fragile X syndrome - the single-most common cause of intellectual impairment and the most-commonly inherited cause of autism. The test, described in a study appearing online in the July 2009 issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, is the first to measure an individual"s level of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) protein.
Eighty percent of Canadians believe Canada"s airlines should offer some pet-free flights to protect the health and safety of passengers and crew members, according to a new survey released today by The Canadian Lung Association. The findings come as Air Canada prepares to join WestJet in allowing pets to travel in the passenger cabin of airplanes - pet allergens can trigger serious or even life-threatening reactions in people with lung diseases like asthma and COPD.
A series of articles in the July/August 2009 issue of The Journal of Midwifery & Women"s Health (JMWH) focuses on midwives" participation in the education of medical students and residents. This issue includes the results of a new national survey by Edie McConaughey, CNM, MS and Elisabeth Howard, CNM, PhD, which found that the number of midwives involved in medical education in the United States has tripled in the past 10 years. More recently, the growth of this model has accelerated secondary to the mandated decrease in resident work hours.
Pharmacy technicians throughout England, Scotland and Wales will be regulated by the Royal
Legislation to create smokefree public places has been named as the most important policy implemented by the Scottish Parliament in the 10 years since devolution, according to a survey of Scottish doctors conducted by BMA Scotland. The results of the survey mark the publication of a new BMA Scotland newsletter yesterday (Monday 29 June) to celebrate 10 years of devolution and the creation of policy making powers for health in Scotland. Also featuring in the most popular policies to be implemented in Scotland were: ending the internal market in healthcare where GPs and hospitals compete to provide services, introducing free personal care and fee free education.
UCB announced that Neupro(R) (rotigotine transdermal patch) can now be prescribed to all patients with idiopathic Parkinson"s disease in Europe and is newly available for the symptomatic treatment of moderate to severe idiopathic Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) in adults. This follows the decision of the European Commission to lift treatment restrictions on Neupro® in line with the recommendation of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), issued on 29 May 2009.
Plainview Milk Products Cooperative, Plainview, Minn., is voluntarily recalling instant nonfat dried milk, whey protein, fruit stabilizers, and gums (thickening agents) that it has manufactured over the past two years, because they might be contaminated with Salmonella. The company sells these products to other industry customers, including distributors and manufacturers, who may have incorporated them into their own products. None of Plainview"s products were sold directly to the public.
Physio-Control Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), announced today that LUCAS™ 2, the next-generation LUCAS™ Chest Compression System, has been granted 510(k) market clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Developed and manufactured by Jolife AB and distributed exclusively in the United States by Physio-Control, the LUCAS 2 is an automated, battery-powered device that is designed to give consistent, uninterrupted compressions to victims in cardiac arrest.
MedImmune continues to advance its commitment to pediatric research with today"s announcement of the first observational prospective study designed to assess the burden of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) among preterm infants 32-to-35 weeks gestational age (GA) in outpatient settings during their first year of life.
Yaupon Therapeutics, a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company, has announced it has completed enrollment for a pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial for Clearazide for the treatment of early-stage cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL - stages 1-2a). The study, which is being conducted under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) with the FDA, has enrolled 260 patients in 13 of the top cancer centers in the US. Yaupon expects the last patient to complete treatment in the study by June of 2010 and, assuming positive results, will file its NDA shortly thereafter.
AlphaRx Inc. (OTCBB: ALRX) and Gaia BioPharma Limited reported positive pre-clinical results on GAI-122 injectable nanoemulsion in multiple in vitro and in vivo studies of memory impairment after prolonged anesthesia.
The odds of contracting mad cow disease from banned or adulterated bovine protein lurking in raw or processed food for humans or meat-bone meal for livestock have declined over the past decade. So have the risks of purchasing fishy imposters billed as red snapper, ground beef that isn"t all cow, or spoiled meat that doesn"t look or smell bad ò€¦ yet.
Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer, diagnosed in more than 50,000 new patients in the United States annually. While the rate of incidences continues to rise, survival rate has not improved and the race is on to find the genetic and cellular changes driving melanoma and to devise new means of detection and treatment. In a study published online in Genome Research, scientists have mapped chemical modifications of DNA in the melanoma genome, finding new markers that will help develop more effective treatment strategies to fight this disease.
The challenge to the Prime Minister by Mark Harper MP, Shadow Minister for Disabled People, to remove Section 141 of the Mental Health Act which strips an MP of their seat in Parliament if detained under the Act for more than six months, and his tabling of an amendment to the Equality Bill on this issue, are both very welcome and long overdue.
Black gay men have less choice when it comes to sexual partners than other groups and, as a result, their sexual networks are closely knit. These tightly interconnected networks make the rapid spread of HIV more likely. In a study1) looking at social and sexual mixing between ethnic groups in men who have sex with men, H. Fisher Raymond and Willi McFarland, from the San Francisco Department of Public Health in the US, show that social barriers faced by Black gay men may have a serious impact on their health and well-being. Their findings are published in Springer"s journal AIDS and Behavior.
The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM)-the flagship publication of SNM-has been ranked the top medical imaging journal worldwide, according to new data released in the 2008 Journal Citation Reports(c) published by Thomson Reuters. The top ranking recognizes JNM"s exceptional quality and increasing influence as an academic and professional re.
Analysis of the longest running ICSI programme in the United States has found reassuring evidence that babies born from frozen embryos fertilised via ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) do just as well as those born from frozen embryos fertilised via standard IVF treatment.
Massachusetts-based Catholic hospital system Caritas Christi Health Care on Friday ended its joint venture with the Missouri-based health insurer Centene after Cardinal Sean O"Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston insisted that the relationship linked Catholic hospitals too closely to abortion providers, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 6/27). Under the joint venture, Caritas and Centene created a new company, CeltiCare, which would have insured thousands of low-income Massachusetts residents under Commonwealth Care, the state"s subsidized health care program. Financially troubled Caritas, which was founded by the Archdiocese of Boston, said it will continue to participate as a provider in Commonwealth Care but will no longer be a co-owner of the insurance venture with Centene. Caritas will provide care to patients covered by Centene, as it does for patients covered by other private insurers, but it will not provide any services that violate Catholic teachings, such as abortions or sterilizations. In terminating the joint venture, the archdiocese hopes to appease criticism that Caritas would have profited from abortion and other services provided at non-Catholic medical centers, the Boston Globe reports. According to the archdiocese, O"Malley sought the withdrawal after weeks of consultation with the church-affiliated think tank National Catholic Bioethics Center, in response to harsh criticism from antiabortion-rights groups for not blocking the agreement. The withdrawal is "a vindication of sorts" for O"Malley"s critics, who have argued that it would be wrong for Caritas to enter an agreement with a health insurer that covers abortion care, according to the Globe. Andrea Miller, the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, said that Caritas" involvement in the joint venture had raised concern from NARAL because of the Catholic Church"s opposition to abortion rights. She said that although Caritas has withdrawn from the venture, "[t]he question remains: Will the involvement of Caritas Christi health providers negatively affect women"s ability to get timely access to reproductive services, including birth control?" Miller added that NARAL hopes that state regulators "will continue due diligence to ensure that referrals and services are provided in a manner that does not delay access to reproductive health services" (Paulson/Lazar, Boston Globe, 6/27).
Reuters reports that "President Barack Obama"s drive to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system may be back on track thanks to Senate efforts to cut the price tag to $1 trillion, but a bipartisan deal on the sweeping proposal still is far from certain ... Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus was upbeat last week after announcing that panel members had found ways to bring the price tag to about $1 trillion over 10 years, down from an earlier estimate of a staggering $1.6 trillion ... Instead, the core group of negotiators -- three Democrats and four Republicans -- issued a tepid statement on Thursday merely affirming their commitment to continue negotiations."
Researchers at St George"s, University of London have been awarded ÷£4.3 million by the Wellcome Trust for the development of a unique new class of drugs to target the root cause of asthma and allergies. The new Allergen Delivery Inhibitors may be superior to existing medicines, which mainly relieve symptoms.
"Rising costs and a weak economy" are leaving small business employees "with higher out-of-pocket health costs," USA Today reports. Those small companies are "exactly what the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had in mind this month when it estimated as many as 15 million people could lose the benefits they currently receive through their jobs under a Democratic proposal to overhaul health care. The estimates were based on an incomplete draft of a bill in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, but they touched off a broader debate about who might lose health benefits received through their company. Workers at small firms could be more vulnerable, especially if they pay high premiums." The CBO estimated that "as many as 10 million lower-wage workers would choose to drop their employer-provided insurance because, with proposed government subsidies, it could be cheaper to buy insurance on the open market, especially if they are paying high premiums now." In addition, "Partly because of that exodus, some companies could find it no longer cost effective to offer insurance to the remaining employees, dragging another 10 million people into the open market."
Fireworks are a traditional part of America"s celebration of Independence Day on July 4.
"Epidemiology is always important and topical, though sometimes unsung," says Professor Johan Giesecke, Chief Scientist at ECDC, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, "but the third applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology Conference in Stockholm in October this year will be an opportunity to put Epidemiology and infectious disease prevention and control into the spotlight; delegates will have the opportunity to discuss and share information on current and emerging infectious diseases, including influenza A (H1N1)v. The call for abstracts closes on July 3rd so there is no time to lose."
Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX], a pioneer in the discovery and development of Nanobodies®, a novel class of antibody-derived therapeutic proteins, announced that it has advanced ALX-0061, a new Nanobody®-based therapeutic programme, into preclinical development for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Some people who take the fast-acting sleep-aid zolpidem (Ambien) have been observed walking, eating, talking on the phone and even driving while not fully awake. Many often don"t remember doing any of these activities the next morning. Similarly, this drug has been shown to awaken the minimally conscious into a conscious state. A new study by Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) researchers may help explain why these "awakenings" occur.
Scientists have discovered gene expression differences that could lead to better ways to classify, predict outcome, and treat juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Eventually such findings could enable doctors to target more aggressive treatment to children at risk of more severe arthritis, while those likely to have milder disease could be spared the stronger treatments that carry a greater risk of side effects. The researchers were supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health.
Doctors have warned that the NHS is not prepared for the introduction of the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) limit on working hours in August this year. Although figures published today show that 99.8% of doctors in training do not exceed the maximum average of 56 contracted hours per week, data from the end of May showed that 38% of posts were still not compliant with the 48 hour working week. In light of these figures, BMA Scotland is concerned that, with just over one month to go, the implementation of a 48 hour week will see a massive rise in the number of junior doctors working in non-compliant posts.
With the heat wave hitting all corners of the UK this week, millions of adults will be flocking to the seaside in search of sun, sea, sand and a much needed snooze. Unfortunately many are likely to end up needing medical treatment for severe burning, prickly heat or heatstroke. As seven out of ten Brits will not be practicing "safe sun" and will foolhardily be going without wearing any sun cream.
Human immune cells communicate constantly with one another as they coordinate to fight off infection and other threats. Now researchers at Stanford University"s School of Medicine have shown that muffling a key voice in this conversational patter is an early step in the progression of human cancers. Silencing an inter-cell signaling mechanism called the interferon pathway may be one way newly developing cancers gain the upper hand. It may also explain the immune dysfunctions seen in many cancer patients and why cancer immunotherapies are often ineffective.
Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc. presented the results of a secondary analysis to determine the response rates to three doses of transdermal Divigel(R) (estradiol gel) 0.1 percent at the recent 57th Annual Clinical Meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in Chicago. The objectives of this secondary analysis of a phase III efficacy trial were to determine the percent of postmenopausal women who achieved a greater than 50 percent reduction in the frequency of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (MSVMS), or hot flashes, and to assess the change from baseline in a quality of life (Kupperman) index score that evaluated various menopausal symptoms. Divigel(R) doses studied included 1.0 mg, 0.5 mg and 0.25 mg of estradiol/day - the lowest effective approved dose of estradiol available for the treatment of MSVMS. The analysis showed a significantly greater percentage of women in all treatment groups versus placebo experienced > / = 50 percent reduction in the frequency of MSVMS at week 12. In the Divigel(R) 1.0 mg estradiol/day dosing group, 90 percent of women reported at least a 50 percent reduction in the frequency of MSVMS. Additionally, at 12 weeks, each of the doses of Divigel(R) significantly reduced the severity of menopausal symptoms identified by a quality of life index score compared to placebo.
New research suggests that casino workers face a higher risk of heart disease and lung cancer because they work in buildings filled with tobacco smoke.
Immunology pioneer Professor Chris Goodnow from The Australian National University has been elected as a Fellow of the prestigious UK and Commonwealth academy of science, The Royal Society.
Physiological changes associated with the metabolic syndrome may play a role in the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, according to study results published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Researchers at the University of Glasgow believe they have found a potential new treatment for cardiovascular disease which reduces blood pressure. Scientists at the British Heart Foundation Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre (BHF GCRC) used a recently-developed antioxidant called MitoQ10 to prevent damage to the mitochondria of cells in an experimental model of hypertension and stroke.
The Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing at The University of Western Ontario has announced a $2 million research chair to address issues surrounding the chronic shortage of registered nurses in Canada and the United States. Dr. Heather Laschinger, Ph.D., was named the first Arthur Labatt Family Nursing Research Chair in Human Re Optimization.
The Guardia Pro Protective Embryo Transfer Catheter is uniquely engineered to protect and guide embryos through cervical mucus and blood and to eliminate the need for cervical flushing or aspiration prior to transfer.
Obama budget chief Peter Orszag sat with Slate.com last week to talk about health reform. In his answers, Orszag talked about personal choices affecting health care costs, the role of MedPAC and the Congressional Budget Office.
Today Sutent® (sunitinib) has received a recommendation as a
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and Allergy UK are offering the community pharmacy allergy screening service to members of the public attending the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show from 7 July to 12 July.
Australia"s premier research centre for all aspects of oral health will be established at the University of Adelaide thanks to a $2.4 million Federal Government grant.
Responding to the publication of Lord Darzi"s report, High Quality Care for All: Our Journey So Far, Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said:
"Patients, policymakers, and practitioners all agree that reliable, accurate, and consistent quality measures are essential elements in improving health care services. This report is a clear indication that the efforts hospitals continue to make to prevent and control infections are having a positive impact on patient care. Hospitals are actively developing and sharing infection control techniques and best practices, and have engrained in their organizations a zero tolerance policy for preventable patient harm.
An observer feels more empathy for someone in pain when that person is in the same social group, according to new research in the July 1 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The study shows that perceiving others in pain activates a part of the brain associated with empathy and emotion more if the observer and the observed are the same race. The findings may show that unconscious prejudices against outside groups exist at a basic level.
While major advances have been made in the understanding of posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) anatomy and reconstruction, a literature review published in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS) finds that there must be continued advances in basic science research in order to determine the best course of treatment for those with PCL injuries.
Even at very high doses, gadolinium-based contrast agents alone are not sufficient to cause nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in patients with kidney problems, according to a study performed at the Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, FL. NSF is a rare and serious syndrome that leads to fibrosis of the skin, joints and even internal organs. Some research indicates NSF is caused by gadolinium-based contrast agents that are commonly used today during MR procedures.
People with ankle injuries who do not respond successfully to initial treatment may have a second chance at recovery, thanks to two new procedures developed to restore the injured area, according to a study published in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS).
A new neuropsychological memory test is helping to uncover how Parkinson"s disease can alter people"s ability to learn about the consequences of the choices they make. The test was developed by Dr. Mark Gluck, professor of neuroscience at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience at Rutgers University, Newark, working with co-researchers at Rutgers, New York University, and in Hungary.
Tomorrow"s Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting is a crucial opportunity to focus on achieving concrete long-term health improvements for Indigenous people, the AMA said.
Homeshare International is bringing together programme coordinators, academics and policy makers from around the world. They offer participants a fantastic opportunity to learn more about running a successful Homeshare programme and also present the growing evidence base for the effectiveness of Homeshare as a policy option.
The largest study of the genetics of schizophrenia ever undertaken has revealed several new common single-letter variants in the sequence of the human genome (SNPs) linked to risk of the disease. The study, by a multinational consortium of scientists led by a team from deCODE genetics (Nasdaq: DCGN), analyzed the genomes of more than 50,000 patients and control participants from fourteen countries. It is published today in the online edition of Nature.
Women who get less than the recommended eight hours sleep a night are at higher risk of heart disease and heart-related problems than men with the same sleeping patterns.
UCB announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Cimzia®, the only PEGylated anti-TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor), for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Cimzia® can be dosed at 400 mg initially and at weeks two and four, followed by 200 mg every other week; for maintenance dosing, 400 mg every four weeks can be considered.
In this months editorial the Editors argue that-despite recent international objections- access to clean water should be recognised as a human
Colorado Right to Life and Personhood USA are proposing a 2010 state ballot initiative with a different version of 2008"s defeated "personhood" amendment to the state constitution, the Colorado Springs Gazette reports. The groups intend to submit their proposal to the Colorado Legislative Council this week. In the November 2008 election, 73% of state voters opposed the previous version, known as Amendment 48, which was sponsored by Colorado for Equal Rights.The new version includes modified language that its supporters say will clarify its intent. Rather than defining a person as "any human being from the moment of fertilization," the new version would establish personhood as "every human being from the beginning of the biological development of that human being." The initiative"s sponsors also said that they will be better funded and articulate a clearer message than in 2008, when a college student launched the campaign.According to the Gazette, abortion-rights supporters "weren"t overly concerned" about the new initiative. Jacy Montoya, head of the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, said that the 2008 vote demonstrated that Colorado residents are "uncomfortable with the government and strangers making personal decision for families." Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, said that the new attempt "gives us another opportunity to explain how personhood amendments threaten all pregnant women, including those going to term" (Barna,Colorado Springs Gazette, 6/29).
A new poll conducted by CNN and the Opinion Research Corporation released Wednesday says that 51 percent of people favor the president"s health reform plan while 45 percent oppose it, CNN reports.
Alastair Campbell has won Mind"s Champion of the Year Award for his significant contribution to raising awareness of mental health. He beat fellow nominee and chat show host Paul O"Grady, among other mental health campaigners, to the prestigious award announced yesterday evening.
The White House sought the help of actor Ashton Kutcher to promote National HIV Testing Day on June 27, through his Twitter page, Politico reports. Kutcher has over 2.5 million followers on Twitter, where he recently posted a link to a White House blog post and video commemorating the day. Reid Cherlin, White House assistant press secretary, said, "As technology impacts how and where people are communicating online, we are constantly looking for new ways to engage with the public," adding, "Our efforts to promote National HIV Testing Day included participation from popular users of Twitter, as well as broad social media engagement by agencies across the government." The White House also used Twitter to help connect people to HIV testing sites (Gavin, 6/29).
UCB and Biogen Idec announced today the discontinuation of the Phase II clinical trial of CDP323 for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). Preliminary interim efficacy analysis showed that patients enrolled in this clinical trial did not benefit as expected from CDP323 compared to placebo after a six month treatment period. No cases of PML (progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy) were noted.
The UN is launching, on Wednesday the 1st of July 2009, a ten-day initiative intended to reach out to 10,000
Occupational therapist, Ms Hannah McIlhinney has been suspended from the
Most knee replacement patients are between the ages of 60 and 80 years old. In some cases, younger patients with traumatic knee injuries may also require a total knee replacement. However the most common diagnosis is osteoarthritis. If you are prevented from carrying out your everyday activities due to pain or discomfort in the knee, then you may have arthritis of some kind. Similarly, difficulty in bending, squatting, kneeling, and walking may be indications that a knee replacement is in your future.
New research at Rhode Island Hospital has uncovered the biological effects of a novel membrane estrogen receptor, a finding that has potential implications for hormonal therapy for breast cancer. The study is published in the July edition of the journal Molecular Endocrinology. This new study by Edward Filardo, MD, and his research team further supports earlier published work by the group that linked the transmembrane receptor, GPR30/GPER-1, to specific estrogen binding, rapid estrogen signaling and breast cancer metastasis. "What is exciting about this new work," says Filardo, "is that it provides some insight into the influence of GPR30 at the cellular level. It shows that estrogen action through GPR30 allows for breast tumor cell survival, and not breast tumor cell proliferation." Prior studies by Filardo"s group showed that estrogen acts through GPR30 to promote the rapid release of preformed growth factors that are tethered to the surface of breast cancer cells. Their latest study was conducted in an effort to better understand the mechanism by which GPR30 triggered the release of epidermal growth factor (EGF) polypeptides from the surface of breast cancer cells.
A study published in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology revealed that internet-based lung cancer information was of a higher quality in the United States (US) than in Japan. Dr. Yasushi Goto of the National Cancer Center Hospital in Tokyo and his team of researchers from both the US and Japan evaluated 150 Web sites and determined noticeable differences in the quality and type of information on lung cancer available over the internet in the two countries.
Ciguatera poisoning, the food-borne disease that can come from eating large, carnivorous reef fish, causes vomiting, headaches, and a burning sensation upon contact with cold surfaces. An early morning walk on cool beach sand can become a painful stroll on fiery coals to a ciguatera victim. But is this common toxin poisoning also the key to a larger mystery? That is, the storied migrations of the Polynesian natives who colonized New Zealand, Easter Island and, possibly, Hawaii in the 11th to 15th centuries? Could ciguatera be the reason masses of people left paradise?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it is requiring manufacturers to put a Boxed Warning on the prescribing information for the smoking cessation drugs Chantix (varenicline) and Zyban (bupropion). The warning will highlight the risk of serious mental health events including changes in behavior, depressed mood, hostility, and suicidal thoughts when taking these drugs.
As many as five to ten million males in the U.S. struggle quietly with an eating disorder because they"re ashamed to admit they have the illness, reports Remuda Ranch Programs for Eating and Anxiety Disorders. Healthcare professionals, family members and close friends often are unaware of the high-risk behaviors in males that may signify an eating disorder. Therefore, effective intervention is often not available to the male population.
A mother"s weight and the amount she gains during pregnancy both impact her daughter"s risk of obesity decades later, according to a new study by Alison Stuebe, M.D., assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
The second of two reviews in this week´s The Lancet discusses the primary origins of the health gap. In an effort to understand these inequalities, the authors attempt to give an Indigenous perspective. It is the work of Professor Malcolm King, of the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, and Scientific Director, Institute of Aboriginal Peoples" Health (Canadian Institutes of Health Research); Dr Alexandra Smith, of the University of Toronto, Canada; and Professor Michael Gracey, Unity of First People of Australia, Perth, Australia. In this review, the authors focus on North American Indigenous groups, although others are discussed.
The WHO on Wednesday announced plans for a clinical trial to test a new drug that "could halve the treatment period for river blindness [or onchocerciasis], a disease that threatens 100 million people mostly in Africa," AFP/Dow Jones Newswires/CNN Money reports (7/1). "This is a devastating illness that has plagued 30 African countries for centuries, in particular the populations in the most remote areas "beyond the end of the road,"" Uche Amazigo, director of the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC), said (ANI/Thaindian.com, 7/1).
An Indian court on Thursday ruled that "gay sex between consenting adults was not a crime, ordering that the rights of citizens were violated by parts of a 150-year-old colonial-era law that made it illegal," Bloomberg reports. The law "has drawn criticism from public health activists as a barrier in the fight against HIV/AIDS" (Patnaik, 7/2).
President Obama reiterated his call to adjust Medicare reimbursement rates as a part of his broad push for health reform in a meeting with nine reporters, including writers from local newspapers, Wednesday. "While steering clear of details, Obama indicated that revised reimbursement rates helpful to areas [where reimbursement rates are low] should be part of a comprehensive healthcare reform package now in the works," McClatchy reports. "The reforms should also help steer more physicians to medically underserved regions, he said," achieve better quality, and lower government payments. The news service notes that the meeting was "part of [Obama"s] effort to rally political support for a healthcare rewrite. The package is still a work in progress, as key congressional committees already have missed their self-imposed legislative deadlines" (Doyle, 7/1).
"A new large-scale study of medical records found that the extra cost of extending prescription coverage to Medicare enrollees was substantially offset by lower spending on other medical care for people who previously had limited or no prescription-drug coverage," The Wall Street Journal reports.
The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) submitted comments to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology"s (ONC) request for feedback on determining criteria for the term "meaningful use" of electronic records (EHRs), prepared by ONC"s HIT Policy Committee.
The Patients Doctors Don"t Know The New York Times
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reminds Americans that July is Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, a time for public education about serious mental illness in diverse communities.
You know we"re coming to the Emerald City for our annual convention, and you know there"s been a lot of talk about our hosting the world-renowned fishmongers from Pike Place Fish Market.