Mental Health
New research from North Carolina State University and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) shows significant reproductive health effects in rats that have been exposed to bisphenol-A (BPA) at levels equivalent to or below the dose that has been thought not to produce any adverse effects.
The University of San Pablo CEU, a major academic and research institution in Madrid, Spain, yesterday presented Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the American Association for Cancer Research, with an honorary doctorate in medicine that recognizes her exceptional contributions to cancer research and leadership of the AACR, which have done so much to help those suffering from cancer.
A polyomavirus known as MCPyV is associated with clinical outcomes, including fewer metastases and better survival, in patients with a rare form of skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma, according to a new study published online June 17 in the JNCI.
Biologists are investigating how to control when plants flower - to help farmers reap a bumper harvest.
Combining human papillomavirus (HPV) testing with routine liquid-based cytology (LBC) screening does not increase the detection of cervical cancer compared with LBC screening alone, according to an Article published Online first and in the July edition of The Lancet Oncology.
Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX) announced that Heritage Valley Health System, a progressive community-based health system in southwestern Pennsylvania, has selected the Allscripts Enterprise(TM) Electronic Health Record (EHR) to automate and enhance the care provided by 150 of its employed physicians.
At a meeting sponsored by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and the Medicare Diabetes Screening Project (MDSP), former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, experts in diabetes research and education, and representatives of senior-serving organizations from a four-state area gathered in Washington, DC to draw attention to the need for increased screening for diabetes among older adults ages 65 and older insured by Medicare.
Omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish such as tuna and salmon may protect against progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but the benefits appear to depend on the stage of disease and whether certain supplements are taken, report researchers at the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research (LNVR), Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University.
Osmetech (LSE:OMH) announced that it has submitted a request to the US FDA for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its Respiratory Pathogen Test Panel test to be used to screen for the swine flu virus.
Suffering a stroke can have a profound effect on relationships and lead to significant changes in how couples relate to each other on a physical, psychological, social and emotional level, according a study in the June issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.
The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) applauds the recommendations regarding chronic disease in the report by the Bipartisan Policy Center"s (BPC) Leaders" Project, entitled "Crossing Our Lines: Working Together to Reform the U.S. Health System." The report outlines key health care reform policy recommendations from a bipartisan perspective to ensure that all Americans have quality, affordable health care.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has called for a common sense approach to health and safety in Great Britain"s schools.
"Decibels for Life", the new campaign from Siemens Hearing Instruments, has been launched to maintain awareness of hearing loss. It will also champion hearing innovations that help overcome impairments leading to an improved quality of life.
Ambulance Trusts across the country have significantly reduced the time taken to reach patients, according to data published today by the NHS Information Centre. 74.3% of the most urgent calls (Category A) were responded to in less than 8 minutes from a call being received.
The NHS is taking a step closer to ending regional variation in the provision of IVF to couples who are unable to conceive naturally, Public Health Minister Gillian Merron announced today.
Planned Parenthood of Montana this week filed a complaint with the Montana Human Rights Bureau over a provision in the state"s Children"s Health Insurance Program that prohibits coverage of prescription contraception, the Great Falls Tribune reports. Planned Parenthood alleges that the program discriminates against young women on the basis of gender in violation of the state constitution, the Montana Human Rights Act and Montana insurance laws.According to PPMT, 1,889 of the state"s 18,504 CHIP beneficiaries are young women ages 15 to 19, approximately 483 of whom are in need of contraceptive coverage. The group predicts that more than 750 young women will be in need of contraceptive coverage when a planned CHIP expansion reaches full enrollment in 2011.Stacey Anderson, public affairs director for PPMT, said, "After several legislative attempts to correct this discriminatory Montana law, ... it is now necessary to pursue legal action to ensure our patients receive the care they need." Kim Howell of the Montana Human Rights Bureau said that an attorney for the agency is reviewing the complaint and that an informal investigation could take up to 180 days (Adams, Great Falls Tribune, 6/17).
American Public Media"s "Marketplace" on Tuesday examined how some women and their partners are deciding to have more children, a choice that runs contrary to birth rate trends during past economic recessions. Stephanie Ventura, a demographer at the National Center for Health Statistics, said that in previous severe economic recessions, birth rates have decreased or stabilized. It is too soon to tell whether the current recession will affect birth rates because the most recent birth data are from July 2008. Ventura also noted that the data will encompass a broad range of personal choices, including people who delayed pregnancy and those who went forward with plans to have children despite the recession.According to "Marketplace," some women who have lost jobs but have other s of income believe that having time away from work is a good opportunity to plan a pregnancy. Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute, called this rationale "very clever" but added that being out of work only "gives you a break as long as you"ve got health insurance coverage, or unemployment, or some other of income that you can depend on." Galinsky said, "This country is increasingly becoming family centric. There is much more of an emphasis on children and families and being with them and taking good care of them than there has been before" (Keith, "Marketplace," American Public Media, 6/16).
The European Congress on Anti-Aging & Aesthetic Medicine (ECAAAM) is proud to welcome the support of the University of Mainz for its 2nd annual event (15th - 17th October, Mainz, Mainz Congress Centre). ECAAAM is a cutting edge congress that provides medical professionals, scientists and industry personnel with the training and education they need to treat age-related dysfunctions, disorders and diseases.
Panasonic Toyota Racing Formula 1 drivers will team up with the
Blast-induced traumatic brain injury (TBI) has reached critical levels in modern-day warfare. The current issue of Journal of Neurotrauma focuses on the intensive efforts to develop effective treatment strategies and model systems for studying the cause and effects of explosive blast TBI. This special issue of Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., is free online.
The amount of time imaging equipment is in use in outpatient settings does not approach use rates President Obama and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommend Medicare utilize to calculate reimbursement for imaging, according to data recently collected by the Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA), a national association of business professionals in radiology.
In Los Angeles County, being disabled can cost a year"s income. That"s because the annual cost of in-home care services for seniors living alone is now $319 more than this group"s median income of $17,029.
A small study has shown that people tend to believe that bottled water is somehow healthier than water from the tap. However, the research, published in the open access journal BMC Public Health, also shows that people are unsure exactly what these benefits might be and that they are rarely the main reason for choosing bottled.
Gargling with a licorice solution can help reduce postoperative sore throat a common and painful complication of anesthesia in patients undergoing surgery, reports a study in the July issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).
UroToday.com - To take the adrenal or not at the time of radical nephrectomy, that is the question. These researchers from New York University School of Medicine performed an extensive literature search to determine the role of adrenalectomy at radical nephrectomy and discovered that the incidence of solitary, synchronous, ipsilateral adrenal involvement, and therefore potentially curable tumor disease with ipsilateral adrenalectomy occurred extremely infrequently - in only 1% to 5% of cases.
Researchers have identified a genetic glitch that could lead to development of neuroblastoma, a deadly form of cancer that typically strikes children under 2.
UroToday.com - Gluttony is becoming an ever-increasing problem in our pediatric patients, and this is directly correlated to an increase risk of stone disease.
UroToday.com - Men undergoing surgical interventions for BPH are still at risk for subsequent development of prostate cancer (CaP) due to residual tissue. It is suggested that PSA decreases approximately 0.1-0.3ng/ml for every 1g of prostate tissue removed. In the online edition of Urology, Dr. Brian Helfand and associates determined the PSA values and PSAV in patients who had undergone TURP, holmium laser resection of the prostate (HoLRP), or open prostatectomy (OP) for treatment of BPH and compare these values in patients with histologic BPH only with the values in those with incidentally found CaP.
GM crops can and already do play an important role in reducing the negative environmental impacts of agriculture and feeding a growing population in a worsening climate, reveals a report published today by EuropaBio[i]. Furthermore, this contribution will only increase as their cultivation becomes even more widely adopted around the world. Nevertheless, this fact continues to be ignored by many EU regulators, as is evidenced by its repeated non-appearance on DG Environment"s Green Week agenda.
Outpatient clinics in District General Hospitals operating on a weekly basis are not able to reach minimum standards for treating patients who have suffered a stroke, according to a new audit published by the Royal College of Physicians. The study, published in Clinical Medicine journal, assessed the timeliness with which an urgent access neurovascular clinic was able to evaluate possible stroke victims between 2000 and 2006. Data showed that the clinic was not able to reach the National Clinical Guideline for Stroke"s recommendation that patients who may have suffered a minor stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) receive urgent evaluation within one week.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are warning consumers not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough due to the risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7 (a bacterium that causes food borne illness).
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society"s campaign to change the unjust law which automatically criminalises any dispensing error has reached a significant milestone after the Department of Health announced plans to amend the Medicines Act 1968 at the earliest opportunity.
American Lung Association Calls Upon President Obama to Protect Entire Federal Workforce
"Global health funding boosted by private donors has quadrupled since 1990, but the extra money has not always gone to the right countries and diseases, according to a pair of studies released Friday," in the journal Lancet, AFP/Google.com reports (Hood, AFP/Google.com, 6/18).
Sports & Orthopaedic Specialists, a national leader in orthopedic care for women, in collaboration with Sister Kenny Sports and Physical Therapy, launched the renowned Prevent Injury and Enhance Performance (PEP) program to the local and regional market. PEP is an exercise and training program designed to significantly reduce the incidence of ACL injury and enhance performance as an added benefit.
Rearrangements of all sizes in genomes, genes and exons can result from a glitch in DNA copying that occurs when the process stalls at a critical point and then shifts to a different genetic template, duplicating and even triplicating genes or just shuffling or deleting part of the code within them, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a recent report in the journal Nature Genetics. The report further elucidated the effect of the fork stalling and template switching mechanism involved in some forms of copy number variation.
Merck & Co., Inc. said it supports a proposal to provide additional assistance to Medicare Part D beneficiaries who have reached the coverage gap (donut hole) in their prescription benefit.
Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II alpha (CaMKII alpha) is an enzyme that adds phosphates to a variety of protein substrates to modify their functions. CaMKII alpha is enriched in the hippocampus, the memory center of the brain, and is believed to be an essential mediator of activity-dependent synaptic plasticity and memory functions. However, the causative role of the enzymatic activity of CaMKII alpha in such processes has not been demonstrated yet, because this enzyme has multiple protein functions other than the kinase activity. A Japanese research group, led by Dr Yoko Yamagata of the National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Japan, has successfully generated a novel kinase-dead mutant mouse of the CaMKII alpha gene that completely and exclusively lacks its kinase activity. They examined hippocampal synaptic plasticity and behavioral learning of the mouse, and found a severe deficit in both processes. They reported their findings in the Journal of Neuroscience, published on June 10, 2009.
Eliminating the potential for catastrophic medical, energy and transportation disasters due to software failure is the aim of a new $21-million global research centre to be located at McMaster University. It will be one of the first such centres in the world.
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting exceptional early career researchers and innovative cancer research, named 17 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its May 2009 Fellowship Award Committee review. The recipients of this prestigious, three-year award are outstanding postdoctoral scientists conducting basic and translational cancer research in the laboratories of leading senior investigators across the country. The Fellowship is specifically intended to encourage the nation"s most promising young scientists to pursue careers in cancer research by providing them with independent funding ($140,000 each) to work on innovative projects.
Loss of muscle strength, speed and dexterity is a common consequence of aging and a well-established risk factor for death, disability and dementia. Yet little is known about how and why motor decline occurs when it is not a symptom of disease.
Shingles is caused by the herpes varicella-zoster (or simply zoster) virus. This virus also causes chickenpox. Most of us get chickenpox during childhood, but after we recover the virus remains inactive (dormant) in our nervous system. Our immune system stops the virus from becoming active. However, later in life it may become reactivated, causing shingles. Shingles is an infection of a nerve and the area of skin around it.
A major study of three to 19 year-olds has provided vital data on the weight problems
Research at the University of Leicester is focussing on a major killer in UK hospitals. In England and Wales, the national health statistics in 2007 showed that there were 8,324 death certificates which named Clostridium difficile. This is a bacterium which causes severe diarrhoea in humans and animals as the underlying cause of death, a 28% increase from 2006.
ArcelorMittal and the American Red Cross are launching a new national partnership, Creating Safer Communities, designed to bring important safety training and res to people who live and work in communities where ArcelorMittal operates. ArcelorMittal, the world"s leading steel company, provided a grant of $152,500 to be distributed in multiple communities across the US. The program will provide health and safety education to more than 1,800 community members in addition to thousands of ArcelorMittal employees and their families.
Ellman International, Inc. announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted clearance to Pelleve(TM), a skin tightening system for the non-ablative treatment of mild to moderate facial wrinkles and rhytids for skin phototypes I-IV. The clearance was granted based on clinical data demonstrating that a single treatment with the high frequency radiowave device can safely and effectively tighten and improve the appearance of skin on the face through six months.
CNN examines China"s efforts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS by educating sex workers about the disease and prevention strategies. "It is estimated that some 700,000 people are living with HIV in China and there are about 50,000 new infections every year, according to the Chinese government and UNAIDS. The U.N. agency believes a significant number of those new infections include sex workers," CNN writes.
Teenage girls with a history of delinquency who were placed in individualized foster care programs were less likely than their peers to become pregnant, according to a study in the June issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, HealthDay/Forbes reports. Teen girls in foster care have an elevated risk for pregnancy, according to HealthDay/Forbes. For example, an earlier survey of teens in three states found that nearly half of girls in the foster care system reported a pregnancy by age 19, according to David Kerr, an assistant professor of psychology at Oregon State University and lead author of the new study.For the study, researchers followed 166 girls ages 13 to 17 with court orders to receive treatment for criminal behavior in either specialized foster care or a group-care facility. The specialized programs, known as Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care, were created in the 1980s. Under the programs, foster parents who are trained in behavioral management provide one-on-one care to severely delinquent youths, and the parents receive consultation, support and crisis intervention services from program supervisors. One of the most important aspects of the program is that, unlike group care, the teens are isolated from other troubled youths. There are 51 such programs in the U.S.After two years, 26% of the girls in MTFC became pregnant, compared with almost 47% of those in group care, according to the study. The MTFC group also showed lower levels of criminal activity and arrests, and increased school engagement. Kerr said, "One of the most interesting aspects of this research is that the MTFC program was created to reduce crime, not pregnancy." He added, "It specifically targeted changing the girl"s environment: her home, her peers and her school experience. The focus was on giving her lots of supervision, support for responsible behavior, and consistent, non-harsh consequences for negative behavior" (HealthDay/Forbes, 6/17).
The muscle relaxer Botox has now been shown to positively affect the skin as well.
In a recent phase II clinical trial, the drug alemtuzumab (Campath-1H) was found to be a highly effective treatment for individuals with early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. However, a substantial proportion of the patients treated (30%) went on to develop another autoimmune disease, mostly thyroid autoimmunity. Now, Joanne Jones and colleagues, at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, have determined that individuals with higher levels of the soluble factor IL-21 in their blood prior to alemtuzumab treatment were those that went on to develop an autoimmune disease. Further analysis identified a mechanism by which IL-21 contributes to the development of autoimmunity and determined that in some patients the higher levels of IL-21 were genetically predetermined. The authors therefore suggest that measuring levels of IL-21 in the blood of individuals with early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis might identify those that would be at greatest risk of developing autoimmunity if treated with alemtuzumab. Terri Laufer and Gregory Wu, at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, further discuss the importance of this in an accompanying commentary, noting that determining one reason why some patients succumb to autoimmune disease after alemtuzumab treatment, while others do not, is likely to increase enthusiasm for this new therapeutic.
Police are investigating the suicide of an academic who pioneered treatment for multiple sclerosis but could no longer live with the disease herself.
Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. (KPA), a privately-held specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in Montgomery, AL, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Cambia™, a diclofenac-based non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ("NSAID") combined with potassium bicarbonate, for the treatment of acute migraine with or without aura in adults.
Ceragenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc.("Ceragenix") (OTCBB:CGXP), a medical device company focused on infectious disease and dermatology, announced that researchers at National Jewish Health, led by Dr. Donald Y. Leung and Dr. Michael Howell, in collaboration with Dr. Paul B. Savage of Brigham Young University, have demonstrated in a series of in vitro experiments and preclinical animal testing that an investigational drug compound known as CSA-13 shows promise as a potential therapy to treat viral infections from the vaccinia virus. The research appears ahead of print in an advanced online publication of the Journal of Investigate Dermatology, the official journal of the Society for Investigative Dermatology. This work was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Atopic Dermatitis Vaccinia Network.
Soft Network Users Group (SNUG) is holding its 17th annual conference, for users of SCC Soft Computer"s (SCC) clinical laboratory software solutions, May 18-21 at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater, Florida. This year"s conference, SNUG 2009- Cultivating Knowledge- a Shared 30-Year Journey of Innovation and Excellence, will include a celebration of SCC Soft Computer"s 30th anniversary with clients and SCC staff members. The conference provides educational opportunities through technical sessions and product demonstrations. Established to promote the free exchange of ideas and suggestions, relating to the applications of SCC Soft Computer"s laboratory software package, SNUG is also a vehicle of communication between users and SCC.
A study published this week in the open access journal PLoS Medicine shows
Increasingly severe sleep-related breathing disorders in older men appear to be associated with a greater risk of abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias), according to a report in the June 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, different types of breathing problems appear more closely associated with different categories of arrhythmia.
A group of German investigators demonstrated that the early increase in phosphorylated CREB (pCREB) is related to treatment response and does not depend on pharmacological interventions or brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plasma levels. For the first time, cellular biological markers could be associated with response to psychotherapy.
High cholesterol levels are considered to be a risk factor not only for cardiovascular disease including stroke, but also for the development of Alzheimer"s disease. Therefore, many cholesterol lowering drugs, including statins, have been developed in recent years. In addition to the cholesterol reducing effect of statins Amalia Dolga, PhD, of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, and her co-investigators have demonstrated that statins can protect nerve cells against damage which we know to occur in the brain of Alzheimer"s disease patients. The results are published in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer"s Disease.
Jhpiego, an international non-profit health organization affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, is pleased to announce that Dr. Harshad Sanghvi, Vice President and Medical Director of Jhpiego, has been awarded the 2009 Award for Best Practices in Global Health from the Global Health Council.
Patients suffering from acute pain and healthcare professionals who treat pain have a new treatment option: NUCYNTA(TM) (tapentadol) CII immediate release tablets. This new medication for the relief of moderate to severe acute pain in patients 18 years of age or older is now available by prescription only in 50-mg, 75-mg and 100-mg tablets, announced PriCara,(R) Division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
The Employment Policies Institute (EPI) released a new study which shows that the widely employed estimate of 47 million uninsured Americans is a misleading representation of the problem. The study, authored by Drs. June and David O"Neill of Baruch College and City University of New York, shows that more than 43 percent, or 18 million, of uninsured Americans ages 18-64 could likely afford health coverage and are actually "voluntarily uninsured." June O"Neill served as Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) from 1995-1999.
The American Cancer Society and the National Palliative Care Research Center (NPCRC) are awarding $1.5 million in research grants to researchers at eleven institutions for studies aimed at reducing suffering for seriously ill patients and their family caregivers. The studies will be conducted over the next two years. The NPCRC, in collaboration with the American Cancer Society, has directed over $5 million towards supporting 38 palliative care research projects since starting this initiative three years ago.
Depression in older adults too often goes unrecognized and untreated, resulting in untold misery, worsening of medical illness, and early death. A new study has identified one important remedy: Adding a trained depression care manager to primary care practices can increase the number of patients receiving treatment, lead to a higher remission rate of depression, and reduce suicidal thoughts.
The American Pain Society (APS) has issued a new clinical practice guideline for low back pain that emphasizes the use of noninvasive treatments over interventional procedures, as well as shared decision making between provider and patient. The findings are published in the current (May 1, 2009) issue of the journal Spine.
A Leicester consultant surgeon who has developed a pioneering technique using microwaves to destroy liver tumours has treated more than 100 patients in the UK and other patients are now being treated internationally.
HealthCare Insight® (HCI), a Verisk Health company and a provider of clinically validated fraud, abuse, and overpayment prevention solutions for private and public-sector payors, announced today that the company launched StopHealthCareFraud.com to help consumers identify and report health care fraud.
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has won the Gates Award for Global Health, and will receive $1 million in prize money.
Today the House Energy and Commerce Committee"s subcommittee on Health began what will be week-long hearings on a draft of the Democrats" health care reform plan. Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-Texas), a member of the Health subcommittee, said he looks forward to learning more about the draft plan, but believes the hearings are a far-cry from real bipartisan efforts.
The Australian Medical Association will work with the Federal Government to ensure patients benefit from the introduction of new prescribing rights for nurse practitioners and midwives.
The New Mexico Department of Health announced today that a 65-year-old man from San Miguel County is hospitalized in critical condition at University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque with the state"s second case of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome this year. The Department of Health confirmed the case of Hantavirus on Wednesday and is conducting an environmental investigation to look for places where the man may have been exposed to the virus.
The White House launches a media blitz this week to coincide with the shrinking timeline for getting a health reform package passed in the Senate, Roll Call reports.
The Network of African Science Academies (NASAC) issued a statement (pdf) asking developed countries to establish training programs that would allow African students to stay in Africa or other developing countries in effort to curb the "tide of African talent leaving the continent"s universities," CNN reports (Wong, CNN, 6/22).
PAHO"s board this week is set to discuss "a long-standing system that makes vaccines affordable to middle-income Latin American countries" because of growing concerns that the policy "deters manufacturers from offering deeper discounts on such products to the world"s least developed countries," the Financial Times reports.
Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor has not become the "political lightning rod" Republican senators hoped for, leaving doubt among some members of the GOP that the nomination process will be controversial enough to help them or hurt Democrats in the 2010 elections, Politico reports. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said that "at least so far" Sotomayor "doesn"t have the punch put there in terms of fundraising and recruiting." Thune said that one reason the GOP response to Sotomayor has been relatively quiet is that she is nominated to replace retiring Justice David Souter, rather than a more conservative justice. "When one of the conservatives leaves the court, then I think you"ll have a huge fight, and I think that will be very galvanizing," Thune said. Similarly, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said he does not foresee Sotomayor"s nomination becoming a major issue in the 2010 campaigns. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said that the GOP would use witnesses at Sotomayor"s confirmation hearing to present some opposition arguments (Raju, Politico, 6/22). Sessions and other Senate Republicans are preparing a series of speeches to highlight their concerns about Sotomayor, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to a Senate Republican aide, the focus of Sessions" speech will be Sotomayor"s role in the group LatinoJustice PRLDEF, for which she served as a board member from 1980 to 1992. Unless new information surfaces, there are few doubts that Sotomayor will be confirmed, the Journal reports (Bravin, Wall Street Journal, 6/22).
Elizabeth Letts, an author and certified nurse-midwife, in the New York Times" "Cases" column on Tuesday reports on her first experience assisting in the delivery of a stillborn infant. Letts describes how witnessing a more experienced midwife comfort the pregnant woman and perform the delivery helped her to stop "believ[ing] that providing support meant sitting in a corner pretending that death could be covered up with small talk." The experience reminded Letts that "birth and death are right around the corner from each other, and that as a midwife I may be charged with bringing either one into the world" (Letts, "Cases," New York Times, 6/23).
RNs Protest Cuts to Public Health, Pediatrics, TB Clinic, and Other Outpatient Services at San Joaquin County
Scientists at the University of Alberta have found that there are significant differences in the way our brains function depending on whether we"re early risers or night owls.
University of Minnesota Medical School researchers have discovered an important new insight into how a commonly prescribed drug may work to treat those infected by a parasitic flatworm.
Lansoprazole is a proton pump inhibitor which powerfully suppresses gastric acid production and is widely prescribed for chronic use in gastroesophageal reflux disease. Lansoprazole uncommonly causes chronic watery diarrhea unresponsive to conventional medication as a symptom of collagenous colitis. This association has recently been reported and is not widely known. Correct diagnosis and treatment without this knowledge is impossible. Discontinuation of lansoprazole results in the prompt resolution of diarrhea.
The classic symptoms of Parkinson"s disease involve tremor, stiffness and slow movements. Over the last decade, neurologists have been paying greater attention to non-motor symptoms, such as digestive and sleep problems, loss of sense of smell and depression.
In order to recognize and encourage cutting-edge research in key areas of orthopaedic sports medicine, the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) will present eight research awards and two grants during its Annual Meeting, July 9-12th in Keystone, Colorado. As a leader in orthopaedic sports medicine, AOSSM annually provides more than $150,000 to research initiatives and projects around the country. Highlights of this year"s award recipients include:
The global economic crisis has had a devastating impact on the world"s hungry. In the past year, approximately 100 million people have been added to the ranks of the roughly 1 billion people worldwide considered by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization to be undernourished, according to its report issued June 19, 2009.
Seasonal influenza in health care workers is a personal health threat, but also poses a significant risk to the patients in their care. In an effort to help health care organizations improve the rate of health care worker influenza vaccinations, The Joint Commission is releasing a monograph "Providing a Safer Environment for Health Care Personnel and Patients Through Influenza Vaccination: Strategies from Research and Practice."
Spherix Incorporated (Nasdaq CM: SPEX), an innovator in biotechnology for diabetes therapy, and a provider of technical and regulatory consulting services to food, supplement, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, announced positive preliminary results from a Phase 2 clinical trial of its novel compound, Naturlose(R) (D-tagatose), in the treatment and management of Type 2 diabetes. The Phase 2 trial is expected to be completed in early 2010.
On the heels of a successful partnership between MDVIP and Project Access in Palm Beach County, Florida, MDVIP will now roll out their second initiative to support the uninsured community in Northern Virginia. In collaboration with The INOVA Health Systems and Project Access of Northern Virginia (PANV), four of the local MDVIP-affiliated physicians will participate in a pilot program to provide services to uninsured patients who have diabetes, cardiovascular disease or may be considered a high-risk patient for either chronic condition.
The New York Times reports that it has obtained 10 memorandums prepared by conservative groups on President Obama"s possible choices to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter that outline how conservatives hope to frame the coming nomination debate. The memos focus on 10 female potential nominees. Although the groups have gathered information on about three dozen people, both liberals and conservatives expect that Obama will nominate a woman for the position.The memos analyze the possible nominees" records and dissect statements they have made that conservative groups find objectionable. The memorandum on Judge Diane Wood criticizes her as an "outspoken" supporter of "abortion, including partial-birth abortion." In addition, the memo on Judge Sonia Sotomayor says she is willing to expand rights in the Constitution past where the text allows, while the summary on Judge Kathleen Sullivan says she supports same-sex marriage.According to the Times, conservatives have acknowledged that Democrats" control of the Senate gives them little chance of defeating the nomination, but they still aim to mount a formidable debate. Conservative groups hope that rallying their supporters behind a common cause "could help refill depleted coffers and galvanize a movement demoralized by Republican electoral defeats," the Times reports. Gary Marx, executive director of the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network, said that donors have committed to contributing millions of dollars for advertisements on television, radio and the Internet. Richard Viguerie, a conservative fundraiser, said, "It"s an immense opportunity to build the conservative movement and identify the troops out there." Nan Aron, president of the liberal Alliance for Justice, said, "I think the mood and the politics of the country have passed [conservatives] by." According to the Times, liberal groups also have created a shared research pool for the coming debate (Savage, New York Times, 5/17).
Figures from the British Institute for Anger Management reveal that the UK already has the worst road rage figures of any European nation, with 80% of drivers saying they"ve been involved in an incident and 1 in 4 admitting to committing an act of road rage themselves. Men are three times more likely to commit an act of aggression than women and over 60% of drivers say they have been intimidated by aggressive tailgating.
The journal Lancet Infectious Diseases examines the worldwide spread of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). Currently, about 500,000 of the 9 million new cases of TB that are identified each year are strains of XDR-TB. "Drug resistance is largely man-made - it is vitally important to review antibiotic treatment strategies and to ensure the Stop TB Strategy is fully applied to prevent further selection of drug-resistant mutants," Leonard Amaral of Universidade Nova de Lisboa said.
The Rheumatology Futures Project and the Department of Health have launched a new 18-week commissioning pathway for inflammatory arthritis (IA).
Senate Republicans on Tuesday in the first in a series of floor addresses launched more strongly worded criticism of Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor"s judicial record and previous speeches, Politico reports. Although the floor speeches are not likely to undermine the Democratic majority"s support for Sotomayor or block her confirmation, they indicate a shift in strategy for the GOP as it tries to generate more opposition to the nomination, according to Politico. As senators approach the weeklong July 4 recess, Republicans are attempting to show that they have "no intention of lying down in the face of what appears to be an increasingly inevitable confirmation," Politico reports. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Republican Jeff Sessions (Ala.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) used their time on the Senate floor to attempt to portray Sotomayor as a "judicial activist" and to attack President Obama"s previous statements that he would like to appoint a judge who displays "empathy" (Isenstadt, Politico, 6/24). Republicans also reiterated they will attempt to delay Sotomayor"s confirmation hearing, scheduled to begin July 13, if they do not feel they have enough time to review her judicial record, Roll Call reports. They also questioned Sotomayor"s involvement with the civil rights group LatinoJustice PRLDEF, which they labeled "far left," taking up a line of criticism that other conservatives have pushed. Sotomayor served as a board member for the group from 1980 to 1992. Democrats and White House officials are aggressively defending Sotomayor"s record, arguing that her lengthy judicial career supersedes any public statements or speeches she made in the past, according to Roll Call. Both said that their strategy is to avoid a point-counterpoint argument with Republicans. A White House official said there is "no reason to speculate on her record," which includes more than 3,000 panel decisions. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said that he has been "struck by her extraordinary career and how she"s excelled at everything she"s done." Leahy said that he is not convinced that Republicans need more time, noting that the Senate is using the same confirmation timetable as it used for Chief Justice John Roberts. Although Leahy said that he might be willing to discuss a schedule change if Republicans agreed not to filibuster or delay the nomination, he added that Republicans have not suggested such a deal at this point (Stanton, Roll Call, 6/24).
Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells. Underneath their smooth surface they harbor an elaborately folded inner membrane. It holds a multitude of bottleneck like invaginations, which expand into elongated cavities (cristae). The narrow shape of the entrance or pore to the cristae ("crista junction") allows separation of the intracristal space and storage of molecules. Cytochrome c, for example, an important signaling protein in programmed cell death (apoptosis), is stored in this compartment. When apoptosis is triggered, the pores enlarge and cytochrome c is released into the cytosol. Thus, understanding of how the pore diameter and the shape of the inner membrane are regulated on a molecular basis is of great relevance to a better understanding of mitochondrial function in general. Recently, in cooperation with other research teams, the group of Prof. Andreas Reichert, who has been appointed as professor for Mitochondrial Biology to the Goethe University within the Cluster of Excellence Macromolecular Complexes in 2007, has identified two proteins linked in an antagonistic manner that are relevant for governing inner membrane structure.
There is minimal data evaluating the prevalence of GERD complications in any United States general population, other than non-Hispanic whites. Presently, it is thought that such complications occur less frequently in African-Americans than in non-Hispanic whites. A research group in Jacksonville, FL investigated the prevalence of reflux esophagitis between non-Hispanic whites and African-Americans. The distribution of esophagitis severity and its complications were equivalent between groups, except for Barrett"s esophagus.
An important re consolidating understanding of the roles played by Ion channels in drug action is now available for scientists and students.
South London Healthcare NHS Trust (SLHT) is delighted to announce a new partnership with the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement as part of the trust"s drive for
The first clinical trial funded by the new Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) programme will investigate whether a simple procedure to activate one of the body"s natural defence mechanisms improves the function of kidneys after transplantation. This research is funded by the Medical Research Council and managed by the National Institute for Health Research.
Like many diseases, causes for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) can be categorized as either "nature" or "nurture". Researchers think these factors, when used in the proper model, can be strong predictors of the disease.
Some athletes are diagnosed with a pulled groin muscle when they actually might be suffering from a much more serious hip injury.
Stroke patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who undergo treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) following their stroke may substantially reduce their risk of death, according to Spanish research to be published in the July 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
If a lump is found in the breast of an adolescent girl, she often will undergo an excisional biopsy.