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New drug to treat chronic pain in SCD patients

A University of Minnesota Medical School research team led by Kalpna Gupta, Ph.D., has discovered that cannibinoids offer a novel approach to ease the chronic and acute pain caused by sickle cell disease.Using a mouse model of SCD, Gupta and University of Minnesota colleagues studied the pain mechanisms by observing animals that exhibited both musculoskeletal pain and temperature sensitivity, symptoms similarly experienced by humans with SCD. The team compared two classifications of drugs in their ability to manage pain sensed by the animals, the traditionally prescribed classification of drugs, opioids, with a new therapeutic approach, cannabinoids, a synthetic compound based on marijuana derivatives. Currently, the only approved treatment for management of severe pain in SCD is opioids.

23 Jul 2010

Report: Nonprofit insurers collected billions in surplus while hiking premiums

An analysis by Consumers Union has found that non-profit Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans collected billions of dollars in surplus over the past decade while raising premiums for customers.

23 Jul 2010

Lack of SIRT1 protein exhibits impaired memory and learning: Study

A protein implicated in many biological processes also may play a role in memory, according to a study led by the University of Southern California and the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health.The findings, published this week in the Journal of Neuroscience, agree with research by a different team published online by Nature on July 11. Both studies found that mice lacking the protein SIRT1 exhibited impaired memory and learning, suggesting SIRT1's importance to those functions.

23 Jul 2010

Nestle announces collaborative study with Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute on diet rich in whole grains

Nestle USA Chairman and CEO Brad Alford has announced that Nestle Research Center, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, has donated US $500,000 to Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute. The gift will fund a collaborative study focused on examining the effects of a diet rich in whole grains on body composition and energy metabolism.

23 Jul 2010

New rules guarantee patients' right to appeal insurance claim denials

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz and Michelle Andrews, working in collaboration with The Washington Post, report on new rules being issued today by the Obama administration.

23 Jul 2010

BDSRA designates Nationwide Children's Hospital as Batten Disease Center of Excellence

Nationwide Children's Hospital has been selected as a Center of Excellence by the Batten Disease Support and Research Association (BDSRA), the largest research and support organization in North America for families that have children with Batten disease. BDSRA chose Nationwide Children's because of its clinical and research history with the disease and its ability to provide comprehensive care for these unique children.

23 Jul 2010

Many House Democrats trying to revive 'public option' with new bill

More than 120 Democrats in the House are pushing a new bill to reintroduce a discarded idea from the health overhaul debate last year: the "public option," Los Angeles Times/Tribune reports. "The idea of creating a major government health insurance program was roundly rejected last year, but the 128 House Democrats pushing to reconsider the idea are now advancing the argument that it would help hold down federal spending.

23 Jul 2010

Bullied children are at risk for developing emotional problems

Bullying victimization is common among children of school age, although its consequences are often anything but benign. The recent death of a Massachusetts teen by suicide prompted state lawmakers to pass one of the most far-reaching anti-bullying laws within the U.S. Whether such legislative actions result in measurable decreases in physical or emotional distress among school peers remains to be seen.

23 Jul 2010

No COBRA subsidy in Senate-passed unemployment benefits bill

"U.S. workers who lost their jobs as of June 1 won't be eligible for a 65 percent federal subsidy to help pay for health insurance under an unemployment bill the Senate approved yesterday," Bloomberg reports. That provision and other assistance programs were stripped from the jobless bill because of concerns about how to pay for them.

23 Jul 2010

Researchers discover fundamental entry mechanism of fungal microbes into plant and human host cells

A research team led by scientists at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech has discovered a fundamental entry mechanism that allows dangerous fungal microbes to infect plants and cause disease. The discovery paves the way for the development of new intervention strategies to protect plant, and even some animal cells, from deadly fungal infections. The findings are published in the July 23 edition of the journal Cell.

23 Jul 2010

St. Jude Medical second-quarter net sales increase 11% to $1.313 billion

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today reported sales and net earnings for the second quarter ended July 3, 2010.

23 Jul 2010

More homeowners modify houses to "age in place"

The Seattle Times/The Orlando Sentinel: "The new catch phrase among homeowners is 'aging in place.' Instead of selling their homes and moving into retirement villages or assisted-living quarters, a growing number of older Americans are modifying their homes to make them more user-friendly as they age. The concept has caught on so successfully, it even has its own National Aging in Place Week, which falls on Oct. 11-16 this year."

23 Jul 2010

Michigan challenge to health law begins

The Detroit News: On Wednesday, "[a] federal judge heard arguments [in the] lawsuit that is being watched nationwide for its challenge of congressional authority to reform health care in a way that would penalize citizens who fail to obtain their own health insurance." The attorney for one plaintiff, The Thomas More Law Center, a group espousing religious principles, said, "There is no precedent for this power grab" (Guthrie, 7/22).

23 Jul 2010

New findings on "successful aging"

What, exactly, does "successful aging" mean? For more than a half century, researchers and gerontologists have argued whether successful aging is better defined subjectively or objectively (physical disease-related disability or mental decline). Answering this question is more than an academic exercise. As the first members of the famed "baby boom generation" reach age 65, understanding what it means to remain healthy and independent in later life could have an enormous impact on health care delivery and medical policy.

23 Jul 2010

Funding for new medical ventures improving

The Dallas Morning News reports on the funding climate for health care technology startups.

23 Jul 2010

hBD-3 biomarker helps early stage detection of oral cancer

Detecting oral cancer in its earliest stages can save the lives of the nearly 40,500 people diagnosed annually. But early detection has been difficult. Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine researchers discovered a biomarker, called human beta defensin-3 (hBD-3), which may serve as an early warning. The defensin is present in all oral cancers and associated with the early stages of oral cancer.

23 Jul 2010

Osteocalcin hormone can regulate glucose levels: Research

Researchers led by Columbia University Medical Center have discovered that the skeleton plays an important role in regulating blood sugar and have further illuminated how bone controls this process. The finding, published in Cell, is important because it may lead to more targeted drugs for type 2 diabetes.

23 Jul 2010

AIDS 2010 studies, releases: Criminalization, discrimination of high-risk groups; Test-and-treat; UNAIDS launches HIV prevention commission

The criminalization of men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people in Asia is holding back efforts to contain HIV/AIDS in the region, according to a report presented Wednesday by the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) and Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health at the International AIDS Conference-AIDS 2010, VOA News reports. The report "linked the criminalization of homosexual behavior to an increase in the infection rate of HIV and AIDS in Asia," the news service writes (Dewan, 7/21).

23 Jul 2010

Early bird registration for 2nd International Symposium on MR-guided Focused Ultrasound ends on July 31, 2010

The Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation today issued a reminder that early bird registration discounts will end on Saturday, July 31 for the upcoming 2nd International Symposium on MR-guided Focused Ultrasound.

23 Jul 2010

Endologix second-quarter total revenue increases 19% to $15.7 million

Endologix, Inc., developer of minimally invasive treatments for aortic disorders, today announced financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2010.

23 Jul 2010