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Insurer earnings strong, but new health law may take toll

"As health insurers release earnings starting this week, the focus will likely be on clues as to how the U.S. health overhaul affects margins and growth," Dow Jones Newswires/The Wall Street Journal reports. "Led by managed-care bellwether UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH), the sector is seen posting hardy earnings for the second quarter.

21 Jul 2010

Health reform law faces political, implementation challenges

Politico: States with "the most progressive health policies" are having a hard time implementing their part of a $5 billion series of high-risk insurance pools because their states offer a more generous guarantee of coverage. "Five states — Vermont, Maine, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts — have 'guaranteed issue' of insurance: individual subscribers cannot be turned away because of a health condition.

21 Jul 2010

Mental exercises may help reverse age-related cognitive decline

Specialized brain training targeted at the regions of a rat's brain that process sound reversed many aspects of normal, age-related cognitive decline and improved the health of the brain cells, according to a new study from researchers at University of California, San Francisco.

21 Jul 2010

Over-expression of Arpc1b promotes tumorigenic properties of breast cancer cells: Research

A major discovery, led by researchers from The George Washington University Medical Center, promises to revolutionize the way scientists think about key aspects of cellular lifecycle and offers a new avenue for cancer researchers to explore in their quest to one day slow down the progression of cancer.

21 Jul 2010

CSIRO signs global licensing agreement for Reversible Addition-Fragmentation chain Transfer technology

CSIRO has signed a global licensing agreement for its patented RAFT technology. Reversible Addition-Fragmentation chain Transfer (or RAFT) technology is an elegant and powerful polymerisation process that has given rise to a new branch of polymer chemistry.

21 Jul 2010

LSDF announces awards for four Washington research teams

The Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF) today announced $600,000 in awards to four Washington state-based research teams to support commercial development of health-related technologies. The funded projects will concentrate on improving the success rate of lumbar punctures (spinal taps) in children; developing a safer and more effective magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent; enhancing a DNA sequencing technology to profile T cells within the immune system; and developing a device to detect early stages of tooth decay.

21 Jul 2010

Opinions: AIDS vaccine and cure; China's role in the Global Fund; Child marriage prevention act; Gorbachev on safe water

A Globe and Mail editorial discusses the importance of "the quest for an AIDS vaccine and the search for a cure," stating that "it is simply not possible to 'treat' our way out of this disease." The authors write that "for every person who receives treatment - which must continue over their entire lifetime - about three new people become infected."

21 Jul 2010

Hybrid Linac-MR imaging system tracks cancer tumors in real time

Today, at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) in Philadelphia, a group of researchers from Stanford University will describe the latest developments toward their goal of integrating two existing medical devices -- medical linear accelerators, or "linacs," which produce powerful X-rays for treating cancer, and magnetic resonance imagers (MRIs), which are widely used to image tumors in the human body.

21 Jul 2010

Doctor, nurse roles considered as shortages take hold

"The private doctor's practice — long considered a mainstay of American medicine — could be going the way of the independent bookstore and locally owned pharmacy," The Detroit News reports. "Crushed by mounting economic pressures, more midcareer physicians in Michigan and across the country are giving up their solo practices and joining large and better-financed hospital systems as salaried employees.

21 Jul 2010

Preventative measures to avoid Lyme disease

Research on the population of black-legged ticks, which can transmit Lyme disease from host animals to humans, reinforces that it is important to take preventative measures when spending time outdoors.

21 Jul 2010

Overweight and obese women at greater risk of preterm births

A new study by researchers at McMaster University shows overweight and obese women face greater risks of preterm births. Their babies may suffer serious health problems from being born too soon, especially earlier than 32 weeks.

21 Jul 2010

JHM, All Children's Hospital sign letter of intent to integrate

Johns Hopkins Medicine and All Children's Hospital & Health System of St. Petersburg, Fla., have signed a letter of intent to integrate. After appropriate due diligence is completed sometime later this year, ACH will join the Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS) as a fully integrated member of JHM.

21 Jul 2010

Men with asthma or eczema at lower risk of developing cancer

Men who had a history of asthma or eczema generally had a lower risk of developing cancer, according to a study carried out by researchers at INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, the Research Centre of the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, and McGill University. The findings, published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, show that male eczema sufferers had a lower risk of lung cancer while those with a history of asthma had a similar effect in relation to stomach cancer.

21 Jul 2010

Doctors criticize insurers over rankings

Doctor groups are slamming insurers for increasingly using rankings "to steer patients toward certain physicians based on cost or quality," The Wall Street Journal reports.

21 Jul 2010

Gilead Sciences second-quarter total revenues increase 17% to $1.93 billion

Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced today its results of operations for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. Total revenues for the second quarter of 2010 were $1.93 billion, up 17 percent compared to total revenues of $1.65 billion for the second quarter of 2009. Net income for the second quarter of 2010 was $712.1 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, compared to net income for the second quarter of 2009 of $571.4 million, or $0.61 per diluted share.

21 Jul 2010

CHLA receives $410,000 grant for 'first in childhood leukemia' multi-site study

J. Eric Bubbers, PhD, of the Saban Research Institute at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, has received a $410,000 grant from Phase One Foundation. The award will fund a "first in childhood leukemia" multi-site study in children with relapsed or refractory acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) or acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Dr. Bubbers is the administrative director of Therapeutic Advances in Childhood Leukemia and Lymphoma (TACL), an academic research consortium consisting of 33 member institutions in four countries.

21 Jul 2010

GCSF administration can reduce side effects of cancer neurobastoma in children

Children given a hormone growth factor alongside chemotherapy for the aggressive cancer neuroblastoma are less likely to suffer a potentially deadly side-effect, according to a major international study published today (Tuesday) in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

21 Jul 2010