Mortality News and Research

RSS

British First Lady highlights maternal mortality worldwide

Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and head of the Maternal Mortality Campaign, highlighted global maternal mortality at the Royal College of Midwives annual conference on Friday, the U.K. Press Association reports.

30 Nov 2009

Also in Global Health news: 'Positive deviance' approach to health; child malnutrition in Madagascar; Somalia's health system; weak harvests in West Africa; improving health equity

The Boston Globe examines "'positive deviance,' an approach to behavioral and social change. Instead of imposing solutions from without, the method identifies outliers in a community who, despite having no special advantages, are doing exceptionally well. By respecting local ingenuity, proponents say, the approach galvanizes community members and is often more effective and sustainable than imported blueprints."

30 Nov 2009

Kiadis Pharma commences enrollment in multinational ATIR study

Biopharmaceutical company Kiadis Pharma announces today that the first patients have been enrolled in its multinational registration clinical trial with ATIR(TM). The study is designed to show reduction in transplant related mortality (TRM) after one year following an allogeneic stem cell transplantation with a mismatched (haplo-identical) donor in blood cancer patients eligible for an allogeneic stem cell transplantation but without having a matched donor available.

30 Nov 2009

Interventions by parent mentors can effectively reduce wheezing and asthma attacks in children

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found that informed adults can help families stave off complications associated with asthma. The findings, available online and in the December issue of Pediatrics, suggest that interventions by parent mentors - caregivers of asthmatic children who have received specialized topical training - can effectively reduce wheezing, asthma attacks, emergency room visits and missed adult workdays.

30 Nov 2009

CCAC congratulates the Ontario government for expanding access to Avastin

The Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada (CCAC) applauds the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care's decision today to provide expanded access of Avastin (bevacizumab) to patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

30 Nov 2009

Study on deaths from cancer in Europe shows steady decline in mortality

New figures on deaths from cancer in Europe show a steady decline in mortality between the periods 1990-1994 and 2000-2004. Deaths from all cancers in the European Union (EU) between these two periods fell by nine percent in men and eight percent in women, with a large drop among the middle-aged population.

29 Nov 2009

Majority of Canadians want to keep their commitment to reduce child deaths around the world

GTA parents and children gathered at an African-style clinic in downtown Toronto today, where World Vision released a poll that showed most Canadians (84%) think it's great that a lot of focus is placed on immunizing Canadian children against the H1N1 flu and other diseases. They (79%) want to see just as much focus on immunizing children in poor countries.

27 Nov 2009

Risk of postnatal transmission can be reduced with HAART in HIV-positive mothers

Researchers conducting clinical trials in Rwanda have concluded that the risk of postnatal transmission is minimal in HIV-positive mothers undergoing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) while breastfeeding.

27 Nov 2009

LCA-CA issues 2nd Annual Report Card on Lung Cancer

Today, Lung Cancer Alliance-California (LCA-CA) issued its 2nd Annual Report Card on Lung Cancer. The 2009 Report Card is an assessment of progress being made against this lethal disease in the state of California.

26 Nov 2009

LCA-GA issues 4th Annual Report Card on Lung Cancer

Today, Lung Cancer Alliance-Georgia (LCA-GA) issued the 4th Annual Report Card on Lung Cancer. This Report is an assessment of progress being made against this lethal disease in the state of Georgia.

26 Nov 2009

Parent mentors can help in reducing asthma complications in minority children

26 Nov 2009

Under-five child mortality up 20% in Zimbabwe, new data shows

UNICEF and the government of Zimbabwe announced Tuesday that, according to new social development data, the mortality rate for children under age five has risen by 20 percent since 1990, Reuters reports.

25 Nov 2009

SBI urges Congress to exclude the USPSTF guidelines from health care legislation

Several sections of Senate health care reform legislation contain language stipulating that insurance entities such as private insurers, Medicare and Medicaid would only be required to cover services receiving a specific grade from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force. Presently, this would exclude mammography services for women 40-49, would only require coverage of biennial (every other year) coverage for women 50-74, and exclude coverage for those 74 and older.

25 Nov 2009

Study finds no significant difference in hospital angioplasty volume and death rates in patients with myocardial infarction

A study based on a contemporary registry of patients with myocardial infarction (heart attack) indicates that even though hospitals that perform a higher number of angioplasties are more likely to follow evidence-based guidelines and have shorter times to the angioplasty procedure, there appears to be no significant difference in outcomes such as length of hospital stay or risk of death, according to a study in the November 25 issue of JAMA.

25 Nov 2009

Comparison study finds no significant differences in post-transplant survival rates of NASH and ETOH groups

Researchers at the University of Miami School of Medicine compared the outcomes of cirrhotic patients who underwent liver transplants for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) versus alcoholic liver disease (ETOH) and found no statistically significant differences in post-transplant survival rates between the NASH and ETOH groups

25 Nov 2009

Reboxetine drug does not alleviate depression, says new study

There is no scientific proof that people suffering from depression can benefit from taking reboxetine. However, clinical trials do provide proof of benefit of bupropion XL and mirtazapine: both agents can alleviate symptoms. This is the conclusion of the final report of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) published on 24 November 2009.

24 Nov 2009

Also in Global Health news: Home HIV treatment; voluntary testing in Kenya; women/HIV scorecard; Global Fund Zimbabwe grant; contraceptives in Tanzania

The New York Times reports on a Lancet study that found treating Ugandan HIV patients at home is cheaper and just as effective as treating them in a clinic.

24 Nov 2009

Medical advances abound while surgeons report concerns about medical errors

The Wall Street Journal reports on "20 health-care advances to give thanks for this Thanksgiving." Among the most key: "Life expectancy in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 77.9 years in 2007, the latest year for which statistics are available, continuing a long upward trend. (That's 75.3 years for men and 80.4 years for women.) ... Death rates dropped significantly for eight of the 15 leading causes of death in the U.S., including cancer, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, accidents, diabetes, homicides and pneumonia, from 2006 to 2007."

24 Nov 2009

Americans with hepatitis C are at increased risk of developing liver cancer, says NVHR

New peer-reviewed data finding that fewer than one-fifth of the nearly 4 million Americans infected with chronic hepatitis C virus have received anti-viral therapy in recent years should be a wake-up call that Congress needs to move urgently on bipartisan legislation to support new state-based detection, research, and surveillance efforts, the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable (NVHR) said today.

24 Nov 2009

New MEMS sensor may help clinicians distinguish stable and unstable plaque during cardiac emergencies

University of Sourthern California biomedical engineer and cardiologist Tzung "John" Hsiai hopes to develop a new tool to help clinicians distinguish cardiac emergencies requiring immediate surgery from chronic problems manageable with drugs and lifestyle change.

24 Nov 2009

Mortality News and Research

British First Lady highlights maternal mortality worldwide

Also in Global Health news: 'Positive deviance' approach to health; child malnutrition in Madagascar; Somalia's health system; weak harvests in West Africa; improving health equity

Kiadis Pharma commences enrollment in multinational ATIR study

Interventions by parent mentors can effectively reduce wheezing and asthma attacks in children

CCAC congratulates the Ontario government for expanding access to Avastin

Study on deaths from cancer in Europe shows steady decline in mortality

Majority of Canadians want to keep their commitment to reduce child deaths around the world

Risk of postnatal transmission can be reduced with HAART in HIV-positive mothers

LCA-CA issues 2nd Annual Report Card on Lung Cancer

LCA-GA issues 4th Annual Report Card on Lung Cancer

Parent mentors can help in reducing asthma complications in minority children

Under-five child mortality up 20% in Zimbabwe, new data shows

SBI urges Congress to exclude the USPSTF guidelines from health care legislation

Study finds no significant difference in hospital angioplasty volume and death rates in patients with myocardial infarction

Comparison study finds no significant differences in post-transplant survival rates of NASH and ETOH groups

Reboxetine drug does not alleviate depression, says new study

Also in Global Health news: Home HIV treatment; voluntary testing in Kenya; women/HIV scorecard; Global Fund Zimbabwe grant; contraceptives in Tanzania

Medical advances abound while surgeons report concerns about medical errors

Americans with hepatitis C are at increased risk of developing liver cancer, says NVHR

New MEMS sensor may help clinicians distinguish stable and unstable plaque during cardiac emergencies

Event guide: 4th Extra-Hepatic Lipid-Based Nanoparticles Delivery Summit eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Latest News