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Inhaled steroids best treatment for children with asthma

Although several medications are available to help children maintain asthma control, clinical trials directly comparing them have not been conducted.

23 Jan 2007

More med schools, hospitals ban gifts from pharmaceutical companies

An increased number of U.S. medical schools and hospitals have begun to ban meals and other gifts from pharmaceutical companies to physicians, residents and medical students "in response to concerns about whether the pharmaceutical industry's expensive marketing efforts influence which drugs doctors prescribe and whether those costs get passed on to patients.

23 Jan 2007

Medicare, social security obligations could harm future U.S. economy

Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke on Thursday at a Senate Budget Committee hearing said that if "early and meaningful action is not taken" by Congress to address the rising costs of retirement and medical services for baby boomers, "the U.S. economy could be seriously weakened, with future generations bearing much of the cost," the AP/Bergen Record reports.

23 Jan 2007

Overcrowding has not decreased in the last year at seven out of eight U.S. hospitals

According to the survey, 60% of respondents said that overcrowding forces their hospitals to divert ambulances to other facilities.

23 Jan 2007

House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee will make Medicare prescription drug benefit oversight priority in 2007

The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health will examine oversight of the Medicare prescription drug benefit among other priorities for the 110th Congress, House Ways and Means Committee Chair Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and ranking member Jim McCrery (R-La.) wrote in a letter sent last Wednesday to leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the House Administration Committee, CQ HealthBeat reports.

23 Jan 2007

Concerns about State proposals to cover the uninsured

Many U.S. companies have raised concerns that a number of recently announced state health insurance proposals "will drive up their expenses without solving the problem" of the uninsured, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports.

23 Jan 2007

Seniors turn to credit cards to pay medical bills

An increased number of seniors have "turned to credit cards and home equity to pay medical bills" at a time when "more employers are cutting back on retiree medical and pension benefits," USA Today reports.

23 Jan 2007

Childhood abuse could significantly increase the risk of psychosis in later life

Using data from a large American epidemiological mental health survey, based on a nationally representative sample of over 5000 people, Dr Mark Shevlin and Dr Gary Adamson found that social and environmental factors, such as childhood abuse, could significantly increase the risk of psychosis in later life.

23 Jan 2007

Antiviral resistance and the control of pandemic influenza

Stockpiling large amounts of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and related antiviral drugs with the intent to treat a large fraction of the population is a key part of pandemic preparedness of many countries.

23 Jan 2007

XDR-TB in South Africa

A team of medical ethics and public health experts say tough isolation measures, involuntary if need be, are justified to contain a deadly, contagious, drug-resistant strain of TB in South Africa and to prevent "a potentially explosive international health crisis."

23 Jan 2007

Spinal cord uses network mechanisms similar to those used in the brain

Our findings contradict conventional wisdom about spinal cord functions, says Rune W. Berg from Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology at the Faculty of Health Sciences.

23 Jan 2007

Health inequalities in Britain

Tackling health inequalities in Britain needs closer co-ordination between all major policy areas including health, education, housing, employment and taxation, according to the authors of a new Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) publication.

23 Jan 2007