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Inorganic nitrate reduces rate of heart dysfunction caused by doxorubicin

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have found that nutrient supplementation, like the kind that is found in leafy greens, spinach and lettuce, may reduce the damage to the heart caused by a powerful anti-cancer drug.

20 May 2011

Viewpoints: Coburn on his dropout; Malpractice reform and states

For the past several months I have been meeting with a small group of senators from both parties, informally known as the Gang of Six, that was designed to force the idle — not gridlocked — Senate, and then the House and the president, to enact a long-term deficit-reduction package.

20 May 2011

Mobile phones could help improve diabetes management in under-developed countries

A new study by the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System and University of Michigan suggests that mobile phones could help low-income patients across the globe manage diabetes and other chronic diseases.

18 May 2011

Medsphere achieves complete EHR certification for OpenVista solution

Medsphere Systems Corporation, the leading provider of open-source healthcare enterprise solutions, today announced complete electronic health record certification in inpatient settings for the company's OpenVista electronic health record.

17 May 2011

Obese men may face high risk of prostate cancer progression

Even when treated with hormone therapy to suppress tumor growth, obese men face an elevated risk of their prostate cancer worsening, researchers at Duke University Medical Center have found.

16 May 2011

Gene manipulation can improve survival rates during sepsis infection

Sepsis is a major killer in hospital intensive care units. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have found that manipulating a genetic factor that can launch or throttle the body's defenses can improve survival rates during bacterial infection.

13 May 2011

Court finds feds fell short in providing veterans with mental health services

A federal appeals court Tuesday lambasted the Department of Veterans Affairs for failing to care for those suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and ordered a major overhaul of the behemoth agency. Treatment delays for PTSD and other combat-related mental illnesses are so "egregious" that they violate veterans' constitutional rights and contribute to the despair behind many of the 6,500 suicides among veterans each year, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said in its 2-1 ruling.

12 May 2011

First Edition: May 11, 2011

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, Hilary Abramson writes: "Now comes the hard part. California, which has had a long, sometimes-tortured history of trying to overhaul its health care markets, beat every other state last year when it passed a law creating a health insurance exchange - an online marketplace where millions of uninsured residents will be able to get insurance".

11 May 2011

Shanghai Zhabei Health Bureau, CWRU sign 10-year research deal to study Chinese lifestyle

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has signed an unprecedented 10-year research agreement with the Shanghai Zhabei District Health Bureau to study how an increasingly westernized diet and a less active lifestyle are affecting the health of China's residents.

11 May 2011

U.S. veterans over 70 and older can benefit from current colon cancer screening methods

A new study of U.S. veterans ages 70 and older finds that the healthiest get the most benefit from current colon cancer screening methods. However, for many less healthy veterans the burdens of screening may outweigh the benefits.

10 May 2011

Wealth, population size, race and age associate with local availability of hospice programs

Wealth, population size, race and age associate with the supply of hospice care available in a county, according to a study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management this month.

10 May 2011

Fat returns after liposuction

Liposuction has become one of the most popular plastic surgeries in the country. It has been around since 1974 and there are now more than 450,000 operations a year. But does the fat come back? A recent study by Teri L. Hernandez, PhD, RN and Robert H. Eckel, MD, at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have found that the fat eventually returns within one year, and is redistributed to other areas of the body, especially the upper abdomen.

10 May 2011

Health Net achieves reaccreditation from URAC

Health Net Federal Services, LLC, part of the Government Contracts segment of Health Net, Inc., announced today it has been awarded full Health Network Reaccreditation, effective July 1, 2011 - July 1, 2014, from URAC, a Washington, DC-based health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry.

10 May 2011

Research roundup: Racial disparities in cancer screening and VA treatment

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Colorectal Cancer Screening Persisted Despite Expansion Of Medicare's Screening Reimbursement. This study looked at the effect in minority groups of expanded reimbursements by Medicare for colorectal cancer screenings.

7 May 2011

VA and DoD produce new collaboration guidebook on clinical health research

Researchers from the Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense have produced a new 56-page guidebook to spur more collaboration between the agencies on clinical health research.

7 May 2011

Clinicians must address limited health literacy of patients with kidney disease

Many patients on dialysis may not understand medical information critical to their wellbeing, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

6 May 2011

H. pylori DNA may help treat severe colitis

DNA from Helicobacter pylori, a common stomach bacteria, minimizes the effects of colitis in mice, according to a new study by University of Michigan Medical School scientists.

6 May 2011

U.S. Army and VA team up to provide simulation-based training for medical staff

The Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of the Army are working together to provide cutting-edge simulation-based training for medical staff to enhance the quality of patient care at VA medical facilities across the Nation.

6 May 2011

Coronary artery bypass graft surgeries have declined by 30% between 2001 and 2008

Between 2001 and 2008, the annual rate of coronary artery bypass graft surgeries performed in the United States decreased by more than 30 percent, but rates of percutaneous coronary interventions did not change significantly, according to a study in the May 4 issue of JAMA.

4 May 2011

New nano-vault delivery system can fight cancer

UCLA scientists have discovered a way to wake up the immune system to fight cancer by delivering an immune system-stimulating protein in a nanoscale container called a vault directly into lung cancer tumors, harnessing the body's natural defenses to fight disease growth.

4 May 2011