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State highlights: States urge using life insurance for long-term care

State lawmakers are encouraging elderly residents to use life insurance as a way to pay for long-term care -- and lower the Medicaid tab in the process. The strategy marks a tacit endorsement of so-called life settlements, a practice in which policyholders sell their policies at a discount in the secondary market and the buyer takes over premiums and consequently collects the death benefit (Greene, 6/16).

18 Jun 2013

AtriCure's Bipolar RF Ablation System shows promising results in persistent Afib patients

A leading German cardiovascular heart center reported promising mid-term results for the surgical treatment of persistent atrial fibrillation during last week's International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery meeting being held in Prague, Czech Republic.

18 Jun 2013

Researchers to study benefits, side effects of four widely used therapies in adults with type 2 diabetes

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers are seeking 150 adults with type 2 diabetes to take part in the local arm of a major national clinical trial that will compare benefits and side effects of four widely used therapies to lower blood-sugar levels.

18 Jun 2013

Two MRI measurements of abdominal aorta associated with future cardiovascular events

In a study of more than 2,000 adults, researchers found that two MRI measurements of the abdominal aorta - the amount of plaque in the vessel and the thickness of its wall - are associated with future cardiovascular events, such as a heart attack or stroke. Results of the study are published online in the journal Radiology.

18 Jun 2013

Concerns raised about disproportionate impact of changes in hospital payment methods

Teaching hospitals with a higher intensity of physician-training activity achieve lower mortality rates, but higher hospitalization readmission rates for key medical diagnoses, reports a study in the July issue of Medical Care, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

18 Jun 2013

New study identifies possible treatment to block deposition of calcium in arterial wall

HGPS is a rare genetic disease that affects one in every 4-8 million births. The disease is caused by a spontaneous mutation in one of the two copies (alleles) of the gene LMNA, which codes for lamin A, a protein important for the integrity and function of the envelope surrounding the cell nucleus. The mutation causes incorrect processing of the messenger RNA for lamin proteins, resulting in the synthesis of an anomalous protein, called progerin.

18 Jun 2013

Drug increases amount of energy burned by fat tissue and promotes weight loss

A drug that mimics the activity of thyroid hormone significantly increases the amount of energy burned by fat tissue and promotes weight loss, an animal study of metabolism finds. The results were presented Sunday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

18 Jun 2013

Study: Male mice fed with high-fat diet are more likely to father offspring with higher levels of body fat

Male mice who were fed a high-fat diet and became obese were more likely to father offspring who also had higher levels of body fat, a new Ohio University study finds.

17 Jun 2013

Investigators recruit subjects for Boston Children's Hand Transplant Program

Boston Children's Hospital today announced that investigators are now recruiting subjects for the world's first pediatric hand transplant program. The Boston Children's Hand Transplant Program, led by principal investigator Amir Taghinia, MD, and William Harmon, MD, is a research-based program that will offer bi-lateral hand transplants for children living without two functioning hands.

17 Jun 2013

Biozoom exercises option to acquire 19.9% of Opsolution

Biozoom exercised its option, under a joint venture agreement, to acquire 19.9% of Opsolution, a research and development company dedicated to advancing spectroscopic technology.

15 Jun 2013

Mayo researchers find rheumatic condition gout may be due to flare-ups in other joints

The painful rheumatic condition gout is often associated with the big toe, but it turns out that patients at highest risk of further flare-ups are those whose gout first involved other joints, such as a knee or elbow, Mayo Clinic has found.

15 Jun 2013

Amedra Pharmaceuticals re-launches single-dose epinephrine auto-injector, Adrenaclick

Amedra Pharmaceuticals LLC has announced re-launch of Adrenaclick®, a single-dose epinephrine auto-injector, for the emergency treatment of life threatening allergic reactions in people who are at risk for or have a history of anaphylaxis. Adrenaclick® will be available as a two-pack carton in both 0.15 mg and 0.30 mg strengths.

15 Jun 2013

Irene Pollin gifts $10 million to the Ciccarone Center for Prevention of Heart Disease

Irene Pollin, a passionate health advocate and founder of a national organization devoted to heart disease prevention in women, has made a $10 million gift to the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease.

15 Jun 2013

Immigrants' health care costs are hot topic on Capitol Hill

Other media reports detail Sen. Ron Wyden's proposal to allow accountable care organizations to focus on the sickest, most costly patients; questions from Rep. Darrell Issa, R.-Calif., about the navigator program's funding; and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's, D-Calif., angry response to a reporter's question about late-term abortions.

15 Jun 2013

ESH and ESC issue new joint Guidelines for hypertension treatment

Lifestyle factors, lack of awareness by both patients and physicians, hesitancy in initiating and intensifying drug treatment, and healthcare structural deficiencies are amongst the reasons for the increasing problem of high blood pressure in Europe, according to new joint Guidelines issued today by the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

15 Jun 2013

Too much sugar can lead to heart failure, shows study

Too much sugar can set people down a pathway to heart failure, according to a study led by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

15 Jun 2013

Gulf War illness may have two distinct forms, study says

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center say their new work suggests that Gulf War illness may have two distinct forms depending on which brain regions have atrophied. Their study of Gulf War veterans, published online today in PLOS ONE, may help explain why clinicians have consistently encountered veterans with different symptoms and complaints.

15 Jun 2013

UTHealth collaborates with Rice University to save lives of CVD patients in Fiji

A device born out of a collaboration between The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and Rice University could save lives in Fiji where cardiovascular disease has been called a pandemic.

14 Jun 2013

Research: Deep brain stimulation is associated with weight loss trend in morbidly obese patients

The first use of deep brain stimulation to the brain's so-called "feeding center" - the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) - was associated with a weight loss trend in morbidly obese patients whose stimulation was tuned to increase metabolism with novel guidance from metabolic chamber data, according to a pilot study presented at the International Neuromodulation Society's 11th World Congress by Dr. Michael Oh of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pa.

14 Jun 2013

Adults formerly treated for childhood cancer have chronic health problems

In an analysis that included more than 1,700 adult survivors of childhood cancer, researchers found a very high percentage of survivors with 1 or more chronic health conditions, with an estimated cumulative prevalence of any chronic health condition of 95 percent at age 45 years, according to a study in the June 12 issue of JAMA.

14 Jun 2013

Heart News and Research

State highlights: States urge using life insurance for long-term care

AtriCure's Bipolar RF Ablation System shows promising results in persistent Afib patients

Researchers to study benefits, side effects of four widely used therapies in adults with type 2 diabetes

Two MRI measurements of abdominal aorta associated with future cardiovascular events

Concerns raised about disproportionate impact of changes in hospital payment methods

New study identifies possible treatment to block deposition of calcium in arterial wall

Drug increases amount of energy burned by fat tissue and promotes weight loss

Study: Male mice fed with high-fat diet are more likely to father offspring with higher levels of body fat

Investigators recruit subjects for Boston Children's Hand Transplant Program

Biozoom exercises option to acquire 19.9% of Opsolution

Mayo researchers find rheumatic condition gout may be due to flare-ups in other joints

Amedra Pharmaceuticals re-launches single-dose epinephrine auto-injector, Adrenaclick

Irene Pollin gifts $10 million to the Ciccarone Center for Prevention of Heart Disease

Immigrants' health care costs are hot topic on Capitol Hill

ESH and ESC issue new joint Guidelines for hypertension treatment

Too much sugar can lead to heart failure, shows study

Gulf War illness may have two distinct forms, study says

UTHealth collaborates with Rice University to save lives of CVD patients in Fiji

Research: Deep brain stimulation is associated with weight loss trend in morbidly obese patients

Adults formerly treated for childhood cancer have chronic health problems

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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