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Santa Claus: A public health pariah?

Santa should share Rudolf's snack of carrots and celery sticks rather than brandy and mince pies and swap his reindeer for a bike or walk, says a public health expert in the Christmas issue published on bmj.com today.

17 Dec 2009

Pregnant and breastfeeding women exposed to workplace hazards

A new study shows the employment and sociodemographic characteristics involved in the exposure of pregnant women to workplace hazards. Of these, 56% say they often work standing up or have to lift heavy objects, 63% are exposed to workplace stress and 62% say they are frequently exposed to some physical risk in their place of work.

17 Dec 2009

Health Research Institute presents top 10 issues in the upcoming year

PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute's Top 10 Health Industry Issues in 2010, puts healthcare cost control at the head of the list as the overarching theme for the year ahead.

17 Dec 2009

MRG: Chinese drug-eluting stent market to reach more than $900 million by 2014

According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, health care reforms in China supported rapid expansion of the Chinese drug-eluting stent market in 2009, and will continue to fuel growth in the coming years.

17 Dec 2009

New licensing agreement to develop and commercialize prophylactic vaccine against MRSA signed

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group, announced today that it has entered into an exclusive, world-wide licensing agreement with Syntiron to develop and commercialize its prophylactic vaccine against Staphylococcus, including Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA.

17 Dec 2009

Arizona State University and Mayo Clinic team up to explore metabolic syndrome

Arizona State University and Mayo Clinic in Arizona are joining forces in a partnership to investigate metabolic syndrome - a cluster of high-risk medical factors that include increased blood pressure, elevated insulin levels, excess body fat and abnormal cholesterol levels, which can lead to heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

16 Dec 2009

New study to evaluate the effectiveness of H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines in pregnant women conducted

Abt Associates will conduct a study for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to evaluate the effectiveness of the H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines among pregnant women, one of the high risk populations identified by CDC.

16 Dec 2009

States battle budget cuts and recession

Houston Chronicle: "Texas scores high in emergency preparedness during a time when many other states are suffering cuts in state and federal public health funding and losses in medical staff, according to the Ready or Not? report, sponsored by Trust for America's Health, a disease prevention advocacy group, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation." But, economic turmoil has led to a "nationwide backslide in overall emergency preparedness" (Burton, 12/15).

16 Dec 2009

Lieberman assures Democrats of his support but ties with party are fraying

The Wall Street Journal reports that Lieberman's "use of his swing vote to help quash a proposed expansion of Medicare marked the latest act in his deteriorating relationship with the Democratic Party. Cheered nine years ago by Democrats as their vice-presidential nominee, Mr. Lieberman later left the party and now is an object of vilification among many in the party's base because of his positions on health care."

16 Dec 2009

Awareness increase program of HIV/AIDS patients on ADAP waiting lists

In response to the growing number of HIV/AIDS patients on AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) waiting lists, the National Minority AIDS Council and the Flowers Heritage Foundation have joined forces to increase awareness of Bridge the Gap, a unique program that provides medication for people currently waiting for ADAP enrollment.

16 Dec 2009

Advanced Life Sciences Holdings' Restanza promising against tularemia

Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ADLS), today announced positive top-line results from a pivotal, non-human primate study of its novel, once-a-day, oral antibiotic Restanza(TM) (cethromycin) against an inhaled lethal dose of tularemia. A 14-day course of Restanza achieved a 100% survival rate at the doses tested. All of the ten animals in the study that received 16 mg/kg once-a-day of Restanza (approximate to a human dose of 300 mg) within 24 hours after exposure to a lethal dose of inhaled tularemia survived while only one of the ten animals that received placebo survived.

16 Dec 2009

Walgreens offers H1N1 vaccine in 27 states

Walgreens, the nation’s largest drugstore chain and an industry leader with more than 17,000 certified or licensed immunizers, today announced it is offering H1N1 vaccine at more than 1,500 Walgreens pharmacies and select Take Care Clinics in 27 states, as well as the District of Columbia.

16 Dec 2009

H1N1 outbreak reveals existing gaps in nation's public health emergency preparedness

The seventh annual Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report, released today by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), found that the H1N1 flu outbreak has exposed serious underlying gaps in the nation's ability to respond to public health emergencies and that the economic crisis is straining an already fragile public health system.

16 Dec 2009

AstraZeneca's CRESTOR receives favorable vote from FDA Advisory Committee

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee (EMDAC) today voted 12 yes, 4 no, and 1 abstention that AstraZeneca has established sufficient benefit to offset the observed risks to support the use of CRESTOR®

16 Dec 2009

Health information training dispels myths and promotes health awareness

Although growing numbers of people check their symptoms with "Dr. Google" or seek other medical advice online, many still lack the access and skills to take advantage of the Web's wealth of health information.

16 Dec 2009

University of Florida obtains stimulus grant to establish ataxia consortium

University of Florida neurologists are trying to change that with the help of a $1 million Challenge grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to establish a nationwide network of physician-scientists with expertise in clinical ataxia research.

16 Dec 2009

MU researcher says older American women face unique barriers in healthcare

For Americans living in rural areas, obtaining and maintaining health care can be challenging. Aside from common barriers, including shortages of care providers and facilities, older women face additional challenges, according to Kay Libbus, a public health researcher at the University of Missouri. Libbus says that women ages 50-65 living in rural areas are at-risk for inadequate health care coverage and limited access to health information.

16 Dec 2009

Nutrition education may help diabetes patients to adopt better dietary habits

Nine weeks of education about the glycemic index in foods is enough to encourage adults with type 2 diabetes to adopt better dietary habits that result in improvements to their health, recent research suggests.

16 Dec 2009

Participating in social service programs can delay cognitive decline in older adults

Volunteer service, such as tutoring children, can help older adults delay or reverse declining brain function, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

15 Dec 2009

Tarenflurbil drug does not appear to benefit Alzheimer’s patients

Although there were promising results in a phase 2 trial, patients with mild Alzheimer disease who received the drug tarenflurbil as part of a phase 3 trial did not have better outcomes on measures of cognitive decline or loss of activities of daily living compared to patients who received placebo, according to a study in the December 16 issue of JAMA.

15 Dec 2009