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Absence of vision from birth leads to permanent state of pain hypersensitivity, shows report

Absence of vision from birth leads to a permanent state of pain hypersensitivity, reports PAIN. An international team of scientists investigated whether congenitally blind subjects experience pain differently than sighted individuals. Their results, published in the current issue of PAIN®, reveal compelling evidence that congenitally blind individuals are hypersensitive to pain caused by thermal stimuli.

3 Nov 2013

Policy cancellation letters lead to questions, put White House on the defensive

Even as the Obama administration struggles to recover from the troubled launch of healthcare.gov, a new issue has cropped up that is calling into question one of President Barack Obama's often-repeated health law promises -- that if a person has health insurance they like, they'll be able to keep it.

31 Oct 2013

First Edition: October 31, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about how health law complications are quickly moving beyond problems with the healthcare.gov website to include other issues.

30 Oct 2013

Study shows concentration levels of PAHs in smokeless tobacco products

A new study shows that the concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in smokeless tobacco products (STPs) can differ by as much as 60 fold, with the highest levels in moist snuff, and dry snuff and soft pellets; the lowest levels were in snus.

25 Oct 2013

Dems grow frustrated with Obamacare website, impact on broader law

Even some Obama allies are calling for major changes -- as well as someone's firing -- after the technically flawed rollout of the health law's online insurance marketplace. Democrats are also worried about what the problems could do to support for the broader law, and some are even calling for a delay to a mandate that Americans buy insurance.

25 Oct 2013

Study shows oxytocin hormone enhances placebo response in analgesia model

The hormone oxytocin may mediate processes such as empathy, trust, and social learning. These are key elements of the patient-physician relationship, which is an important mediator of placebo responses, according to background information in a Research Letter appearing in the October 23/30 issue of JAMA.

24 Oct 2013

Findings shed light on the impact, treatment concerns related to uterine fibroids

Uterine fibroids cause significant fear and morbidity and can compromise workplace performance, according to a recently published survey of nearly 1,000 women in the U.S. The results were published this month in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Journal of Women's Health.

24 Oct 2013

Activation mechanism of protective protein in ocular lens resolved

The lens of the human eye is made up of a highly concentrated protein solution that imparts the eye its high refractive power. Yet, despite this high protein content the ocular lens must remain clear and transparent.

24 Oct 2013

Sebelius to testify on Healthcare.Gov problems

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is expected to answer lawmakers' questions about the troubled rollout of the health law's exchange website as early as next week. Her staff had declined a request to have her testify Thursday citing scheduling conflicts.

23 Oct 2013

Climate change associated with increased mortality, especially during extremely hot periods

The increased temperatures caused by ongoing climate change in Stockholm, Sweden between 1980 and 2009 caused 300 more premature deaths than if the temperature increase did not take place.

23 Oct 2013

First Edition: October 22, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about the Obama administration's plans to address the problems with healthcare.gov.

22 Oct 2013

Combination of heat, doxorubicin drug and nanotech system may improve ovarian cancer treatment

The combination of heat, chemotherapeutic drugs and an innovative delivery system based on nanotechnology may significantly improve the treatment of ovarian cancer while reducing side effects from toxic drugs, researchers at Oregon State University report in a new study.

18 Oct 2013

Implementing powerful health promotion strategies can help save lives of Canadians

Canada can save lives by implementing powerful health promotion strategies, says Dr. Thomas Farley, the trail-blazing commissioner of the New York City department of health.

17 Oct 2013

Non-hormonal chronic pain treatment reduces moderate-to-severe hot flashes

Menopausal women suffer from half as many hot flashes after receiving a non-hormonal chronic pain treatment, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2013 annual meeting.

14 Oct 2013

Scientists develop new method to regenerate cartilage

Unlike our bones, the cartilage inside our joints is not vascularized (i.e., it has no blood vessels). This is one reason why cartilage does not heal well after an injury. In athletes in particular, joint injuries often result in cartilage degeneration and arthritis. The process is chronic and irreversible, and to this day, no effective treatment exists.

12 Oct 2013

Researchers identify gene that orchestrates important branching of nerve fibers

Our ability to detect heat, touch, tickling and other sensations depends on our sensory nerves. Now, for the first time, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have identified a gene that orchestrates the crucially important branching of nerve fibers that occurs during development. The findings were published online today in the journal Cell.

11 Oct 2013

State health exchanges running more smoothly than federal marketplace

The New York Times reports that, while difficulties continue for consumers in the 30 states that are using the federal government's online health insurance marketplace, those who live in states that have chosen to operate their own are faring better.

10 Oct 2013

First Edition: October 8, 2013

Today's headlines include the latest on how the health law's online insurance marketplaces are operating and what caused the initial systemic problems.

8 Oct 2013

Kavli Foundation endows new institute at UC Berkeley

The Kavli Foundation has endowed a new institute at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) to explore the basic science of how to capture and channel energy on the molecular or nanoscale, with the potential for discovering new ways of generating energy for human use.

4 Oct 2013

Opinions on shutdown: Opening marketplaces makes this impasse different; don't repeal medical device tax; Democrats are 'intransigents'

It's different because the new health-care system got up and running on the very day the shutdown began. Conceding to the GOP would take health insurance away from people and ruin a program for which we now know there is a public appetite. It's not going to happen (E.J. Dionne Jr., 10/2).

4 Oct 2013