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First Edition: September 20, 2013

Today's headlines include the latest on the Capitol Hill hijinx surrounding efforts to defund the health law and avert a government shutdown.

20 Sep 2013

Vera and Paul Guerin Family Congenital Heart Program to be established in Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute

In an effort to lengthen the life span and improve the quality of life for those born with heart defects, longtime Cedars-Sinai supporters Vera and Paul Guerin have donated $10 million to establish the Vera and Paul Guerin Family Congenital Heart Program in the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute.

20 Sep 2013

States hammering out Medicaid decisions on qualifications, expansion

In news about state Medicaid expansions, a hospital association in Missouri explores the state's place nationally and globally in caring for its poor. Elsewhere, Pennsylvania could require those out-of-work and on Medicaid to look for a job, and South Dakota mulls expanding the program.

20 Sep 2013

New islet transplantation improves results for patients with type 1 diabetes

The latest approach to islet transplantation, in which clusters of insulin-producing cells known as islets are transplanted from a donor pancreas into another person's liver, has produced substantially improved results for patients with type 1 diabetes, and may offer a more durable alternative to a whole pancreas transplant.

20 Sep 2013

Study explains indirect burden of malaria on childhood deaths

Recurrent episodes of malaria cause chronic inflammation in blood vessels that might predispose to future infections and may increase susceptibility to cardiovascular disease, a Wellcome Trust study in Malawian children finds.

20 Sep 2013

Scientists are preparing for possible pandemic spread of new bird flu strain

Scientists at Saint Louis University are preparing for the potential pandemic spread of a new bird flu strain that caused severe disease in China last spring, joining researchers from seven other Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to test vaccines to protect against the illness in adults.

20 Sep 2013

State highlights: Penn State ends health plan penalty

After weeks of vociferous objections by faculty members, Pennsylvania State University said on Wednesday it was suspending part of a new employee wellness program that some professors had criticized as coercive and financially punitive (Singer, 9/18).

20 Sep 2013

Uthealth receives funds to establish Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science

The University of Texas School of Public Health has received $20 million in funding from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) today as part of an ongoing interagency partnership.

20 Sep 2013

Wearing back braces prevents need for spinal correction surgery in children with AIS

A multi-center study led by University of Iowa researchers to determine whether wearing back braces would prevent the need for spinal correction surgery in children with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) was cut short when early results were overwhelmingly in favor of bracing.

19 Sep 2013

Isis Pharmaceuticals announces preliminary data from ISIS-SMNRx Phase 1 study in infants with SMA

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that follow-up preliminary data from a single dose, open-label Phase 1 study of ISIS-SMNRx in children with spinal muscular atrophy, show that most SMA children receiving the two highest doses of the drug (6 mg and 9 mg) continued to show improvements in muscle function tests up to 14 months after a single injection of the drug.

19 Sep 2013

LUHS physician offers tips to help parents keep germs at bay

Most parents are all too familiar with the equation school + kids = sick days. With more than 200 cold viruses it's no wonder parents feel like they are fighting a losing battle when it comes to keeping their kids healthy.

19 Sep 2013

New study indicates that lead concentration may be higher below soil surface

A newly published analysis of data from hundreds of soil samples from 31 properties around southern Rhode Island finds that the lead concentration in soil at the surface is not always a reliable indicator of the contamination a foot deeper.

19 Sep 2013

Researchers receive 2013 SPSP Awards for excellence in personality and social psychology

When you pass by a stranger in need of help, do you stop to lend a hand? Maybe not... A landmark 1973 study found that seminary students in a hurry were less likely to help someone in distress, even when they were on their way to deliver a talk on the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

19 Sep 2013

Domino transplant saves patient suffering from liver cancer

Tiffany Schwantes was going to die without a new liver. The 31-year old mother of two suffered from an aggressive form of liver cancer and, because of organ allocation rules, she could not be placed high enough on the liver transplant list to receive a new liver in a timely manner.

19 Sep 2013

Researchers develop absorbable implants to promote bone healing

Researchers from Graz University of Technology, together with colleagues from the Medical University of Graz, Vienna University of Technology and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, have managed to develop absorbable implants to promote bone healing which are broken down by the body.

19 Sep 2013

University of Nottingham-led project deals with problem of self-harm among young people

The problem of self-harm among young people in care is to be tackled as part of a new research project being led by The University of Nottingham.

19 Sep 2013

Parenting stress among caregivers of children with chronic illness: A systematic review

The extra demands on parents of chronically ill children cause stress that affects the whole family, according to a systematic review conducted by Case Western Reserve University researchers that also explored what factors in the child's care most contribute to the added strain.

19 Sep 2013

Research opens up longer therapy window for children with neurodevelopmental disorders

The development of fine motor control-the ability to use your fingertips to manipulate objects-takes longer than previously believed, and isn't entirely the result of brain development, according to a pair of complementary studies.

19 Sep 2013

Percentage of Americans without health coverage drops for 2nd year

The small decline was credited mainly to somewhat higher enrollments in Medicare and Medicaid, as well as the Children's Health Insurance Program.

19 Sep 2013

Scientists prepare to test vaccines to protect against new bird flu strain

Scientists at Group Health Research Institute are preparing for the potential pandemic spread of a new bird flu strain that caused severe disease in China earlier this year, joining researchers from seven other Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units funded by the National Institutes of Health to test vaccines to protect against the illness in adults.

19 Sep 2013