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Study finds rapid increase in diabetes hospitalizations among young women

A study published in Journal of Women's Health shows a rapid increase in the number of hospitalizations due to diabetes for young adults - particularly young women.

12 Oct 2010

HHS awards $5 million grant to support teen pregnancy prevention programs

The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS), in partnership with three community-based organizations, has been awarded a five-year, $5 million grant from the Department of Heath and Human Service's (HHS) Office of Adolescent Health. This grant is part of a $155 million commitment by HHS to support the replication of teen pregnancy prevention programs that have been shown to be effective through rigorous research as well as the testing of new, innovative approaches to combating teen pregnancy.

12 Oct 2010

Obesity treatments falter, but researchers announce gene links

The Wall Street Journal: "An international research consortium says it has identified 18 new gene sites linked to obesity and 13 others associated with how fat is distributed in the body, advances that shed new light on the complex biology underlying one of the world's most pressing public-health problems. The findings are based on studies involving nearly 250,000 people, making the effort the largest so far to unravel the genetic basis of common human traits, researchers said.

11 Oct 2010

COU-AA-301 Phase 3 study demonstrates improvement in CRPC survival rate

Results from a pre-specified interim analysis of a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 3 study, COU-AA-301, demonstrate that patients treated with the investigational agent abiraterone acetate plus low-dose prednisone/prednisolone showed a significant improvement in overall survival compared to patients treated with prednisone/prednisolone plus placebo.

11 Oct 2010

Lifestyle interventions benefit overweight, obese and severely obese adults

Lifestyle interventions, including physical activity and structured weight loss programs, can result in significant weight loss for overweight, obese and severely obese adults, according to two reports that were posted online today by JAMA. The studies and accompanying editorials were made available early online to coincide with the presentation of these papers at the 28th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Obesity Society. The articles will appear in the October 27 print issue of JAMA.

11 Oct 2010

Research-based tip sheets provide details on breast cancer

Throughout October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, experts from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and its clinical care partner, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, are offering a series of weekly research-based tip sheets regarding a variety of topics related to breast cancer, including breast cancer prevention, screening and early detection, treatment, and survivorship.

11 Oct 2010

ESC pleased with European Health Award recognition for Chronic Disease Alliance

The European Society of Cardiology is delighted to see the European Health Award 2010 handed to the Chronic Disease Alliance at the 13th European Health Forum held in Gastein 6 - 9 October 2010.

11 Oct 2010

HHS awards Sanofi Pasteur 3-year, $56.94M egg supply contract for pandemic vaccine preparedness

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group, has been awarded a three-year contract for $56.94 million by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to maintain flocks to enable manufacturing pandemic influenza vaccine at full capacity on a year-round basis.

11 Oct 2010

CDC, national leaders issue recommendations to standardize testosterone tests

The use of testosterone assays for patient care and research is on the rise as new research links testosterone to a variety of diseases and conditions. Although the assays are heavily used, discrepancies and inaccuracies in measurements resulting from the various assays are widespread.

11 Oct 2010

Obesity can accelerate progression of acute lymphoblastic leukemia: Study

The first study to demonstrate that obesity can directly accelerate the progression of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has been conducted at The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and was published in Cancer Prevention Research, on October 5, 2010.

11 Oct 2010

FDA designates NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System as HUD device for ALS patients

Synapse Biomedical Inc. announces today that they have received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designation of the NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System (DPS) as a Humanitarian Use Device (HUD) for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients with a stimulatable diaphragm who are experiencing chronic hypoventilation and has now submitted for Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE) approval.

11 Oct 2010

Fish located near coal-fired power plants can pose public health problems

A new study from North Carolina State University finds that fish located near coal-fired power plants have lower levels of mercury than fish that live much further away. The surprising finding appears to be linked to high levels of another chemical, selenium, found near such facilities, which unfortunately poses problems of its own.

8 Oct 2010

Reverby writes commentary for Bioethics Forum on syphilis study

The researcher whose revelations about unethical U.S. studies on syphilis in Guatemala in the 1940's led to apologies from the Obama administration last week has written a commentary for Bioethics Forum, the Hastings Center's online publication. She calls for the need to learn from history to better protect human subjects in the developing world.

8 Oct 2010

GWUMC to serve as Coordinating Center for multiple NIH MEPI programs

The George Washington University Medical Center has been tapped to serve as the Coordinating Center for multiple NIH Medical Education Partnership Initiative programs and linked grantees that are focused on improving medical education and research in Sub-Saharan Africa. The five-year, $12.5 million grant awarded to GW will fund the Coordinating Center that will oversee the $130 million U.S. commitment to the program.

8 Oct 2010

US continues to lag behind other nations when it comes to gains in life expectancy: Study

America continues to lag behind other nations when it comes to gains in life expectancy, and commonly cited causes for our poor performance-obesity, smoking, traffic fatalities and homicide-are not to blame, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

8 Oct 2010

ABMS awarded HHS contract to align meaningful use of HIT, ABMS MOC program

The American Board of Medical Specialties announced today a contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to align the meaningful use of health information technology and the ABMS Maintenance of Certification program, which was created by ABMS and its 24 Member Boards to promote lifelong learning and self assessment for physician specialists. The contract was awarded by the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for HIT.

8 Oct 2010

Smoking ban contributes to fewer heart attack deaths: Study

A new study finds that the number of deadly heart attacks in Massachusetts fell by more than 7 percent after the state outlawed smoking in workplaces, a possible sign that the ban contributed to better health as fewer people found themselves around smoke.

8 Oct 2010

Spanish mothers more concerned about the safety of childhood vaccines

Researchers from the University of Alicante (UA) taking part in the European VACSATC project have studied mothers' and fathers' opinions on vaccinating their children in five countries. The results of the survey show that Spanish mothers are more resistant than those in other countries to the idea of paying for vaccines, while 20.9% expressed some concern about the safety of vaccines.

8 Oct 2010

CDC issues new universal influenza vaccination recommendation for all Americans

With the influenza vaccine already available and more supply anticipated than ever before, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases convened ten of the country's leading medical and public health groups to call on all Americans to get vaccinated this season.

8 Oct 2010

N.Y. officials seek to ban purchase of sugary drinks with food stamps

"New Yorkers on food stamps would not be allowed to spend them on sugar-sweetened drinks under an obesity-fighting proposal being floated by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. David Paterson. Bloomberg and Paterson planned to announce Thursday that they are seeking permission from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the nation's food stamp program, to add sugary drinks to the list of prohibited goods for city residents receiving assistance. If approved, it would be the first time an item would be banned from the federal program based solely on nutritional value" (Kugler Frazier, 10/7).

8 Oct 2010