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Low levels of RANTES protein in the blood is a predictor of cardiac death

Researchers at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn have determined that low levels of a protein in the blood is a predictor of cardiac death in patients with coronary artery disease.

20 Feb 2007

Bush signs $463.5 billion fiscal year 2007 appropriations bill

President Bush on Thursday signed a $463.5 billion fiscal year 2007 omnibus appropriations bill, which includes increased funds for health programs, the AP/Arizona Daily Star reports (AP/Arizona Daily Star, 2/16).

19 Feb 2007

Smart bladder pacemaker

Duke University biomedical engineering researchers have moved a step closer to a "smart bladder pacemaker" that might one day restore bladder control in patients with spinal cord injury or neurological disease.

18 Feb 2007

FDA and VA to share information on safe use of medical products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to share information and expertise related to the review and use of FDA-regulated drugs, biologics and medical devices (medical products).

30 Jan 2007

Posttraumatic stress disorder may increase the risk of coronary heart disease in older men

A higher level of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder may increase the risk of coronary heart disease in older men, according to a report in the January issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

2 Jan 2007

Low-income Medicare beneficiaries will have trouble getting medications in January 2007

Some pharmacists and advocates have raised concerns that many low-income Medicare beneficiaries "will again have trouble getting medications next month, as they did in January of this year," when the Medicare prescription drug benefit began, the New York Times reports.

5 Dec 2006

Guanfacine no more effective than a placebo

Guanfacine, a medication commonly prescribed to alleviate symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, is no more effective than a placebo, according to a study led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

2 Dec 2006

Combination of depression, anxiety, hostility and anger increases risk for heart disease

Frequent bouts of depression, anxiety, hostility and anger are known to increase a person's risk for developing coronary heart disease, but a combination of these "negative" personality traits may put people at especially serious risk, according to a study by researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

20 Nov 2006

Bush Administration says it opposes Democrats' plan to allow Government to negotiate Medicare drug prices

The Bush administration will oppose any attempts by congressional Democrats to pass legislation that would authorize the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies under the Medicare prescription drug benefit, according to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, the New York Times reports.

13 Nov 2006

Proposal to construct Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility in South Carolina might delay Omnibus Bill

A proposal by to build a $70 million medical facility in Charleston, S.C., could stall efforts to pass an omnibus Department of Veterans Affairs bill before the end of the lame-duck session next month, CQ Today reports (Yoest, CQ Today, 10/27).

30 Oct 2006

Statins show promise in slowing smoking-induced lung damage

In a new study presented at CHEST 2006, the 72nd annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), current and former smokers who used statins had lower lung function decline than those not using statins, regardless of whether patients continued or stopped smoking.

23 Oct 2006

Increased Ryan White CARE Act funding to rural areas should not come at expense of urban areas

Reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act, which provides funding for HIV/AIDS programs in the U.S., has stalled in Congress for months because of the "cynical assumption that a Solomon-like choice must be made between two groups of states," a Newark Star-Ledger editorial says.

17 Oct 2006

Now OK to get prescription drugs from Canada, but is it really?

According to the consumer group that sponsored "Rx Express" trains to Canada, the U.S. Customs announcement that it will no longer seize prescription drugs being shipped to the U.S. is not the solution that patients need.

5 Oct 2006

Outpatient thyroid surgery appears to be safe for the majority of patients

"This is a logical benefit of doing less-invasive surgical techniques," says Dr. David Terris, chair of the Medical College of Georgia Department of Otolaryngology -Head and Neck Surgery. "Now patients are able to go home the same day they have surgery."

19 Sep 2006

Patient satisfaction not best indication of quality of care

The argument that the "best way to improve the quality and restrain the cost of health care is to make the market for health care more like the market for everything else" is based on the erroneous "belief that health care is -- in most respects -- like any other product," columnist David Wessel writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

7 Sep 2006

Bush Administration, Republicans 'refuse' to acknowledge success of VA Health System

The Department of Veterans Affairs health care system "is a stunning success -- but the [Bush] administration and the Republicans in Congress refuse to build on that success because it doesn't reflect their conservative agenda," columnist Paul Krugman writes in a New York Times opinion piece.

5 Sep 2006

Researchers find way to decrease risk of atherosclerosis that accompanies long-term use of protease inhibitors

Physiologists may have found a way to decrease the risk of hardening of the arteries that accompanies the long-term use of protease inhibitors, a class of drugs that has emerged as the most effective treatment against HIV and AIDS.

5 Sep 2006

Grumpy old men run out of puff earlier

In the normal course of aging, lung power will decline for most people, but now researchers say that anger and hostility can accelerate that process.

31 Aug 2006

Disabling carbohydrate trigger reduces obesity and appetite

Until about 15 years ago, insulin was believed primarily responsible for turning carbohydrates into fat. But then it became apparent that diet alone could stimulate glucose metabolism and fat synthesis, even when insulin levels were low or absent.

30 Aug 2006

Severe mental illness in Gulf Coast doubled after Katrina

The rate of severe mental illness in the Gulf Coast region about doubled in the six months after Hurricane Katrina, according to a report surveying a sample of the storm's survivors published on Monday in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, USA Today reports (Sternberg, USA Today, 8/29).