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Roundup: States limit Medicaid mental health prescriptions; Mass. to vote on assisted suicide; Insurer earnings drop in Mass.

Medicaid is the largest funder of mental health services in the United States. In 2008, in all 50 states, Medicaid spent a total of $4.5 billion on behavioral health drugs, about a fifth of the $22.5 billion spent by the program on all pharmaceuticals combined. Roughly a third of the participants in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program experience a mental health episode annually, according to a 2010 report by the Mental Health Services Administration.

17 Aug 2012

Third universal definition of myocardial infarction to be presented at ESC Congress 2012

A new definition of heart attack will be presented at the ESC Congress 2012. The third universal definition of myocardial infarction (MI) clarifies the controversial area of procedural related MI and will be the gold standard for diagnosis and clinical trial endpoints.

17 Aug 2012

Researchers identify molecular and protein signatures that predict HCV virus-induced liver injury

Researchers have discovered molecular and protein signatures that predict rapid onset of liver damage in hepatitis C patients following a liver transplant. The markers appeared soon after transplant and well before clinical evidence of liver damage.

17 Aug 2012

CDC recommends hepatitis C screening for all patients born from 1945-1965

Without other risk factors, all Americans born between 1945 and 1965 should have a one-time screening for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) according to new recommendations being published early online today in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommends that all persons identified with HCV should receive a brief alcohol screening and intervention and be referred to appropriate care and treatment services for HCV and related conditions.

17 Aug 2012

Enzalutamide drug extends survival in people with advanced prostate cancer

Results of a phase III clinical trial of the drug Enzalutamide, published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine, show the drug extends life by an average five months in the most advanced stages of prostate cancer.

17 Aug 2012

Plexin B2-CD100 interaction for prompt activation of γδ T cells and wound healing

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have made a breakthrough in understanding a class of cells that help wounds in skin and other epithelial tissues heal, uncovering a molecular mechanism that pushes the body into wound-repair mode.

17 Aug 2012

Longer looks: A jack-of-all-trades surgeon takes care of Nantucket; Psychiatrist's controversial effort to use brain scans to diagnose mental problems

Dr. Tim Lepore, 67, is a jack-of-all-trades general surgeon, tending to the 10,000 full-time residents of the Massachusetts island of Nantucket and to the many thousand more rich and famous summer-dwellers. Dr. Lepore has dealt with everything from poison ivy and tick-borne illnesses to narcolepsy and toe tourniquet syndrome (when a mother's hair wraps around a baby's toe, cutting off circulation). He counsels alcoholics, and allows patients to barter for health care. He once accepted oatmeal cookies from an immigrant worker who had no money for treatment.

17 Aug 2012

Potential treatment for sleep disorders suffered by patients with Fibromyalgia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury

Seth Lederman, M.D., President and CEO of New York City-based Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. (OTCBB:TNXP) says that a good night’s sleep is a potentially powerful, but currently elusive, treatment for the chronic pain and sleep disorders suffered by patients with fibromyalgia (FM), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

16 Aug 2012

Rhomboid enzymes and malaria treatment: an interview with Sinisa Urban

Rhomboid enzymes live in the cell’s membrane where their job is to cut the anchors of proteins, which releases the target proteins from the membrane.

16 Aug 2012

Pregnant women who undergo chemotherapy do not appear to increase their baby’s risk of complications

The babies of breast cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy while pregnant do not appear to be at higher risk of complications, according to an Article published Online First in The Lancet Oncology.

16 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 16, 2012

In this Kaiser Health News video, Insuring Your Health columnist Michelle Andrews answers a reader question about what you can do when insurance only covers a portion of an ambulance bill.

16 Aug 2012

U.S. FDA warns of post-surgery codeine deaths in children

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued a Drug Safety Communication concerning three children who died and one child who experienced a non-fatal but life-threatening case of respiratory depression after taking the pain reliever codeine following surgery to remove tonsils (tonsillectomy) and/or adenoids (adenoidectomy).

16 Aug 2012

The life span of baby boomers

Most retirement plans and federal budget projections assume baby boomers -- those Americans born between 1946 and 1964 -- will live significantly longer than their parents have. That is a logical assumption, given health care improvements, new drugs and the long 20th century experience of ever-rising life expectancies.

16 Aug 2012

Study uncovers new pathway that can treat depression

Depression takes a substantial toll on brain health. Brain imaging and post-mortem studies provide evidence that the wealth of connections in the brain are reduced in individuals with depression, with the result of impaired functional connections between key brain centers involved in mood regulation. Glial cells are one of the cell types that appear to be particularly reduced when analyzing post-mortem brain tissue from people who had depression.

16 Aug 2012

Tofacitinib drug shows promise against moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis

An investigational drug currently under FDA review for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has now shown positive results in patients with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis, according to researchers at the University of California San Diego, School of Medicine.

16 Aug 2012

Combination of Zelboraf and immunotherapy increases tumor responses and survival in MM

Combining the recently approved BRAF inhibitor, Zelboraf with an engineered T cell immunotherapy to treat metastatic melanoma significantly increased tumor responses and survival in an animal model, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have shown.

16 Aug 2012

Human milk oligosaccharides may reduce risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission

An international team of researchers has found that certain bioactive components found in human milk are associated with a reduced risk of HIV transmission from an HIV infected mother to her breast-fed infant. Their study will be published in the August 15 online edition of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

16 Aug 2012

Enzalutamide drug can extend life and improve QOL in men with advanced prostate cancer

The head of one of the UK's leading cancer research organisations has hailed a golden age in prostate cancer drug discovery as for the fourth time in two years results are published finding a new drug can significantly extend life.

16 Aug 2012

Special device provides evidence of how bloodstream infections begin

New research may help explain why hundreds of thousands of Americans a year get sick - and tens of thousands die - after bacteria get into their blood. It also suggests why some of those bloodstream infections resist treatment with even the most powerful antibiotics.

16 Aug 2012

RNA-delivering nanoparticles allow rapid screening of new drug targets in mice

By sequencing cancer-cell genomes, scientists have discovered vast numbers of genes that are mutated, deleted or copied in cancer cells. This treasure trove is a boon for researchers seeking new drug targets, but it is nearly impossible to test them all in a timely fashion.

16 Aug 2012

Drugs News and Research

Roundup: States limit Medicaid mental health prescriptions; Mass. to vote on assisted suicide; Insurer earnings drop in Mass.

Third universal definition of myocardial infarction to be presented at ESC Congress 2012

Researchers identify molecular and protein signatures that predict HCV virus-induced liver injury

CDC recommends hepatitis C screening for all patients born from 1945-1965

Enzalutamide drug extends survival in people with advanced prostate cancer

Plexin B2-CD100 interaction for prompt activation of γδ T cells and wound healing

Longer looks: A jack-of-all-trades surgeon takes care of Nantucket; Psychiatrist's controversial effort to use brain scans to diagnose mental problems

Potential treatment for sleep disorders suffered by patients with Fibromyalgia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury

Rhomboid enzymes and malaria treatment: an interview with Sinisa Urban

Pregnant women who undergo chemotherapy do not appear to increase their baby’s risk of complications

First Edition: August 16, 2012

U.S. FDA warns of post-surgery codeine deaths in children

The life span of baby boomers

Study uncovers new pathway that can treat depression

Tofacitinib drug shows promise against moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis

Combination of Zelboraf and immunotherapy increases tumor responses and survival in MM

Human milk oligosaccharides may reduce risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission

Enzalutamide drug can extend life and improve QOL in men with advanced prostate cancer

Special device provides evidence of how bloodstream infections begin

RNA-delivering nanoparticles allow rapid screening of new drug targets in mice

Industry Focus eBook - Neurology/Neuroscience - 2nd edition eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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