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OHSU awarded $5.8M in ARRA funds to educate health IT professional work force

Oregon Health & Science University has been awarded $5.8 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to advance the widespread adoption and meaningful use of health information technology by educating professionals to work in this rapidly growing field.

15 Apr 2010

Opinions divided on swine flu fear

According to health experts the swine flu pandemic is far from over and remains a threat to the population, especially the young. John Mackenzie, the Australian who heads the World Health Organization’s independent but secretive Emergency Committee said in a statement on Wednesday, “This is just as severe as we saw in 1957 and 1968, with one major difference. We are not seeing deaths in the elderly but we are seeing them in a more important group of the population, healthy young adults… It is much more severe than people tend to talk about.”

15 Apr 2010

Family support critical for managing patients with chronic health problems

Almost 40 percent of chronically ill older adults in the U.S. live alone, and a majority of those who are married have spouses with at least one chronic illness that can affect their ability to provide support, according to a U-M study published in the journal Chronic Illness.

15 Apr 2010

Florida to enact health care legislation to improve access to ARV therapy

Florida is poised to enact health care legislation that would add clarity to existing state statutes by requiring that all state-regulated health plans include lifesaving antiretroviral (ARV) HIV/AIDS drugs on their drug formularies or preferred drug lists.

15 Apr 2010

Risks and benefits of anti-aging hormones

In an editorial appearing in the Future Medicine journal Aging Health, Dr. Perls applauds the courage and example displayed by the AMA in its recently published assessment of the risks and benefits of growth hormone, testosterone, estrogen and DHEA for anti-aging.

15 Apr 2010

Anticonvulsants increase suicide risk

Dr. Elisabetta Patorno, a research fellow at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston has published a study this week in the Journal of American Medical Association which found that taking anticonvulsant drugs raise thoughts of suicide and risks of actually trying to commit suicide by two times the norm. The study was sponsored by the Harvard School of Public Health and HealthCore, a research subsidiary of WellPoint. WellPoint is a health benefits company that serves the Blue Cross Blue Shield network.

14 Apr 2010

Spare the rod – kids spanked more likely to be aggressive

As the saying goes, “spare the rod and spoil the child”. Many organizations including American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association have found that this is a wrong statement and spanking a child may do more harm than good.

13 Apr 2010

Foods that protect from Alzheimer’s

In a recent study researchers have revealed what we always knew - salads, fish, fruits and nuts are good for us. It says that these food combinations are related to a reduced risk of getting the dreaded brain and memory disease called Alzheimer’s disease. This study published in the online edition of the reputed journal Archives of Neurology also says that lesser the amount of high-fat dairy foods like butter etc. and red meats, the lesser is the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

13 Apr 2010

Benefits of moderate alcohol drinking on stroke risk counteracted by cigarette smoking

New research finds any beneficial effect of drinking moderate amounts of alcohol on stroke may be counteracted by cigarette smoking, according to research that will be presented as part of the late-breaking science program at the American Academy of Neurology's 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto, April 10 - 17, 2010.

13 Apr 2010

Common sense gun laws needed to stem crippling costs of gun violence

After a spate of random shootings and gun homicides, Illinois Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, along with doctors and medical professionals, convened at Children's Memorial Hospital to send an urgent plea to state lawmakers to require background checks on all handgun sales in order save lives and reduce escalating health care costs related to gun violence.

13 Apr 2010

American Lung Association's report examines lung cancer among African Americans

The American Lung Association today released its report, Too Many Cases, Too Many Deaths: Lung Cancer in African Americans, a compilation of research examining lung cancer among African Americans and the need to eliminate this and other health disparities.

13 Apr 2010

The EMBO Meeting 2010: Over 120 researchers to present

More than 120 leading researchers from across the molecular life sciences will speak at The EMBO Meeting 2010 - the second annual life sciences conference to be organized by the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and held in Barcelona from 4 - 7 September 2010.

13 Apr 2010

New Supramap web-based application to track and stop disease outbreaks

Pathogens can now be easily tracked in time and space as they evolve, an advance that could revolutionize both public health and inform national security in the fight against infectious diseases. Developed by researchers that include scientists at the American Museum of Natural History, Supramap is a new, powerful, web-based application that maps genetic mutations like those among the different strains of avian influenza onto the globe.

13 Apr 2010

Experts to discuss changing panorama of healthcare provision for non-English speakers

Language Services Associates, a leading language services provider offering a full suite of interpretation, translation and multicultural solutions, announced today that it will host a panel discussion entitled: "Issues and New Developments in Language-Mediated Healthcare Delivery" at the Society for Healthcare Consumer Advocacy Annual Conference.

13 Apr 2010

National organizations, medical institutions join Lung Cancer Alliance to address nation's most lethal cancer

Today, Lung Cancer Alliance announced new additions to the growing list of supporters joining LCA in its "call to action" to devise a better public health strategy to address the nation's most lethal cancer.

13 Apr 2010

Experts begin probe of WHO's response to H1N1

Health experts on Monday began a probe of how the WHO responded to the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic "nearly a year after global alarm was raised over the new swine flu strain," Agence France-Presse reports (Capella, 4/12).

13 Apr 2010

UPMC Health Plan to host training session on child health- We Can!

UPMC Health Plan will host a two-day training session designed to teach community leaders about We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children's Activity & Nutrition) April 27-28, 2010, at Marriott City Center Hotel, Uptown.

13 Apr 2010

Stem cell scientists receive stimulus grants to study lung and blood disorders

Stem cell scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) were awarded stimulus grants totaling almost $2 million to research experimental treatments for blood disorders and inherited lung diseases affecting children.

13 Apr 2010

No nicotine in e-cigarettes for Australians yet

According to a recent study undertaken by the Clinical Trials Research Unit at the University of Auckland published in British Journal Tobacco Control on 8th April 2010, electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes containing nicotine have similar effects to real cigarettes such as the desire to smoke, withdrawal, dependence and other effects.

13 Apr 2010

New research highlights adverse effects of air pollution on human reproduction

Exposure to an increased level of air pollutants, especially nitrogen dioxide, has been associated with lower likelihoods of successful pregnancy among women undergoing in vitro fertilization, according to a team of fertility researchers.

13 Apr 2010