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Survey shows majority of Americans support women's right to access maternal, reproductive health care

In September 2010, "91 percent of Americans surveyed said they support the right for all women to have access to quality maternal and reproductive health care," PSI's "Healthy Lives" blog reports.

11 Apr 2012

Pelvic floor muscle training effective for adult women with urinary incontinence

A type of exercise called pelvic floor muscle training is effective for treating adult women with urinary incontinence (the involuntary loss of urine) without risk of side effects, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The report also found that drug-based treatments can be effective, but the degree of benefit is low and side effects are common.

11 Apr 2012

CLYD gene serves as crucial negative regulator in pulmonary fibrosis

An international team of researchers led by Georgia State University scientists have found a key component in the pathological process of pulmonary fibrosis, a fatal disease for which there is currently no cure.

11 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: 'Slicing' the safety net; GOP health law fight should have targeted cost-cutting panel, not mandate

Last month, the House passed a 2013 budget written by Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin that would reduce spending in the category of Education, Training, Employment and Social Services by $16 billion from the previous year, or 22 percent, on top of all the cuts forced by Republicans over several years.

11 Apr 2012

State roundup: Calif. drug monitoring system casualty of budget cuts; Data breach in Utah worse than thought; Md. legislature approves health enterprise zones

California has the oldest continuous prescription-drug monitoring program in the U.S. … It used to rely on carbon copies. … The system went online in 1998, and that's when its full power was realized. ... So alarm bells went off among doctors and law enforcement when California Gov. Jerry Brown announced last year that, for budget reasons, he was eliminating the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, which had long managed the prescription-drug monitoring program.

11 Apr 2012

Study reveals difficulties in self-management of diabetes

A new study from researchers at Queen Mary, University of London reveals the many difficulties faced by people with diabetes in self-managing their disease.

11 Apr 2012

EKG can detect heart attack in healthy senior citizens

Can a simple diagnostic test used to measure a heart's electrical activity help predict heart attacks? And can that knowledge help doctors reroute their patients away from coronary heart disease? These are the questions researchers at UCSF asked in a comprehensive eight-year study focused on senior citizens in the United States. Researchers found a higher risk of heart attack when abnormalities showed up on electrocardiogram (EKG) results of healthy elderly people.

11 Apr 2012

3M announces acquisition of CodeRyte

3M announced today that it has acquired CodeRyte Inc., an industry leader in clinical natural language processing (NLP) technology and computer-assisted coding solutions for healthcare outpatient providers.

11 Apr 2012

Political cartoon: 'Easy Rider?'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Easy Rider?" by Jimmy Margulies.

11 Apr 2012

High cancer treatment costs in the US – are they worth it? Study explores

Healthcare in the United States is costlier than care in other countries. A new analysis suggests that the cost may be worth it at least when it comes to cancer care. Americans may pay more for cancer treatment, but they also live longer after diagnosis — getting a benefit that offsets their higher health expenses the study says.

10 Apr 2012

First Edition: April 10, 2012

In today's headlines, a new study finds that the health law, which has long been touted as a means to control costs, could add more than $340 billion to the nation's budget difficulties in the next ten years.

10 Apr 2012

Health law key to Obama campaign's outreach to women voters

Late last week, the president and his deputies were linking parts of the health law and opportunities as part of their effort to draw support from women voters. At the same time, The Associated Press reports on the challenges GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney faces in his attempts to bridge the gender gap.

10 Apr 2012

PEHS School-based Health Center to celebrate 10th anniversary this week

The School-based Health Center at Proviso East High School will celebrate its 10th anniversary this week. Faculty and students at Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (MNSON) opened the health center a decade ago to educate teens about health and to provide primary health care, mental health and nutrition services to keep young people well, so they can succeed in school.

10 Apr 2012

Study questions whether FDA too tough on online pharmacies

The Food and Drug Administration has warned people about the many dangers of buying medications from foreign pharmacies over the Internet. While some sites might offer high-quality medicines, there are plenty that sell bogus and potentially dangerous products. But a recent economic analysis suggests that while there's good reason for the safety warnings, the FDA's stance on the matter might go too far.

10 Apr 2012

New initiative focusing on GBV and HIV/AIDS will help prevent both

"The advancement of women's health and their rights is one of the core principles of President Barack Obama's Global Health Initiative," a VOA editorial states, adding, "And so it is that the United States has rolled out a new initiative that will tackle one of the greatest threats to women's health, HIV/AIDS, by attacking another scourge: gender-based violence [GBV]."

10 Apr 2012

Wall Street Journal examines Jim Kim's nomination to head World Bank

The Wall Street Journal reports that "a long list of development experts, government officials and news organizations around the world have mounted a rebellion of sorts" in response to the nomination of Jim Yong Kim, a global health expert and Dartmouth College president, to head the World Bank, as "many of them say the two other candidates, Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian finance minister Jose Antonio Ocampo, are better qualified for the post."

10 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Doctors' efforts to cut unnecessary procedures is a good first step

Several news outlets look at the initiative by nine physicians' groups to identify medical procedures which are frequently unneeded and could even be harmful.

10 Apr 2012

WHO celebrates birthday, commemorates World Health Day with focus on healthy aging

The WHO on April 7 celebrated the founding of the organization in 1948 and World Health Day, "by focusing on aging, including a host of events, research and information under the theme, 'Good health adds life to years,'" CNN reports.

10 Apr 2012

USAID Administrator credits reduction in Ethiopia's child mortality rate to effective use of aid

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah "says development assistance to Ethiopia's health sector has helped save thousands of children's lives in the past year," VOA News reports, noting, "The progress came even as the Horn of Africa was hit by the worst drought in more than half a century."

10 Apr 2012

Gates Foundation co-chair Melinda Gates delivers TEDxChange speech on access to contraceptives

On Thursday at the TEDxChange conference in Berlin, Germany, Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "delivered a powerful case for universal access to contraception for women around the world who need and want it," the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.

10 Apr 2012