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Long-term brain damage after bypass surgery - more evidence puts blame on heart disease

Brain scientists and cardiac surgeons at Johns Hopkins have evidence from 227 heart bypass surgery patients that long-term memory losses and cognitive problems they experience are due to the underlying coronary artery disease itself and not ill after-effects from having used a heart-lung machine.

3 Aug 2009

Hillary Clinton embarks on African tour

"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads this week on a seven-nation tour of Africa aiming to prove U.S. commitment to the continent after the administration's early focus elsewhere," AFP/ABS-CBN News reports.

3 Aug 2009

Expert says the benefits of breastfeeding are oversold

Michael Kramer, a professor of pediatrics says that much of the evidence used to persuade mothers to breastfeed was either wrong or out of date.

22 Jul 2009

Steele assails "experimentation" in Obama's health reform effort

"The chairman of the Republican Party on Monday accused President Barack Obama of conducting 'risky experimentation' with his health care proposals, saying they will hurt the economy and force millions to drop their current coverage, The Associated Press reports.

20 Jul 2009

Babies and toddlers have double the risk of head injuries

Australian researchers have revealed that babies and toddlers have double the risk of head injuries than children of any other age and they have called for parents to exercise more vigilance.

20 Jul 2009

New brain visualization technology enables removal of fist-sized tumor

A new technology involving the fusion of four different types of images into a 3-D map of a patient's brain has helped University of Cincinnati (UC) specialists successfully remove a fist-sized tumor from the brain of an Indiana woman.

14 Jul 2009

Obama addresses Ghana's parliament, reiterates U.S. global health initiative

During his visit to Ghana over the weekend, President Obama praised the country for its achievements while calling on African leaders to take responsibility for the future of the continent, CNN reports. "Despite the progress that has been made - and there has been considerable progress in parts of Africa - we also know that much of that promise has yet to be fulfilled," Obama said during a speech before the Ghanaian parliament (7/11).

13 Jul 2009

World poverty gains reduced, countries unlikely to achieve most MDGs, U.N. report says

The global economic downturn has "reversed a 20-year decline in world poverty" and could "add up to 90 million to the ranks of the hungry in 2009, an increase of six percent over current totals," according to a U.N. report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched in Geneva on Monday, Reuters reports (Evans, 7/6).

7 Jul 2009

California Rulings: State can cut Medi-Cal benefits but not home care wages

"A federal judge on Thursday blocked a $2 hourly wage cut for California in-home care workers that was slated to begin July 1, potentially increasing California's budget deficit by another $98 million," The Sacramento Bee reports.

29 Jun 2009

New media-led effort responds to AIDS crisis in black America

Today, leading U.S. media companies announced a new coordinated national campaign to mobilize Black Americans in response to AIDS and promote specific calls-to-action to prevent and reduce the further spread of HIV. Greater Than AIDS - a multi-faceted campaign presented under a common brand that includes targeted public service ads (PSAs) as well as integrated messages in news, entertainment and community content - seeks to strengthen a sense of community among Black Americans in response to HIV/AIDS.

25 Jun 2009

Telemedicine stroke program provides woman a lifeline

While suffering a major stroke at her home near Mena, Iva Sikes assumed the worst, not knowing that a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) - led telemedicine program would provide her a complete recovery.

24 Jun 2009

Lawmakers address nurse and primary care physician shortages

A pending House bill would aim to address the nursing shortage by allowing "20,000 additional nurses to enter the U.S. each year for the next three years as a temporary measure to fill the gap," Business Week reports.

22 Jun 2009

Parents struggle with costs of their children's autism care

The total cost for treating a child with autism can reach $5 million, but insurance companies rarely cover autism therapy and few states mandate it. CBS News reports that "an estimated one in every 150 children in America has autism and the number of reported cases is growing" while "parents are increasingly demanding that insurance companies cover the newest treatment."

22 Jun 2009

MedPAC questions spending but comes up short on solutions

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission - an independent group that makes recommendations to Congress on Medicare issues - said in its annual June report that the "government must give doctors and health-care facilities incentives to rein in costs in providing care for the elderly and disabled," the Wall Street Journal reports.

17 Jun 2009

Washington Post details six senators to watch on health care; politics of fear gain prominence

The battle over health care reform will happen in the Senate, even though President Obama keeps getting all the attention, The Washington Post's The Fix reports.

17 Jun 2009

GOP returns fire on comparative effectiveness, health reform

"GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, Ky., GOP Senate Whip Jon Kyl, Ariz., Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander, Tenn., and House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence, Ind., went on the offensive following Obama's speech in Chicago to the American Medical Association. Kyl and McConnell unveiled a bill to rival the Democratic bill, while Alexander and Pence spoke to reporters," according to the Hill.

17 Jun 2009