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First Edition: January 27, 2012

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Christian Torres reports on a speech given at the Care Innovation Summit in Washington, D.C., by Marilyn Tavenner, the president's nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, about the health law's accomplishments: "Tavenner will likely make some of the same arguments for the law and CMS initiatives when – or if – she encounters a grilling at her yet-to-be scheduled Senate confirmation hearing.

27 Jan 2012

Two NIH clinical trials to evaluate treatments for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

The National Institutes of Health has launched two multi-site clinical trials to evaluate treatments for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. One will compare continuous chest compressions (CCC) combined with pause- free rescue breathing to standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which includes a combination of chest compressions and pauses for rescue breathing.

27 Jan 2012

Heartburn drugs ineffective in kids with asthma: Study

A drug used to treat acid reflux has often been used for hard-to-treat asthma. A new study finds that it does not help children with the breathing disease and may cause side effects.

24 Jan 2012

Virtual network of experts to work together to prevent preterm birth

The March of Dimes, along with its partners, are giving experts in the field of preterm birth prevention an opportunity to learn from each other and to work together to bring the nation's preterm birth rate under 10 percent and give more babies a healthy start.

24 Jan 2012

Ikaria receives FDA orphan drug designation for use of iNO in PAH

Ikaria, Inc., a critical care company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for critically ill patients, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation for the use of inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) with the INOpulse DS drug-delivery system as a combination product for pulmonary arterial hypertension.

23 Jan 2012

Sex declared safe for heart patients

A doctors’ group on Thursday suggested that sex may be safe for most heart patients. The American Heart Association added that having sex only slightly raises the chance for a heart attack. And that’s true for people with and without heart disease. Despite the higher risk for a heart patient to have a second attack, there’s no evidence that they have more sex-related heart attacks than people without cardiac disease. The updated advice was released online Thursday in the heart association journal, Circulation.

22 Jan 2012

Henry Ford to conduct Apnex HGNS System clinical trial in OSA

A clinical trial is underway at Henry Ford Hospital to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Apnex Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulation System to treat obstructive sleep apnea.

19 Jan 2012

Insights into rates and impact of mTBI among military personnel in Iraq/Afghanistan

As the last U.S. troops return home from Iraq, new research lends timely insights into the rates and impact of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) among military personnel serving in Iraq/Afghanistan, according to a topical issue of The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation (JHTR), the official journal of the Brain Injury Association of America.

18 Jan 2012

Vitamin D provides no relief from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Earlier studies have suggested that up to three quarters of people with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, are deficient in the vitamin. So it was thought that giving them extra vitamin D might help prevent exacerbations in symptoms or trips to the hospital because of shortness of breath or mucus in the airways. Belgian researchers have refuted this claim.

17 Jan 2012

Traditional autopsy is still the gold standard in determining cause of death

TV crime shows like Bones and CSI are quick to explain each death by showing highly detailed scans and video images of victims' insides. Traditional autopsies, if shown at all, are at best in supporting roles to the high-tech equipment, and usually gloss over the sometimes physically grueling tasks of sawing through skin and bone.

17 Jan 2012

Man gets new windpipe with stem cell therapy

Christopher Lyles, 30, of Abingdon, Md, became the first American to undergo an experimental procedure, involving stem cells to treat his trachea cancer. A trachea or windpipe connects the nose and mouth to the lungs, serving a crucial function for life.

16 Jan 2012

ORMOSIL nanoparticles show promise as potential drug delivery vehicle

In the images of fruit flies, clusters of neurons are all lit up, forming a brightly glowing network of highways within the brain. It's exactly what University at Buffalo researcher Shermali Gunawardena was hoping to see: It meant that ORMOSIL, a novel class of nanoparticles, had successfully penetrated the insects' brains. And even after long-term exposure, the cells and the flies themselves remained unharmed.

10 Jan 2012

Novel class of nanoparticles hold promise as a potential vehicle for drug delivery

In the images of fruit flies, clusters of neurons are all lit up, forming a brightly glowing network of highways within the brain. It’s exactly what University at Buffalo researcher Shermali Gunawardena was hoping to see: It meant that ORMOSIL, a novel class of nanoparticles, had successfully penetrated the insects’ brains. And even after long-term exposure, the cells and the flies themselves remained unharmed.

9 Jan 2012

Losartan may help prevent smoking-related COPD

Working with mice, scientists at Johns Hopkins have successfully used a commonly prescribed blood pressure medicine, losartan (Cozaar), to prevent almost all of the lung damage caused from two months of exposure to cigarette smoke. The treatment specifically targeted lung tissue breakdown, airway wall thickening, inflammation and lung over-expansion.

4 Jan 2012

Quantitative CT can offer valuable prognostic information for COPD patients

National Jewish Health researchers and their colleagues in the COPDGene research consortium report that a computerized form of radiology, known as quantitative CT, can offer valuable prognostic information for patients and doctors beyond the standard breathing tests most commonly used to evaluate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

4 Jan 2012

Changes in mouth bacteria precede development of pneumonia in hospital patients

New research from the Yale University School of Medicine discovered changes in mouth bacteria preceded the development of pneumonia in hospital patients. After studying 37 participants over the course of a month, Dr. Samit Joshi, leader of the study, concluded changes in oral bacteria play some role in a person's risk for developing pneumonia.

3 Jan 2012

Sleep apnea may impact health of young diabetics

A new study suggests that young diabetics may be struggling to get a good night's sleep, resulting in worse control of their blood sugar, poorer school performance and misbehavior.

2 Jan 2012

Four-year effort to map genetic code of 1,000 African-Americans

A Johns Hopkins-led team of experts in genetics, immunology, epidemiology and allergic disease has embarked on a four-year effort to map the genetic code, or whole genome, of 1,000 people of African descent, including men and women from Baltimore.

30 Dec 2011

Vanderbilt Emergency Department braces for alcohol-related injuries on New Year's Eve

With the countdown to 2012 just around the corner, Vanderbilt's Emergency Department is bracing for what is likely to be one of the busiest weekends of the year. Alcohol-related injuries and deaths typically spike on New Year's Eve, causing physicians and staff to prepare for an influx of patients requiring help after overconsumption.

29 Dec 2011

Researchers decode and characterize DNA repair mechanism

Oxidative stress is the cause of many serious diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, arteriosclerosis and diabetes. It occurs when the body is exposed to excessive amounts of electrically charged, aggressive oxygen compounds. These are normally produced during breathing and other metabolic processes, but also in the case of ongoing stress, exposure to UV light or X-rays. If the oxidative stress is too high, it overwhelms the body's natural defences. The aggressive oxygen compounds destroy genetic material, resulting in what are referred to as harmful 8-oxo-guanine base mutations in the DNA.

28 Dec 2011