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HHS awards prevention funds with Community Transformation Grants

News outlets report on local winners, how they will use these new resources to promote healthy living and disease prevention and how the funding is sometimes at odds with their leaders' opposition to the health law.

29 Sep 2011

Low plasma level of copper and zinc in pregnant women may be associated with spontaneous abortion

Scientists at the University of Granada have confirmed that a low plasma level of copper and zinc in pregnant women may be a factor associated with spontaneous abortion, a hypothesis that had not been confirmed to date, and which had never been proven in humans before.

28 Sep 2011

22nd Century completes enrollment in X-22 Phase II-B smoking cessation study

22nd Century Group, Inc., a company focused on smoking cessation and tobacco harm reduction products, announced today that enrollment of its X-22 Phase II-B clinical trial has been successfully completed; 234 smokers have been randomized in the double-blind, active-controlled, multi-center smoking cessation study.

27 Sep 2011

Novartis files marketing authorisation with EMA for NVA237 to treat COPD

Sosei Group Corporation, today announces that NVA237 (glycopyrronium bromide), a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) being investigated as a once-daily treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), has been filed by Novartis for marketing authorisation with the European Medicines Agency (EMA), under the brand-name Seebri Breezhaler, triggering a $5m milestone payment to Sosei.

27 Sep 2011

Gates Foundation report for G20 supports taxing financial transaction, tobacco, fuel to aid poor

A report by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that was commissioned by the G20 chair "proposes raising new funding for poorer countries by taxing financial transactions, tobacco, and shipping and aviation fuels, according to details of a G20 report obtained by Reuters," the news service reports.

27 Sep 2011

Exposure to goats could increase risk of pneumonic-type lung adenocarcinoma

Exposure to goats could increase the risk of a certain type of lung cancer, according to French researchers.

26 Sep 2011

ECDA welcomes UN High Level Meeting on Non Communicable Diseases

The European Chronic Disease Alliance (ECDA) welcomes the UN High Level Meeting on Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) to address the world biggest killers. "It is a memorable day in the history of public health. Discussing non communicable diseases at the UN table gives a strong sense of the burden it represents to human kind and the recognition that NCDs is a challenge for all nations in the world", declared Professor Michel Komajda, President of the European Society of Cardiology, an active member of the ECDA.

26 Sep 2011

Hair loss, divorce and smoking in women – links established

A new study showed that genetics aside, the next strongest predictor of midline (central) hair loss among women is their marital status, with the loss of a spouse (through either divorce or death) raising the risk for thinning hair above that of married or single women.

26 Sep 2011

Janssen Biotech receives FDA approval for Remicade to treat UC in children

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Remicade (infliximab) to treat moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) in children older than 6 years who have had inadequate response to conventional therapy.

26 Sep 2011

Alexion receives FDA approval for Soliris to treat atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Soliris (eculizumab) to treat patients with atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aHUS), a rare and chronic blood disease that can lead to kidney (renal) failure and is also associated with increased risk of death and stroke.

26 Sep 2011

Commercial interests confound fight against NCDs, some experts say

The Washington Post examines the influence of commercial interests on the "political declaration" that emerged from this week's U.N. High-level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in New York. NCDs "are the globe's biggest health problem, responsible for 63 percent of all deaths each year, with incidence growing steeply in the low-income, rapidly urbanizing nations of the world," but they "are deeply entangled with important global industries, not only tobacco but also food, pharmaceuticals, advertising, transportation and construction," the newspaper writes.

23 Sep 2011

U.S. entities announce global smoke-free workplace challenge

"The Mayo Clinic, Johnson & Johnson and others are joining forces to try to snuff out smoking in the workplace throughout the world," the Wall Street Journal's "Health Blog" writes, adding, "Their global smoke-free worksite challenge, announced today at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, calls on employers to ban smoking at offices and facilities worldwide."

23 Sep 2011

University of Kentucky receives Department of Defense grant for lung cancer study

The University of Kentucky's Dr. Susanne Arnold and colleagues were awarded a grant by the Department of Defense to study potential environmental reasons for the high lung cancer rates in Eastern Kentucky.

23 Sep 2011

Public health approach to reduce health harms from cannabis use

A new research study conducted by an international team of experts recommends a public health approach to cannabis - including evidence-based guidelines for lower-risk use - to reduce the health harms that result from the use of cannabis.

23 Sep 2011

U.N. meeting on NCDs concludes with pledges to fight chronic diseases

World leaders on Tuesday "pledged to take wide-ranging action to prevent millions of deaths from cancer, diabetes, and heart and lung disease by tackling the key causes -- smoking, excessive drinking, lack of exercise and unhealthy diets dominated by fast food," but the "declaration approved at the first-ever General Assembly meeting on chronic diseases which ended Tuesday left unanswered the question of coordinating an international response to what the leaders called 'a challenge of epidemic proportions,'" the Associated Press/CBS News reports.

22 Sep 2011

New Poll: 9 out of 10 Ontarians would support an investment in lung health

According to a new Leger Marketing poll conducted for the Ontario Lung Association, 9 out of 10 of Ontarians would support the Ontario government investing in lung health today if it would save future healthcare spending.

22 Sep 2011

Mayo Clinic to develop Global Smoke-Free Worksite Challenge

Mayo Clinic announced today at the annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting in New York City its partnership with other organizations to develop a Global Smoke-Free Worksite Challenge.

22 Sep 2011

Sanofi-aventis sponsors People vs. Cancer initiative

Sanofi-aventis Canada is proud to be the national sponsor of People vs. Cancer, a speaking tour of three Canadian universities featuring Stephen Lewis, former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations and United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.

22 Sep 2011

World leaders unanimously approve NCD political declaration

World leaders attending the first-ever U.N. High-level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) kicked off the summit on Monday by "unanimously approving a 'political declaration' meant to stem a rising tide of NCDs, now the world's leading killer," CNN reports.

21 Sep 2011

Sleep deprivation may disrupt insulin secretion and glucose levels in obese teens

Obese teenagers who don't get the proper amount of sleep may have disruptions in insulin secretion and blood sugar (glucose) levels, say pediatric researchers. Their study suggests that getting a good night's sleep may stave off the development of type 2 diabetes in these adolescents.

21 Sep 2011