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Even moderate thyroid dysfunction during early pregnancy increases risk of serious complications

Even moderate thyroid dysfunction during early pregnancy significantly increases the risk of serious complications, underscoring the need for universal screening in the first trimester, a new study finds. The results will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston.

25 Jun 2012

Study reveals previously unknown function of Thbd-aPC pathway in radiation mitigation

New research in Nature Medicine shows that boosting a protein pathway in the body's blood making system protects mice from otherwise fatal radiation poisoning.

25 Jun 2012

De novo somatic gene mutations likely to cause hemimegalencephaly

Hemimegalencephaly is a rare but dramatic condition in which the brain grows asymmetrically, with one hemisphere becoming massively enlarged. Though frequently diagnosed in children with severe epilepsy, the cause of hemimegalencephaly is unknown and current treatment is radical: surgical removal of some or all of the diseased half of the brain.

25 Jun 2012

Study reveals function of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex in the brain

Every day the human brain is presented with tasks ranging from the trivial to the complex. How much mental effort and attention are devoted to each task is usually determined in a split second and without conscious awareness. Now a study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers finds that a structure deep within the brain, believed to play an important role in regulating conscious control of goal-directed behavior, helps to optimize behavioral responses by predicting how difficult upcoming tasks will be.

25 Jun 2012

Overactive thyroid gland may increase risk of hospitalization for heart and blood-vessel disease

An overactive thyroid gland, or hyperthyroidism, may increase the risk of hospitalization for heart and blood-vessel disease even after surgery to remove the gland, according to a new study. The results will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston.

25 Jun 2012

Riverain's ClearRead Bone Suppression software improves detection of lung cancer

Software by Riverain Technologies significantly improves radiologists' ability to detect potentially cancerous lung nodules in X-ray images, and might be a cost-effective alternative to dual energy subtraction (DES) imaging, according to two new studies being presented at the 20th Anniversary Meeting of the European Society of Thoracic Imaging (ESTI), June 22-24, in London.

23 Jun 2012

GlobalPost blog series examines PMTCT program in South Africa

In the third of a series of entries in GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog, titled "A Daughter's Journey," Tracy Jarrett, a GlobalPost/Kaiser Family Foundation global health reporting fellow, visits a USAID-funded HIV clinic at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital outside of Johannesburg, South Africa.

23 Jun 2012

GI Dynamics announces clinical data about EndoBarrier Therapy at ASMBS meeting

GI Dynamics, Inc. announced today that clinical data about EndoBarrier Therapy, a breakthrough treatment for type 2 diabetes and/or obesity, was presented at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) in San Diego.

23 Jun 2012

State news: Conn. taps former Mass. official for health exchange

Merger talks between two of New York City's biggest hospital systems - NYU Langone Medical Center and Continuum Health Partners - broke down abruptly on Thursday after Continuum got a competing offer, officials said. The offer came from Mount Sinai Medical Center.

23 Jun 2012

Health care system or patient-directed programs help prevent or manage diabetes

A new study has found that programs aimed at helping people prevent or manage diabetes are most successful if they are directed at the patient or the health care system. Programs aimed at physicians were only successful for patients with poorer diabetes control.

23 Jun 2012

'Rest of the country should take a good look at the situation in Texas'

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, Roni Caryn Rabin writes: They say everything is bigger in Texas, and the problem of the uninsured is no exception. The Houston metropolitan area has one of the highest rates of uninsured people in America, and a health safety net imploding under the demands of too many people and too few resources.

23 Jun 2012

LUHS to renovate Postpartum Unit this summer

Loyola University Health System (LUHS) will renovate its Postpartum Unit to create a state-of-the-art area that provides a comfortable and convenient setting for mothers and infants. The renovation will begin this summer and will be complete by the end of the year.

23 Jun 2012

Research roundup: Helping the homeless transition out of the hospital

Transitioning from a hospital visit can be challenge for many patients, but the homeless face particular difficulties as they move to a shelter, or even back to the streets. Researchers in this study surveyed 98 homeless individuals in New Haven, Conn., as well as interviewed them about their experiences leaving the hospital. More than half said that their providers did not address housing or transportation, and 11 percent reported living on the streets on the night of their discharge. The authors recommend "improved assessment of housing status, communication between hospital and shelter providers, and arrangement of safe transportation" for homeless individuals.

23 Jun 2012

High court's health law ruling likely to renew debate on range of issues

News outlets report on what's at stake in terms of politics and policies when the Supreme Court issues its health law decision.

23 Jun 2012

Hospital collection company criticized for failing to turn over records to Congress

Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman and Diana DeGette press Accretive for documents related to its debt collection practices, which resulted in a lawsuit against the company by the Minnesota attorney general.

23 Jun 2012

Alcohol during pregnancy can be harmful for the developing baby

Experts at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine disagree with a series of new studies from Denmark that suggest consumption of up to 8 alcoholic drinks a week or occasional binge drinking during pregnancy is generally safe for the developing baby.

23 Jun 2012

WCMC researchers devise innovative boxer-like strategy to fight multiple myeloma

Weill Cornell Medical College researchers have devised an innovative boxer-like strategy, based on the serial use of two anti-cancer drugs, to deliver a one-two punch to first weaken the defenses of multiple myeloma and then deliver the final knock-out punch to win the fight.

23 Jun 2012

CMMI to honor MultiCultural IPA with healthcare innovation award

MultiCultural IPA announced today that it is one of four project sites selected to receive a healthcare innovation award by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) and will partner with Rutgers State University of New Jersey to create a "sustainable high-utilization team model" for the nation's "super users" of hospital care in an effort to decrease hospital inpatient and emergency department use.

23 Jun 2012

CARHY announces comprehensive hematopoietic stem cell transplant service

Adding an impetus to the already existing image of Bangalore being a healthcare destination of India, Columbia Asia Referral Hospital, Yeshwanthpur (CARHY), announced comprehensive bone marrow transplant (stem cell transplant) service on Thursday.

23 Jun 2012

Natural language processing programs can help measure colonoscopy quality

A new study shows that natural language processing programs can "read" dictated reports and provide information to allow measurement of colonoscopy quality in an inexpensive, automated and efficient manner.

23 Jun 2012