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SafetyTies and SafetyScarves of SafeSmart help reduce the spread of H1N1

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), H1N1 - better known as the swine flu - was widespread in 48 states as of Oct. 18-24. The CDC's website offers guidelines, from cough etiquette to keeping sick workers at home, for healthcare professionals and the public on how to minimize spread of the H1N1 influenza.

5 Nov 2009

Five-year old Pennsylvanian boy dies of H1N1 flu complications

The Department of Health today confirmed that a five-year old Adams County boy died on Oct. 31 as a result of complications from H1N1 flu. This is Pennsylvania's first pediatric death associated with H1N1.

4 Nov 2009

Lovastatin-synthesizing enzyme successfully reconstituted

Researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have for the first time successfully reconstituted in the laboratory the enzyme responsible for producing the blockbuster cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin.

4 Nov 2009

Blood vessels good indicators of prostate cancer behavior

A diagnosis of prostate cancer raises the question for patients and their physicians as to how the tumor will behave. Will it grow quickly and aggressively and require continuous treatment, or slowly, allowing therapy and its risks to be safely delayed?

4 Nov 2009

Reid: Lawmakers may not complete health legislation this year

CongressDaily: "Senate Majority Leader Reid is not expected to receive until next week scoring from CBO that will allow him to piece together a final healthcare overhaul bill, Senate sources said today. The possible two-week review period on proposals that Reid sent CBO Oct. 26 has bolstered speculation that an overhaul bill might not come to the Senate floor before December in a debate that could stretch into next year."

3 Nov 2009

Interim data from Schering-Plough's narlaprevir Phase IIa study

Schering-Plough Corporation reported that interim results from an ongoing Phase IIa study of narlaprevir (SCH 900518), its investigational, once-daily protease inhibitor, demonstrated potent antiviral activity in treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1.

3 Nov 2009

Swine flu vaccine supply expected to increase 'in short order'

A senior adviser to President Barack Obama says the government "overpromised" with the swine flu vaccine but that the vaccine supply would catch up with the demand within a week. Meanwhile, a health group established to monitor the vaccine's safety will begin work this week.

3 Nov 2009

Heart, cancer doctors get break on scheduled Medicare pay cuts

Heart and cancer doctors will get a smaller fee cut next year from Medicare, the U.S. government program for the elderly, than the Obama administration first sought in a move to shift money to family physicians," Bloomberg reports. Earlier this year, Medicare officials said they would cut 10 percent of payments for the two specialties. Now, they plan on making the reductions over four years, instead.

2 Nov 2009

Extending hepatitis C treatment for liver transplant patients results in sustained viral clearance

Extending hepatitis C treatment for liver transplant patients beyond current practice results in high rates of clearance of the hepatitis C virus from the blood, as well as a low rate of relapse, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.

2 Nov 2009

WCMC-Q's biomedical research program makes significant progress

The biomedical research program of Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar has made significant progress in its dual goals of advancing basic science and building a sustainable research community in Qatar since it was launched less than a year and a half ago.

2 Nov 2009

MRSA bloodstream infection linked to high mortality rate

A strain of MRSA that causes bloodstream infections is five times more lethal than other strains and has shown to have some resistance to the potent antibiotic drug vancomycin used to treat MRSA, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.

2 Nov 2009

Race of kidney donors may affect the survival rates of transplant recipients

The race of kidney donors may affect the survival rates of transplant recipients according to a study by Henry Ford Hospital.

31 Oct 2009

John Simpson named the 2009 Distinguished Alumnus for his invention

Back in the 1970s, while watching an angioplasty to widen clogged coronary arteries, John Simpson, Ph.D., M.D., thought there had to be an easier way to perform the procedure.

31 Oct 2009

Lipid may be vital to learning

Saturated fats have a deservedly bad reputation, but Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that a sticky lipid occurring naturally at high levels in the brain may help us memorize grandma's recipe for cinnamon buns, as well as recall how, decades ago, she served them up steaming from the oven.

31 Oct 2009

Johns Hopkins researchers find life in blood-starved retinas; shed light on vision loss

Like all tissues in the body, the eye needs a healthy blood supply to function properly. Poorly developed blood vessels can lead to visual impairment or even blindness. While many of the molecules involved in guiding the development of the intricate blood vessel architecture are known, only now are we learning how these molecules work and how they might affect sight.

31 Oct 2009

Public concern can undermine flu vaccination campaigns

The effectiveness of pandemic flu vaccination campaigns - like that now underway for H1N1 - could be undermined by the public incorrectly associating coincidental and unrelated health events with the vaccines.

31 Oct 2009

Health industry stakeholders focus on pain, not gain

Businesses, including medical device makers, insurers and pharmaceutical companies are bracing for tax and fee provisions in the House health care reform bill.

30 Oct 2009

Obama woos small business to support health reform

Obama told small business owners Thursday that Democrats' health reform plans would mean million of their peers would get new tax credits to help pay for insurance and that the smallest firms could save around 25 percent on insurance costs through new exchanges, BusinessWeek reports. In addition to the president's speech to business people in Washington, the White House published a report pitching those and other benefits. It places the number of businesses in line for tax credits at 3.6 million (Tozzi, 10/29).

30 Oct 2009

A selection of recent studies and surveys

Health Affairs: Uninsured Adults With Chronic Conditions Or Disabilities: Gaps In Public Insurance Programs - This study examines patterns of uninsurance for low-income working-age adults with chronic health conditions or disabilities, as documented in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).

30 Oct 2009