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Research roundup: Cutting speciality care by raising co-payments; Asthma diagnosis and insurance coverage; GAO on early retirees

Mayo Clinic Employees Responded To New Requirements For Cost Sharing By Reducing Possibly Unneeded Health Services Use -- Researchers at the Mayo Clinic examined the effects of changes in the clinic's self-funded health plan "to decrease the use of potentially inappropriate health care services and foster a deliver system centered on primary care."

11 Nov 2011

Cultivating cells in sealed, sterile plastic bags

Using plasmas, sealed plastic bags can be modified at atmospheric pressure so that human cells can adhere to and reproduce on their walls. Cell culture bags of this kind are an important aid for research and clinical purposes and may eventually replace the Petri dishes used today.

11 Nov 2011

Elixir Medical announces initiation of DESolve Novolimus Eluting Bioresorbable Coronary Scaffold System study

Elixir Medical Corporation, a developer of products that combine state-of-the-art medical devices with advanced pharmaceuticals, announced enrollment initiation for a 120-patient, international pivotal clinical study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the DESolve Novolimus Eluting Bioresorbable Coronary Scaffold System designed to resorb in the body within 1 to 2 years after implantation and return the patients' coronary vessel to de novo state.

11 Nov 2011

First Surgical board declares quarterly cash dividend

First Surgical Partners Inc., which provides non-emergency surgeries through its two ambulatory surgery centers and a general acute care hospital, today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $.0225 per share on the Company's common stock to be paid on November 14, 2011 to stockholders of record on November 11, 2011.

11 Nov 2011

Damaged mitochondria equivalent to an environmental disaster in the cell

Current thinking about Parkinson's disease is that it's a disorder of mitochondria, the energy-producing organelles inside cells, causing neurons in the brain's substantia nigra to die or become impaired.

11 Nov 2011

NYU Langone professor offers guidance on risk factors, interventions for SUDEP

Over time, epileptic seizures can lead to major health issues, including significant cognitive decline and even death, warns Orrin Devinsky, MD, professor, Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical Center.

11 Nov 2011

Simple outpatient procedure can quickly diagnose and treat ankyloglossia

Mothers struggling to breastfeed are benefiting from a simple outpatient procedure to fix an easily missed 'tongue-tie' condition that could be preventing their newborns from feeding properly.

11 Nov 2011

Delirium may increase risk of death in elderly hospital patients

Hospital patients over 65 who are referred for a psychiatric consultation and found to have delirium are more likely than those without delirium to die within one year following diagnosis, according to a new study published in the journal General Hospital Psychiatry.

11 Nov 2011

Dramatic rise in obesity, fatty liver disease increases need for transplants

The dramatic rise in obesity is leading to more fatty liver disease in the United States, increasing the need for more transplants at a time when there already is a severe shortage of donated organs.

11 Nov 2011

Olfactory sensory neurons in older people show unexpected response to odor

Scientists studying how the sense of smell changes as people age, found that olfactory sensory neurons in those 60 and over showed an unexpected response to odor that made it more difficult to distinguish specific smells, putting them at greater risk from dangerous chemicals and poor nutrition.

11 Nov 2011

Conference highlights advances in evidence-based integrative therapies for cancer

Today the Society for Integrative Oncology highlighted top research findings presented at the Eighth International Conference this week in Cleveland, Ohio. More than 80 abstracts will be presented at the annual meeting, which will be keynoted by National Institutes of Health Director, Francis Collins, MD, PhD.

11 Nov 2011

Longer looks: Do extra brain cells offer a clue to autism?; doctors leaving medicine

There's growing evidence that the brains of autistic children are very different from the brains of other youngsters. Now a new study that found an excess of brain cells in children with autism comes closer to pinpointing the origins of the condition: in utero versus in toddlerhood. In research reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), scientists at the University of California, San Diego, found that autistic children have about 67% more nerve cells in a part of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex than children without autism.

11 Nov 2011

TF-CBTWeb training program for mental health professionals

Over the past six years, more than 100,000 mental health professionals - an average of nearly 1,400 per month - have registered for a free online training program that teaches an innovative therapy to help children recover from post-traumatic stress caused by abuse, violence or natural disaster.

11 Nov 2011

NCCN ORP to evaluate clinical effectiveness of Boehringer Ingelheim's Afatinib in solid tumors

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network Oncology Research Program (ORP) has been awarded a $2 million grant from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop a program to scientifically evaluate and define the clinical effectiveness of Afatinib (BIBW 2992) in solid tumors, including breast, head and neck, and non-small cell lung (NSCL) cancers.

11 Nov 2011

N-acetylcysteine plus cortisone shows promise against acute alcoholic hepatitis

Acute alcoholic hepatitis is one of the most serious forms of alcoholic liver disease, affecting individuals with chronic excessive alcohol consumption, which generally equates to more than 50 grams of alcohol per day, over a period of more than three to six months. The disease is characterized by liver failure and acute jaundice (icterus), which may induce a coma through liver failure and an ensuing death rate of between 40-45% within the first six months.

11 Nov 2011

First large scale trial of acupuncture for prevention of xerostomia

When given alongside radiation therapy for head and neck cancer, acupuncture has shown for the first time to reduce the debilitating side effect of xerostomia, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center.

11 Nov 2011

Alcohol consumption may decrease risk of death from coronary artery disease

In a prospective, observational study of approximately 150,000 Norwegians, the investigators found that alcohol consumption was associated with a large decrease in the risk of death from coronary artery disease.

11 Nov 2011

Long-range wind transport of an infectious agent may cause KD

Kawasaki Disease (KD) is a severe childhood disease that many parents, even some doctors, mistake for an inconsequential viral infection. In fact, if not diagnosed or treated in time, it can lead to irreversible heart damage. After 50 years of research, including genetic studies, scientists have been unable to pinpoint the cause of the disease.

10 Nov 2011

Researchers uncover mechanism that governs cell specialization

Researchers at then Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have uncovered a mechanism that governs how cells become specialized during development.

10 Nov 2011

SNI receives NINDS grant to conduct clinical research studies on brain disorders

Swedish Neuroscience Institute (SNI) has been selected by the National Institutes of Health as the Pacific Northwest member of a national consortium of 25 neuroscience centers that will conduct clinical research studies on a variety of brain-related diseases.

10 Nov 2011