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Obesity-attributable health spending to reach $1,318 per person by 2018

A new report released today based on research by Emory University Health Care Economist Ken Thorpe, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), shows increasing obesity rates in New Jersey and across the country will result in higher health care spending for states and individuals.

18 Nov 2009

Maternal blood biomarkers may help predict pregnancy-induced hypertension

A new study that examines the value of maternal blood biomarkers will help identify and monitor patients at risk of developing preeclampsia and is set to change the way expectant mothers are cared for in prenatal clinics around the world.

18 Nov 2009

Guided Care honored with 2009 Medical Economics Award for Innovation in Practice Improvement

Guided Care, a new model of comprehensive health care for people with multiple chronic conditions, has received the 2009 Medical Economics Award for Innovation in Practice Improvement from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) and Medical Economics magazine.

18 Nov 2009

Drug therapy offers substantial cost savings than angioplasty

Many patients with diabetes should forego angioplasties for heart disease and just take medicine instead, according to a new National Institutes of Health study led by Stanford University School of Medicine researcher Mark Hlatky, MD.

18 Nov 2009

FDA approves Qutenza, a pain relief product for patients who suffer from PHN

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the approval of Qutenza (capsaicin) 8% patch, a medicated skin patch that relieves the pain of post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), a serious complication that can occur after a bout with shingles.

18 Nov 2009

Electronic cigarettes, a viable and much-needed alternative to combustible tobacco

The Electronic Cigarette Association (ECA) today urged decision-makers to seek alternatives to combustible tobacco that reduce Americans’ exposure to the multitude of harmful chemicals and toxins found in cigarettes.

18 Nov 2009

Tips on how to prevent household members from getting sick during flu season

someone at home who has H1N1 (swine) flu, it is important for you to prevent other people in the house from getting sick, according to Gary Kalkut, MD, MPH, Senior Vice-President, Chief Medical Officer of Montefiore Medical Center.

18 Nov 2009

Health, policy experts gather for 3-day conference on family planning

By offering family planning services to people seeking HIV/AIDS information and treatment, Africa's population growth rate could be curbed by 2.5 percent, health experts said Monday during an international family health conference in Kampala, Uganda, Agence France-Presse reports (11/16).

18 Nov 2009

Report calls for refocusing health spending in developing countries to save children's lives

"More than 24,000 infants die daily from preventable diseases in developing countries," and child deaths have fallen in countries where governments "have shown a high level of political leadership on child health," World Vision International said in a new report (.pdf) released on Monday as part of a five-year campaign to reduce child deaths worldwide, the Associated Press/San Francisco Chronicle reports.

17 Nov 2009

Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases announces targets

The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) on Monday outlined plans "to invest tens of millions of dollars in heart and lung disease studies in a battle against a global epidemic of chronic disease," over five years, Reuters reports.

17 Nov 2009

Depression is as much of a risk factor for mortality as smoking, says new study

A study by researchers at the University of Bergen, Norway, and the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King's College London has found that depression is as much of a risk factor for mortality as smoking.

17 Nov 2009

Senate committee to markup foreign aid reform bill

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to "mark up the Kerry-Lugar foreign aid reform bill Tuesday," Foreign Policy's blog, "The Cable" reports. It is one of "several foreign-aid reform bills in play, [and] is seen as a strong but relatively modest attempt to increase the power and stature of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

17 Nov 2009

China, WHO to collaborate on flu research center

Chinese and WHO officials last week agreed to open a flu research center in Beijing, Bloomberg reports. "The new collaborating center for reference and research on influenza will join a network of WHO-affiliated labs in Atlanta, London, Tokyo and Melbourne that monitor flu strains and make recommendations on vaccines to fight the virus," the news service writes

17 Nov 2009

American Heart Association supports ‘Healthy Choices for Healthy Children legislation'

The American Heart Association is joining efforts to decrease and prevent childhood obesity through legislation that is being introduced today in the Ohio Senate and Ohio House of Representatives. The

17 Nov 2009

FAO head 'not satisfied' with omission of hunger eradication deadline from summit declaration

Jacques Diouf, head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), "is not satisfied" that the World Summit on Food Security's final declaration excludes "exact targets to reduce hunger," the BBC reports.

17 Nov 2009

Also in global health news: Global corruption; HIV vaccine; smoking; DRC aid

A new report from Transparency International says the fight against corruption worldwide is slowing as urgency to address the global economic downturn recedes, Bloomberg reports.

17 Nov 2009

Dem leaders target Dec. 18; Senators offer health reform insights

Politico: "Senate and House leaders are hoping to close up shop for the year by Dec. 18, even though neither chamber has figured out the end game for health care reform and must-pass appropriations bills." House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Tuesday that both he and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., are targeting that day 18 as "a last day for this session of Congress."

17 Nov 2009

Medicare doctor payment "fix" could slip, jeopardizing AMA support for health reform

The American Medical Association backed the House Democrats' reform bill earlier this month, at a time when it appeared likely lawmakers would move to permanently end looming cuts to doctors' Medicare payments that Congress defers from year to year, Politico reports.

17 Nov 2009

Polls find deep divisions on health care reform, support for taxing rich

As the Senate prepares to take up legislation aimed at overhauling the nation's health-care system, President Obama and the Democrats are still struggling to win the battle for public opinion. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Americans deeply divided over the proposals under consideration and majorities predicting higher costs ahead. But Republican opponents have done little better in rallying the public opposition to kill the reform effort.

17 Nov 2009

Senate Democrats wait for CBO score, work to hold onto votes

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is planning a "key test vote by the end of the week" on a health reform bill, according to Senate aides, Politico reports. "The vote on a motion to proceed to the bill could come as early as Friday, teeing up the amendment process to begin after the Thanksgiving break." Reid may keep the Senate in session over the weekend (Budoff Brown, 11/17).

17 Nov 2009