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Antibiotic-resistant MRSA all too common

Researchers in the U.S. say that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA is the most common cause of skin and soft-tissue infections among patients presenting in emergency rooms across the country.

20 Aug 2006

Complaint filed against pharmacists for declining to fill emergency contraception prescription refills

The New York Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday filed complaints with the New York State Department of Education's Office of Professions alleging that CVS and Rite Aid pharmacists refused to dispense refills of prescriptions for emergency contraception -- which can prevent pregnancy if taken up to 72 hours after sexual intercourse -- the AP/Long Island Newsday reports.

17 Aug 2006

Wal-Mart criticized for substandard wages and health care benefits

A number of Democrats this week in Iowa and this month nationwide have criticized Wal-Mart Stores, the largest private employer in the U.S., "for what they say are substandard wages and health care benefits," the New York Times reports.

17 Aug 2006

Rate of disabilities higher among U.S. residents with lower incomes

U.S. residents ages 55 and older with annual incomes less than the federal poverty level are more likely to have disabilities that limit routine physical activities than those with higher incomes, according to a study published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, Bloomberg/Dallas Morning News reports.

17 Aug 2006

Chemotherapy and breast cancer - side effects underestimated

Researchers believe that the side effects of chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer are probably higher than thought.

16 Aug 2006

Average Medicare drug benefit premium to remain unchanged at $24 in 2007

Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the program's prescription drug benefit in 2007 will pay an average monthly premium of about $24, the same as the average monthly premium for this year, CMS Administrator Mark McClellan said Tuesday, the New York Times reports.

16 Aug 2006

About 4 million additional health workers needed worldwide to fight HIV/AIDS, WHO says

More than four million additional health workers will be needed in 60 countries to fight HIV/AIDS, according to a strategy the World Health Organization released Tuesday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, the Wall Street Journal reports.

16 Aug 2006

HIV treatment access reaches over 1 million in sub-Saharan Africa

WHO HIV/AIDS Director Dr Kevin De Cock reported that the number of people receiving HIV antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa has surpassed 1 million for the first time, a ten-fold increase in treatment access in the region since December 2003.

16 Aug 2006

Thailand shows how free access to life-saving HIV/AIDS drugs can be affordable

A new report on Thailand's experience of giving free anti-retroviral drugs (ART) to people living with AIDS suggests that even developing countries with few resources may be able to deliver the life-saving drugs on a large scale, according to the World Bank and the Thailand Ministry of Public Health.

16 Aug 2006

New plan to confront HIV-related health worker shortages

Launch of a coordinated global plan to address a major and often overlooked barrier to preventing and treating HIV/AIDS: the severe shortage of health workers, particularly in developing nations.

15 Aug 2006

Male circumcision, microbicides and other tools set to change HIV prevention landscape

In a new report released this week, fifty top AIDS experts warn that a range of promising new HIV prevention approaches are nearing completion of clinical trials, but the world is unprepared to ensure widespread access for those in need.

15 Aug 2006

Serious gaps in Indian public knowledge about HIV

As India gears up implementation of national plans to fight HIV, infectious diseases experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere are pointing out serious gaps in public knowledge about the disease and identifying early problems in private clinics, where 70 percent of HIV-infected Indians receive their everyday medical care.

15 Aug 2006

Treating battlefield injuries and pain in veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq

The August issue of Pain Medicine features two original research studies on treating pain in veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq.

15 Aug 2006

Low testosterone in men over 40 linked to early death

According to a new study, after the age of forty, men with low levels of the male sex hormone testosterone may have a higher risk of death over a four-year period than those with normal levels of the hormone.

15 Aug 2006

New avian flu facility awards its first grant

The Avian and Human Influenza Facility, a multidonor financing mechanism administered by the World Bank, announced today that the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) was awarded a grant in the amount of US$2 million for the Avian and Human Influenza Control and Preparedness Project.

15 Aug 2006

In this day and age, even babies are fatter!

Researchers in the U.S. say it is not just the adult population that is getting fatter and fatter, babies today are far more likely to be overweight than they were twenty years ago.

14 Aug 2006

Infants more heavy today than 20 years ago

By examining more than 120,000 children under age 6 in Massachusetts over 22 years, a newly published study shows that young children - especially infants - are now more likely to be overweight.

9 Aug 2006

Combination of free counseling and nicotine replacement therapy significantly increases odds of quitting

New research findings released in the August 2006 edition of the journal Tobacco Control demonstrate clearly that providing smokers with access to free counseling and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), such as patches and gum, significantly increases their odds of quitting.

7 Aug 2006

Why reassurance fails in patients with unexplained symptoms

When patients are unconvinced by reassurance from their doctor that they have nothing to worry about, it may be because their emotional state makes it hard for them to remember all the information the doctor has given them, according to new research in PLoS Medicine.

6 Aug 2006

New, shorter therapies to treat tuberculosis more effective

New, shorter therapies to treat tuberculosis (TB), which kills millions worldwide each year, may make TB control efforts substantially more effective by simplifying treatment, improving patient outcomes and reducing transmission of new infections.

6 Aug 2006