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Pregnant women with asthma can be more confident about some medicines

Women can usually keep using the same asthma drugs they were using before they got pregnant.

3 Dec 2008

4.7 percent of U.S. population suffers from persistent depression or anxiety disorders

Though effective treatments are available for individuals suffering from chronic depression and anxiety, very little is known about how often these treatments are used or how prevalent these conditions are among the nation's general population.

3 Dec 2008

Kidney disease patients with poor health literacy are less likely to receive kidney transplants

Kidney disease patients' ability to understand basic health information may have a significant impact on whether or not they will receive an organ transplant, according to a study appearing in the January 2009 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

3 Dec 2008

Researchers study newborns' umbilical cord blood to better understand fetal health risks from smoking mothers

Despite the well-known dangers of first- and secondhand smoke, an estimated ten percent of pregnant women in the U.S. are smokers.

3 Dec 2008

WHO boss says major milestone reached in fight against AIDS

Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General says a major milestone in the long struggle against HIV/AIDS has been reached.

3 Dec 2008

Applied engineering makes for more efficient operating rooms

Work by specialists from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering has led to significant improvements in turnover times for operating rooms at three California safety net hospitals, allowing "many more hours of daytime surgery per year."

3 Dec 2008

Link found between Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in healthy adults

A study published in the November issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease provides an insight into normal, physiological levels and association between proteins involved in development of Alzheimer's disease.

3 Dec 2008

Risk factors for chronic disability after back injury

A wide range of factors-including variables related to health care and job characteristics-affect the risk of long-term disability for workers with back injuries, reports a study in the December 1 issue of Spine.

3 Dec 2008

Are we finally winning the war on cancer?

Improvements in behavior and screening have contributed greatly to the 13 percent decline in cancer mortality since 1990, with better cancer treatments playing a supporting role, according to new research from David Cutler of Harvard University.

3 Dec 2008

Aduromed Industries files patent application for containerized medical waste treatment system

Aduromed Industries, Inc. has announced that it successfully filed a U.S. patent on November 24, 2008 to protect the Company's proprietary technology for its new standard, containerized MedClean Systems that provide a turnkey solution for onsite regulated medical waste sterilization and volume reduction.

3 Dec 2008

Study looks at 'vicious circle' theory infections in COPD patients

In treating flare-ups in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a major cause of disability and the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S, what was old is important again.

2 Dec 2008

WHO says governments must do more to improve access to essential medicines

An alarming lack of availability of essential medicines in the public sector drives patients to pay higher prices in the private sector or go without, according to a WHO study reported in the online edition of The Lancet. The results confirm that governments must do more to improve access to essential medicines as part of their efforts to make national health systems more efficient and equitable.

2 Dec 2008

Patient harm more common with patient-controlled pain medication

Intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) allows patients to control their own pain medication, but a new study published in the December 2008 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety shows that errors related to this practice are four times more likely to result in patient harm than errors that occur with other medications.

1 Dec 2008

Psychiatric disorders common among 18 to 24-year-olds

Psychiatric disorders appear to be common among 18 to 24-year-olds, with overall rates similar among those attending or not attending college, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

1 Dec 2008

Six bad bugs increasingly escaping effects of antibiotics

Infectious disease experts warn that new drugs are urgently needed to treat six drug-resistant bacteria that cause most hospital infections and increasingly escape the effects of antibiotics.

1 Dec 2008

College students vaccinated against influenza less likely to develop flu-like illnesses

College students who are vaccinated against influenza appear less likely to develop flu-like illnesses, require related health care visits or experience impairments in academic performance during flu season, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

1 Dec 2008

FDA accepts Zevalin supplemental biologics license application

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing and review, and has granted priority review status for, the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for use of Zevalin ([90Y]-ibritumomab tiuxetan) as consolidation therapy for patients with follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who achieve a response to first-line therapy. Priority review is granted by the FDA for a treatment that addresses a significant unmet medical need.

1 Dec 2008

Childhood vaccines cause financial burden to many health care providers

The costs that health care providers are charged and reimbursed for childhood vaccines vary widely, and the high cost of some immunizations is leading to significant financial strain for some physicians, according to a pair of new studies from the University of Michigan Health System.

1 Dec 2008

America's Health Insurance Plans to release health care reform proposal

America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) will release a new comprehensive health care reform proposal that offers solutions to contain rising health care costs, enhance portability, provide affordable coverage options for small businesses, protect against medical bankruptcy, and more.

1 Dec 2008

Children of farm workers less likely to have health cover

Children of farm workers are three times as likely as all other children and almost twice as likely as other poor children to be uninsured, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

1 Dec 2008