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Primary Practice Physician Program for Chronic Pain and its impact on patients and providers

Patients who experience chronic pain may experience improvement in symptoms if their primary care providers are specifically trained in multiple aspects of pain, including emotional consequences.

6 Mar 2013

Pain self-management and exercise ‘effective in elderly’

Techniques for the self-management of chronic pain based on cognitive behavioral therapy significantly reduce disability, suggest results from a randomized controlled trial in older adults.

6 Mar 2013

UK’s health performance declining compared with 14 EU countries over past 20 years

Six decades of universal free health care, the introduction of widespread public health initiatives (eg, tobacco control, cancer screening, and immunisation), and substantial increases in health expenditure have failed to improve the UK’s health outcomes or longevity ranking against the average of 14 other original members of the European Union, Australia, Canada, Norway, and the USA (EU15+) over the past 20 years.

6 Mar 2013

Air pollution and heart attacks: an interview with Dr Cathryn Tonne, LSHTM

Air is polluted when it contains any extraneous entity in sufficient quantities to adversely affect the environment or the health of people exposed to it.

6 Mar 2013

Aerobic walking program alleviates lower back pain, says Tel Aviv University researcher

Lower back pain is a common complaint, and treatment often requires many hours of physical therapy over multiple weekly clinic visits - a costly commitment.

6 Mar 2013

Workers with rheumatoid arthritis incur increased health-related costs

Workers with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) incur increased direct and indirect health-related costs, reports a study in the March Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

5 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Daschle, Frist urge Senate to confirm CMS chief; 'Insane' incentives in health law; Medicaid does better job than private insurance so why change it?

Imagine a large company operating for seven years without a CEO. A company with a product that accounts for more than 15 percent of our nation's gross domestic product. A company implementing the largest national effort at reform since its creation. A company set to gain an additional 30 million customers in the next year. Unfathomable.

4 Mar 2013

Nationwide clinical drug trials give hope for patients with autism and fragile X syndrome

As scientists uncover the precise links between autism and the fragile x gene, potential treatments to reverse many of the core symptoms of both autism and fragile X syndrome (FXS) are moving closer to reality.

2 Mar 2013

Grand Challenges Brazil seeks innovation in preventing, managing preterm birth

Writing in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Steven Buchsbaum, Gary Darmstadt, and Rachel Lenington of the foundation state, "Announced this week, the Brazilian Ministry of Health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have launched a call for proposals to promote innovation in health research to tackle some of the biggest challenges of maternal and child health."

1 Mar 2013

Thyroid hormone may help reduce heart damage in humans with cardiac diseases

Thyroid hormone treatment administered to rats at the time of a heart attack (myocardial infarction) led to significant reduction in the loss of heart muscle cells and improvement in heart function, according to a study published by a team of researchers led by A. Martin Gerdes and Yue-Feng Chen from New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine.

1 Mar 2013

Proposals to transform Medicaid spur enthusiasm, worries

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber pushes his state's model for "reinventing" Medicaid with coordinated care organizations, while a proposed expansion of Medicaid managed care in Texas sparks worries about care for the disabled.

28 Feb 2013

Optimistic older adults face increased risk of disabilities and death: Study

Older people who have low expectations for a satisfying future may be more likely to live longer, healthier lives than those who see brighter days ahead, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

28 Feb 2013

Symptom profile changes between first-episode and chronic schizophrenia

First-episode schizophrenia patients have more positive and fewer negative symptoms than chronic schizophrenia patients, and are more likely to report childhood sexual abuse, a team of researchers has discovered.

27 Feb 2013

Newborn screening improves detection of lethal form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) in girls as well as boys

Contrary to current belief, routine newborn screening improves the detection of the lethal form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) in girls as well as boys, saving lives in both sexes, according to a unique study of CAH during the last 100 years published Online First in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.

27 Feb 2013