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Number of HIV cases among seniors in Puerto Rico increasing

The number of new HIV cases recorded among people ages 60 and older in Puerto Rico is increasing, the Miami Herald reports.

30 Jan 2008

Bush in State of the Union address calls on Congress to allocate $30 billion for PEPFAR

President Bush on Monday during his last State of the Union address urged Congress to authorize a $30 billion, five-year extension of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the New York Times reports (Stolberg, New York Times, 1/29).

30 Jan 2008

Texas officials studying needle-exchange program

Health officials in Bexar County, Texas, are considering if they should launch the state's first needle-exchange program in an effort to reduce the spread of HIV and other bloodborne diseases, but Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed has said that she will not hesitate to prosecute anyone who distributes needles before the program is approved, the Los Angeles Times reports (Bustillo, Los Angeles Times, 1/28).

30 Jan 2008

Brazil to distribute 19.5 million condoms during carnival

Health officials in Brazil on Sunday began distributing millions of condoms ahead of the country's five-day Carnival in an effort to reduce the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, the AP/San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

30 Jan 2008

Dairy-free diets may put boys with autism at risk for thin bones

Results of an early study suggest that dairy-free diets and unconventional food preferences could put boys with autism and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at higher than normal risk for thinner, less dense bones when compared to a group of boys the same age who do not have autism.

29 Jan 2008

Smaller pancreatic tumors greatly increase survival odds

The odds of surviving cancer of the pancreas increase dramatically for patients whose tumors are smallest, according to a new study by researchers at Saint Louis University and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston - the first study to specifically evaluate the link between tumor size and survival rates for one of the most common and deadly cancers.

28 Jan 2008

Sex, drugs and diet top issues parents want doctors to discuss with kids

When parents bring their children in for routine check-ups many are hoping the doctors and nurse practitioners caring for them will do more than just check blood pressure, listen to their heart and provide any necessary vaccinations.

28 Jan 2008

FDA warns public of contaminated pre-filled syringe flushes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a nationwide recall of all lots of heparin and saline pre-filled flush syringes manufactured by AM2 PAT, Inc., of Angier, N.C. Two lots have been found to be contaminated with Serratia marcescens, a bacterium that can cause serious injury or death.

28 Jan 2008

U.S. PTO's rejection of Gilead's antiretroviral patents might affect applications in India

Last week's rejection by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office of four patents on Gilead Sciences' antiretroviral drug Viread might affect patent applications for the drug in India, the Times of India reports.

28 Jan 2008

Health insurance co-payments deter mammography use

When faced with even a modest health insurance co-payment for a mammogram, significantly fewer women receive these potentially life-saving breast cancer screenings, according to a new study by Brown University and Harvard Medical School researchers.

24 Jan 2008

Few strategies exist to prevent MRSA spread in nursing homes

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureu (MRSA) is making news as a dangerous, sometimes fatal disease for hospital patients, and in recent cases, students.

24 Jan 2008

Cranberries might help prevent urinary infections in women

Evidence supports drinking cranberry juice a familiar home remedy to treat urinary tract infection (UTI), according to a new review from Scotland.

24 Jan 2008

Researchers propose consumers buy yearly 'drug licenses' as new way to pay for prescriptions

Changing the way consumers pay for prescription drugs so that the system more closely resembles paying for cell phones or computer software could increase drug use without altering patients' out-of-pocket spending, health plan costs or drug company profits, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

23 Jan 2008

Pharmacists believe drive-through windows contribute to delays, errors

Consumers who pick up their prescription medications at a pharmacy drive-through window might be jeopardizing their own safety in the name of convenience.

23 Jan 2008

Cervical cancer rates higher among minority women

The last 50 years have witnessed a dramatic decline in the number of cervical cancer cases, according to the National Cancer Institute.

23 Jan 2008

The biopsychosocial model thirty years later

The dominant model of disease today is, as 30 years ago, still biomedical, with molecular biology being the basic scientific discipline.

22 Jan 2008

Infections at incision site more common than expected following breast procedures

Infections at the incision site occurred in more than 5 percent of patients following breast surgery and cost them more than $4,000 each in hospital-related expenses, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

22 Jan 2008

Melanomas appear as ugly ducklings!

A preliminary study suggests that melanomas have a different appearance than other irregular skin moles (i.e., are “ugly ducklings”), according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

22 Jan 2008

Annual diabetes cost estimates for 2007

The American Diabetes Association (ADA), members of the Congressional Diabetes Caucus and diabetes experts, will host a congressional briefing, Wednesday, January 23 at 1 p.m. in 2218 Rayburn House Office Building to discuss the annual diabetes cost estimates for 2007, which were compiled in a study by the Lewin Group on behalf of the ADA.

22 Jan 2008