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Research roundup: Cutting speciality care by raising co-payments; Asthma diagnosis and insurance coverage; GAO on early retirees

Mayo Clinic Employees Responded To New Requirements For Cost Sharing By Reducing Possibly Unneeded Health Services Use -- Researchers at the Mayo Clinic examined the effects of changes in the clinic's self-funded health plan "to decrease the use of potentially inappropriate health care services and foster a deliver system centered on primary care."

11 Nov 2011

NeoStem third quarter revenues increase to $17.8 million

NeoStem, Inc., an international biopharmaceutical company with a focus on cell based therapeutics development, today reported third quarter results and recent progress in its business.

11 Nov 2011

NYU Langone professor offers guidance on risk factors, interventions for SUDEP

Over time, epileptic seizures can lead to major health issues, including significant cognitive decline and even death, warns Orrin Devinsky, MD, professor, Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical Center.

11 Nov 2011

Olfactory sensory neurons in older people show unexpected response to odor

Scientists studying how the sense of smell changes as people age, found that olfactory sensory neurons in those 60 and over showed an unexpected response to odor that made it more difficult to distinguish specific smells, putting them at greater risk from dangerous chemicals and poor nutrition.

11 Nov 2011

AHAF: Requests for ADR research grants increase by 33% this year

The American Health Assistance Foundation (AHAF), a nonprofit organization funding innovative research through its Alzheimer's Disease Research (ADR) program, today announced that the number of scientists seeking ADR research grants through its annual application process increased by 33% this year.

11 Nov 2011

Conference highlights advances in evidence-based integrative therapies for cancer

Today the Society for Integrative Oncology highlighted top research findings presented at the Eighth International Conference this week in Cleveland, Ohio. More than 80 abstracts will be presented at the annual meeting, which will be keynoted by National Institutes of Health Director, Francis Collins, MD, PhD.

11 Nov 2011

Johns Hopkins to establish new global center for childhood obesity

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has been awarded a $16 million U54 cooperative agreement from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish a global center of excellence to address the childhood obesity epidemic.

11 Nov 2011

Longer looks: Do extra brain cells offer a clue to autism?; doctors leaving medicine

There's growing evidence that the brains of autistic children are very different from the brains of other youngsters. Now a new study that found an excess of brain cells in children with autism comes closer to pinpointing the origins of the condition: in utero versus in toddlerhood. In research reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), scientists at the University of California, San Diego, found that autistic children have about 67% more nerve cells in a part of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex than children without autism.

11 Nov 2011

TF-CBTWeb training program for mental health professionals

Over the past six years, more than 100,000 mental health professionals - an average of nearly 1,400 per month - have registered for a free online training program that teaches an innovative therapy to help children recover from post-traumatic stress caused by abuse, violence or natural disaster.

11 Nov 2011

Regulated gene transcription more complex than previously thought

Cells develop and thrive by turning genes on and off as needed in a precise pattern, a process known as regulated gene transcription. In a paper published in the Nov. 9 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say this process is even more complex than previously thought, with regulated genes actually relocated to other, more conducive places in the cell nucleus.

11 Nov 2011

Franken takes hard look at health data thefts

In the wake of high-profile health-care data breaches in Minnesota this year, Sen. Al Franken on Wednesday examined how sensitive data can be better protected as more of it moves to the "wild, wild West" of the Internet. Thefts of laptops containing patient data from Fairview and North Memorial hospitals earlier this year were just a small slice of health data thefts in the United States. In a 15-month span, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that more than 50 laptops were stolen from hospitals, clinics and medical centers.

11 Nov 2011

Study reveals risk factors for temporomandibular disorders

Now, for the first time, researchers in the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine are publishing a comprehensive set of clinical characteristics that they say will lead to the ability to identify individuals at risk for developing the painful conditions. Their new clinical assessments will help researchers and clinicians better understand TMD and other pain conditions, so as to find ways to better manage and treat them.

11 Nov 2011

Berkeley Lab, Bruker partner to develop and distribute new structural biology methods

Bruker Corporation and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) today announced a collaboration to develop and distribute new structural biology methods and tools to integrate Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.

11 Nov 2011

Study examines potential cost effectiveness of TAVR versus SAVR

The cost effectiveness of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVR) compared to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) depends on whether TAVR is performed via the femoral artery or transapically, through a small incision in the chest, according to a new study.

11 Nov 2011

N-acetylcysteine plus cortisone shows promise against acute alcoholic hepatitis

Acute alcoholic hepatitis is one of the most serious forms of alcoholic liver disease, affecting individuals with chronic excessive alcohol consumption, which generally equates to more than 50 grams of alcohol per day, over a period of more than three to six months. The disease is characterized by liver failure and acute jaundice (icterus), which may induce a coma through liver failure and an ensuing death rate of between 40-45% within the first six months.

11 Nov 2011

Link between physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep in teens

Earlier research has had similar findings, but this is the first large, nationally representative study to connect physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep in high school students, explained Kathryn Foti, M.P.H., a health scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Adolescent and School Health and lead author of the paper.

11 Nov 2011

First large scale trial of acupuncture for prevention of xerostomia

When given alongside radiation therapy for head and neck cancer, acupuncture has shown for the first time to reduce the debilitating side effect of xerostomia, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center.

11 Nov 2011

New potential target to slow breast cancer tumor progression and metastasis

A new potential target to slow breast cancer tumor progression and metastasis has been identified by a team of researchers led by Dr. Richard Kremer from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.

11 Nov 2011

British researchers discover receptor necessary for malaria parasite to invade red blood cells, offering new vaccine hope

Researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the U.K. have "made a critical discovery about the way the most deadly species of malaria parasite invades human red blood cells," Reuters reports.

11 Nov 2011

New unsuspected role for nuclear receptor corepressor protein

By knocking out a key regulatory protein, scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland dramatically boosted insulin sensitivity in lab mice, an achievement that opens a new door for drug development and the treatment of diabetes.

11 Nov 2011