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Sleep disorders threaten kids with premature heart disease and stroke

Poor sleep patterns and lack of proper sleep could be threatening thousands of Canadian adolescents with premature heart disease and stroke, warns Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher Dr. Brian McCrindle, a pediatric cardiologist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

26 Oct 2010

Examining genetic material of egg cells may inform about embryos health

Fertility procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) require a couple and the doctor to place the risky bet that the multiple eggs they choose to fertilize will produce an embryo that will thrive in the uterus. Researchers cannot biopsy eggs directly because that would destroy them, but a new discovery by professors at Brown University and Women & Infants Hospital could lead to new insights about how eggs develop and ultimately inform judgments about how the embryos they produce will fare. The idea is to examine the genetic material the egg cells discarded when they were first forming, to see which genes they were expressing.

26 Oct 2010

Medicare plan choices attract attention as open enrollment approaches

Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services say they have taken steps to streamline this year's plan options for private Medicare plans, including Part D, the prescription drug plan including eliminating some plans they consider duplicative.

26 Oct 2010

Doctors, nurses and urgent care centers address increasing demand

The (Lynchburg, Va.) News and Advance reports on doctor shortages in Virginia: "Attracting more physicians to the area, and keeping them, is a challenge that has become more urgent. So much so that Centra is in the midst of creating a formal Physician Recruiting Office, where staff will work to convince physicians to consider coming to Lynchburg for their residency or to practice.

26 Oct 2010

Marathon running without proper training can damage the heart

Is running a marathon good for you or can it damage the heart?

25 Oct 2010

World Vision increases response in cholera affected Haiti

As the cholera outbreak continues to spread in the Artibonite region of Haiti, World Vision is increasing its response in affected areas, pre-positioning much-needed health supplies and preparing residents in its displacement camps in Port-au-Prince with critical, life-saving health and hygiene messages.

25 Oct 2010

Intensive population management program reduces risk of death, health care costs

A new study from Kaiser Permanente Colorado is one of the first to show that an intensive population management program that matches heart disease patients to personal nurses and clinical pharmacy specialists not only reduces the risk of death but reduces health care costs as well.

25 Oct 2010

First Edition: October 25, 2010

Today's headlines include the latest on health overhaul policies and politics as the mid-term election grows closer.

25 Oct 2010

Researchers publish effects of doctor-designed formula against breast cancer

Researchers at Indiana University and Methodist Research Institute have published the dramatic effects of a natural formula against breast cancer. The impressive results are found in the most recent publication of Integrative Cancer Therapies.

25 Oct 2010

Gene therapy may reverse pulmonary hypertension

A Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher has discovered what could be the first truly effective breakthrough in the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension, a devastating, life-threatening condition which results in an enlargement of the heart.

25 Oct 2010

$Precautions needed against cold-related frostbite, ankle sprains and fractures$

Precautions needed against cold-related frostbite, ankle sprains and fractures

With cold weather on the horizon, podiatrists at Temple University's School of Podiatric Medicine warn that people of all ages need to take precautions to protect their feet from cold-related injuries like frostbite, ankle sprains and fractures.

25 Oct 2010

Experts identify efficient way to increase minority access to colorectal cancer screening

Minority patients have a significantly decreased survival from colon cancer compared to white patients, most often as a result of a late diagnosis. To help address this problem, a team of healthcare professionals at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has identified an efficient way to increase minority access to lifesaving colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) in communities where multiple barriers to preventive care exist.

25 Oct 2010

Sen. Grassley asks HHS to probe doctors using excessive prescriptions

The Miami Herald: "Based on the huge numbers of prescriptions written by a Miami psychiatrist, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is continuing to pressure federal officials to investigate why some doctors write stunning numbers of scripts for tax-funded Medicare and Medicaid programs.

25 Oct 2010

State officials adopt standards for insurers' expenses

The New York Times: "State insurance commissioners on Thursday unanimously endorsed tough new standards that would require many health insurance companies to spend more of each premium dollar for the benefit of consumers. The new federal health care law stipulates that at least 80 percent of premium revenue must be spent on medical care and 'activities that improve health care quality' for patients — not retained as profits or used to pay executive compensation and administrative expenses.

25 Oct 2010

Joint Commission: Medical errors in hospitals tied to 'handoffs' of patients

The Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals, released an update on a collaborative project with 10 health systems tragetting the frequent errors that happen in hospitals when a patient is handed off from one provider to another.

25 Oct 2010

Fred Hutchinson Center offers research-based tip sheets for breast cancer survivors

Throughout October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, experts from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and its clinical care partner, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, are offering weekly research-based tip sheets regarding breast cancer prevention, screening and early detection, treatment and survivorship.

25 Oct 2010

New annual campaign to prevent skin cancer

The annual "Euromelanoma Day" campaign is designed to prevent skin cancer among the general public. While there has been considerable interest, it has proved difficult to reach out to some of the at-risk groups. As such, new ways of encouraging these people to go to a dermatologist are being introduced, reveals research from the University of Gothenburg presented at the dermatologist conference in Sweden.

25 Oct 2010

Hepatitis C from anesthetist case assumes new proportions

According to Victoria’s chief health officer yesterday, another 1,100 people would be screened for hepatitis C that could have come from contact with an infected doctor at more than one clinic.

24 Oct 2010

Health care fraud roundup: 30-year sentence for doctor upheld; KY. cracks down

An appeals court has upheld a 30-year prison term for a Medicare fraudster in Florida. Dr. Ana Alvarez-Jacinto, a Miami endocrinologist, was convicted of health care fraud and sentenced to 30 years behind bars.

22 Oct 2010

FDA announces new label for HIV antiviral drug Invirase

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that new safety information has been added to the label for the HIV antiviral drug Invirase (saquinavir), describing potentially life-threatening side effects on the heart when used with Norvir (ritonavir), another HIV antiviral medication.

22 Oct 2010