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Recession cuts into health spending; High-deductible plans spread

The economic slump has put the brakes on health spending, which may bolster a conservative truism: When consumers become more sensitive to the cost of health care, they cut back. Or maybe it supports a progressive one: Forcing consumers to have more "skin in the game" means they will cut back on needed care, not just elective or unnecessary care. And neither side can tell for sure yet whether people have changed spending patterns for good or just postponed seeing doctors or getting tests or treatment.

23 Nov 2011

GPS at WUSTL now offers new cancer genetic test

Physicians can now take advantage of a new genetics test -- one of the first of its kind to be offered in the United States -- that can help determine the best treatment for cancer patients.

23 Nov 2011

Oral antibiotics might treat Buruli ulcer

It might be possible to treat Buruli ulcer, a crippling and deforming disease, with only oral medicines, which would make treatment easier. And even the current treatment can in many cases be given in an outpatient regimen.

23 Nov 2011

Pfizer enters definitive agreement to acquire Excaliard

Pfizer Inc. and Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Pfizer will acquire Excaliard, a privately owned biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel drugs for the treatment of skin fibrosis, more commonly referred to as skin scarring. The acquisition is expected to close before the end of the year.

22 Nov 2011

Tips to reduce calorie intake during holiday season

This holiday season, most families will have the traditional turkey, cranberry sauce and a pumpkin pie, without which it wouldn't qualify as a holiday meal. The one thing that usually falls off the list of must-haves is sensibility, says one University of Alabama at Birmingham expert.

22 Nov 2011

Scientists search for main culprit behind Sj-gren's syndrome

Researchers want to find the main culprit behind the dry, irritated eyes, mouth, throat, skin, nose and more afflicting 1-3 percent of the population.

22 Nov 2011

Safety tips to avoid cooking accidents on Thanksgiving Day

Aficionados agree that deep-frying a turkey is the best way to prepare the most flavorful and moist version of the traditional centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal. Serafino Alfe was deep-frying turkeys for an annual fundraiser dinner recently and ended up at the Loyola Burn unit with third-degree burns - the worst - on his leg.

22 Nov 2011

Roche establishes strategic alliance with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Roche announced today the establishment of a strategic alliance with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for the center to operate as a Roche Molecular Center of Excellence (MCOE) for the next five years.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 21 Nov 2011

Certain IBD patients at increased risk of skin cancer

Certain patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may have an increased risk of skin cancer, which is intensified by the use of immunosuppressant medications , according to two new studies in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Immunosuppressants are commonly used in the treatment of IBD.

21 Nov 2011

Despite market constraints, the drug market for key hospital-treated infections will increase: Report

Decision Resources finds that the drug market for key hospital-treated infections that are of high interest to drug developers—most notably nosocomial pneumonia, bloodstream infections, skin and skin structure/surgical site infections and urinary tract infections—will increase from $3.3 billion in 2010 to just over $4 billion in 2020 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan.

21 Nov 2011

Viewpoints: Finding savings in Medicare; The Avastin saga; Changes in health care business

There is no way to wrestle down the deficit without reining in Medicare costs. Ensuring that the program provides quality health care coverage to millions of older and disabled Americans is essential. These goals are not incompatible, but they require a judicious approach to policy making that is depressingly absent in Washington.

21 Nov 2011

Medical case report on a traumatic tiger attack on a child

Exotic animals—wild animals unsuited to domestication—are increasingly housed in domestic settings. This sometimes leads to traumatic attacks suffered by owners or visitors. An example of a tiger attack on a child is described in the November issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics.

21 Nov 2011

MedUni Vienna researchers discover important regulators in development of stem cells

A team of researchers at the MedUni Vienna's Institute of Medical Genetics has discovered that two genes (TSC/Tuberin and PRAS40) are extremely important regulators in the development of stem cells: if these genes are switched off, the stem cells do not develop but instead die a programmed cell death.

21 Nov 2011

Cancer Research UK initiates recruitment for Stratified Medicine Programme

Cancer Research UK has started recruiting patients for a pioneering initiative to demonstrate how genetic tests could be used within the NHS to help match cancer patients to the most appropriate treatment, while building a database of information for research into new targeted therapies.

21 Nov 2011

Scientists unravel how brain combines different sensory cues to make sense of our world

The human brain is bombarded with a cacophony of information from the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin. Now a team of scientists at the University of Rochester, Washington University in St. Louis, and Baylor College of Medicine has unraveled how the brain manages to process those complex, rapidly changing, and often conflicting sensory signals to make sense of our world.

21 Nov 2011

Deep brain stimulation benefits highly treatment resistant patients with major depressive disorder

Results from the first multi-center pilot study of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for major depressive disorder were published online today by the Journal of Neurosurgery. The study, conducted at three research facilities in Canada, was designed to replicate and build upon an earlier study by Dr. Andres Lozano and Dr. Helen Mayberg which was published in the journal Neuron in 2005.

18 Nov 2011

Cancer Research UK embarks on new initiative to unravel genetic secrets behind cancers

Unravelling the genetic secrets behind a range of cancers - from understanding how certain genes control cancer to determining how the disease evades treatment - is the aim of a new initiative from Cancer Research UK.

18 Nov 2011

Inovio announces results from SynCon avian influenza vaccine Phase I study

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which is advancing synthetic vaccines to fight cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that a single intradermal (ID) electroporation boost of its SynCon avian influenza vaccine generated HAI titers against six different, unmatched strains of H5N1 - a distinct new clinical achievement on the global research community's path to develop universal influenza vaccines.

18 Nov 2011

Simple roundworm may serve as ideal skin wound healing lab model

The lowly and simple roundworm may be the ideal laboratory model to learn more about the complex processes involved in repairing wounds and could eventually allow scientists to improve the body's response to healing skin wounds, a serious problem in diabetics and the elderly.

18 Nov 2011

MammaCare technology sets standards for clinical breast exams

MammaCare, a revolutionary tool that has set standards for teaching women and clinicians how to perform clinical breast exams, is training professionals around the country to detect lumps earlier and save lives.

17 Nov 2011