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First Edition: July 11, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about the scheduled House vote on repealing the health law as well as how stakeholders -- whether it be certain governors or wall street investors -- are responding to the Supreme Court's decision on the Medicaid expansion.

11 Jul 2012

Registration now open for Disease Models & Mechanisms' one-day symposium

Registration is now open for Disease Models & Mechanisms' one-day symposium entitled Protein-Folding Diseases: Models & Mechanisms.

11 Jul 2012

Alzheimer's Association International Conference to be held in Vancouver

Is it estimated that the number of Canadians afflicted with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias will increase from about 480,600 in 2008 to 1,125,000 by 2038.

11 Jul 2012

Scientists discover two key epigenetic regulating genes that govern stem cell differentiation

The ability to control whether certain stem cells ultimately become bone cells holds great promise for regenerative medicine and potential therapies aimed at treating metabolic bone diseases. Now, UCLA School of Dentistry professor and leading cancer scientist Dr. Cun-Yu Wang and his research team have made a significant breakthrough in that direction. The scientists have discovered two key epigenetic regulating genes that govern the cell-fate determination of human bone marrow stem cells.

10 Jul 2012

Combination of estrogen and MPA increases synapses in the prefrontal cortex

A new study of aged female rats found that long-term treatment with estrogen and a synthetic progesterone known as MPA increased levels of a protein marker of synapses in the prefrontal cortex, a brain region known to suffer significant losses in aging.

10 Jul 2012

Overproduction of hepcidin appears to impair maternal-fetal iron transfer

A growing number of studies imply that children born to obese mothers face health problems stemming from the womb.

10 Jul 2012

Adiponectin reduces depression-like symptoms in mice

A hormone with anti-diabetic properties also reduces depression-like symptoms in mice, researchers from the School of Medicine at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio reported today.

10 Jul 2012

Childbearing may reduce mortality in later life

All-cause mortality rates fall progressively among women aged 60–76 years the more children they have borne, show Australian study results.

9 Jul 2012

Effect of spaceflight on C. elegans could help it to live longer

The effect of spaceflight on a microscopic worm - Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) - could help it to live longer.

8 Jul 2012

Prominent Chinese scholars issue open letter calling for rethink of country's family planning laws

"A group of 15 prominent Chinese scholars issued an open letter on Thursday calling for a rethink of [the] country's family planning laws, arguing that the law in its present form is incompatible with China's increasing respect for human rights and need for sustainable economic development," according to the Wall Street Journal's "China Real Time Report."

7 Jul 2012

TRIL Clinic's novel technologies could increase accuracy in assessment of falls risk in older people

1 in 3 people over the age of 65 suffer from a fall every year in Ireland. Two-thirds of this group fall again within 6 months, leading to risk of hospitalisation and significant health decline. Today in St James's Hospital, Dublin, Seán Sherlock T.D., Minister for Research and Innovation, launched the TRIL Clinic's novel suite of technologies that could potentially increase accuracy in the assessment of falls risk in older people.

6 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: The Medicaid expansion 'dilemma;' Mandate not the only health tax the GOP backed

Full-time employment is a major reason that able-bodied adults would have incomes above 133 percent of the federal poverty level. If carried out, this expansion is expected to reduce full-time employment among able-bodied adults, because they would no longer need to be employed full time to obtain health insurance.

6 Jul 2012

$Higher doses of Vitamin D may be most beneficial in reducing bone fractures in older adults$

Higher doses of Vitamin D may be most beneficial in reducing bone fractures in older adults

Based on the results of a pooled analysis of 11 unrelated randomized clinical trials investigating vitamin D supplementation and fracture risk in more than 31,000 older adults, Bess Dawson-Hughes, MD, director of the Bone Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University, says higher doses of Vitamin D may be the most beneficial in reducing bone fractures in this age group.

6 Jul 2012

Preventing post-operative delirium may improve recovery of cognitive ability in cardiac patients

Older patients undergoing cardiac surgery often experience changes in cognitive function, such as memory problems or an inability to focus, in the days immediately following their operations. While these changes are usually temporary, for unknown reasons, a significant number of cardiac patients will encounter long-term cognitive problems, lasting as long as a year after their surgeries.

5 Jul 2012

Long-term, hospice care questions for baby boomers bubble under surface

Care for baby boomers looms large as news outlets consider what long-term and hospice care for them could look like and how it could affect their prospects for quality care.

4 Jul 2012

Social interventions may help slow or treat age-related dementia

Scientists at Arizona State University have discovered that older honey bees effectively reverse brain aging when they take on nest responsibilities typically handled by much younger bees.

4 Jul 2012

Rodents may hold the key to long and active lifespan

Compared to the average three year life span of a common rat, the 10 to 30 year life of the naked mole rat, a subterranean rodent native to East Africa, is impressive. And compared to the human body, the body of this rodent shows little decline due to aging, maintaining high activity, bone health, reproductive capacity, and cognitive ability throughout its lifetime. Now a collaborative of researchers in Israel and the United States is working to uncover the secret to the small mammal's long - and active - lifespan.

3 Jul 2012

Study examines patterns in QOL of Parkinson's disease patients prior to diagnosis

Growing evidence suggests that Parkinson's disease (PD) often starts with non-motor symptoms that precede diagnosis by several years. In the first study to examine patterns in the quality of life of Parkinson' disease patients prior to diagnosis, researchers have documented declines in physical and mental health, pain, and emotional health beginning several years before the onset of the disease and continuing thereafter.

3 Jul 2012

First Edition: July 3, 2012

Today's headlines include reports that continue to delve into the policy-oriented and political repercussions of last week's high court decision on the health law.

3 Jul 2012

Changing tissue landscape promotes higher cancer rates in the elderly

Cancers are age-related, much more frequent in the old than in the young. A University of Colorado Cancer Center review published today in the journal Oncogene argues against the conventional wisdom that the accumulation of cancer-causing mutations leads to more cancer in older people, instead positing that it is the changing features of tissue in old age that promote higher cancer rates in the elderly.

3 Jul 2012