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Sierra Leone First Lady discusses work to improve maternal mortality

NPR's Tell Me More on Friday interviewed Sierra Leone First Lady Sia Nyama Koroma about her work aimed at improving maternal health in her country. Koroma was in New York attending the African First Ladies Fellowship Program "that brings together Western European and American first ladies with their African counterparts for an exchange of ideas and best practices," according to the program.

27 Sep 2011

Health workers key to 'effective health care delivery'

In addition to "essential money," "the right policies, government commitment and citizen accountability" are needed to decrease child mortality and improve other global health indicators, "but the sine qua non for effective health care delivery is health workers. Whether it's prevention, treatment or care, it's all about health workers," Jonathan Glennie, a research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute, writes in a post on the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog."

27 Sep 2011

Research roundup: Widows and medical spending; disparities in heart care, hospital deaths

The authors write: "We find that out-of-pocket medical spending is approximately 29 percent higher when an individual becomes widowed, a large portion of which is spending on nursing homes. Our results suggest a substantial role of living arrangements in out-of-pocket medical spending; however, our estimates combined with differences in rates of widowhood across gender suggest that marital status can explain only one third of the gender difference in total out-of-pocket medical spending, leaving a large portion unexplained.

27 Sep 2011

Study: Underweight COPD patients more likely to face death

Patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at a higher risk of death if they are underweight.

27 Sep 2011

Alnylam commences ALN-PCS Phase I trial in severe hypercholesterolemia

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has initiated dosing in its Phase I clinical trial with ALN-PCS, an RNAi therapeutic targeting proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9, or PCSK9, for the treatment of severe hypercholesterolemia.

27 Sep 2011

Afinitor Phase III study on angiomyolipomas associated with TSC meets primary endpoint

A Phase III study of Afinitor (everolimus) tablets in patients with non-cancerous kidney tumors, or angiomyolipomas, associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) met its primary endpoint of best overall angiomyolipoma response rate, which includes reduction in kidney tumor size and absence of new tumors.

26 Sep 2011

'Time matters' in the fight against pulmonary hypertension

The Pulmonary Hypertension Association Europe (PHA EU) has launched ‘Time Matters’ a new campaign which encourages people with Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) and their friends and family to share hopes and dreams for the future in order to raise awareness of this deadly and rapidly progressive condition. By logging on to the website http://phtimematters.org and posting an entry, everybody can help the patient association take a step towards increased awareness and understanding of this devastating condition.

26 Sep 2011

Urgency of antimalarial drug resistance must be recognized

Arjen Dondorp, deputy director of the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Research Unit at Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand, and colleagues discuss the need to combat antimalarial drug resistance in this New England Journal of Medicine opinion piece, writing, "Researchers, funders, and policy leaders must recognize the urgency of the problem, take action to address simultaneously several important knowledge gaps, and focus immediately on eliminating the threat of artemisinin resistance."

23 Sep 2011

EMA CHMP adopts positive opinion for Soliris to treat atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has adopted a positive opinion recommending that the therapeutic indication for Soliris® (eculizumab) be extended to include the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) in Europe.

23 Sep 2011

Is enough being done to fight child mortality?

Though the recent UNICEF report on child mortality shows progress is being made in every region to prevent childhood deaths, "it is clear that we still need to increase the coverage of high-impact, low-cost interventions like vaccines, including those for pneumonia and diarrhea that are rolling out," Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

23 Sep 2011

New treatment concept for complex malaria

Team from the Medical University of Vienna, led by Harald Noedl from the Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, is developing a new treatment concept for complex malaria in Bangladesh. This treatment is intended to significantly cut the mortality rate and could save the lives of tens of thousands of children.

23 Sep 2011

Complications requiring hospitalization after prostate biopsy rise: Study

In a study of complication rates following prostate biopsy among Medicare beneficiaries, Johns Hopkins researchers have found a significant rise in serious complications requiring hospitalization.

23 Sep 2011

Tips for parents to keep their kids safe while traveling in the car

In honor of National Child Passenger Safety Week Loyola University Health System safety expert offers tips on keeping children safe in the car. Car accidents remain the leading cause of death and disability in children in the United States. Stricter laws and car seat education programs have dramatically decreased the mortality and morbidity rates in motor vehicle accidents in the last several years. Yet, thousands of children die or are injured in car accidents each year.

23 Sep 2011

Adamis receives patents for APC-200 prostate cancer drug in South Africa, Singapore

Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, today announced the technology which constitutes its compound APC-200 was recently granted patents in Singapore and South Africa. These patents significantly strengthen the Adamis APC-200 patent portfolio for the use of APC-200 in the treatment of early and late stage prostate cancer.

23 Sep 2011

UHC honors UC San Diego Health System with Quality Leadership Award

UC San Diego Health System is proud to receive the 2011 UHC Quality Leadership Award. This national award is given to academic medical centers that demonstrate excellence in delivering high-quality care as measured by the UHC Quality & Accountability Study, which has been conducted by the consortium annually since 2005.

23 Sep 2011

Dementia patients have poor outcomes in hospital

If you have dementia and need to be admitted to hospital to be treated for other illnesses or injuries, your prospects for recovery are substantially worse than for other patients, research has found.

22 Sep 2011

Depression and stroke: Analysis of studies finds a connect

A latest study shows that people who are depressed may be a little more likely than others to suffer a stroke down the road. Looking at 28 past studies, researchers estimated there would be 106 extra cases of stroke per 100,000 depressed people each year, 22 of them fatal.

22 Sep 2011

Researchers analyse effects of BPA in an in-vitro culture of ovaries

Researchers at Universitat Aut-noma de Barcelona, in collaboration with the Vall d'Hebron Hospital Fetal Tissue Bank, the Department of Gynaecology and the Research Unit of Paediatric Endocrinology, analysed the effects of Bisphenol A (BPA), a polymer widely used to manufacture plastics, in an in vitro culture of ovaries.

22 Sep 2011

Early ART can be cost-effective and decrease mortality in HIV patients

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and GHESKIO have shown that early treatment of HIV not only saves lives but is also cost-effective. Results are published in today's edition of PLoS Medicine.

22 Sep 2011

Digna Biotech receives FDA Orphan Drug status for cardiotrophin-1 to treat ALF

Digna Biotech, a Spanish biotechnological company, announces that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) Orphan Drug status for use in the treatment of acute liver failure.

22 Sep 2011