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Study looks at natural history of cervical spondylolisthesis

Follow-up data on patients with degenerative disease of the upper (cervical) spinal vertebrae show little or no evidence of worsening degeneration over time, according to a study in the February 15 issue of Spine.

21 Feb 2013

Administration sets new rule on essential health benefits

The Obama administration has released the final rule on essential health benefits, which sets the parameters for the types of benefits that must be offered by insurers starting in 2014.

21 Feb 2013

Omega-3 emulsions can decrease brain tissue damage following stroke

Triglyceride lipid emulsions rich in an omega-3 fatty acid injected within a few hours of an ischemic stroke can decrease the amount of damaged brain tissue by 50 percent or more in mice, reports a new study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center.

21 Feb 2013

'Cap-and-trade system' proposal for global health funding

In a PLoS Medicine "Policy Forum" article, Luis Carrasco, Richard Coker, and Alex Cook of the National University of Singapore propose "a cap-and-trade system" for global health funding that is based on "global carbon permit markets to mitigate climate change."

21 Feb 2013

Opinion pieces address Save the Children breastfeeding report

Save the Children on Monday released a report examining "the four major barriers that prevent mothers from breastfeeding" -- community and cultural pressures, the shortage of health workers, a lack of maternity legislation, and inappropriate promotion of breast-milk substitutes."

21 Feb 2013

Reviewing progress on inclusion of NCDs in development goals

In a post in the BMJ Group Blogs, Katy Cooper, senior project manager at C3 Collaborating for Health, describes "what is happening around the global framework on non-communicable diseases, and how NCDs link into discussions on the successors to the Millennium Development Goals (due to expire in 2015) and the proposed new set of Sustainable Development Goals (as proposed at the Rio+20 conference in 2012)."

21 Feb 2013

States continue mulling Medicaid expansion's costs and benefits

After conducting a review of the two choices California officials are considering for optional Medi-Cal expansion, the state Legislative Analyst's Office yesterday strongly recommended the state-based option, rather than a county-based plan.

21 Feb 2013

Daclatasvir has two primary modes of action against HCV

A study by researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory and a multinational team reveals how daclatasvir, a direct-acting antiviral agent in development for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV), targets one of its proteins and causes the fastest viral decline ever seen with anti-HCV drugs - within 12 hours of treatment.

21 Feb 2013

Supreme Court gives FTC more power to police hospital mergers

The decision is a win for the federal government as it seeks to monitor the trend toward consolidations around the country.

21 Feb 2013

Blog examines potential impact of sequestration on global health

Noting "several federal agencies released new details about the impact of sequestration on their budgets and programs," the Global Health Technologies Coalition's Communications Officer Kim Lufkin writes in the group's "Breakthroughs" blog.

21 Feb 2013

U.N. report examines links between man-made chemicals, health issues

"Man-made chemicals in everyday products are likely to be at least the partial cause of a global surge in birth deformities, hormonal cancers and psychiatric diseases, a U.N.-sponsored research team reported on Tuesday," Reuters reports.

21 Feb 2013

Gesture helps children with early brain injury learn linguistic connections

Children with brain lesions suffered before or around the time of birth are able to use gestures - an important aspect of the language learning process- to convey simple sentences, a Georgia State University researcher has found.

21 Feb 2013

Selenium supplements and heart disease risk: an interview with Dr Saverio Stranges, University of Warwick

Selenium is a micronutrient which has antioxidant properties by means of selenoproteins which play many important functions in the body. They actually are contained in many different foods. The amount of selenium we get from diet is closely linked to the amount of selenium in the soil.

21 Feb 2013

Pa., Wis. governors face scrutiny, decisions on Medicaid programs

Governors in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are facing questions from their legislatures over plans to expand or limit Medicaid enrollment.

21 Feb 2013

Ultrathin nanowire-based electrode helps capture signals from brain nerve cells

Electrodes operated into the brain are today used in research and to treat diseases such as Parkinson's. However, their use has been limited by their size. At Lund University in Sweden, researchers have, for the first time, succeeded in implanting an ultrathin nanowire-based electrode and capturing signals from the nerve cells in the brain of a laboratory animal.

21 Feb 2013

Calif. insurance official pans rate map proposal, warns of 20% hikes

California's insurance commissioner says that residents in some areas of the state could see premiums rise 20 percent if a proposal in the state legislature to split California into six insurance rates zones is approved. He urges an 18-region plan.

21 Feb 2013

Proposals, partisan rhetoric fly in countdown to March 1 spending cuts

News outlets report how spending reductions will impact health care programs. Meanwhile, in hopes of creating momentum toward a compromise, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles on Tuesday unveiled a $2.4 trillion proposal that includes $600 billion in spending reductions to health-care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

21 Feb 2013

Progress on reducing maternal mortality in Nigeria requires cooperation

Referencing the phrase "impatient optimists," coined by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Aminu Magashi, an adviser for the USAID-funded Targeted States High Impact Project, writes in Nigeria's Daily Trust, "Although in many developing countries, the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 of improving maternal health by 2015 will not be achieved, we should all be optimistic and impatient to continue doing what we can to reduce the burden of maternal death which will positively reduce the burden of newborn and child mortality."

21 Feb 2013

Possible Medicare Advantage pay reductions cause insurer stocks to slip

The proposed cuts in federal payments, which are open to comment until March 1, could lead to reduced coverage or fewer options for people who choose to buy these plans.

21 Feb 2013

Hydroxyethyl starch associated with increased risk of death and acute kidney injury

In an analysis of studies that examined critically ill patients requiring an increase in blood fluid volume, intravenous use of the fluid hydroxyethyl starch was not associated with decreased mortality, according to an article appearing in the February 20 issue of JAMA.

21 Feb 2013