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January issue of WHO Bulletin available online

The January issue of the WHO Bulletin features an editorial examining universal health coverage and the right to health, a public health news roundup, a research article examining research priorities for adolescent sexual and reproductive health in low- and middle-income countries, and a systematic review examining the integration of antiretroviral therapy into antenatal care and maternal and child health settings, among others.

4 Jan 2013

Consumers' perceptions of medical prices can be faulty

Despite advocates' push for more transparency in medical pricing, consumers may draw the wrong message when they know what a health service or good costs.

4 Jan 2013

NEJM begins series of review articles on global health

The January 3 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine "includes the first article in a series of review articles on global health," Harvey Fineberg of the Institute of Medicine and David Hunter of the Harvard School of Public Health write in an NEJM editorial.

4 Jan 2013

1 in 4 survey participants secretly create concoctions

A study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) suggests food concocting - the making of strange food mixtures like mashed potatoes and Oreo cookies, frozen vegetables mixed with mayonnaise, and chips with lemon, pork rinds, Italian dressing and salt - is common among binge eaters. The findings, available online and to be published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, reveal that 1 in 4 survey participants secretly create concoctions.

4 Jan 2013

Sen. Kirk's stroke offers him new Medicaid perspective

Sen. Mark Kirk's stroke has awakened him to what people on Medicaid experience in their rehabilitation efforts, he said.

4 Jan 2013

Report shows how P. gingivalis manipulates body's immune system to disable normal processes

A new research report published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology shows how the bacteria known for causing gum disease--Porphyromonas gingivalis--manipulates the body's immune system to disable normal processes that would otherwise destroy it. Specifically, the report shows that this pathogen prompts the production of the anti-inflammatory molecule Interleukin-10 (IL-10).

4 Jan 2013

New issue of Global Health Governance available online

A new issue of Global Health Governance is available online and features articles focused on human security and health.

4 Jan 2013

Some health law funding becomes 'fiscal cliff' casualty

The agreement approved by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama would kill new funding for health insurance co-operatives. The fiscal deal also officially repealed the health law's CLASS Act, but establishes a new bipartisan commission to develop a plan for long-term care services for elderly and disabled people.

4 Jan 2013

Manipulating T cells with iPSC techniques could help develop effective immune therapies

The human body contains immune cells programmed to fight cancer and viral infections, but they often have short lifespans and are not numerous enough to overcome attacks by particularly aggressive malignancies or invasions.

4 Jan 2013

Despite uncertainty, 2012 was good year for hospital stocks

Hospital stocks ended 2012 posting big gains despite a year that was filled with uncertainty regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. When the closing bell rang Dec. 31, HCA, Nashville, the largest investor-owned chain, was trading 37% higher than it was on the last trading day of 2011.

4 Jan 2013

Confusion surrounds regulation of various types of drug makers

Far from triggering a quick fix, the deaths or illnesses of 620 people in 19 states that have been linked to a Massachusetts pharmacy have only underscored confusion over how to regulate the various types of drug-makers in the United States.

4 Jan 2013

Pushing 14 years for Philippines reproductive health bill took 'courage'

Jose "Oying" Rimon, deputy director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Ben de Leon, president of the Forum for Family Planning and Development, Inc., write in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog that the many people who worked for 14 years to pass a reproductive health bill in the Philippines are "profiles in courage."

4 Jan 2013

Nanoparticle researcher to deliver inaugural presentation at next ACS national meeting

A noted researcher in nanomedicine ― preventing, diagnosing and treating disease with particles so small that thousands fit across the width of a human hair ― will deliver the inaugural presentation in "The Kavli Foundation Emerging Leader in Chemistry Lecture" at the next National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

4 Jan 2013

State restrictions on abortions slow in 2012, but still second most ever

A new Guttmacher Institute report finds that the number of new abortion restrictions passed by states in 2012 was down from 2011, but that the year still saw the second most new rules on the procedure ever.

4 Jan 2013

Color of containers where food and drink are served can enhance attributes like taste and aroma

Two researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the University of Oxford have proven that hot chocolate tastes better in an orange or cream coloured cup than in a white or red one. The study adds to recent research demonstrating how our senses perceive food in a different way depending on the characteristics of the container from which we eat and drink.

4 Jan 2013

Brazil to require reporting of HIV cases to improve treatment coverage

In "an effort to advance highly lauded efforts to combat AIDS," Brazil will require physicians to report cases of HIV, not just AIDS, to state and federal authorities, the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

4 Jan 2013

States consider licensing dental therapists to fill cavities -- and care gap

A shortage of dentists spurred Minnesota to license dental therapists, and several other states may follow suit, USA Today reports. Meanwhile, a health plan in rural South Dakota and Minnesota is hiring Native American healers as consultants.

4 Jan 2013

Researchers uncover new way that some bacteria survive when under siege by antibiotics

Researchers have uncovered a new way that some bacteria survive when under siege by antibiotics.

4 Jan 2013

New York Times examines grassroots HIV efforts aimed at gay men in China

The New York Times examines grassroots HIV/AIDS outreach and testing efforts aimed at gay men in China. The newspaper highlights "Lingnan Health Center, an organization run largely by gay volunteers," and recounts the story of Le, "a gay man who would give only his first name."

4 Jan 2013

PKM-zeta-less adult mice still able to form long-term memories

A study by Johns Hopkins researchers has shown that a widely accepted model of long-term memory formation - that it hinges on a single enzyme in the brain - is flawed. The new study, published in the Jan. 2 issue of Nature, found that mice lacking the enzyme that purportedly builds memory were in fact still able to form long-term memories as well as normal mice could.

4 Jan 2013