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Picaa app helps children and teenagers with some kind of cognitive, visual or hearing disability

This application -named Picaa- can be used on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch and has been translated into several languages (English, Galician, Arab, etc.). This application has topped the 20,000 downloads from App Store -mainly from Spain and the USA- since its release. Picaa is a system designed for the development of learning and communication activities to be performed in class.

12 Dec 2012

$Study finds increase in prevalence of nonrefractive visual impairment in the U.S.$

Study finds increase in prevalence of nonrefractive visual impairment in the U.S.

The prevalence of nonrefractive visual impairment (not due to need for glasses) in the U.S. has increased significantly in recent years, which may be partly related to a higher prevalence of diabetes, an associated risk factor, according to a study in the December 12 issue of JAMA.

12 Dec 2012

Kaiser Permanente suggests simple steps to improve overall health

Kaiser Permanente Southern California wants you to take a 12 minute break and think about how you're going to achieve total health this New Year to become a better you!

12 Dec 2012

BBC News examines HIV microbicide research

BBC News examines ongoing efforts to develop a female-controlled microbicide to prevent HIV infection. But so far, "efforts ... have presented a great deal of frustration in the fight against this global epidemic," the news service writes, detailing the history of some failed experiments.

12 Dec 2012

Remove special interests from food aid equation

"Each year, the United States spends more than $1.5 billion feeding starving people overseas," columnist Farah Stockman writes in a Boston Globe opinion piece. "But our charity comes with a catch: The food has to be bought in America, and much of it must be shipped on American ships," she continues, adding, "Researchers estimate that buying food closer to where needy people are costs about half as much."

12 Dec 2012

Employers complain about health law's costly 'sleeper fee'

The Associated Press reports on a new, $63-per-person charge, which will be levied for three years beginning in 2014 to "cushion" the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions and to stabilize the insurance market. Large employers say it works out to tens of millions in added costs which are likely to be passed onto workers.

12 Dec 2012

Syrian conflict destroying country's health care system

"The nearly two-year conflict in Syria has taken tens of thousands of lives, destroyed entire neighborhoods and sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing. But more quietly, it has also eaten away at the country's health care system," IRIN reports.

12 Dec 2012

Link between CTNNA3 gene mutations and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy

Unfortunately, newspaper articles about young athletes dying suddenly on the field are not unheard of. Such reports fuel discussions about compulsory screening, for example of young footballers, for heart failure. Research by scientists from Ghent (VIB/UGent) and Italy will benefit these screening methods.

12 Dec 2012

Adversity in childhood can shape long-term health outcomes

Noting the "16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence," Neil Boothby, U.S. government special adviser and senior coordinator to the USAID administrator on children in adversity, writes in USAID's "IMPACTblog," "The science is clear -- childhood experiences shape adult outcomes, including long-term health, cognitive development, academic achievement, and one's ability to be gainfully and safely employed."

12 Dec 2012

Six states get an early greenlight on health exchanges from HHS

The Obama administration also gave conditional approval on Monday to six states -- all led by Democratic governors -- that were the first to meet the health law's rules for setting up health insurance marketplaces.

12 Dec 2012

African scientists gather in Kenya to discuss global response to NTDs

"African scientists from key research institutions and universities have challenged governments to take serious the issues of neglected and tropical disease to curb millions of deaths among the poor," Xinhua reports.

12 Dec 2012

In 'fiscal cliff' talks, Medicare and Medicaid savings ideas draw scrutiny

The Wall Street Journal asks when cuts to these programs will start affecting beneficiaries and causing access issues. Other savings ideas face a burden of proof. Also, The Hill reports that the White House is cooling to the idea of $100 billion in Medicaid cuts floated earlier this year. In the background, news outlets offer reports about progress or lack thereof in averting the looming cliff.

12 Dec 2012

U-M devises new system to capture and study circulating tumor cells

A glass plate with a nanoscale roughness could be a simple way for scientists to capture and study the circulating tumor cells that carry cancer around the body through the bloodstream.

12 Dec 2012

HHS to states: Partial Medicaid expansion won't get full federal funding

On Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services said it was all or nothing on the health care law's expansion of Medicaid eligibility, disappointing some Republican governors who were considering smaller growth in the state-federal program for the poor and elderly.

12 Dec 2012

AstraZeneca, Case Western Reserve initiate AZD5847 Phase 2a trial in TB

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and AstraZeneca, a global biopharmaceutical company, today announced the first patient enrolled in a Phase 2a trial to assess the effectiveness of AZD5847, a new test drug for patients with tuberculosis (TB), including patients with HIV co-infection.

12 Dec 2012

Low-cost concierge care, social media among changes in practice of medicine

News outlets examine trends such as doctors' use of social media to explore medical information and the growth of relatively low-cost concierge medicine, where patients may pay $50 a month for unlimited doctors' visits and calls.

12 Dec 2012

Physically active lifestyle associated with academic performance among school students

Middle school students who are more physically fit make better grades and outperform their classmates on standardized tests, according to a newly published study from a professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

12 Dec 2012

Medicaid contractors, government employees doing the same work, GAO says

The Medicaid program has government employees and contractors doing some of the exact same work, which is wasting government time and money, according to a new Government Accountability Office report released Monday.

12 Dec 2012

Edith and Peter O'Donnell Awards to recognize Texas researchers on Jan.17

The Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Science of Texas (TAMEST) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2013 Edith and Peter O'Donnell Awards who will be honored during a banquet on Thursday, January 17, 2013, in conjunction with TAMEST's 10th Annual Conference at the Westin Galleria Hotel in Dallas.

12 Dec 2012

Examining Americans' health: Longer, but sicker, lives; Childhood obesity drops

A new report finds Americans may be living longer thanks to medical advances, but they may also be sicker. Meanwhile, childhood obesity may be dropping in several cities around the nation.

12 Dec 2012