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New research: Methadone can affect brain and impair intellectual functions

Methadone has been used to treat heroin addicts for nearly 50 years. Yet we have surprisingly incomplete knowledge about possible harmful effects from prolonged use. New research from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health shows that methadone affects the brain and impairs the attention of experimental animals.

24 Mar 2011

IMS introduces new Institute for Healthcare Informatics

IMS Health today introduced the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics - a new initiative that will leverage collaborative relationships in the public and private sectors to strengthen the vital role of information in advancing healthcare globally.

24 Mar 2011

MicroRNAs may play a key role in future medicine

Since their discovery in the 1990s, microRNAs have proven to play a complex role in normal and abnormal functioning of many organ systems. In the April issue of Translational Research, entitled "MicroRNAs: A Potential New Frontier for Medicine," an international group of medical experts explores several themes related to our current understanding of microRNAs and the role they may play in the future of medicine.

24 Mar 2011

KaloBios commences KB004 Phase 1 trial in patients with leukemia

KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company, today announced treatment of the first patient in a Phase 1 clinical trial of KB004, its first-in-class Humaneered™ monoclonal antibody, in EphA3-expressing hematologic malignancies.

24 Mar 2011

Specific plant oil may reduce belly fat in humans

Scientists have known for years that belly fat leads to serious medical problems, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found a plant oil that may be able to reduce belly fat in humans.

24 Mar 2011

Sex and heart attack risk: Study

According to a study published March 23/30 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, sexual intercourse can trigger dangerous cardiac events and sudden heart attacks. In the two hours after sex, the chances of having a heart attack are dramatically higher than normal, warned the study from two researchers associated with the Tufts University Medical Center in Boston.

23 Mar 2011

New insights into cancer genome may lead to designer drugs for myeloma

Patients with myeloma could benefit from ‘designer’ drugs in the future after new genome-mapping technology has allowed scientists to identify a full genetic blueprint of the mutations which drive the bone marrow cancer.

23 Mar 2011

First Edition: March 23, 2011

Today's headlines mark the health law's official first birthday and examine where the related policies and politics now stand.

23 Mar 2011

FDA approves Nordion's TheraSphere IDE for Phase III trial to treat HCC

Nordion Inc., a leading provider of products and services to the global health science market, today announced that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to conduct a Phase III clinical trial for TheraSphere® under an Investigational Device Exemption.

23 Mar 2011

Elder abuse victims more likely to suffer from mental disorder, use drugs or alcohol

Victims of severe traumatic elder abuse are more likely to be female, suffer from a neurological or mental disorder, and to abuse drugs or alcohol, according to research published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

23 Mar 2011

'The Silent Treatment' research focuses on communication breakdown in hospitals

Health care professionals make calculated decisions daily to not alert their colleagues when a safety tool signals potential harm to a patient, according to a new study of 6,500 nurses and nurse managers released March 22 during a national briefing in Philadelphia.

23 Mar 2011

New research: Skeleton's femur characteristics can reveal individual's weight

One of the blind spots in forensic science, particularly in identifying unknown remains, is the inability of experts to determine how much an individual weighed based on his or her skeleton.

23 Mar 2011

New study to provide better diagnoses for children with developmental disorders

A new UK study will provide better diagnoses for children with developmental disorders caused by changes in their genetic makeup. Scientists and clinicians will build a new national resource of genetic information and symptoms, based on data from 12,000 children who have a serious delay in their physical or mental development or are born with multiple malformations.

23 Mar 2011

Xenon founder receives Canada Wightman Award for leadership in medical science

Dr. Michael Hayden, a Xenon founder and Chief Scientific Officer, has received the Canada Gairdner Wightman Award for leadership in medical science in Canada.

23 Mar 2011

States advance in developing health insurance exchanges

Various states are developing strategies to build and operate their exchanges.

23 Mar 2011

Report highlights common problems in Nordic mental health care reforms

In Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden reforms within psychiatry have transformed inpatient care to the point where it has increasingly been replaced by outpatient care.

23 Mar 2011

Study finds novel physical mechanism behind cancer migration

Ninety percent of cancer deaths resulted from metastasis, the spread of cancer to different areas in the body, yet scientific exploration of the possible mechanical factors that promote metastasis has been limited.

23 Mar 2011

Job prospects rosy for home health aides, visiting nurses

With the U.S. population growing grayer, job prospects for home health aides — and every worker providing health care to seniors, for that matter — are quite rosy.

23 Mar 2011

After noncontroversial past, Title X Family Planning now facing challenges

The Title X Family Planning program, established in 1970 with bipartisan support in Congress and signed into law by President Nixon, has been largely noncontroversial. It makes no funds available for abortion, and focuses on what Nixon characterized as the premise that "no American woman should be denied access to family planning assistance because of her economic condition."

23 Mar 2011

U.S. hospitals bill insurance companies $1.2 trillion during 2008 for inpatient care: AHRQ

U.S. community hospitals billed insurance companies and federal and state programs $1.2 trillion in 2008 for inpatient care, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

23 Mar 2011