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Formularies needed to reduce medication prices under Medicare prescription drug benefit

A bill passed last month by the House that would require the HHS secretary to negotiate prices directly with pharmaceutical companies under the Medicare prescription drug benefit "would have very little effect" on prices "because it forbids Medicare from excluding drugs from coverage...

13 Feb 2007

Siestas good for your heart!

Siestas could be the latest way of avoiding stress and protecting the heart from disease.

12 Feb 2007

New method of screening tumors for cancer-related gene abnormalities

A study led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University provides the first demonstration of a practical method of screening tumors for cancer-related gene abnormalities that might be treated with "targeted" drugs.

11 Feb 2007

Single transcription factor GABP a major player in cell growth

When cells go about the business of dividing, they can get sidelined. Maybe there aren't enough nutrients. Maybe there aren't the right signals to resume multiplying. Either way, cells go quiet.

7 Feb 2007

Severely mentally ill have increased risk of death from coronary heart disease and stroke

A large British study indicates that individuals with severe mental illnesses are significantly more likely to die from coronary heart disease and stroke, but not cancer, than those without mental illnesses, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

6 Feb 2007

Binge eating more widespread than anorexia and bulimia

Researchers at Harvard University Medical School have found as a result of a national survey that binge eating is far more common than anorexia and bulimia.

1 Feb 2007

Damage to muscle during vaginal deliveries connected with pelvic organ prolapse

An increase among women electing to have caesarean sections in recent years has been due in large part to a concern that giving birth vaginally will lead to a fallen bladder and uterus in later life, and the issue has been hotly debated in the medical community.

31 Jan 2007

FoxOs shown to be potential new targets for cancer drugs

In an elegant, multiple-gene knockout experiment, a team of Boston scientists has discovered that a trio of molecules, called FoxOs, are fundamentally critical in preventing some cancers, maintaining blood vessel stability, and in keeping blood-forming stem cells healthy.

29 Jan 2007

SH2B1 protein plays a key role in controlling body weight, response to insulin and leptin

A single protein in brain cells may act as a linchpin in the body's weight-regulating system, playing a key role in the flurry of signals that govern fat storage, sugar use, energy balance and weight, University of Michigan Medical School researchers report.

29 Jan 2007

Linemen more than twice as likely as other players to have metabolic syndrome

After retirement, National Football League (NFL) linemen - generally the heaviest players - are more than twice as likely as other players to have a syndrome that puts them at risk for heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases

28 Jan 2007

Small molecule targets weak mRNA

A new strategy for fighting cancer aims to make its genes get lost in translation, according to a report in the January 26, 2007, issue of the journal Cell.

28 Jan 2007

Melanin concentrating hormone found to be involved with insulin production

A new Joslin Diabetes Center-led study has shown conclusively that a neuropeptide, melanin concentrating hormone (MCH), found in the brain and known for its role in increasing appetite in people, plays a role in the growth of insulin-producing beta cells and the secretion of insulin.

28 Jan 2007

McGraw-Hil launches AccessEmergency Medicine

McGraw-Hill Professional, a leading global provider of information resources for the scientific and medical communities, today announced the launch of AccessEmergency Medicine

23 Jan 2007

Most fertility clinic web sites do not conform to advertising guidelines

The majority of fertility clinic Web sites do not adhere to their own association's advertising guidelines, according to a University of Illinois at Chicago study published in the January issue of Fertility and Sterility.

18 Jan 2007

Selective marker found to indicate aggressive form of breast cancer

Researchers have linked a structural protein called nestin to a particularly deadly form of breast cancer, identifying a new biomarker that could lead to earlier detection and better treatment.

16 Jan 2007

Race to accelerate tuberculosis drug development

Each year, tuberculosis kills nearly two million people while an estimated nine million develop the disease -- with the hardest-hit areas in AIDS-afflicted developing nations.

14 Jan 2007

New study on Body Dysmorphic Disorder

In a new study on Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) - a distressing or impairing preoccupation with an imagined or slight defect in one's appearance - researchers from Bradley Hospital and Brown Medical School found that individuals who are concerned about their weight are more impaired than those whose appearance-concerns are not weight-related.

10 Jan 2007

Major variations in Medicare drug costs

Soon, Congress may vote on whether to require the Medicare system to negotiate lower prices for medicines taken by millions of seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D prescription drug plans.

10 Jan 2007

Study shows why the body's immune system doesn't attack tissues in the small intestine

Answering one of the oldest questions in human physiology, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have discovered why the body's immune system - perpetually on guard against foreign microbes like bacteria - doesn't attack tissues in the small intestine that harbor millions of bacteria cells.

9 Jan 2007

Viral Genetics identifies two key peptides for potential HIV/AIDS drug

Viral Genetics has identified two key peptides involved in its thymus nuclear protein or "TNP" technology currently under development for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

9 Jan 2007