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Over half of FEP patients achieve symptomatic remission

More than half of patients with a first episode of psychosis achieve symptomatic remission after 2 years of treatment, but recovery rates are lower, results from a Singaporean study show.

31 May 2012

Juvenile Arthritis patients may have difficulties achieving educational success

As children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) grow into adulthood, disability due to disease may adversely affect their ability to achieve educational success. Findings published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), suggest that functional disability impacts educational attainment, which is key to successful employment in adulthood.

31 May 2012

Researchers look into value of adapted yoga for stroke rehabilitation

Researchers looking into the value of adapted yoga for stroke rehabilitation report that after an eight-week program, study participants demonstrated improved balance and flexibility, a stronger and faster gait, and increased strength and endurance.

31 May 2012

U.S. House poised for a series of health-related votes

Included on the list is a bill to repeal the health law's medical device tax and another to repeal the OTC ban. The device-tax issue has already emerged as a hot topic in many congressional races.

31 May 2012

State roundup: Minn. defends Medicaid billing; Cigna, N.H. Group form joint venture; Health coupons in Mass.

Top Minnesota health officials pushed back Tuesday against a congressional committee probing allegations that the state overbilled federal taxpayers for Medicaid services to cover losses from in other state-run public health programs. In a letter to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Minnesota Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson defended reforms implemented under DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, saying "our focus has been on changing course rather than investigating the past."

31 May 2012

Bedside tool improves prognostication after cardiac arrest

A bedside prediction tool could estimate the probability of favorable neurologic survival in successfully resuscitated patients after in-hospital cardiac arrest, say researchers in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

30 May 2012

Longer life expectancy for women in their 70’s who exercise and eat a healthy diet

Women in their seventies who exercise and eat healthy amounts of fruits and vegetables have a longer life expectancy, according to research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

30 May 2012

DMARD not superior to oral therapy in long-term treatment of patients with JIA

A retrospective analysis of methotrexate (MTX) safety data found that injection of this disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) was not superior to oral therapy in long-term treatment of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Findings published in Arthritis Care & Research, a peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), suggest that with similar efficacy and tolerability the more comfortable oral approach may be more suitable to treat pediatric arthritis patients.

30 May 2012

IACFS/ME releases new guidelines for chronic fatigue syndrome

The International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (IACFS/ME), the largest group of physicians and researchers dedicated to chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), has released updated care guidelines directed at primary care physicians and other health care providers.

30 May 2012

First study to look at link between vitamin D and onset of new mobility disability in older adults

Older adults who don't get enough vitamin D - either from diet, supplements or sun exposure - may be at increased risk of developing mobility limitations and disability, according to new research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

30 May 2012

Patients with history of skin infection more likely to develop surgical site infections

Johns Hopkins scientists have engineered cells that behave like AND and OR Boolean logic gates, producing an output based on one or more unique inputs. This feat, published in the May issue of Nature Chemical Biology, could eventually help researchers create computers that use cells as tiny circuits.

30 May 2012

Researchers develop STeleR post-stroke rehabilitation program

Researchers led by Regenstrief Institute investigator Neale Chumbler, Ph.D., a research scientist with the Center of Excellence on Implementing Evidence-Based Practice at the Richard Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, have developed STeleR, a home telerehabilitation program that they report improves lower body physical functioning after a stroke.

30 May 2012

Seven Senators pledge their support for U.S. ratification of CRPD

Today, seven United States Senators issued a statement of bipartisan support for United States ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

28 May 2012

Important heat safety tips from Pennsylvania Departments of Health and Aging

With hot temperatures and high humidity expected to make an early appearance in some parts of Pennsylvania this Memorial Day weekend, the Departments of Health and Aging are urging everyone to take simple steps to prevent serious heat-related illness or even death.

28 May 2012

Nearly half of Iraq, Afghan war vets seek medical compensation benefits

America's newest veterans are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen. A staggering 45 percent of the 1.6 million veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now seeking compensation for injuries they say are service-related. That is more than double the estimate of 21 percent who filed such claims after the Gulf War in the early 1990s, top government officials told The Associated Press.

28 May 2012

UC Irvine immunologist to create new line of neural stem cells for MS

A UC Irvine immunologist will receive $4.8 million to create a new line of neural stem cells that can be used to treat multiple sclerosis.

28 May 2012

Study: 10 percent of veterans go without health insurance

Of the 1.3 million veterans who lack health coverage, the study says about 630,000 of them would likely qualify for Medicaid under the health law expansion, and as many as 520,000 could qualify for subsidized health coverage in insurance exchanges.

25 May 2012

Viewpoints: Bill could make universal health care possible via states; The need to change how physicians are paid

Universal coverage, Medicare for all, single payer -- call it what you will. It's clear that conservative forces are determined to prevent such a system from ever being introduced at the national level. So it's up to the states.

25 May 2012

AARP reviews long-term care services and supports in Idaho

When it comes to how Idaho cares for its elderly and disabled, the state is ahead of the curve in some areas and right behind the eight ball in others, according to a new AARP report taking an in-depth review of long-term care services and supports (LTSS) in the Gem State.

25 May 2012

$IOF report predicts dramatic rise in osteoporosis-related fractures in Brazil$

IOF report predicts dramatic rise in osteoporosis-related fractures in Brazil

A new Audit report on fragility fractures, issued today by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF), predicts that Brazil will experience an explosion in the number of fragility fractures due to osteoporosis in the coming decades.

25 May 2012