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Study confirms accuracy of developmental screening tests for children

BC Children's Hospital and University of British Columbia (UBC) researchers have found that two existing screening tests are accurate in diagnosing development delays in children and could be incorporated in a busy family practice setting with relative ease.

4 Aug 2011

State roundup: Moving vets off Medicaid; San Fran. grapples with loophole

About 9,500 veterans were removed from the Medicaid rolls under the Washington state initiative since the program began in 2003, saving the state $27 million, according to the National Coalition on Health Care. And now Oregon is taking baby steps toward imitating the success

4 Aug 2011

First Edition: August 3, 2011

Today's headlines showcase continuing reports about the impact the debt deal might have on health care providers, as well as how the agreement's "super committee" will be charged with finding spending reductions in Medicare, Medicaid and a range of other government programs.

3 Aug 2011

Researchers discover biological mechanism behind sarcopenia

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have discovered the biological mechanism behind age-related loss of muscle strength and identified a drug that may help reverse this process.

3 Aug 2011

Gender-based violence may increase lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in women

Women who reported experiencing gender-based violence, such as rape, sexual assault, intimate partner violence and stalking, had an associated higher lifetime prevalence of mental health disorders, dysfunction and disability, according to a study in the August 3 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on violence and human rights.

3 Aug 2011

Gender based violence can lead to long term mental ailments in women: Study

According to new research, women who are victims of violence at the hands of men are highly likely to suffer mental disorders for the rest of their lives.

3 Aug 2011

Gender-based violence associated with lifetime risk of mental illness and disability

Women who experience gender-based violence such as rape, sexual assault, intimate partner violence and stalking have a higher lifetime prevalence of mental health disorders, dysfunction and disability, new Australian research shows.

2 Aug 2011

Bioengineered spinal discs can prevent chronic back or neck pain

Every year, millions of people contend with lower back and neck discomfort. With intent to ease their pain, Cornell University engineers in Ithaca and doctors at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City have created a biologically based spinal implant that could someday spell relief for these countless sufferers.

2 Aug 2011

New liquid material shows promise for people with facial deformities

Biomedical engineers at Johns Hopkins have developed a new liquid material that in early experiments in rats and humans shows promise in restoring damaged soft tissue relatively safely and durably.

2 Aug 2011

$VP, balloon kyphoplasty safe and effective for women with vertebral fractures$

VP, balloon kyphoplasty safe and effective for women with vertebral fractures

A working group of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) has issued a literature review of prospective controlled studies comparing the efficacy and safety of two minimally invasive techniques for vertebral augmentation after spine fracture: vertebroplasty (VP) and balloon kyphoplasty.

2 Aug 2011

Deaf candidate at University of Hamburg presented Deaf Holocaust

On July 26, 2011, Mark Zaurov, a deaf Ph.D. candidate at the University of Hamburg, Germany who had recently completed a four-month fellowship at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, presented "Deaf Holocaust." His research includes interviews with Deaf Holocaust survivors and Deaf German perpetrators.

30 Jul 2011

Journalism fellows to gather in Los Angeles to explore community health issues

USC Annenberg announced journalism awards totaling $53,500 to support investigative and explanatory reporting projects on topics ranging from health in America's underserved communities to the challenges for health reform and quality medical care.

30 Jul 2011

Boehner's debt-ceiling plan faces delay in the House

As Republican leaders struggle to gather enough votes to push the measure through, news outlets are analyzing a number of related issues -- including how both the House GOP and Senate Democrats' plans avoid tough decisions on entitlement program spending, and how future discussions surrounding Medicare may be significantly altered.

30 Jul 2011

First Edition: July 29, 2011

Today's headlines include speculation about how the debt-ceiling debate may have altered the discussion regarding changes to Medicare.

29 Jul 2011

Veterans' health care costs are a big part of federal budget

Though the withdrawal of American military forces from Iraq and Afghanistan will save the nation billions of dollars a year, another cost of war is projected to continue rising for decades to come: caring for the veterans.

29 Jul 2011

First Edition: July 28, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about the ever-growing US health health care tab and about the petition filed by a conservative legal center to bring their health law challenge to the Supreme Court.

28 Jul 2011

Cognitive behavioral therapy and self-help may improve unexplained symptoms of pain, fatigue

A new type of therapy may help people with symptoms such as pain, weakness, or dizziness that can't be explained by an underlying disease, according to a study published in the July 27, 2011, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

28 Jul 2011

Efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, NTDs should be integrated

"The neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) produce a devastating level of chronic disability in sub-Saharan Africa, with some estimates suggesting that the NTD disease burden exceeds tuberculosis and is one-half that of malaria," Julie Noblick and Richard Skolnick of George Washington University and Peter Hotez of the Sabin Vaccine Institute write in a PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases editorial.

28 Jul 2011

Researchers draw on ontology to define pain

All over the world, patients with chronic pain struggle to express how they feel to the doctors and health-care providers who are trying to understand and treat them. Now, a University at Buffalo psychiatrist is attempting to help patients suffering from chronic pain and their doctors by drawing on ontology, the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of being or existence.

28 Jul 2011