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Voluntary benefits continue to be important part of employees' benefits packages

Voluntary benefits -- insurance coverage available through employers and usually paid for by employees -- will continue to be an important part of employees' benefits packages as health care reform measures are implemented.

24 Apr 2010

Prevention and nonsurgical treatment options to prevent low back pain and protect spine

Back and neck problems can be caused by a herniated disc, spinal stenosis, injury, strain or osteoarthritis. "Although more than 75 percent of Americans will experience some back pain during their lifetime, about 90 percent of cases are resolved without surgery," stated John K. Ratliff, MD, FACS, a Philadelphia spine surgeon and American Association of Neurological Surgeons spokesperson.

24 Apr 2010

Facet Solutions announces data from ACADIA lumbar stenosis pilot study

Facet Solutions, Inc. today announced that it has finished compiling two year data from its lumbar stenosis pilot study in the US. At two years, patients in the ACADIA™ study experienced significant and sustained improvement in Oswestry Disability Index, VAS back pain and VAS leg pain. There were no re-operations in any of the patients, and all patients met the definition of success for ODI improvement.

23 Apr 2010

Treating OSA in truck drivers lowers healthcare costs and disability rates: Study

For commercial motor vehicle drivers with obstructive sleep apnea, effective treatment lowers healthcare costs and disability rates, reports a study in the May Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

23 Apr 2010

Researchers to measure children with Down syndrome to develop new growth charts

Parents and doctors have known for a long time that children with Down syndrome tend to grow more slowly and are considerably shorter than most other children. But pediatricians needing to record growth milestones at regular office visits have an outdated set of growth charts based on data collected more than 25 years ago.

23 Apr 2010

Mayo Clinic study finds changes in tissue damage throughout the course of MS

A new Mayo Clinic study has found that the type of tissue damage changes throughout the course of multiple sclerosis. In early relapsing disease stages, the plaques, or areas where the nervous system is inflamed or demyelinated, are predominantly active with distinct heterogeneous patterns of myelin damage.

23 Apr 2010

SVS publishes first supplement on diversity articles to Journal of Vascular Surgery

The Society for Vascular Surgery published its first supplement on diversity articles to its Journal of Vascular Surgery in April 2010.

23 Apr 2010

FDA approves Medtronic's Complete SE Vascular Stent System for PAD

Broadening the scope of innovation for cardiovascular interventions beyond the heart, Medtronic, Inc., announced today that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Complete® SE Vascular Stent System to be used for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in the iliac arteries, major blood vessels within the pelvis that supply blood to the lower extremities.

21 Apr 2010

Exercise machine for lumbago

Low back pain (or lumbago) is a common ailment often triggered by something as simple as lifting a suitcase. What is the best way to remedy the situation? An exercise machine designed specifically for back muscles could be the solution according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.

20 Apr 2010

Alere director to analyze value of worksite health programs at 28th SALGBA conference

The importance of measuring productivity, short-term disability, workers' comp and job satisfaction when analyzing the value of worksite health programs will be the key focal points of a presentation by David Wolf, MBA, director of product management for Alere, at the 28th annual State and Local Government Benefits Association (SALGBA).

19 Apr 2010

Valedictory Symposium to celebrate Professor David Taylor's contribution to Obstetrics and Gynaecology

Medical experts from across the UK are gathering at the University of Leicester on Friday 23rd April in a Valedictory Symposium to celebrate the work of Professor David Taylor.

19 Apr 2010

End-of-life care documentation helps in emergency treatment decisions

When Heather Rubesch was a teenager, her aunt died in need of a kidney transplant. In later family discussions, Heather's mother, Linda, expressed some of her views about end-of-life care—for instance, her belief in organ donation.

19 Apr 2010

Racial disparities in sleep and health-related quality of life

A study in the April 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine shows that having a sleep disturbance is associated with clinically meaningful reductions in health-related quality of life, and the magnitude of this effect varies by race and sleep disorder.

17 Apr 2010

Harvard researchers' beef? Insurance companies owning fast food stock

Health.com/CNN: "The fast-food industry has long been under fire for selling high-fat, high-calorie meals that have been linked to weight gain and diabetes, but the financial health of the industry continues to attract investors -- including some of the leading insurance companies in the U.S. ... According to Harvard Medical School researchers, 11 large companies that offer life, disability, or health insurance owned about $1.9 billion in stock in the five largest fast-food companies as of June 2009. …"

17 Apr 2010

Courage Center accepts nominations for three employment-related annual awards

Minneapolis-based Courage Center, a nonprofit rehabilitation and resource center, is accepting nominations for three employment-related annual awards: the Jay and Rose Phillips Award, the Phillips Caregiver Award and the Judd Jacobson Memorial Award.

17 Apr 2010

State round-up: Penn. Medicare advantage; N.J. cuts immigrant care; Hospitals face hardships

Independence Blue Cross has lost 30 percent of its Medicare managed-care members in the region this year in the wake of federal government rate cuts as its major competitors saw enrollment gains. The cuts came after the Philadelphia insurer eliminated some product offerings for senior adults and raised rates for others.

17 Apr 2010

New data on Cladribine Tablets presented at AAN annual meeting

EMD Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, today announced that new data providing further understanding on Cladribine Tablets as a potential new therapeutic option for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis were presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

17 Apr 2010

Moving is the best medicine for arthritic pain

The burden of arthritis is greater for African Americans and Hispanics, despite lower prevalence among these groups according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report published in the May issue of Preventing Chronic Disease.

16 Apr 2010

New scale more suitable for predicting depressive symptoms

A research team has tested the utility of the short version of WHO-DAS II, a tool to assess within five minutes disability in patients with depression, "which in the case of primary care is even more practicable than the long version of the instrument." In Spain, more than 10% of the population suffer from severe depression.

16 Apr 2010

Arthritis causes more pain and limitations for African-Americans and Hispanics

Arthritis causes more pain and limitations for African-Americans and Hispanics than for whites, according to a study released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

16 Apr 2010