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Targeting tumor behavior may find new anti-cancer agents

Ohio State University cancer researchers have used computational and genomic methods to identify possible anti-cancer agents that may block a particular kind of tumor behavior. The agents target multiple genes associated with that behavior at one time.

18 Jun 2009

Can the private sector deliver public services?

The private sector has an important role to play in the delivery of public services, according to a new report by Professor Paul Grout of the Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO). However, he argues that the desire to be profitable can be damaging in some cases, generally in public services where staff are motivated, not just by financial reward, but also by a desire to serve the greater public good.

18 Jun 2009

Penn researchers: Nursing needs a bailout, federal scholarships needed to fix nursing shortage

Researchers from the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing say having enough nurses to meet a national shortage is a "mathematical improbability" unless nursing schools admit more students through federal financial support in a potential bailout, according to an article in today's issue of Health Affairs.

18 Jun 2009

Call to protect hospitals, schools from impact of disasters

WHO and UNICEF today called on governments to strengthen risk reduction measures in four key areas so that health and education systems are able to cope with disasters, including the risks from climate change. These areas are:

18 Jun 2009

Obama plan to cut hospital payments draws ire

The Obama administration has called for $200 billion in cuts for hospital reimbursements in an effort to overhaul the health care system.

18 Jun 2009

Recession and budget cuts hit children especially hard

As the recession forces more hospitals and doctors to pare costs and services, children are being especially hard hit.

18 Jun 2009

CNN, The Independent, VOA News examine technology, health systems in developing countries

CNN examines the increasing numbers of health workers using cell phone technology to monitor diseases in the developing world. The article features EpiSurveyor - "a free, open-source application designed for personal digital assistants" that can be downloaded onto cell phones, so that officials can "gather data directly from the site of the outbreak and send it electronically back to headquarters for faster analysis," CNN writes.

18 Jun 2009

Whole-genome searches unlock secrets of a childhood cancer

Two new studies from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia advance the search for genetic events that result in neuroblastoma, a puzzling, often-deadly type of childhood cancer.

17 Jun 2009

Research uncovers clues to the development of cancers in AIDS patients

In a series of recently-published articles, a research team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center has uncovered clues to the development of cancers in AIDS patients.

17 Jun 2009

Relation between local food environments and obesity among adults

Living in an area with more fast food outlets and convenience stores than supermarkets and grocers has been associated with obesity in a Canadian study. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Public Health have shown that your local food environment can affect your weight.

17 Jun 2009

New diagnostic technique detects possible Alzheimer's biomarker in blood

A new diagnostic technique which may greatly simplify the detection of Alzheimer's disease has been discovered by researchers at McGill University and the affiliated Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital (JGH).

17 Jun 2009

New understanding on how "trans fats" gum up cellular machinery

Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils in processed foods contain trans fatty acids that interfere with the regulation of blood flow. A new report reveals a new way in which these "trans fats" gum up the cellular machinery that keeps blood moving through arteries and veins.

17 Jun 2009

Taxol-carrying nanoparticles

Nanoparticles specially engineered by University of Central Florida Assistant Professor J. Manuel Perez and his colleagues could someday target and destroy tumors, sparing patients from toxic, whole-body chemotherapies.

17 Jun 2009

Patients peeved sbout Cleveland Clinic 'facility fee'

A fee for patients at Cleveland Clinic is upsetting some patients who are complaining to the Ohio hospital, their insurance companies and even members of Congress. They say they can't afford the expense in the current economy, according to The Plain Dealer.

17 Jun 2009

Case study: Paying for health care in a recession

NPR reports on the health care struggles of Howard County, Maryland, a well-off and generally liberal area with hospital fees set by the state and a county program for the uninsured. "But like the rest the country, Howard County is facing the impact of the recession: Employers have to cut back on benefits, so employees cut back on their coverage."

17 Jun 2009

Parents ask lawmakers to keep kids in mind during reform debate

A group of 50 families will ask lawmakers this week to keep in mind 9 million uninsured children and many more who are underinsured when they undertake health reform this summer, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

17 Jun 2009

G.E. offers loans for e-health record purchases

"General Electric Co. said its GE Capital division will make no-interest loans to hospitals and health-care providers that purchase GE's health-care information technology," The Wall Street Journal reports.

17 Jun 2009

Obama takes public plan case to doctors, push-back continues

President Barack Obama told the American Medical Association Monday that a health care fix can't wait, The New York Times reports.

17 Jun 2009

Bartering for health care rises

With no health insurance and little money, Gilberto Carrasco, a Reno, Nev., auto mechanic, didn't see much point in getting a physical. At 50, he felt healthy and couldn't afford treatment even if a doctor found a medical problem.

17 Jun 2009

Opinion: U.S. should double global maternal, child health spending; Ban, Chan want 'global solidarity'; resources for diabetes, HIV/AIDS

Although "child survival is improving - albeit way too slowly - in most regions of the world," sub-Saharan Africa "continues to have the world's highest child-mortality rates," former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who serves as the chairman of Save the Children's Survive to 5 campaign, writes in a Washington Times opinion piece. Frist asserts, "We cannot continue to allow one of every seven African children to die when it is so readily within our reach to prevent those deaths."

17 Jun 2009