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IRIN examines conditional cash transfer program aimed at improving maternal health in the Philippines

"A nationwide conditional cash transfer program in the Philippines is slowly improving maternal health, but more is needed to reverse the climbing maternal mortality ratio, say women's groups," IRIN reports.

3 Aug 2012

IHME study identifies discrepancies between national surveys that track obesity

Despite the increasing awareness of the problem of obesity in the United States, most Americans don't know whether they are gaining or losing weight, according to new research from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

2 Aug 2012

Endoscopic vein grafts just as lifesaving as open-vein grafts

Endoscopic vein-graft harvesting is not associated with higher mortality than open vein-graft harvesting, contrary to previous reports, researchers claim.

2 Aug 2012

Hint of tafamidis benefit in rare polyneuropathy

The results of a randomized trial suggest that tafamidis treatment may slow the progression of early-stage V30M transthyretin familial amyloid polyneuropathy.

2 Aug 2012

Screening tool could help oral cancer detection

Indian researchers report the development of a novel, simple screening tool with a high degree of accuracy for the detection of oral premalignancies that can be used in a general health setting without the need for much training or clinical experience.

2 Aug 2012

Emergency diverticulitis surgery victim of the ‘weekend effect’

Patients who have emergency surgery at weekends for acute diverticulitis have worse outcomes than those admitted on weekdays, the results of a US study show.

2 Aug 2012

State Medicaid expansion: Consequences for coverage, death rate and bottom lines

States consider what myriad of consequences a Medicaid expansion could have. In Florida, a new study has leaders wondering how many lives could be saved by expansion. Meanwhile, as many as 182,000 Iowans could gain coverage under the plan. Also, Georgia considers cuts to the program.

2 Aug 2012

MDCH unveils Michigan’s Infant Mortality Reduction Plan

The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) has unveiled the state's Infant Mortality Reduction Plan, a strategy that includes significant recommendations developed from medical research conducted by the Perinatology Research Branch (PRB) of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health (NICHD/NIH), at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.

2 Aug 2012

Access to quality health care, political will essential for continued progress in reducing maternal mortality

In this Daily Beast opinion piece, Sarah Brown, an adjunct professor at the Institute for Global Health Innovations at Imperial College in London and global patron of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, and Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, head of obstetrics and gynecology and deputy head of clinical sciences at St. George's University of London, highlight the Global Health Policy Summit scheduled to take place in London on Wednesday.

2 Aug 2012

Starvation drives methamphetamine-related death in fruit flies

A new study finds that fruit flies exposed to methamphetamine drastically reduce their food intake and increase their physical activity, just as humans do. The study, which tracked metabolic and behavioral changes in fruit flies on meth, indicates that starvation is a primary driver of methamphetamine-related death in the insects.

2 Aug 2012

Financial viability of Social Security is in jeopardy because of outdated forecasting methods

The Social Security Trust Fund is off on its prediction by $730 billion for needed benefits in 2030. That is because its forecasting methods have hardly been updated since 1935 when the program first started, according to a study in the August issue of Demography.

2 Aug 2012

SPECT/CT with 99mTc-HMPAO-WBC can improve diagnosis of infectious endocarditis

When combined with standard diagnostic tests, functional imaging procedures have been shown to reduce the rate of misdiagnosed cases of infectious endocarditis. According to new research published in the August issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/computed tomography (CT) with 99mTc-hexamethylpropleneamine oxime-labeled white blood cells (99mTc-HMPAO-WBC) can improve the diagnosis of infectious endocarditis in hard-to-diagnose cases.

2 Aug 2012

Researchers unlock genetic secrets of peripheral T-cell lymphomas

Researchers at Mayo Clinic have completed the world's first genome-wide sequencing analysis of peripheral T-cell lymphomas, unlocking the genetic secrets of this poorly understood and highly aggressive cancer of the immune system.

2 Aug 2012

Endoscopic vein-graft harvesting technique safe for CABG surgery

Although there have been questions regarding the safety and durability of endoscopic vein graft harvest for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, an analysis of data of more than 200,000 patients who underwent CABG surgery found no evidence of a long-term increased risk of death with endoscopic vein graft harvesting compared to open vein-graft harvesting, according to a study in the August 1 issue of JAMA.

1 Aug 2012

Exercise reduces symptoms of depression in patients with chronic heart failure

Patients with chronic heart failure who participated in exercise training had modest reductions in symptoms of depression after 12 months, compared with usual care, according to a study in the August 1 issue of JAMA.

1 Aug 2012

IPS examines efforts to reduce maternal mortality ratio in Laos

Inter Press Service examines efforts Laos is taking to improve its maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 470 deaths per 100,000 live births, especially among rural populations that do not have access to health care services.

1 Aug 2012

Pediatric liver transplant recipients have increased risk of death when from obese donors

Children undergoing liver transplantation are at greater risk of graft loss and death from adult organ donors who are severely obese according to research published in the August issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. The study, funded in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that pediatric donor body mass index (BMI) did not increase mortality risk in this pediatric population.

1 Aug 2012