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Pre-term births are leading cause of health problems in infants and cost the U.S. over $26 billion annually

The Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT) based at the University of Michigan today released its Prematurity Issue Brief that shows pre-term births --- births at less than 37 weeks of gestation --- are the leading cause of health problems in infants and estimated to cost the U.S. more than $26 billion annually. In addition, the report shows that a black infant in Michigan is 70% more likely to be born prematurely than an infant of any other race.

17 Nov 2010

National Medical Center specialist wins best abstract for Outstanding Research Award in Pediatric Cardiology

David Wessel, MD, senior vice president for Hospital-Based Specialties at Children's National Medical Center, won the best abstract for Outstanding Research Award in Pediatric Cardiology by the American Heart Association's Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young.

17 Nov 2010

Study reveals true effects of malaria on African generations

Almost a third of cerebral malaria survivors developed epilepsy or other behavioral disorders in the most comprehensive study to date of the disease in African children, solidifying the link between malaria and neuropsychiatric disorders that affect hundreds of thousands of children.

17 Nov 2010

TRITON–TIMI 38 substudy shows prasugrel reduces overall mortality rate in ACS patients

New results from an observational substudy from TRITON–TIMI 38 presented today at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions annual meeting showed that patients treated with Efient/Effient (prasugrel) prior to coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) had a reduced overall mortality rate compared to patients treated with Plavix (clopidogrel)

17 Nov 2010

Neurologic complications remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality after heart surgeries

Strokes, seizures and other neurological complications related to heart surgery account for "considerable morbidity and mortality," Loyola University Health System neurologists report in the November issue of the journal Hospital Practice.

16 Nov 2010

National campaign to highlight significance of antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistance is one of the world's most pressing public health threats. To bring attention to this increasing problem, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other government partners will observe its third annual Get Smart About Antibiotics Week on Nov. 15-21, 2010.

16 Nov 2010

As VA touts quality of system, study shows no difference in mortality rate

The Department of Veterans Affairs has touted for years the achievements of its health-care system, but a new study, published in the journal Medical Care, shows its health outcomes are about like everybody else's.

16 Nov 2010

Leaders speak at Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health conference

Education for women is the most important factor for positively influencing the health of women and children, Indian President Pratibha Patil said on Saturday at a meeting in New Delhi of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH), IANS/Sify News reports. "Education is a powerful driver of health. The relationship between poverty, lack of education and limited access to health services, is well recognised," Patil said at the start of the two-day conference (11/13).

16 Nov 2010

Infinity announces Phase 1b/2 clinical trial of IPI-926 in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer

Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that enrollment is ongoing locally for a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial of IPI-926, Infinity's oral molecule that inhibits Smoothened, a key component of the Hedgehog pathway, in combination with Gemzar (gemicitabine) in patients with previously untreated, metastatic pancreatic cancer.

16 Nov 2010

No difference in risk of nonsuicide death between ziprasidone and olanzapine for schizophrenia

The potential for harmful side effects associated with anti-psychotic medications for treating schizophrenia is a frustration for mental-health professionals who must balance this with the positive benefits of drugs. For example, the issue of the antipsychotic drug ziprasidone lengthening the QTc interval, a possible indicator of life-threatening heart arrhythmias, has demanded much attention among clinicians since the drug was introduced in 2001.

15 Nov 2010

Thomson Reuters releases results of annual study identifying top U.S. hospitals for inpatient cardiovascular services

Thomson Reuters today released its annual study identifying the top U.S. hospitals for inpatient cardiovascular services. The study, now in its twelfth year, for the first time singled out 50 hospitals rather than the traditional practice of naming 100 winners.

15 Nov 2010

Reproductive health forum in Ghana addresses unsafe abortions in Africa

The issue of unsafe abortion and its role in women's health was the focus of a four-day conference this week in Accra, Ghana, involving health experts, policymakers and health workers from across Africa, Ghana News Agency reports.

15 Nov 2010

Scios announces results of ASCEND-HF trial for ADHF treatment

Scios Inc. announced today that the landmark investigational study of NATRECOR (nesiritide) for the treatment of acutely decompensated heart failure (ADHF), ASCEND-HF, demonstrated no statistically significant difference from placebo in the co-primary endpoints of dyspnea, measured at six and 24 hours, or in the composite of heart failure re-hospitalizations and death during the first 30 days following treatment.

15 Nov 2010

Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute implants VAD device to help individuals with advanced heart failure

The Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute of Northwestern Memorial Hospital recently implanted a patient with two of the smallest experimental ventricular assist devices (VADs) currently available for study in humans. VADs are designed to assist either the right (RVAD) or left (LVAD) ventricle, or both (BiVAD) at once.

15 Nov 2010

Dialysis patients at elevated risk for sudden cardiac death: Study

Approximately 500,000 Americans require dialysis to treat kidney disease; of that population nearly half of the deaths that occur are caused by cardiovascular disease. Dialysis patients are at elevated risk for sudden cardiac death, but physicians are unclear why these deaths occur because little research has been done to examine how to best manage heart disease in this high-risk population.

15 Nov 2010

Acute sleep deprivation increases inflammation: Research

People who sleep poorly or do not get enough sleep have higher levels of inflammation, a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, researchers have found.

15 Nov 2010

Pneumonia Report Card shows prevention, treatment tools not widely adopted in countries where disease kills most children

In advance of World Pneumonia Day, the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) on Thursday released a report card showing that pneumonia prevention and intervention targets are not being met in the 15 countries where three-quarters of deaths in children under age 5 from the disease occur each year, IRIN reports.

14 Nov 2010

U.N. agencies, Rotary International launch mass polio immunization campaign in Central Africa

The WHO, UNICEF and Rotary International on Thursday announced they will kick off a "mass polio immunization campaign in three Central African nations" on Friday "in response to a polio outbreak suspected in more than 100 deaths and deemed 'unusual' because it targets adults more than children," the Associated Press reports.

14 Nov 2010

Research roundup: Doctors' industry ties; Patient safety and residents' hours; Designing a medical home

Archives of Internal Medicine: Physician Professionalism And Changes in Physician-Industry Relationships From 2004 to 2009 -"During the last 6 years a number of efforts have aimed to reduce, and in some cases eliminate, certain types of physician-industry relationships (PIRs)," including policies "that forbid physicians from accepting samples and receiving food and beverages in offices, limiting company representatives' access to physicians' offices and clinical areas, and banning faculty participation in speaker bureaus and other forms of promotional activity," write the authors.

12 Nov 2010

Soligenix third quarter revenues increase to $861,000

Soligenix, Inc., a late-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today its financial results for the third quarter of 2010.

12 Nov 2010

Mortality News and Research

Pre-term births are leading cause of health problems in infants and cost the U.S. over $26 billion annually

National Medical Center specialist wins best abstract for Outstanding Research Award in Pediatric Cardiology

Study reveals true effects of malaria on African generations

TRITON–TIMI 38 substudy shows prasugrel reduces overall mortality rate in ACS patients

Neurologic complications remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality after heart surgeries

National campaign to highlight significance of antibiotic resistance

As VA touts quality of system, study shows no difference in mortality rate

Leaders speak at Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health conference

Infinity announces Phase 1b/2 clinical trial of IPI-926 in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer

No difference in risk of nonsuicide death between ziprasidone and olanzapine for schizophrenia

Thomson Reuters releases results of annual study identifying top U.S. hospitals for inpatient cardiovascular services

Reproductive health forum in Ghana addresses unsafe abortions in Africa

Scios announces results of ASCEND-HF trial for ADHF treatment

Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute implants VAD device to help individuals with advanced heart failure

Dialysis patients at elevated risk for sudden cardiac death: Study

Acute sleep deprivation increases inflammation: Research

Pneumonia Report Card shows prevention, treatment tools not widely adopted in countries where disease kills most children

U.N. agencies, Rotary International launch mass polio immunization campaign in Central Africa

Research roundup: Doctors' industry ties; Patient safety and residents' hours; Designing a medical home

Soligenix third quarter revenues increase to $861,000

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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