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At debate, Romney offers spirited defense of Mass. health plan

At Tuesday night's GOP presidential hopeful face-off, former Mass. governor Mitt Romney was the focus of the other candidates, who criticized his economic policies and his state's health overhaul. But, having earned the endorsement of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie earlier in the day, he appears to be gaining momentum.

13 Oct 2011

Latest breakthroughs in lasers and optics to be discussed at 95th OSA meeting

Scientists and engineers from around the world will gather in the heart of Silicon Valley next week to discuss some of the latest breakthroughs in lasers and optics and their applications to cutting-edge science, the development of new materials, and medicine.

13 Oct 2011

Escalating sexual violence amid famine in Horn of Africa is 'going largely ignored'

In this Guardian opinion piece, Lisa Shannon, founder of A Thousand Sisters, Run for Congo Women, and co-founder of Sister Somalia, examines how, in the context of famine, sexual violence in the Horn of Africa, and particularly in Somalia, "is being de-prioritized as primarily a psychosocial issue," and asserts that grassroots international organizations offer a solution "outside the traditional big-aid model."

13 Oct 2011

WHO says global TB cases decline for first time ever but warns funding gap, resistant strains put progress is at risk

New data published in the WHO's 2011 Global Tuberculosis Control Report on Tuesday, "shows that the number of people who fell ill with tuberculosis (TB) dropped to 8.8 million in 2010, after peaking at 9 million in 2005," the U.N. News Centre reports.

13 Oct 2011

Incoming dean of Weill Cornell receives 2011 ICS Honorary Lifetime Membership

Dr. Laurie Glimcher, the incoming dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, has received the 2011 International Cytokine Society (ICS) Honorary Lifetime Membership, the Society's highest honor, for her pivotal contributions to cytokine research, particularly as it relates to immune response.

12 Oct 2011

Arguing for better family planning worldwide is not coercive

In this post in the Guardian's "Response" column, Jenny Tonge, chair of the U.K. all-party parliamentary group on population, development and reproductive health, responds to a Guardian opinion piece published last month entitled "Welcome baby seven billion: we've room on Earth for you."

12 Oct 2011

Breast cancer education and detection a challenge in Egypt

In this Washington Times Communities column, Anwaar Abdalla, a lecturer on Civilization and Cultural Affairs at Egypt's Helwan University, writes, "While breast cancer is a global issue, in Egypt, the figure for people suffering from breast cancer is alarming," adding, "According to official statistics of the National Cancer Institute (Cairo University), breast cancer accounts for 35.1 percent of the cases of cancer in Egypt."

12 Oct 2011

Vitamin D plays an essential role in the body's fight against TB

Not just important for building strong bones, an international team of scientists has found that vitamin D also plays an essential role in the body's fight against infections such as tuberculosis.

12 Oct 2011

Roundup: Calif. insurer's Avastin decision; Kansas dental care; Gov. Brown vetoes nursing bill

Blue Shield of California will stop covering new Avastin prescriptions for breast cancer patients starting Oct. 17. Patients already on the drug will still be covered, and exceptions could be made for individual cases reviewed by a panel of cancer experts. The not-for-profit insurer cited an unprecedented vote by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel that found the drug was not effective enough against breast cancer to risk its potentially dangerous side effects.

12 Oct 2011

UCLA's screening system can target stem cells responsible for glioblastoma

Researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed and used a high-throughput molecular screening approach that identifies and characterizes chemical compounds that can target the stem cells that are responsible for creating deadly brain tumors.

12 Oct 2011

Final ACO regs face last looks before public release

The final regulations to implement the accountable care organization provisions of the 2010 health care reform law have entered one of their last steps, according to an online notice. The Office of Management and Budget began its review of the final rule for the ACO program, also known as the Medicare Shared Savings Program, on Oct. 5. Such OMB reviews are usually the last or one of the last steps that regulations take before they are publicly issued.

12 Oct 2011

UB scientists discover promising new drug target for Alzheimer's

A tiny piece of a critical receptor that fuels the brain and without which sentient beings cannot live has been discovered by University at Buffalo scientists as a promising new drug target for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

12 Oct 2011

Tantalizing glimmers about roles of CCR2 gene, Th17 cell and a missing monocyte

An estimated 1.3 million people in the United States suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. The causes behind this chronic disease — which can exhibit itself as pain, swelling, stiffness, deformation, and loss of function in the joints — have eluded scientists for centuries. A new study by UNC researchers offers tantalizing glimmers about the roles of a gene called CCR2, an immune system cell called Th17 cell, and a missing monocyte.

11 Oct 2011

Diethylstilbestrol in utero affects immune system of the fetus

A synthetic estrogen — diethylstilbestrol (DES), prescribed to women in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s to prevent miscarriages, had serious, untoward effects in daughters of these women, including the development of a rare type of cancer of the uterus.

11 Oct 2011

Food crises jeopardizing efforts to meet MDG of halving global malnutrition, report says

"Food crises are jeopardizing efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015, United Nations (U.N.) food experts warned" on Monday, according to the Guardian.

11 Oct 2011

Brown signs Calif. measures to aid children with autism, ban kids younger than 18 from using tanning beds

In other state news, Wisconsin last month began scrutinizing health insurance rate increases, Los Angeles County steps in ahead of health law's mandated coverage expansions and a Georgia report notes the state's progress in providing services for people with mental illness and developmental disabilities.

11 Oct 2011

Ford researchers develop series of in-car health and wellness apps, services

Researchers at Ford have developed a series of in-car health and wellness apps and services aimed at monitoring people with chronic illnesses or medical disorders so they can manage their condition while on the go.

From Medtronic 10 Oct 2011

First successful quantification of membrane lipids in a living cell

Could controlling cell-membrane fat play a key role in turning off disease? Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago think so, and a biosensor they've created that measures membrane lipid levels may open up new pathways to disease treatment.

10 Oct 2011

DfID's reduction in bilateral AIDS spending may increase need for funding later

In a letter to the Guardian in response to the news that the U.K. Department for International Development (DfID) plans to cut bilateral aid for HIV/AIDS by nearly one-third, Nathan Ford, medical coordinator for Medecins Sans Frontieres, writes that the agency's decision "comes at a critical moment," after "[v]arious studies published in the past year have shown widespread access to treatment and prevention can dramatically cut HIV/AIDS transmission, and allow for consideration of an end to the epidemic."

7 Oct 2011

Roundup: Brewer defends request for exchange funds; Calif. governor signs maternity benefit bill

Republican Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona said Thursday that despite opposition from legislators from within her own party, she's seeking money from the federal government to implement a key part of the health care overhaul she opposes in order to prepare her state in case the law is upheld.

7 Oct 2011