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Viewpoints: Health law offers 'lifeline' to many; National exchange could solve many problems with state insurance; Contrasting looks at faulty hip replacements

Republican leaders in Congress regularly denounce the 2010 Affordable Care Act and vow to block money to carry it out or even to repeal it.

26 Mar 2013

Study provides understanding of root causes of clinical variability in anxiety disorders

New findings from nonhuman primates suggest that an overactive core circuit in the brain, and its interaction with other specialized circuits, accounts for the variability in symptoms shown by patients with severe anxiety.

26 Mar 2013

University of Michigan-led study shows maternal sleep position may influence pregnancy outcomes

Pregnant women in Ghana who slept on their back (supine sleep) were at an increased risk of stillbirth compared to women who did not sleep on their back, according to new research led by a University of Michigan researcher.

26 Mar 2013

Study projects potential impact of FDA-approved anti-obesity medications on Medicare spending

VIVUS, Inc. announced today that a new study demonstrates that effective medical treatment providing 10% to 15% weight loss could lead to significant improvements in Medicare spending by reversing or reducing significant health consequences such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia in obese or overweight patients.

25 Mar 2013

Konzo's harm goes beyond devastating physical effects

The harm done by konzo - a disease overshadowed by the war and drought it tends to accompany - goes beyond its devastating physical effects to impair children's memory, problem solving and other cognitive functions.

25 Mar 2013

Loyola's School-based Health Center at Proviso East High School holds health fair for students

Health care reform has highlighted the importance of comprehensive, culturally appropriate interventions at the community level to prevent disease and encourage healthy behaviors. Providing young people with the knowledge and skills to make healthy lifestyle choices is the best way to reduce the risk chronic disease in later life.

25 Mar 2013

Financial Times special report focuses on tuberculosis

The Financial Times has published a special report, titled "Combating Tuberculosis 2013," as World TB Day on March 24 approaches.

25 Mar 2013

Study shows physically active healthcare providers more likely to advise patients to lead active lifestyle

Physically active healthcare providers were more likely than their inactive counterparts to advise patients to lead an active lifestyle in a study presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2013 Scientific Sessions.

25 Mar 2013

Weill Cornell researcher suggests ways to improve patient safety, high-level care

In its 2001 report Crossing the Quality Chasm, the Institute of Medicine outlined six domains of quality in medical care: safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency and equity.

24 Mar 2013

Scientists develop novel method to accurately predict dengue fever outbreaks

A team of scientists from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory has developed a novel method to accurately predict dengue fever outbreaks several weeks before they occur.

24 Mar 2013

Scotland takes action to tackle relationship between deprivation and CVD

Deprivation represents the "elephant in the room" with regard to cardiovascular disease, and health care professionals have an important role to play in tackling the problem, delegates heard at a special plenary session opening the EuroHeart Care Congress in Glasgow, Scotland, 22 March to 23 March 2013.

22 Mar 2013

Organizations highlight World TB Day

World TB Day is commemorated each year on March 24, recognizing the discovery of the tuberculosis bacilli by Robert Koch in 1882.

22 Mar 2013

New Frontiers in Public Health journal launched

Frontiers, one of the world's fastest-growing Open Access publishers and among the largest social networking platforms for researchers, announces the launch of a new journal, Frontiers in Public Health.

22 Mar 2013

New testing technologies can help fight TB, but new treatments needed

"[F]or many low-income populations, [tuberculosis (TB)] is nothing less than a modern-day public health emergency," and "[t]o make things worse, many of these patients [a]re living with HIV," U.N. Under-Secretary General and UNITAID Chair Philippe Douste-Blazy writes in a Huffington Post "Impact" blog opinion piece.

22 Mar 2013

mHealth 'not yet living up to its potential' to transform health care systems

"mHealth can be defined as medical and public health practices supported by mobile technologies, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, tablets, personal digital assistants, and other wireless devices," Patricia Mechael, executive director of the mHealth Alliance, and Sarah Struble, a program associate at the mHealth Alliance, write in an Al Jazeera opinion piece.

22 Mar 2013

Male circumcision a 'staggeringly under-utilized tool'

"PrePex, the new nonsurgical circumcision tool experts believe could revolutionize the prevention of HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, is easier to assemble than a toy you might find in a Happy Meal," freelance journalist Patrick Adams writes in the New York Times' "Opinionator" blog.

22 Mar 2013

Blog describes efforts to fight NTDs in Brazil

The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End The Neglect" blog reports on the Brazilian Ministry of Health's launch of "a public health campaign to diagnose and treat soil-transmitted helminths (or intestinal parasites) and leprosy in school-aged children" and says it will feature stories related to the fight against NTDs in Brazil over the coming days.

22 Mar 2013

Last few meals before surgery may affect recovery after surgery, study says

According to a new study, the last few meals before surgery might make a difference in recovery after surgery. Fat tissue is one of the most dominant components that make up the body, and fat tissue is always traumatized during major surgery.

22 Mar 2013

Fralin Life Science Institute researchers use TALENS to alter mosquito genome

Virginia Tech researchers successfully used a gene disruption technique to change the eye color of a mosquito - a critical step toward new genetic strategies aimed at disrupting the transmission of diseases such as dengue fever.

22 Mar 2013

New hope for treating, preventing malaria

Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland VA Medical Center have developed a drug that may represent one of the world's best hopes for treating and preventing malaria - a disease that kills more than one million people each year.

22 Mar 2013