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Two new research studies to help colicky infant and their parents

The wail of a colicky baby can send parents into near panic and cause sleepless nights for all. Now, two innovative research studies are being conducted at the new UT Physicians Colic Clinic at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) to help both crying babies and their worried parents.

8 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: Insurance safety net; Orszag on shift in health plans

In this country, three subjects that are guaranteed to generate a heated debate are religion, politics and, you guessed it, health insurance. Of the first two, Mark Twain observed that "people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand."

8 Dec 2011

New gene editing technique can heal sickle cell patients with their own cells

Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have developed a way to use patients' own cells to potentially cure sickle cell disease and many other disorders caused by mutations in a gene that helps produce blood hemoglobin.

8 Dec 2011

AIDS.gov blog posts mHealth Summit update

This post by AIDS.gov Director Miguel Gomez in the AIDS.gov blog provides an update on the second day of the mHealth Summit taking place in Washington, D.C.

8 Dec 2011

Treating 'brain tsunamis' could stop many victims of major head injury from further damage

Treating 'brain tsunamis' or 'killer waves' could stop many victims of major head injury from suffering additional brain damage, a study published in Lancet Neurology has found.

8 Dec 2011

Lawmakers debate value of cameras in the courtroom

A Democratic senator dismissed those fears Tuesday, saying cameras would not cheapen the high court's proceedings. "I'm trying to picture Ruth Bader Ginsburg turning into Judge Judy. I just don't think it's going to happen," Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said during a hearing on the subject Tuesday.

8 Dec 2011

Medicaid news: Ariz. appeals court upholds cuts; federal spending increases

In the Arizona decision, a three-judge panel allows an enrollment freeze to continue. Meanwhile, a new analysis finds federal spending on Medicaid nationwide increased 344 percent between 1990 and 2007.

8 Dec 2011

Court considers health care execs' liability

After decades in relative obscurity, a U.S. legal doctrine that holds corporate officers liable for company wrongdoing is finding its way back into some high-profile health care prosecutions.

8 Dec 2011

Massive and consistent changes in inflammatory gene expression seen in trauma, burns

Serious traumatic injuries, including major burns, set off a "genomic storm" in human immune cells, altering around 80 percent of the cells' normal gene expression patterns. In a report to appear in the December Journal of Experimental Medicine, members of a nationwide research collaborative describe the initial results of their investigation into the immune system response to serious injury, findings which have overturned some longstanding assumptions.

8 Dec 2011

Medicare enrollment deadline extended — for some

Kaiser Health News reports that federal officials are extending this Dec. 7 deadline for at least two days -- but only to those seniors who contact any of several sources of assistance.

8 Dec 2011

Global plan of action needed to end AIDS

After "President Obama threw the full weight of the U.S. government behind a vision" to end the AIDS epidemic in a World AIDS Day speech, "[n]ow the question is: How will we achieve this goal? What are the priority actions to take today, tomorrow, and years from now?" Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, writes in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog.

8 Dec 2011

Adjuvant zoledronic acid shows promise against ER-positive premenopausal breast cancer

Researchers have proven the continuing effectiveness of treating patients with estrogen receptor-positive premenopausal breast cancer with adjuvant zoledronic acid in addition to adjuvant endocrine treatment including ovarian function suppression.

8 Dec 2011

On the campaign trail, Obama to step up health law defense

Advisers expect that, while campaigning, President Barack Obama will talk about the law's specific benefits. In other news, a new ad by GOP hopeful Ron Paul that will run in Iowa targets fellow candidate Newt Gingrich. Health care policy issues are among the items the ad highlights.

8 Dec 2011

Horn of Africa food crisis could last into summer 2012, E.U. Aid Commissioner says

"The crisis in the Horn of Africa, which has left more than 13 million people at risk of starvation, will continue into the spring, and possibly the summer," European Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said Tuesday, Reuters reports.

8 Dec 2011

Israeli Nobel Laureate receives AvH's Humboldt Research Award

The Israeli Nobel Laureate Aaron Ciechanover has been named one of the recipients of the Humboldt Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

8 Dec 2011

Myanmar appeals for assistance in HIV/AIDS fight, develops 5-year national HIV/AIDS

"Myanmar appealed on Tuesday to the international community to increase assistance in combating HIV/ AIDS, as AIDS response in the country has entered a critical stage," Xinhua reports, adding, "The appeal was made by participants attending" a round-table discussion on reaching zero AIDS-related stigma and discrimination in the country.

8 Dec 2011

African American women are less psychologically affected by being overweight

While all obese women are less satisfied with the weight-related quality of their lives than women of 'normal' weight, black women report a higher quality of life than white women of the same weight. In addition, black women appear to be more concerned about the physical limitations resulting from their obesity, than by the potential psychological consequences of being overweight or obese.

8 Dec 2011

High-level meetings raise questions of global health commitments by African nations

In this post in Management Sciences for Health's (MSH) "Global Health Impact" blog, Crystal Lander, director of policy and advocacy at MSH, recaps speeches made by global leaders at last week's International Conference on Family Planning in Dakar, Senegal, and the International Conference on HIV and STIs in Africa (ICASA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this week, having attended both events.

8 Dec 2011

Exposure to smoke decreases lung function in firefighters

After monitoring firefighters working at prescribed burns in the southeastern U.S., University of Georgia researchers found that lung function decreased with successive days of exposure to smoke and other particulate matter.

8 Dec 2011

Health technology's 'enthusiasm gap'

The Washington Post reports that many of the predictions for health technology's future depend on how willing health care providers are to embrace new technology. Meanwhile, Kaiser Health News reports specifically on the important and evolving role of home care technology and iWatch News offers a status report of how the states are doing.

8 Dec 2011