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KU researchers help develop PAHO/WHO Guide for Documenting Health Promotion Initiatives

Two University of Kansas professors were prime movers behind an internet-based health promotion initiative launched by the Pan American Health Organization (PAH0), the regional arm of the United Nations World Health Organization (WH0), on November 7 in Washington, D.C.

17 Nov 2011

Improper payments reduced by $17.6 billion, White House says

This cut in wasteful or improper payments in social welfare programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, applies to the year ending Sept. 30.

17 Nov 2011

Flu strains migrate back and forth between different regions of the world

Influenza researchers have found that flu strains migrate back and forth between different regions of the world, evolving along the way. This is contrary to the common belief that flu strains from the tropics are the source of global seasonal epidemics.

17 Nov 2011

Protein, not sugar, stimulates cells keeping us thin and awake

A new study has found that protein and not sugar activates the cells responsible for keeping us awake and burning calories. The research, published in the 17 November issue of the scientific journal Neuron, has implications for understanding obesity and sleep disorders.

17 Nov 2011

Modified spider silk proteins for cancer gene therapy

A new episode in the American Chemical Society's (ACS) award-winning "Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions" podcast series spins a real-life tale in which spider silk shows promise for overcoming a major barrier to the use of gene therapy in everyday medicine.

17 Nov 2011

Psoriasis may alter cholesterol composition and decrease HDL function

Collaborative research from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has shown that psoriasis patients have an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death, especially if the psoriasis is moderate to severe. Now, Penn researchers have discovered the potential underlying mechanism by which the inflammatory skin disease impacts cardiovascular health.

17 Nov 2011

Sedentary behaviour may have different consequences for young people's health

Physical activity will definitely lower children's chances of developing cardiovascular disease down the road, but physical inactivity will not necessarily increase it. Findings from a recent Queen's University study shows different kinds of sedentary behaviour may have different consequences for young people's health.

17 Nov 2011

Researchers discover a factor in synapse-building and pruning

Like a gardener who stakes some plants and weeds out others, the brain is constantly building networks of synapses, while pruning out redundant or unneeded synapses. Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory led by Assistant Professor Zhong-wei Zhang, Ph.D., have discovered a factor in synapse-building, also showing that the building and pruning processes occur independent of each other.

17 Nov 2011

20% of U.S. adults take psychiatric drugs

The medicating of Americans for mental illnesses continued to grow over the past decade, with one in five adults now taking at least one psychiatric drug such as antidepressants, antipsychotics and anti-anxiety medications, according to an analysis of pharmacy-claims data.

17 Nov 2011

UTHealth study: Heart attack patients who call 911 are sicker

Cardiologists are quick to point to statistics showing that the "door-to-balloon" treatment time for heart attack patients has dropped significantly in the past few years. But a retrospective study reveals that those who call 911 are most likely to have suffered a severe heart attack and despite receiving treatment quickly, they are still dying at unacceptable rates, say researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

17 Nov 2011

Facing pressure from all sides, deficit panel keeps hands off health law

The sweeping 2010 health law has stayed largely intact even as super committee members struggle to slash the nation's deficit. Meanwhile, the clock continues to tick down toward the deadline even as more proposals are being floated.

17 Nov 2011

VHIO, MGHCC sign tumor biomarker agreement

The President of the BBVA Foundation, Francisco Gonz-lez, Jose Baselga, Chief of Hematology/Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center (MGHCC), and Andr-s de Kelety, Managing Director at the Vall d'Hebr-n Institute of Oncology (VHIO) in Barcelona, yesterday signed the agreement creating the BBVA Foundation Tumor Biomarkers Research Program.

17 Nov 2011

House subcommittee approves GOP-backed measure to repeal CLASS Act

Members of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee on Tuesday voted to approve legislation that would repeal the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act included in the healthcare reform law. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act tasked HHS with developing a benefit plan for CLASS, a voluntary long-term-care insurance program, that was financially sustainable and also met the legal requirements of the statute.

17 Nov 2011

Research into role of insulin in obesity-related cancers

Niyati Parekh, an assistant professor at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, has received a $720,000 Research Scholar Grant from the American Cancer Society to study the role of insulin in obesity-related cancers.

17 Nov 2011

CNN profiles Global Soap Project's work in sanitation

As part of its "CNN Heroes" series, CNN examines the Global Soap Project, started by Derreck Kayongo, a Ugandan war refugee and one of the Top 10 CNN Heroes of 2011. The organization works with more than 300 hotels in the U.S. to collect used bars of soap, clean them and reprocess them to be distributed in countries such as Haiti, Kenya, Swaziland and Uganda, CNN reports.

17 Nov 2011

Discovery of what triggers smoking could make interventions more effective

Discovering when and why students smoke might lead to the development of better intervention methods, according to researchers at the University of Missouri. In an article published in the journal Substance Use & Misuse, the researchers showed that partying, drinking and work prompted college students to recall their smoking experience, and that smoking occurred most often at the start of the semester and on weekends.

17 Nov 2011

Oregon Insurance Commissioner tapped to advise HHS on health exchanges

Oregon's top insurance regulator is joining the Health and Human Services Department to help implement insurance exchanges. Oregon Insurance Administrator Teresa Miller will start at HHS next month, according to a department email. She'll be a senior adviser on exchanges, working with state governments to get the new insurance marketplaces off the ground.

17 Nov 2011

Group launches effort to improve dental health

A group of advocacy organizations Tuesday launched the Campaign for Dental Health, an effort designed to promote oral health and to urge states and local governments to help prevent dental problems by investing in such prevention strategies as water fluoridation. Voices for America's Children, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Pew Children's Dental Campaign are spearheading this effort.

17 Nov 2011

Aurora kinase inhibitor may treat neuroendocrine prostate cancer

An international team of researchers led by clinicians at Weill Cornell Medical College have discovered a genetic Achilles' heel in an aggressive type of prostate cancer -- a vulnerability they say can be attacked by a targeted drug that is already in clinical trials to treat other types of cancers.

17 Nov 2011

Regardless of outcome, high court health law decision will be landmark ruling

As Barack Obama battled Hillary Rodham Clinton over health care during the Democratic presidential primaries of 2008, he was adamant about one thing: Americans, he insisted, should not be required to buy health insurance. … Now President Obama may wish he had stuck to those words. On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to take up a constitutional challenge to his landmark health care bill, and a decision could come in the midst of Mr. Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.

17 Nov 2011