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Quitting smoking doubles survival chances in lung cancer patients

People diagnosed with early stage lung cancer can double their chances of survival over five years if they stop smoking compared with those who continue to smoke, finds a study published on bmj.com today.

22 Jan 2010

Association between vitamin D and risk of colorectal cancer identified

High blood levels of vitamin D are associated with a lower risk of colon cancer, finds a large European study published on bmj.com today. The risk was cut by as much as 40% in people with the highest levels compared with those in the lowest.

22 Jan 2010

Reducing dietary salt can offer significant health benefits

Reducing salt in the American diet by as little as one-half teaspoon (or three grams) per day could prevent nearly 100,000 heart attacks and 92,000 deaths each year, according to a new study. Such benefits are on par with the benefits from reductions in smoking and could save the United States about $24 billion in healthcare costs, the researchers add.

21 Jan 2010

Elevation Pharmaceuticals closes $30M tranched Series A financing

Elevation Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of new aerosol therapies for patients with respiratory diseases, announced today the closing of a $30 million tranched Series A financing.

21 Jan 2010

Ontario must stay the course in the fight against lung cancer

Currently an estimated 7,800 Ontarians are diagnosed with lung cancer and approximately 6,000 die of the disease each year. Smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke continue to be the main risk factors for developing lung cancer - and that is why we must continue to encourage Ontarians to be smoke-free.

21 Jan 2010

Showing scan images to motivate healthy behaviors in patients provides mixed results

Can showing patients ultrasounds and X-rays of their bodies to point out existing health damage make patients change their risky behavior?

21 Jan 2010

Study links thyroid disease with human exposure to PFOA

A study by the University of Exeter and the Peninsula Medical School for the first time links thyroid disease with human exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). PFOA is a persistent organic chemical used in industrial and consumer goods including nonstick cookware and stain- and water-resistant coatings for carpets and fabrics.

21 Jan 2010

OA urges patients to stop smoking before surgery to protect their own health

During National Non-Smoking Week, Ontario's Anesthesiologists (OA) are once again urging patients to stop smoking before surgery in order to protect their own health. In addition, Ontario's Anesthesiologists estimate that if every smoker scheduled for surgery stopped 6-8 weeks prior to their procedure, approximately $122 million could be saved by the health care system.

21 Jan 2010

Research shows strong links between COPD and heart function

A common lung condition, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) diminishes the heart's ability to pump effectively even when the disease has no or mild symptoms, according to research published in the Jan. 21 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

21 Jan 2010

Afro-American fathers with depressive symptoms are less likely to spend time with their children

African-American fathers who do not live with their sons and who suffer from depression are less likely to spend time with them, according to a University of Michigan study.

21 Jan 2010

Study: Heart's ability to pump effectively is diminished among people with common lung disease

A new study from Columbia University Medical Center researchers, has found that the heart's ability to pump effectively is diminished among people with a common lung disease, even in people with no or mild symptoms.

21 Jan 2010

Aetna announces new fitness and nutrition program for employers nationwide

Aetna today announced a new team-based fitness and nutrition program for employers nationwide that uses online social networking to encourage people of all health and fitness levels to work together with their colleagues to achieve their optimal health.

20 Jan 2010

Lantheus Medical Imaging announces the launch of ABLAVAR

Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc., a worldwide leader in diagnostic imaging, today announced the launch of ABLAVAR™ (gadofosveset trisodium), a unique, injectable MRA imaging agent used to evaluate aortoiliac occlusive disease (AIOD) in adults with known or suspected peripheral vascular disease (PVD).

20 Jan 2010

Health Canada approves Novartis' Afinitor to treat patients with mRCC

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. (Novartis) announced today that Afinitor(R) (everolimus), a once-daily oral cancer treatment, has been approved by Health Canada for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), also known as advanced kidney cancer, after failure of initial treatment with VEGF-receptor targeted therapies Sutent(R) (sunitinib) or Nexavar(R) (sorafenib).

20 Jan 2010

Arts-based program identifies safety needs of children from low-income communities

Identifying the public health and safety needs of children from low-income communities may be best accomplished through art, report University of Pittsburgh researchers in the current online issue of Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education and Action. In their paper, researchers describe the success of Visual Voices, an arts-based program that engages community members as partners in research.

20 Jan 2010

Exercise can aid in smoking cessation; improve physical fitness in women smokers

It's been 18 excruciating hours since you last had one. You're irritable, stressed out, and the cravings are intense. There is only one thing you can think about firing up - and it isn't your treadmill. But that's exactly what University of Western Ontario researchers have been hard at work trying to convince smokers to do.

20 Jan 2010

Impact of life style factors on natural and medically assisted reproduction

The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) has published a position statement on the impact of the life style factors obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption on natural and medically assisted reproduction.

20 Jan 2010

Officials debate merits of medical marijuana as coping tool in pain fight

As access to medical marijuana becomes more widespread, officials are debating its use as a pain-coping treatment and are easing rules for the sick to use the drug, The Wall Street Journal reports. "The U.S. Department of Justice has said it will not generally prosecute ill people under doctors' care whose use of the drug complies with state rules. New Jersey will become the 14th state to allow therapeutic use of marijuana, and the number is likely to grow. Illinois and New York, among others, are considering new laws."

20 Jan 2010

Perception of discrimination influences smoking in minority teen boys

The perception of discrimination increases the amount teenage minority boys smoke but does not increase the amount teenage minority girls smoke, according to a new study from the Indiana University School of Medicine.

20 Jan 2010

Motivational interviewing may help people to quit smoking

Addressing tobacco use without judging the user appears to help people quit, especially if a primary care physician uses a form of supportive counseling called "motivational interviewing," according to a new review of studies.

20 Jan 2010