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Surgical groups oppose Senate’s health care reform bill

Twenty surgical organizations, led by the American College of Surgeons, sent a letter to the U.S. Senate today stating they are prepared to oppose the Senate's health care reform bill because it will threaten patient access and harm quality.

5 Nov 2009

FDA announces new initiative program to reduce risks from inappropriate medication use

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced the Safe Use Initiative, a program aimed at reducing the likelihood of preventable harm from medication use.

5 Nov 2009

Short, intensive radiation therapy offers similar results as conventional therapy for early stage-breast cancers

According to a study presented November 4, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), a shortened, more intensive course of radiation given to the whole breast, along with an extra dose of radiation given to the surgical bed of the tumor (concomitant boost), has been shown to result in excellent local control at a median follow up of two years after treatment with no significant sides effects.

5 Nov 2009

Significant behavioral changes needed to maintain weight loss

Americans continue to get heavier. Most weight control methods short of bariatric surgery are generally considered ineffective in preventing obesity or reducing weight. The term energy gap was coined to estimate the change in energy balance (intake and expenditure) behaviors required to achieve and sustain reduced body weight outcomes in individuals and populations.

5 Nov 2009

Surgery may not be the best option for children with obstructive sleep apnea

For children with obstructive sleep apnea, standard care often includes a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. But researchers at Saint Louis University say further research is needed to determine if surgery is the best option for these patients.

5 Nov 2009

Cook Medical and AOPA partner to offer AAA screenings at AOPA Aviation Summit

Cook Medical is partnering with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) at this year’s AOPA Aviation Summit in Tampa, Fla. from November 5-7 to provide free abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screenings to its attendees at high risk for AAA.

5 Nov 2009

Studies find U.S. children face health quality issues

U.S. News & World Report/HealthDay News reports: "Uninsured children in the United States are three times more likely to die from trauma injuries than children with private insurance, according to a new study.

5 Nov 2009

Combination therapy before prostate removal may prevent recurrence of cancer

Researchers in the Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center have found a combination of radiation therapy and chemotherapy given before prostate removal is safe and may have the potential to reduce cancer recurrence and improve patient survival.

4 Nov 2009

Scientific and medical community mourns the loss of Emeritus Professor James Boyer Brown

The scientific and medical community mourns the loss of our esteemed colleague and good friend Emeritus Professor James Boyer Brown AM, MSc (NZ), PhD (Edin), MSc (Melb), DSc (Edin), FRANZCOG (Ad Eundem), Life Member Fertility Society of Australia, Life Member Endocrine Society of Australia, who passed away on Saturday 31st October 2009, aged 90.

4 Nov 2009

Lung transplant ordeal

After doctors told her that John, her gravely ill husband of 29 years, was too high of a risk for a lung transplant, Ann Lograsso lay next to him in his hospital bed and together the pair wept.

4 Nov 2009

IBN iCare to develop cutting-edge nanomaterials for ocular therapy

Marking a significant bench to bedside research milestone in Singapore, the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), the world's first bioengineering and nanotechnology research institute, and the National University Hospital (NUH) launched the IBN iCare and the NUH Eye Centre @ Biopolis at an official opening ceremony officiated by the Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Education, S. Iswaran, at the Biopolis on Nov. 3, 2009.

4 Nov 2009

Can abdominal organs be removed with only regional pain relief?

A recent review in Faculty of 1000 Medicine Reports, a publication in which clinicians highlight advances in medical practice, suggests regional pain relief could be used during abdominal surgery. In this review, Michael Schaefer recommends a new approach that can be performed without the need for general anaesthetics.

4 Nov 2009

New FDA-approved heart pump for high-risk patients

Cardiologists at the University of Illinois Medical Center are using a new heart pump that can be inserted without the need for surgery and allows them to treat high-risk patients with a procedure to unblock their heart arteries.

4 Nov 2009

ThromboGenics issues business update for the third-quarter of 2009

ThromboGenics NV, a biopharmaceutical company focused on innovative medicines for eye disease, vascular disease and cancer, is today issuing a business update for the period ending 30 September, 2009.

4 Nov 2009

Patients who have an undetectable level of PSA after therapy have good chance of being cured

Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers report that radiation therapy alone can reduce prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels below detectable amounts in prostate cancer patients. Patients who have an undetectable level of PSA after therapy have less chance of biochemical failure than other patients and a good chance of being cured.

4 Nov 2009

Canadian patients have less access to the latest medicines, says report

Canadian patients have less access to the latest medicines when compared to the world's developed countries, concludes a comprehensive new report released today. The Report shows Canada ranks 20th out of 25 OECD countries in public reimbursement of new drug therapies. Canada's grade of 56% is comparable with Iceland, Slovakia and Turkey.

4 Nov 2009

Weightlifting increases self-esteem among breast cancer survivors: Study

In addition to building muscle, weightlifting is also a prescription for self-esteem among breast cancer survivors, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research. Breast cancer survivors who lift weights regularly feel better about bodies and their appearance and are more satisfied with their intimate relationships compared with survivors who do not lift weights, according to a new study published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

4 Nov 2009

Obese lung cancer patients with diabeties more likely to develop chest wall pain after receiving stereotactic body radiation therapy

Obesity, not the amount of radiation given, is the greatest factor in whether early-stage lung cancer patients develop chest wall pain after receiving stereotactic body radiation therapy to the chest wall, with obese patients being more than twice as likely to develop chronic pain compared to those who have less body weight, according to a first-of-its-kind study presented Tuesday, November 3, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

4 Nov 2009

Tinnitus patients need more support and advice on healthcare options

As many as one in seven people will experience tinnitus, or ringing in their ears, at some time of their life, but not enough is being done to support patients who experience this distressing condition, according to an extensive research review in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

4 Nov 2009

Health Canada approves the Zenith Branch Endovascular Graft-Iliac Bifurcation

Canadian physicians can now treat patients suffering from life-threatening aneurysms in one of the body’s largest arteries with an endovascular graft delivered during a minimally invasive procedure without blocking a critical artery.

4 Nov 2009