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Study: Dog-walking can help increase physical activity in adults

Man's best friend may provide more than just faithful companionship: A new study led by a Michigan State University researcher shows people who owned and walked their dogs were 34 percent more likely to meet federal benchmarks on physical activity.

11 Mar 2011

FMCNA encourages high blood pressure, diabetes people to learn about risk of CKD

Diabetes and high blood pressure are the two leading causes of chronic kidney disease, a health problem that is growing at an alarming rate in the United States. There are 26 million Americans who have CKD, and millions more are at increased risk and may not even know it.

11 Mar 2011

Organ removal surgery through body's orifices, without any visible incisions

The Chicago Park District physical instructor needed a way to get the surgery performed without being laid up for weeks so she opted for an innovative minimally invasive procedure called Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) that would allow surgeons to perform organ removal surgery without any visible incisions and have her back on her feet the same day.

11 Mar 2011

Wii Fit video games can improve health, physical fitness in women

Playing two Wii Fit video games—Step and Hula—can provide adequate exercise to improve health and physical fitness, reports a study in the March issue of The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, official research journal of the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

10 Mar 2011

HHS unveils format for consumer notices of insurance rate increases

Meanwhile, in other policy news related to the health law, Stateline examines how, for some states, waivers really are a big deal.

9 Mar 2011

Diabetes belt mapped out in the US

A government commissioned team of researchers has now identified a diabetes belt in the U.S. County-by-county mapping shows that the highest rates of diabetes cut two paths - one strung through Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia, and another running eastward from Louisiana through Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. This belt also touches parts of North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Ohio and Pennsylvania. High-diabetes pockets crop up in Oklahoma, Michigan, Arizona, the Dakotas and elsewhere. The belt includes 644 counties in 15 states with the highest diabetes rates.

8 Mar 2011

Researchers find new strategy for long-term care of seniors

America's 75 million aging adults soon will face decisions about where and how to live as they age. Current options for long-term care, including nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, are costly and require seniors to move from place to place.

8 Mar 2011

Physical therapy within 24 hours of knee arthroplasty can improve recovery, cut hospital stays

Starting rehabilitation sooner following knee arthroplasty surgery could pay dividends - for both patients and hospitals. Commencing physical therapy within 24 hours of surgery can improve pain, range of joint motion and muscle strength as well as cut hospital stays, according to new research in the journal Clinical Rehabilitation, published by SAGE.

6 Mar 2011

Study examines effectiveness of active video games for improving health, fitness

A multidisciplinary team from the Universitat Politècnica de València, Universitat de València, Universitat Jaume I, University General Hospital from Valencia and the Biomedical Research Network Centre on Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERobn) is developing a study on the effectiveness of active video games in children and teenagers (know as "exergaming platforms") for exercising and improving their health and fitness.

5 Mar 2011

New HQ of David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research officially dedicated

The new seven-story headquarters of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, where scientists and engineers are working together to pursue new ways to treat, detect and prevent cancer, will be officially dedicated today at 4 p.m.

5 Mar 2011

Bulow BioTech reports first ever use of Ossur POWER KNEE in cancer patient

Bulow BioTech Prosthetics is proud to announce that its patient, Lewis Branson, is among the first 3 U.S. civilians to be fitted with the Ossur POWER KNEE. The motorized knee is a "smart" prosthetic limb, which can "learn" its user's walking style and make real time adjustments based on changes in speed, stride, or terrain.

5 Mar 2011

New, inexpensive method to accurately differentiate between benign and malignant breast tumors

Recent research by doctoral student Sevan Goenezen holds the promise of becoming a powerful new weapon in the fight against breast cancer. His complex computational research has led to a fast, inexpensive new method for using ultrasound and advanced algorithms to differentiate between benign and malignant tumors with a high degree of accuracy.

4 Mar 2011

VDF urges Americans to learn about risks of DVT to help prevent death

Each year between 100,000-180,000 Americans die as the result of pulmonary embolism, a complication from blood clots in the lungs. The Vascular Disease Foundation urges Americans, especially women, to learn about the risks of venous blood clots to help prevent these deaths.

3 Mar 2011

First artificial bronchus graft in a lung cancer patient successful

In a medical breakthrough French surgeons have grafted an artificial airway to save a lung afflicted by bronchial cancer in a 78-year-old man. The bronchi are the main tubes or airways used for taking air from the trachea to the two sides of the lung.

3 Mar 2011

Ibuprofen may protect against development of Parkinson's disease

New research suggests that ibuprofen may offer protection against developing Parkinson's disease, according to one of the largest studies to date investigating the possible benefits of the over-the-counter drug on the disease. The study is published in the March 2, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

2 Mar 2011

Roundup: States' angst and anger continues about Medicaid, health spending cuts

Ken Kewley woke up Tuesday without health insurance for the first time in nearly nine years. So did most of the 41,467 other Pennsylvanians who had been covered by adultBasic, a state-subsidized insurance program for the working poor that Gov. Tom Corbett shut down on Monday in one of the largest disenrollments in recent memory.

2 Mar 2011

'Prehabilitation' exercise program can improve strength, functional ability before knee replacement surgery

A comprehensive "prehabilitation" exercise program for patients with severe knee arthritis can improve strength and functional ability before knee replacement surgery, reports a study in the February issue of The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, official research journal of the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

2 Mar 2011