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First Edition: March 25, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about the continuing outlook for progress on the federal budget as well as a variety of stories related to the health law's implementation.

25 Mar 2013

Konzo's harm goes beyond devastating physical effects

The harm done by konzo - a disease overshadowed by the war and drought it tends to accompany - goes beyond its devastating physical effects to impair children's memory, problem solving and other cognitive functions.

25 Mar 2013

WSU researchers receive grant to examine effect of fatigue on decision making, attention

A team of researchers at Washington State University has received a three-year, $895,558 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense's Office of Naval Research to study the effects of fatigue on attention, decision making and their underlying biology.

25 Mar 2013

Scientists call for leaders to combine poverty, environmental goals

Writing in the journal Nature, 10 scientists from around the world "say the only chance of achieving global prosperity is for all countries to combine poverty and environmental targets," and they ask "[w]orld leaders [to] set six goals around universal clean energy, an end to water and food shortages, thriving lives and livelihoods, and healthy and productive ecosystems," the Guardian reports.

25 Mar 2013

The Lancet examines changes to China's family planning policy

The Lancet reports on changes in the governance of China's family planning policy. "On March 10, nearly 32 years to the day since China's National Population and Family Planning Commission was established to oversee the world's largest, longest-standing population control program, the country's leaders announced plans to dissolve it into the Ministry of Health," the journal writes, noting, "Four days later, the National People's Congress rubber-stamped the proposal and the commission ceased to exist, leaving the future of the country's fertility policy in doubt."

25 Mar 2013

Patient participation in care (PPC): an interview with Professor Wendy Chaboyer, NHMRC

Patient-centred care, that is partnering ‘with’ patients, rather than providing services ‘to’ them, is advocated as a way to improve patient safety.

25 Mar 2013

Governments' attention to health policy can promote dignity, freedom

In a Lancet opinion piece, the journal's editor-in-chief Richard Horton writes about "[w]hy governments should take health more seriously," stating, "The purpose of government is to uphold the dignity of its people.

25 Mar 2013

Loyola's School-based Health Center at Proviso East High School holds health fair for students

Health care reform has highlighted the importance of comprehensive, culturally appropriate interventions at the community level to prevent disease and encourage healthy behaviors. Providing young people with the knowledge and skills to make healthy lifestyle choices is the best way to reduce the risk chronic disease in later life.

25 Mar 2013

Complication rates after hip surgery may be higher than previous reports, say researchers

Outcomes after surgery have always been difficult to determine. Now a new case study on more than 500 hip procedures highlights that complication rates may be even higher than previous reports, say researchers presenting at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Specialty Day in Chicago, IL.

25 Mar 2013

GlobalPost blog examines first progress report for 'USAID Forward' initiative

USAID on Wednesday "released its first progress report for USAID Forward, the major reform effort it initiated in 2010 'to change the way the agency does business,'" GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog reports.

25 Mar 2013

Moderated discussion on progress toward learning health system

The American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Conquer Cancer Foundation invite you to a moderated discussion of progress toward a "learning health system" that will transform cancer care and speed the search for cures.

25 Mar 2013

Women, girls around the world at risk from inefficient cookstoves

"For mothers around the world, preparing the family meal is a daily ritual and an act of love. But it's also a grave risk for approximately three billion people who cook with open fires and inefficient stoves that burn solid fuels such as wood, animal and agricultural waste, and coal," Kathy Calvin, CEO of the United Nations Foundation, writes in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

25 Mar 2013

Nerve mapping technology helps measure performance of nerves during surgery

Nerve mapping technology allows surgeons to determine whether surgery has been effective for relieving pressure from compressed nerves, which often function poorly and cause sciatica or pain and weakness in muscles supplied by the nerve.

25 Mar 2013

International community observes World Water Day

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson on Thursday "launched a call for urgent action to end the crisis of 2.5 billion people without basic sanitation, and to change a situation in which more people worldwide have mobile phones than toilets," the U.N. News Centre reports (3/21).

25 Mar 2013

Better communication needed between parents and children's nurses, researchers say

Communication is vital to partnerships in care between parents and children's nurses but negotiating that care requires a clear definition of roles, research shows.

25 Mar 2013

Study: Experts question cost benefits of 'telehealth'

Monitoring patients at home using modern technology, so-called 'telehealth', is tipped as the next big thing in healthcare, but a new study by British researchers suggests it may not be worth the extra expense.

25 Mar 2013

Study suggests greater transparency, coordinated implant selection and purchase process

In a study, presented today at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, researchers obtained and compared the hospital purchasing records from 45 academic medical centers on the unit costs and volume of spinal products - pedicle screws, anterior cervical plates and posterior interbody cages - purchased from a total of seven vendors.

25 Mar 2013

Financial Times special report focuses on tuberculosis

The Financial Times has published a special report, titled "Combating Tuberculosis 2013," as World TB Day on March 24 approaches.

25 Mar 2013

Biceps tenodesis surgery is safe, effective for SLAP repair, research shows

Research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Specialty Day in Chicago, IL shows that biceps tenodesis surgery is safe and effective for individuals who suffer a SLAP (superior labral anterior posterior) tear of the shoulder.

25 Mar 2013

New data shows overall effectiveness of ACL surgery

Orthopaedic surgeons have debated the effectiveness of the single versus double-bundle method of anterior cruciate ligament repair for years. However new data shows both techniques lead to similarly effective outcomes for patients, according to researchers presenting their work today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Specialty Day in Chicago, IL.

25 Mar 2013