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Johns Hopkins breast cancer researcher wins BioMaryland LIFE Prize

A Johns Hopkins breast cancer researcher is the recipient of a $50,000 award designed to encourage rapid translation of her basic research on biomarkers into a commercially available test that could predict the best treatment options for some women with breast cancer.

2 Nov 2011

Birth control shot may impair a person's memory

The birth control shot Depo Provera offers a convenient alternative for women who don't want to remember to take a daily pill. Ironically, research from Arizona State University has shown the shot actually may impair a person's memory.

2 Nov 2011

E.U., UNICEF launch $430M fund in Zimbabwe to provide medical care to children, pregnant women

"A $430 million fund which will give Zimbabwean children and pregnant women free medical care at public hospitals was launched Monday with the help of the E.U. and UNICEF," Agence France-Presse reports.

2 Nov 2011

Exclusion of family planning, HIV prevention from Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon partnership is 'counter-intuitive'

In this Huffington Post opinion piece, Serra Sippel, president of the Center for Health and Gender Equity, examines the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon partnership, which was launched last month by PEPFAR in conjunction with the George W. Bush Institute, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and UNAIDS with the aim of "integrating cervical and breast cancer education, screening, and treatment with HIV services."

2 Nov 2011

Vitamin D does not confer benefits against mortality in postmenopausal women

Doctors agree that vitamin D promotes bone health, but a belief that it can also prevent cancer, cardiovascular disease and other causes of death has been a major health controversy. Consistent with advice issued last fall by the Institute of Medicine, a new study finds that vitamin D did not confer benefits against mortality in postmenopausal women after controlling for key health factors such as abdominal obesity.

2 Nov 2011

Massive clotting can destroy placenta and cause miscarriages

Researchers at St. Michael's Hospital have identified a potential new cause for unexplained miscarriages in mice.

2 Nov 2011

BMI, age are important risk factors for gestational diabetes mellitus

Age and body mass index (BMI) are important risk factors for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) particularly amongst South Asian and Black African women finds new research published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

2 Nov 2011

Viewpoints: Super committee clock is ticking; replacing CLASS; 'personhood' amendment in Miss.

There are only three weeks left for the Congressional supercommittee to come up with a plan to reduce the federal deficit by at least $1.2 trillion, and there is no sign that the panel is anywhere close to reaching an agreement. Only one side, in fact, seems to be trying -; the Democrats -; and it is being far too accommodating, given the fierce obstructionism of the other side, the Republicans.

2 Nov 2011

Longer commute to work may have harmful effects on health

A new study suggests that commuting to work may be bad for health. It is especially more harmful if one drives or take public transportation. Not only are they less physically fit than those who walk or bike to work but they’re also more prone to stress, exhaustion and missed work than “active” commuters, according to researchers.

1 Nov 2011

Happiness good for health: Study

A new study suggests that happiness is good for health. Epidemiologists at University College, London, reported their results Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.

1 Nov 2011

Breast cancer not 100% inherited: Study

According to study results released this Monday, women with a close relative with breast cancer may not be at a higher risk of getting breast cancer. The findings may bring comfort to women from high-risk families after a 2007 study suggested that simply having a relative with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation raised their risk of developing breast cancer, even if they had tested negative for the genes.

1 Nov 2011

Restoration of dopamine levels could potentially prevent drug abuse

Portuguese researchers have discovered that rats exposed before birth to glucocorticoids not only show several brain abnormalities similar to those found in addicts, but become themselves susceptible to addiction (the glucorticoids, which are stress hormones, were used to mimic pre-natal stress).

1 Nov 2011

G20 can turn attention to maternal and child health at upcoming meeting

In a post in Forbes's "Mitch2Maya/Mothers2Mothers" blog, contributors Mitch Besser and Maya Kulycky write that the Group of 20 (G20) "have plenty to discuss at their upcoming November meeting -- and a lot of it is pretty scary."

1 Nov 2011

BUSM professor delivers Van Meter Award Lecture at 81st ATA meeting

The American Thyroid Association (ATA) is proud to announce that Dr. Elizabeth Pearce, Associate Professor of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, today delivered the Van Meter Award Lecture at its 81st Annual Meeting, held October 26-30, Indian Wells, California.

1 Nov 2011

Upcoming G20 Summit presents 'critical opportunity' to address food security crisis

In a post in the Chicago Council on Global Affairs' "Global Food For Thought" blog, Adam Taylor, vice president of advocacy at World Vision, writes that the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Cannes, France, next week "provides a critical opportunity for President Obama to galvanize G20 leadership in addressing the mounting crisis of food security -- the lack of reliable, nutritious food for the world's poorest people."

1 Nov 2011

Non-carriers do not have increased risk of breast cancer due to familial mutation

A population-based analysis of more than 3,000 families including women with breast cancer has found that close relatives of women who carry mutations in a BRCA gene - but who themselves do not have such genetic mutations - do not have an increased risk of developing breast cancer compared to relatives of women with breast cancer who do not have such mutations.

1 Nov 2011

U.S. earns a 'C' on March of Dimes 2011 Premature Birth Report Card

Preterm birth rates improved in almost every state between 2006 and 2009, and in several states the change was more than 10 percent, according to the March of Dimes 2011 Premature Birth Report Card.

1 Nov 2011

Improving mother's sleep habits through early intervention could reduce risk of preterm births

Poor sleep quality in both early and late pregnancy has been linked to an increased risk of delivering preterm.

1 Nov 2011

Infiltration of white blood cells into blood vessels may explain high blood pressure in pregnancy

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers have discovered that the infiltration of white blood cells into an expectant mother's blood vessels may explain high blood pressure in pregnancy.

1 Nov 2011

Gender not an independent predictor of mortality post-PCI

New research shows that women undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also known as angioplasty, exhibit more co-morbidities and cardiovascular risk factors than men. Risk-adjusted analyses have now indicated that, in the contemporary era, gender is not an independent mortality predictor following PCI according to the study now available in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.

1 Nov 2011