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Tirofiban effectively prevents strokes in high risk patients

Scientists may have discovered a new way to prevent strokes in high risk patients, according to research from the University of Warwick and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW).

22 Nov 2012

Fiscal cliff: Lame duck budget talks begin

News sources report on the beginnings of negotiations among White House and congressional staff.

22 Nov 2012

Microbiologists discover how the spread of antibiotic resistance works in pneumococcus

Antibiotic resistance results from bacteria's uncanny ability to morph and adapt, outwitting pharmaceuticals that are supposed to kill them. But exactly how the bacteria acquire and spread that resistance inside individuals carrying them is not well-established for most bacterial organisms.

22 Nov 2012

'Doc fix' cost: $25 billion for one year, CBO says

The Hill reports that delaying a scheduled pay cut for one year to doctors who treat Medicare patients would cost $25 billion.

22 Nov 2012

BRFSS survey offers state-level rates of COPD prevalence

The age-adjusted prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) varies considerably within the United States, from less than 4 percent of the population in Washington and Minnesota to more than 9 percent in Alabama and Kentucky.

22 Nov 2012

Health law provisions still unknown to lots of Americans

After surviving a Supreme Court decision and a presidential election, the Obama administration's health-care law faces another challenge: a public largely unaware of major changes that will roll out in the coming months.

22 Nov 2012

Researchers stream braille patterns directly into a blind patient's retina

For the very first time researchers have streamed braille patterns directly into a blind patient's retina, allowing him to read four-letter words accurately and quickly with an ocular neuroprosthetic device.

22 Nov 2012

AMFm should continue, improvements should be explored

The "grand experiment" of the Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMFm) -- a pilot program that aims to get artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) into rural areas of several African nations -- "seems likely to end, its successes underrated and potential improvements not yet explored," a Nature editorial says.

22 Nov 2012

Methylome modifications offer new measure of a person's biological age

Women live longer than men. Individuals can appear or feel years younger - or older - than their chronological age. Diseases can affect our aging process. When it comes to biology, our clocks clearly tick differently.

22 Nov 2012

WHO presents updated health promotion strategy for Africa

The WHO "has unveiled a new set of priority actions to better address preventable health conditions in Africa," presented on Tuesday at the 62nd WHO Regional Committee for Africa session in Luanda, Angola, Devex reports.

22 Nov 2012

Iridoid synthase can make powerful chemicals from catnip to vinblastine

Scientists have discovered an enzyme used in nature to make powerful chemicals from catnip to a cancer drug, vinblastine. The discovery opens up the prospect of producing these chemicals cheaply and efficiently.

22 Nov 2012

Online access to Colorado docs linked to more office visits

The assumption had always been that offering patients email access to their doctors and records would reduce office visits, but a new study from Kaiser Permanente of Colorado showed the opposite.

22 Nov 2012

Medgenics’ EPODURE Biopump technology for EPO delivery receives U.S. patent

Medgenics, Inc., the developer of BiopumpTM a novel technology for the sustained production and delivery of therapeutic proteins in patients using their own tissue, today announced a patent granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) protecting the use of Medgenics' EPODURE Biopump technology for delivery of erythropoietin (EPO).

22 Nov 2012

OB-GYN group calls for over-the-counter birth control pills

In an attempt to reduce unintended pregnancies that cost the nation an estimated $11.1 billion a year, the nation's largest group of obstetricians and gynecologists said Tuesday that oral contraceptives should be available without a prescription.

22 Nov 2012

Habitual physical activity improves midlife women's health

Moving 6,000 or more steps a day-no matter how-adds up to a healthier life for midlife women. That level of physical activity decreases the risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome (a diabetes precursor and a risk for cardiovascular disease), showed a study published online this month in Menopause, the journal of the North American Menopause Society.

22 Nov 2012

Obesity and oxidative stress: an interview with Dr Elizabeth New

Even though oxygen is essential for us to live, it can react with other compounds in the body to produce molecules called free radicals, which are highly reactive and damaging.

22 Nov 2012

Study predicts shortage of primary care doctors will worsen

The United States will need about 52,000 new primary-care doctors as the population grows and ages, according to a new study. Research published in the Annals of Family Medicine estimated that most of the doctor shortage will be caused by the rising U.S. population.

22 Nov 2012

Six-step approach can help clinicians identify and effectively manage dementia symptoms

Behavior changes are among the most visible, disruptive and distressing symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. From confusion, repetitive questioning and combativeness to wandering, hallucinations and loss of inhibition, the symptoms carry their own risks of injury.

22 Nov 2012

Aetna CEO: Deficit fix rests on slowing health care wasteful spending

Washington lawmakers are still working to avoid the fiscal cliff. That's the expiring of tax cuts at the end of the year and deep spending cuts that could throw the economy into recession.

22 Nov 2012

New approach could help orthopaedic surgeons better deal with battlefield injuries

Bones are resilient and heal well after most fractures. But in cases of traumatic injury, in which big pieces of bone are missing, healing is much more difficult, if not impossible. These so-called "large segmental defects" are a major clinical problem, and orthopaedic surgeons struggle to treat them, especially among the military in places like Afghanistan.

22 Nov 2012