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More to fetal alcohol exposure than previously thought

Children who have certain variants in alcohol metabolizing genes and whose mothers drank while pregnant may have a lower IQ than those whose mothers did not drink during pregnancy, researchers report.

20 Nov 2012

New genetic insight into Alzheimer’s disease

A rare mutation in the gene encoding the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 has a potent effect on the risk for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, two studies published in The New England Journal of Medicine suggest.

20 Nov 2012

New heart valve procedure saves life of 94-year old with aortic stenosis

94-year old Santa Monica resident Vivian Valentine has much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. A new life-saving heart valve procedure done without traditional open heart surgery has given her a new lease on life.

20 Nov 2012

What the health law's future holds

Even with the election in the rear view mirror, efforts to implement the healthcare law will continue to face challenges. Meanwhile, experts discuss what steps must be taken to control health care costs and to educate the public about the health overhaul.

20 Nov 2012

CAMH psychiatrist receives Polanyi Prize for university research in Ontario

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is extremely proud to announce that psychiatrist Dr. Aristotle Voineskos, Koerner New Scientist and head of CAMH's Kimel Family Translational Imaging-Genetics Research Laboratory in the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, has been named one of five winners of the prestigious Polanyi Prize for university research in Ontario.

20 Nov 2012

Hsp104 protein switches mechanism to break up amyloid versus disordered clumps

Several fatal brain disorders, including Parkinson's disease, are connected by the misfolding of specific proteins into disordered clumps and stable, insoluble fibrils called amyloid. Amyloid fibrils are hard to break up due to their stable, ordered structure. For example, α-synuclein forms amyloid fibrils that accumulate in Lewy Bodies in Parkinson's disease. By contrast, protein clumps that accumulate in response to environmental stress, such as heat shock, possess a less stable, disordered architecture.

20 Nov 2012

UBC microbiologist receives Prix Galien 2012 Research Award

UBC microbiologist Robert E.W. Hancock has received the Prix Galien 2012 Research Award, widely considered the most prestigious honour in Canadian pharmaceutical research and innovation. Hancock is being recognized for pioneering work unravelling the complex interactions between antibiotics and bacteria.

20 Nov 2012

Appropriators focus quietly on omnibus spending bill

Also in the news, the Senate approves legislation to reauthorize federal research and intervention activities to lower the rate of premature births.

20 Nov 2012

Texas Biomed applies patent for new genetically-engineered vaccine strategy to prevent HIV

The Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio has applied for a patent for a genetically-engineered vaccine strategy to prevent HIV infection that targets the outer layers of body structures that are the first sites of contact with the virus.

20 Nov 2012

Medicare Part B premiums up $5 per month next year

The increase will eat about a quarter of a typical retiree's cost-of-living raise in Social Security payments.

20 Nov 2012

New genetic evidence about why some people are happier than others

Researchers at McMaster University have discovered new genetic evidence about why some people are happier than others.

20 Nov 2012

Pediatric TB under-diagnosed, treated, MSF report says

According to a new report released by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) at the Union World Conference on Lung Health in Kuala Lumpur, many tuberculosis (TB) programs "under-diagnose, under-treat or completely leave children with TB out, despite the increase in pediatric TB, and rising numbers of children who are infected with drug-resistant forms of TB strains," PlusNews reports.

20 Nov 2012

ER could be a good place to identify undiagnosed eating disorders among teens

Could the emergency room be a good place to spot undiagnosed eating disorders among teens, and help steer them to treatment? A new study from the University of Michigan suggests that could be the case.

20 Nov 2012

A closer look into the meningitis outbreak's unwitting enablers

Randall Kinnard's legal clients had steroids injected into their backs last summer for a wide range of reasons. ... Now the 25 -- or their survivors -- have engaged Mr. Kinnaird, one of Nashville's leading lawyers, to sue the New England Compounding Center.

20 Nov 2012

Injured patients with high blood alcohol levels less likely to die in hospitals

Injured patients were less likely to die in the hospital if they had alcohol in their blood, according to a study from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health -- and the more alcohol, the more likely they were to survive.

20 Nov 2012

Washington Post examines polio eradication efforts in Pakistan

The Washington Post reports on polio eradication efforts in Pakistan, writing, "[O]verall trends in Pakistan, where nearly 30 million children have been vaccinated in recent years, are encouraging."

20 Nov 2012

Maternal cigarette smoking reduces reading accuracy in children

Yale School of Medicine researchers have found that children born to mothers who smoked more than one pack per day during pregnancy struggled on tests designed to measure how accurately a child reads aloud and comprehends what they read.

20 Nov 2012

MSF clinic helping to reduce maternal mortality in Sierra Leone

Some pregnant women in Sierra Leone, which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, must travel more than 50 miles for health care services, but a Medecins Sans Frontieres clinic and ambulance service established in a remote region has helped reduce maternal mortality in the area by 61 percent, Al Jazeera reports.

20 Nov 2012

Primordial deploys new RealTime system at NYU Langone

Primordial, a leading vendor of workflow applications for the medical imaging market, announced today the first two deployments of Primordial RealTime -- a real-time Electronic Whiteboard and Operational Tracking Platform -- at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York and Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC.

20 Nov 2012

GOP governors welcome extension on health exchange decision

Last week was marked by a flurry of state-level activity related to the health law's insurance exchanges: News outlets run down which states have decided to develop their own marketplaces and which will defer to the federal government. A number of states, many with Republican state executives, are still seeking more information.

20 Nov 2012