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ApoE4 gene becomes less important to quality of life once people hit their 90s

A gene linked to the risk of developing Alzheimer's, heart disease and diabetes becomes less important to quality of life once people hit their 90s, a Mayo Clinic study shows. At that point, good friends and a positive attitude have a bigger impact, the researchers say.

26 Oct 2012

Opinion pieces published in recognition of World Polio Day

The following opinion pieces were published on Wednesday in recognition of World Polio Day, observed annually on October 24.

26 Oct 2012

New treatments show promise for people with food allergies

New treatments are offering the prospect of eating without fear for the 15 million people in the United States with food allergies, according to the cover story in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News.

26 Oct 2012

Presidential support for global health critical in next administration

"It's not much of a surprise that Monday night's presidential debate, which focused on foreign policy, was consumed by a discussion of defense spending, and security and trade policies," but "it's still disappointing that both President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Gov. Mitt Romney were relatively silent on issues like global health, research, and international aid," Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) Communications Officer Kim Lufkin writes in the GHTC's "Breakthroughs" blog.

26 Oct 2012

Ancestry could simplify searches for harmful mutations

Explosive advancement in human genome sequencing opens new possibilities for identifying the genetic roots of certain diseases and finding cures. However, so many variations among individual genomes exist that identifying mutations responsible for a specific disease has in many cases proven an insurmountable challenge.

26 Oct 2012

Malawi needs donor support to maintain HIV/AIDS treatment program

In the last of a series of posts on the U.K. Department for International Development's (DfID) blog examining the department's work in Malawi, Neil Squires, DfID head of profession for health, looks at the sustainability of the country's HIV/AIDS program.

26 Oct 2012

Quality Systems second quarter revenues increase 8% to $116.1 million

Quality Systems, Inc. announced today results for its fiscal 2013 second quarter ended September 30, 2012.

26 Oct 2012

Associated Press examines access to antiretroviral treatment in Myanmar

The Associated Press examines access to antiretroviral treatment in Myanmar, which "ranks among the world's hardest places to get HIV care, and health experts warn it will take years to prop up a broken health system hobbled by decades of neglect."

26 Oct 2012

Viewpoints: Medicare provider cuts 'won't work'; A 'pamphlet isn't a plan'

Once the presidential election is over, Congress will try to address the Medicare cost shortfall one way or another. They will almost certainly consider a method that is guaranteed to fail: Medicare rate cuts for doctors and hospitals. It's been tried before, most notably as part of the 1997 Balanced Budget Act. Not once since the BBA required annual physician rate cuts have those cuts been implemented, leading every year to the predictable and depressing final-hours "doc fix" vote.

26 Oct 2012

mTor molecule plays a significant role in myeloid differentiation

University of Illinois cell and developmental Biology professor Fei Wang and colleagues have created a new technique to study how myeloids, a type of blood stem cell, become the white blood cells important for immune system defense against infections and tissue damage.

26 Oct 2012

Blog reports on efforts to deliver medicines to conflict-stricken region of DRC

Management Sciences for Health's "Global Health Impact" blog reports on USAID-funded efforts to deliver medicines to the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Sud Kivu province, which "has been an area of armed conflict for many years, with various rebel factions fighting for control over the resource-rich region."

26 Oct 2012

Targeted deletion of major VEGF gene in mice induces vision loss

Millions of people with "wet" macular degeneration are prescribed a class of medication known as anti-VEGF drugs. But now scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found that a drastic reduction of VEGF activity may do more harm than good.

26 Oct 2012

Study finds pollution as dangerous to health in developing world as malaria, TB

"Industrial pollution is putting the health of 125 million people at risk worldwide and is as dangerous in the developing world as malaria or tuberculosis, according to a new report," titled "2012 World's Worst Pollution Problems," Reuters/ABC Science reports.

26 Oct 2012

Resveratrol does not appear to offer metabolic benefits in healthy women

Resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine thought to improve insulin sensitivity, reduce risk of heart disease and increase longevity, does not appear to offer these benefits in healthy women, new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates.

26 Oct 2012

Campaign news: President talks up health law; Romney's Medicaid claims challenged

Health care reform hasn't turned out to be as scary as Republicans have portrayed it, according to President Obama. Obama, who regularly defends his signature healthcare law on the stump, brushed aside GOP criticism during an interview with the Des Moines Register editorial board in which he made his case for the paper's endorsement.

26 Oct 2012

Project identifies mechanism behind rapid evolution of male genitals

A new collaborative project among researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden and the University of Cincinnati has, for the first time, demonstrated experimentally the evolutionary force behind the rapid evolution of male genitals, focusing on a species of seed beetle.

26 Oct 2012

Africa's agricultural sector must be developed in order to address food security issues

"With food security now on the global agenda, the world is turning to African agriculture as the answer to the question of how we feed the future," an editorial in Tanzania's "Daily News" states. The

26 Oct 2012

HSS announces opening of new Lerner Children's Pavilion

The new Pavilion within the #1 hospital for orthopedics in the country affirms HSS' longstanding commitment to championing children and caring for their musculoskeletal conditions.

26 Oct 2012

Medical practice evolves: Prescribing habits, doc-patient relationship, health law changes

A push to treat chronic pain and financial disincentives for treating addiction may pressure clinicians into prescribing opioids for patients who are already addicted, a researcher suggested.

26 Oct 2012

Zebrafish model can test unique individual genetic differences in humans

The zebrafish is a potential tool for testing one class of unique individual genetic differences found in humans, and may yield information helpful for the emerging field of personalized medicine, according to a team led by Penn State College of Medicine scientists. The differences, or mutations, in question create minor changes in amino acids -- the building blocks of DNA -- from person to person.

26 Oct 2012