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U.N. agencies publish 'Atlas' linking climate, health

"Two U.N. agencies on Monday presented a new tool to map health risks linked to climate change and extreme weather conditions, enabling authorities to give advance warnings and act to prevent 'climate-sensitive' diseases from spreading," Agence France-Presse reports.

1 Nov 2012

Study shows increased risk of local recurrence in women with triple negative breast cancer

Research from The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) shows that women with triple-negative breast cancer and no more than three positive lymph nodes following a mastectomy have a higher risk of local recurrence than similar women whose disease is not classified as triple-negative.

1 Nov 2012

Blog recaps U.S. Global Food Security team's activities

"As the Acting Special Representative for Global Food Security, I lead U.S. diplomacy on food security and nutrition, and last week was a particularly busy one for the food security team," Jonathan Shrier, acting special representative for Global Food Security, writes in the State Department's "DipNote" blog.

1 Nov 2012

Study shows reduced risk of liver-related mortality in African American women with HIV/HCV

A new study shows that African American women coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are less likely to die from liver disease than Caucasian or Hispanic women. Findings in the November issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, indicate that lower liver-related mortality in African American women was independent of other causes of death.

1 Nov 2012

KFF poll: Obama lead on health issues lessens

The latest Kaiser Family Foundation health care tracking poll -- the last one that will be released before the election -- found that President Barack Obama's advantage on several health issues has diminished.

1 Nov 2012

Transformatix Technologies, NCH partner to create BioLinQ

The latest significant biomedical informatics technology is not coming from the biotech industry or a university. In fact, it's coming from a children's hospital.

1 Nov 2012

Drug-resistant malaria spreading in Asia, experts warn

"Drug-resistant malaria is spreading in Asia, experts warned as a high-level conference opened Wednesday with the aim of hammering out an action plan to strengthen the region's response," Agence France-Presse reports.

1 Nov 2012

Scientists develop new micropump for hand-held medical devices

In an advance toward analyzing blood and urine instantly at a patient's bedside instead of waiting for results from a central laboratory, scientists are reporting development of a new micropump capable of producing pressures almost 500 times higher than the pressure in a car tire. Described in ACS' journal Analytical Chemistry, the pumps are for futuristic "labs-on-a-chip," which reduce entire laboratories to the size of a postage stamp.

1 Nov 2012

Assessing Global Health Initiative's progress and next phase

Writing in GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog, Nicola Pardy, an editorial intern at GlobalPost, reflects on the closure of the Global Health Initiative (GHI) office announced in July, noting that the government announced the establishment of a new Office of Global Health Diplomacy.

1 Nov 2012

Nitisinone treatment effectively prevents tyrosinemia in children

A consortium of Quebec researchers coordinated by the Medical Genetics Service of the Sainte-Justine UHC has just published the findings of a 25-year study on the treatment of tyrosinemia, a life-threatening liver disease of genetic origin, which is screened at birth in the province of Quebec, where it is much more frequent than anywhere else in the world.

1 Nov 2012

Ischemic stroke: an interview with Dr Gregory Ford

A stroke is a sudden interruption of blood flow to the brain which deprives the brain of oxygen and nutrients. Approximately two millions brain cells die each minute during a stroke. This can lead to brain damage, physical and mental disability and death.

1 Nov 2012

NYU hospital loses power and evacuates 215 patients during storm

Industry officials described the failure of the backup generator at the Manhattan medical center as an unusual incident, not a warning of systemic flaws in hospital preparedness plans.

1 Nov 2012

Encouraging results from Gilead’s TAF Phase 2 trial on HIV-1 infection

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced that a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating tenofovir alafenamide fumarate, an investigational novel prodrug of tenofovir for the treatment of HIV-1 infection, met its primary objective.

1 Nov 2012

Study compares mortality rates at magnet and non-magnet hospitals

Magnet hospitals had 14% lower odds of mortality in surgery patients compared with non-Magnet hospitals in a 4-state area during a 2-year period, according to a study published online October 7 in Medical Care.

1 Nov 2012

Humans and apes do not bare the imprint of nocturnal life in their eye structures

Since the age of dinosaurs, most species of day-active mammals have retained the imprint of nocturnal life in their eye structures. Humans and other anthropoid primates, such as monkeys and apes, are the only groups that deviate from this pattern, according to a new study from The University of Texas at Austin and Midwestern University.

1 Nov 2012

Calif. insurers competing to be part of state health insurance exchange

More than 30 plans are expected to seek to be part of the exchange, or new marketplace. Meanwhile, a small business health coverage exchange in Massachusetts -- a model for those called for by the health law in other states -- struggles.

1 Nov 2012

Encouraging results from stereotactic radiosurgery Phase I trial on kidney cancer

A first-of-its-kind clinical trial conducted at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center Seidman Cancer Center has shown encouraging results for the use of stereotactic radiosurgery to treat kidney cancer.

1 Nov 2012

Polio eradication efforts helping to improve other health indicators

"The world is on the verge of a great success story: the eradication of polio," John Hewko, CEO and general secretary of Rotary International, and Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and special adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, write in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

1 Nov 2012

Few U.S. medical schools provide effective training on how to address weight issues in obese patients

It's no secret that obesity is a major problem in America. More than one-third of adults and one-sixth of children are obese and it is one of the leading causes of preventable death. The costs associated with obesity are estimated at $99 million annually, comparable to the economic toll of cigarette smoking.

1 Nov 2012

Political will, funding needed for successful polio eradication initiative

While there is "much to be proud of" in the progress in the fight against polio, "there's still more work to be done," former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin writes in a GlobalPost opinion piece. Martin, a polio survivor, notes that in 1988, when the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched, 350,000 cases in more than 125 countries were recorded annually, but "so far this year, we've seen just 171 cases, and only Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria have never stopped transmission."

1 Nov 2012