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Common myths about eyes

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article debunking—and proving—several myths regarding the eyes. Dr. William Boothe weighs in on this important conversation, as he believes that proper eye health can only be achieved if individuals understand how their eyes work, and how to take care of them.

7 Aug 2012

Applied BioCode receives U.S. patent for ‘Light Transmitted Assay Beads’

Applied BioCode, Inc. today announced that the United Stated Patent and Trademark Office has granted US Patent #8,232,092 "Light Transmitted Assay Beads," describing the method of decoding barcodes and analyzing bioassays using Barcoded Magnetic Beads (BMB) multiplex products.

7 Aug 2012

Cannabis-based medications prove effective in relieving pain

Cannabis-based medications have been proved to relieve pain. This is the conclusion drawn by Franjo Grotenhermen and Kirsten Müller-Vahl in issue 29-30 of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International.

7 Aug 2012

Study examines life expectancy by race, sex and education

Despite advances in health care and increases in life expectancy overall, Americans with less than a high school education have life expectancies similar to adults in the 1950s and 1960s.

7 Aug 2012

Post-discharge stroke coaching can help patients with their medications or recovery

When a stroke patient is discharged from the hospital, they often must cope with a new disability or lack of function, so changes in their medications or a new dosing prescription can be particularly confusing. This can lead the patient to overmedicate, take the wrong medication or skip medications entirely and can result in being readmitted to the hospital.

7 Aug 2012

Study suggests race-specific cutoff points for a diabetes diagnostic test

Healthcare providers should take into account differences among racial groups when using hemoglobin A1C levels to diagnose and monitor diabetes, new research from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center suggests.

7 Aug 2012

Schizophrenia may be linked to immune function

New Australian research shows that the brains of people with schizophrenia may be under attack by the immune system, providing the strongest evidence to date of a link between immune function and schizophrenia.

7 Aug 2012

GAO finds states need more HHS guidance on new Medicaid rules

The study of six states finds they want more help as they look to expand their programs under new rules in the health law.

7 Aug 2012

Researchers discover genetic cause of type VII mucopolysaccharidosis in Brazilian Terriers

The genetics research group led by Professor Hannes Lohi, based at the University of Helsinki and the Folkh-lsan Research Center, has, in collaboration with Adjunct Professor Kirsi Sainio's research group, discovered the cause of a life-threatening skeletal disorder affecting Brazilian Terriers. The disease is caused by a mutation in the GUSB gene.

7 Aug 2012

Advances in HIV/AIDS therapy and the International AIDS Conference: an interview with Professor Sharon Lewin

The anti-HIV drugs, also known as anti-retroviral therapy, came about in the mid ‘90’s. These involved using at least 3 different drugs together.

7 Aug 2012

Obama campaigning on health law while Romney backs away from the issue

President Obama is focusing on the health care law in his campaign stops, touting its consumer benefits. Democrats -- in their own campaigning -- are embracing the GOP-coined term "Obamacare."

7 Aug 2012

Children of U.S.-born Latina women more likely to develop retinoblastoma

In a large epidemiologic study, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center found that the children of U.S.-born Latina women are at higher risk of having retinoblastoma, a malignant tumor of the retina which typically occurs in children under six.

7 Aug 2012

Republicans seek legislative means to insist that individual mandate is not a 'tax'

House GOP lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday in an attempt to get around the high court's recent ruling that the health law is constitutional because its requirement that most Americans buy health insurance or pay a penalty falls within Congress' taxing authority. The proposed legislation says the mandate "shall not be construed as a tax."

7 Aug 2012

High mold count signals dangerous air quality warning in Chicago

Chicago's mold count today is 125,000 plus - more than double the 50,000 threshold that signals a dangerous air quality warning. "Today's mold count is the highest I have recorded in more than 15 years," said Dr. Joseph Leija, who performs the Gottlieb Allergy Count, the official allergy count for the Midwest. "Midwesterners with sensitive respiratory systems will experience itchy throats, runny noses and feel generally rundown."

7 Aug 2012

Health worker training program in Tanzania's Kigoma Region reducing maternal mortality rate

Inter Press Service reports on the successful efforts of Tanzania's Kigoma Region "to train assistant medical officers to conduct life-saving c-sections at its rural health centers," allowing pregnant women with complications to deliver at more local facilities instead of having to travel to regional or district hospitals. Tanzania's maternal mortality rate is high, at 578 deaths for every 100,000 live births, IPS notes.

7 Aug 2012

Astrocytes help reduce damaging effects of epilepsy

Epileptic fits are like thunderstorms raging in the brain: Nerve cells excite each other in an uncontrolled way so that strong, rhythmic electrical discharges sweep over whole brain regions. In the wake of such a seizure, the nerve cells are severely affected, and permanent damage is possible. The glia, a class of cells that surround the neurons in the brain, was long suspected to contribute to the damaging effects of epilepsy.

7 Aug 2012

U.N. WFP to begin delivering food aid to North Korea after severe flooding destroys crop lands

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Friday reported that nearly 170 people have died, 400 people are missing, and more than 84,000 people are homeless because of severe flooding in the country, the Guardian reports, noting that the World Food Programme (WFP) "announced on Friday the details of its first batch of emergency food aid to the country, although it did not state when it would arrive."

7 Aug 2012

NCH conducts workshop to teach participants how and when to use EpiPen

Many children with severe allergies carry injectable epinephrine (EpiPens) - syringes filled with epinephrine to delay an allergic reaction - but the EpiPens sometimes require the help of an adult to dispense. School nurses are often the only school officials authorized to handle medications, leaving the educators who are with the children most of the day untrained. According to doctors at Nationwide Children's Hospital, this lack of training is exactly what becomes most dangerous for children with severe allergies.

7 Aug 2012

NYUCN professor to investigate efficacy of Acu/Moxa in managing irritable bowel syndrome

New York University College of Nursing's (NYUCN) Joyce K. Anastasi, PhD, DrNP, FAAN, LAc., the Independence Foundation Endowed Professor and Founding Director of the Division of Special Studies in Symptom Management at NYUCN has been awarded a $2.5 million four-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant for the study of "Symptom management for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) constipation".

7 Aug 2012

New Cornell study: Eyes reveal sexual orientation

There is a popular belief that sexual orientation can be revealed by pupil dilation to attractive people, yet until now there was no scientific evidence. For the first time, researchers at Cornell University used a specialized infrared lens to measure pupillary changes to participants watching erotic videos. Pupils were highly telling: they widened most to videos of people who participants found attractive, thereby revealing where they were on the sexual spectrum from heterosexual to homosexual.

7 Aug 2012