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CryoConcepts introduces breakthrough low-cost and disposable cryosurgical device

CryoConcepts, LP is announcing the introduction of the first disposable, nitrous oxide-based cryosurgical device to physicians in the US and abroad. The pen-shaped device is called CryOmega® and tests have shown the unit is clinically effective and provides pinpoint accuracy at freezing temperatures of -89C.

28 Mar 2012

Cracking Your Genetic Code raises bioethics issues

Will genetic testing and personalized medicine change the way you think about your life? Should it? What can you really learn about your future from direct-to-consumer genetic tests-or even from whole genome scanning, which is becoming increasingly affordable? And what about your privacy: how well is your genetic information protected?

28 Mar 2012

E-Readers motivates boys, while girls prefer actual books

Middle school boys rated reading more valuable as an activity after two months of using an e-reader, according to a new study.

28 Mar 2012

New biography on intuitive genius of CT

This new biography sheds light on a Nobel Laureate who changed the world as a result of his breakthrough in medical imaging CT scans in 1972. Godfrey Hounsfield: Intuitive Genius of CT explores his life through stories and recollections of his colleagues, family and friends.

28 Mar 2012

Conservative justices appear skeptical of health law's insurance mandate

In today's oral arguments, the second day of action at the Supreme Court,the individual mandate was the focus of a barrage of tough questions.

28 Mar 2012

Greater out-of-pocket asthma medication costs associated with frequent hospitalizations among children

Greater out-of-pocket asthma medication cost was associated with small reductions in medication use and with more frequent asthma-related hospitalizations among children ages 5 years or older, according to a study in the March 28 issue of JAMA.

28 Mar 2012

Adjusting ventilator to keep breath size and lung pressures lower can reduce death from lung injury

Carefully adjusting mechanical ventilator settings in the intensive care unit to pump smaller breaths into very sick lungs can reduce the chances of dying by as much as 8 percent, according to a study by critical care experts at Johns Hopkins. Study participants were evaluated for two years after their acute lung injury.

28 Mar 2012

Day 1 & 2: Citizens gather as Supreme Court begins review of health law (slideshow)

Inside the Supreme Court building this week, the nation's highest court is hearing oral arguments in a case that seeks to overturn the 2010 health law.

28 Mar 2012

Researcher joins nationwide effort to monitor resistance to antibiotics

Because infectious microorganisms are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, a Wayne State University researcher has joined a nationwide effort to monitor that resistance while optimizing the use of existing drugs.

28 Mar 2012

Identity of probiotics a key factor in determining safety, efficacy of popular ingredient

Regulators, manufacturers and academic researchers from around the world will convene for a two-day workshop on the scientific and regulatory challenges posed by the use of probiotic ingredients in food products. Discussions will focus on how public standards can assist in supporting transparency, consistency and competitiveness of ethical industry players as health claims surrounding probiotic products undergo increased scrutiny.

28 Mar 2012

Stress response reduces memory during tests in older adults

Your mother had a doctor's appointment for a memory test. The results are conclusive: she presents with the first signs of Alzheimer type dementia. Now, to get to her appointment, your mother, who is no longer used to driving in town, took her car, looked for a parking space for 15 minutes, got lost in a labyrinth of one-way streets, had never used those new electronic parking meters before and is convinced that the "machine" stole her credit card number.

28 Mar 2012

Demonstrators provide punctuation, personality to ongoing debate

Though events inside the Supreme Court were staid and steeped in the high court's rules and processes, outside activists converged to argue their positions and to shape public opinion about the health law.

28 Mar 2012

Understanding quantum metabolism may help stop cancer growth

The theory of quantum metabolism is the idea that quantum processes, such as entanglement, influence the metabolism of cells. This idea offers scientists a new explanation for the metabolic changes that cause healthy cells to transform into cancerous ones. The metamorphosis gives cancerous cells the ability to outcompete healthy cells for space and nutrients, causing the disease to spread.

28 Mar 2012

New MRI method to test effectiveness of baking soda against breast cancer

A University of Arizona study that looks to improve the way doctors can measure the effectiveness of drinking baking soda to fight breast cancer has received a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

28 Mar 2012

Later-stage cancers thrive by finding detours around drug roadblocks

Later-stage cancers thrive by finding detours around roadblocks that cancer drugs put in their path, but a Purdue University biochemist is creating maps that will help drugmakers close more routes and develop better drugs.

28 Mar 2012

First Edition: March 28, 2012

Today's headlines recap yesterday's Supreme Court action related to the constitutionality of the individual mandate and set the scene for day 3 of the oral arguments, which will tackle issues of severalbility and questions about the health law's Medicaid expansion.

28 Mar 2012

Invasive strategy benefits patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1 neuromuscular disorder

Patients with a cardiac irregularity and myotonic dystrophy type 1 (a severe neuromuscular disorder with a high risk of sudden death) who received an invasive treatment strategy that included testing of their heart's electrical conduction system and if needed, implantation of a device such as a pacemaker, had an associated higher rate of 9-year survival compared to patients treated noninvasively, according to a study in the March 28 issue of JAMA.

28 Mar 2012

AMP confident in lawsuit to invalidate patents on two breast cancer genes

Now that the Supreme Court has remanded Association for Molecular Pathology et al. v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., et al. (AMP v. Myriad) to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for further consideration, AMP is optimistic that it will ultimately prevail in its lawsuit to invalidate patents on two genes that are known to cause breast cancer.

28 Mar 2012

Incentives encourage behaviors detrimental to good science

The recent explosion in the number of retractions in scientific journals is just the tip of the iceberg and a symptom of a greater dysfunction that has been evolving the world of biomedical research say the editors-in-chief of two prominent journals in a presentation before a committee of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) today.

28 Mar 2012

States continue epic struggle over what the health law means for them

Minnesota GOP lawmakers are being criticized by their Democratic governor for how they are trying to create a health insurance exchange. Elsewhere, California insurance rates are increasing as the Supreme Court hears arguments on the health law and a pair of protests targets the health law and unions in Missouri.

28 Mar 2012