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Health law message machine, implementation rolls on

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was in Florida Tuesday pointing out the health law's accomplishments. Meanwhile, news outlets offer implementation reports from California and Arkansas.

22 Mar 2012

Computer program could help dementia patients manage their disease

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have developed a computer program that has tracked the manner in which different forms of dementia spread within a human brain. They say their mathematic model can be used to predict where and approximately when an individual patient's brain will suffer from the spread, neuron to neuron, of "prion-like" toxic proteins -- a process they say underlies all forms of dementia.

22 Mar 2012

Supreme Court limits patents on diagnostic medical tests

The U.S. Supreme Court put new limits on the availability of patents for diagnostic medical tests, ruling in favor of the Mayo Clinic in a case that will shape the growing field of personalized health care.

22 Mar 2012

MRI screening could be cost effective for women with familial risk of breast cancer

Adding magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to standard breast cancer screening approaches is expensive, though it could be cost effective for a group of women who may not have inherited the breast cancer susceptibility genes, but who have a familial risk of developing the disease.

22 Mar 2012

New GOP budget triggers immediate budget battles, political reactions

News outlets report that the plan unveiled Tuesday by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., almost automatically became "the centerpiece" of the upcoming election-year discourse. The document, which was cheered by the GOP for its smaller government vision, is certain to be rejected by the Senate.

22 Mar 2012

AADR honors University of Maryland scientist for pain research

Ronald Dubner, PhD, DDS, of the University of Maryland School of Dentistry was honored today with the 2012 Distinguished Scientist Award by the American Association for Dental Research.

22 Mar 2012

Ryan budget plan would revamp Medicare, Medicaid

The blueprint is an election-year marker that envisions a smaller government and deep cuts to entitlement and safety net programs. It has no chance of passage this year.

22 Mar 2012

Alpha-5 GABA type A receptors linked to anesthesia-related memory loss

A drug targeting one specific receptor may provide the first effective approach to treatment for the common problem of memory loss after surgery and anesthesia, according to an experimental study in the April issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society.

22 Mar 2012

Kansas Senate considers how to oversee Medicaid managed care plans

Gov. Sam Brownback's plan to move recipients into managed care has drawn controversy, even from fellow Republicans.

22 Mar 2012

Low bone density drugs may protect women from endometrial cancer

Low bone density medications, such as Fosamax, Boniva and Actonel, may have a protective effect for endometrial cancer, according to a study at Henry Ford Hospital.

22 Mar 2012

Supreme Court braces for health law frenzy

The high court is scheduled to hear three days of oral arguments related to the legal challenges to the health law. Amid the expected media attention, political posturing and spin contests, interested parties are finalizing their arguments and strategies.

22 Mar 2012

Memorial Sloan-Kettering first in N.Y. to offer radioactive seed localization for breast cancer

Memorial Sloan-Kettering is the first and only hospital in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to offer a new, more patient-friendly approach for doctors to precisely pinpoint and remove very small breast cancers that can be seen on a mammogram but not felt in the breast.

22 Mar 2012

House preps pre-SCOTUS IPAB repeal vote with eye on doc relationship

Republicans are not united in their attempted repeal of the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which will come up for a vote in the House this week. In the meantime, the GOP is attempting to mend fences with the American Medical Association by offsetting the cost of repeal with medical malpractice tort reforms.

22 Mar 2012

NeuroLogica's BodyTom CT scanner receives CE Mark

NeuroLogica Corporation announced today it has received CE Mark approval for its most recent product BodyTom, a portable, full body, multi-slice CT scanner.

22 Mar 2012

Researchers unveil 'blueprint' to guide next steps in TB vaccine development

"On Tuesday, a global alliance of researchers and scientists -- led by the Stop TB Partnership, an umbrella group of health groups -- unveiled a 'blueprint' to develop a new vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) that aims to disrupt transmission in hard-hit countries and communities," the Wall Street Journal reports.

22 Mar 2012

Drexel experts available to comment for news stories about autism

Experts at Drexel University are available to comment for news stories about autism for Autism Awareness Month in April. Drexel recently established the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, the nation's first autism center focused on public health science.

22 Mar 2012

UT Dallas postdoctoral fellow to study effectiveness of bilingual education programs

A postdoctoral fellow in the UT Dallas Callier Center for Communication Disorders has won a competitive research grant to study the effectiveness of bilingual education programs.

22 Mar 2012

Rewarding Educational Research symposium to take place on March 22

On March 22, during the 41st Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR), held in conjunction with the 36th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, a symposium titled "Rewarding Educational Research: the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning" will take place to assist dental administrators, educators and members of appointment, promotion and tenure committees in understanding the role and potential of educational research and develop strategies to facilitate scholarly inquiry into student learning to advance the practice of teaching.

22 Mar 2012

Powerful immunosuppressant cells from cheek lining tissue

Powerful new cells created by Cardiff University scientists from cheek lining tissue could offer the answer to disorders of the immune system.

22 Mar 2012

GUCY2C gene mutation leads to familial diarrhea syndrome

When the intestines are not able to properly process our diet, a variety of disorders can develop, with chronic diarrhea as a common symptom. Chronic diarrhea can also be inherited, most commonly through conditions with genetic components such as irritable bowel syndrome. Researchers in Norway, India, and at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology have identified one heritable DNA mutation that leads to chronic diarrhea and bowel inflammation.

22 Mar 2012