Medical News

RSS

Researchers identify mechanism by which cannabis affects working memory

A deterioration of working memory is observed in people who consume drugs containing cannabinoid compounds found in cannabis leaves and buds. A team led by Giovanni Marsicano in collaboration with a team led by Xia Zhang, has recently identified the mechanism by which these substances affect working memory.

3 Mar 2012

Sachs says he is 'eager for challenge' of World Bank presidency

The new president of the World Bank "should come to office understanding the realities of flooded villages, drought-ridden farms, desperate mothers hovering over comatose, malaria-infected children, and teenage girls unable to pay high school tuition. More than knowing these realities, and caring to end them, the bank president should understand their causes and interconnected solutions," Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, writes in a Washington Post opinion piece.

3 Mar 2012

Epicatechin-enriched cocoa shows promise against heart failure, Type 2 diabetes

A small clinical trial led by researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine and VA San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS) found that patients with advanced heart failure and type 2 diabetes showed improved mitochondrial structure after three months of treatment with epicatechin-enriched cocoa. Epicatechin is a flavonoid found in dark chocolate.

3 Mar 2012

Roundup: Iowa lawmaker urges waiting on exchange bill until court rules; Calif. group finds way to recycle medicine

Democrats and Republicans disagree about whether the Legislature needs to approve a health insurance exchange this spring. At a Statehouse forum on the issue Thursday, state Sen. Brad Zaun noted that the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this summer on whether major portions of the health reform law are constitutional. Zaun, an Urbandale Republican who opposes the overall law, said it makes sense to wait until after that decision before deciding whether to move ahead with the exchange.

3 Mar 2012

New method can determine possible location to park EMS vehicles

In an emergency, minutes matter. With this knowledge, University of Georgia researchers developed a new method for determining where emergency vehicle stations should be located. The results of their work could improve ambulance response time for the 200 million Americans who dial 911 each year, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

3 Mar 2012

Viewpoints: The defeated Blunt Amendment, Obama's $100B Catholic hospital risk, fixing drug shortages

The amendment, which was attached to a highway bill, was defeated on a narrow 48-to-51 vote. But it showed once again how far from the mainstream Republicans have strayed in their relentless efforts to undermine the separation of church and state, deny women access to essential health services and tear apart President Obama's health care reform law.

3 Mar 2012

Survivors of cancer in childhood have higher risk of infertility in later life

Survivors of cancer in childhood have a higher risk of infertility in later life. This is the conclusion reached by Magdalena Balcerek and her co-authors in a study published in Deutsches -rzteblatt International.

3 Mar 2012

Research roundup: The push for hospital quality and concerns about disparities; Rating physicians online

Researchers wondered if pay-for-performance (P4P) programs, which reward hospitals for meeting quality targets, have unintentional effects on racial and/or ethnic disparities. Using federal patient-level quality data, researchers found that "many hospitals treat Whites and minorities equitably" but they noted that since many minorities tend to seek care at hospitals that "perform poorly on common quality score composites, the pay for performance efforts could unintentionally penalize hospitals serving high numbers of minorities.

3 Mar 2012

AARDA hopes to educate public on autoimmune diseases during March

March is National Autoimmune Diseases Awareness Month, and the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) is working to educate the public on risk factors, prevalence, and the severe lack of awareness surrounding autoimmune diseases.

3 Mar 2012

NGOs welcome announcement of U.S., North Korean nuclear arms agreement that could bring food aid to nation

"The State Department's announcement that North Korea would halt nuclear activities in exchange for 240,000 metric tons of U.S. food aid was welcomed by aid groups that have long struggled to raise money to feed hungry people under an unpopular regime," the Los Angeles Times' "World Now" blog reports.

3 Mar 2012

New breakthrough in early mammalian embryo development

Pioneering work by a leading University of Nottingham scientist has helped reveal for the first time a vital process in the development of the early mammalian embryo.

3 Mar 2012

WHO criticized for not efficiently communicating recommendations on HIV, contraception to African women, PlusNews reports

"HIV organizations, researchers and activists have criticized the WHO and UNAIDS for not clearly communicating guidelines on HIV and hormonal contraception to African women, who remain the most affected by the continent's high HIV prevalence rates," PlusNews reports.

3 Mar 2012

IFHP releases 2011 Comparative Price Report

The International Federation of Health Plans today released its 2011 Comparative Price Report detailing its annual survey of medical costs per unit. Designed to showcase the variation in healthcare costs around the world, the report examines the costs of medical procedures, tests, scans and treatments in nine countries.

3 Mar 2012

WUSTL scientists to decode DNA of 99 patients with rare diseases

Rare genetic diseases, long overlooked because they affect relatively few people, are getting new attention. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are reaching out to patient advocacy groups and offering to decode the DNA of 99 patients with rare diseases to help find the genetic alterations responsible for their illnesses.

3 Mar 2012

Four Cockrell School faculty members receive NSF CAREER awards

Four faculty members from the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin have been selected to receive Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) awards totaling nearly $1.4 million from the National Science Foundation.

3 Mar 2012

Early surgical intervention stops seizures and improves quality of life

While the thought of any type of surgery can be disconcerting, the thought of brain surgery can be downright frightening. But for people with a particular form of epilepsy, surgical intervention can literally be life-restoring.

3 Mar 2012

Union County Commission honors KF scientist with Women of Excellence Award

Helen Genova, PhD, research scientist at Kessler Foundation, received a Women of Excellence Award in Health Sciences from the Union County Commission on the Status of Women. In the Foundation's Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Laboratory, she investigates the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS) and traumatic brain injury on cognitive function with grant funding.

3 Mar 2012

Negative effects of environmental toxicants can pass across generations

A Washington State University researcher has demonstrated that a variety of environmental toxicants can have negative effects on not just an exposed animal but the next three generations of its offspring.

3 Mar 2012

Polymer-based medical implants can produce harmful free radicals

A polymer is a mesh of chains, which slowly break over time due to the pressure from ordinary wear and tear. When a polymer is squeezed, the pressure breaks chemical bonds and produces free radicals: ions with unpaired electrons, full of untapped energy. These molecules are responsible for aging, DNA damage and cancer in the human body.

3 Mar 2012

New book on women's lives in Europe

Women in Southern Europe wish they could live under a Nordic-style welfare state so they could improve their lives as women. But the financial crisis has made their dreams less realistic than ever. This is according to John Eriksen, a researcher at the Norwegian Social Research Institute and the co-editor of a new book on women's lives in Europe.

3 Mar 2012