Medical News

RSS

Drawing lessons from emerging economies on increasing access to medicines for NTDs

"At present, the prevailing strategy for improving access to medicines for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) is drug donation programs, which, despite providing some of the highest economic returns of public health programs ... have uncertain sustainability," Francesca Holt of St. John's College at the University of Cambridge and colleagues write in this PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases opinion piece.

1 Mar 2012

New prebiotic formula helps colonize newborn's gut with beneficial bacteria

Adding prebiotic ingredients to infant formula helps colonize the newborn's gut with a stable population of beneficial bacteria, and probiotics enhance immunity in formula-fed infants, two University of Illinois studies report.

1 Mar 2012

Senate vote on contraception policy set for Thursday

With the political stakes high, lawmakers are expected to vote Thursday on a Republican measure to let employers opt out of covering any health treatment they find morally objectionable.

1 Mar 2012

Political Studies professor wants to see more research into remarkable examples of health

Political Studies professor Colin Farrelly wants to see more research into remarkable examples of health - such as why some people live 100 years disease-free.

1 Mar 2012

South African researchers call for new framework to help prioritize global mental health

"For mental health to gain significant attention, and funding from policymakers globally, it is not enough to convince people that it has a high disease burden but also that there are deliverable and cost-effective interventions -- according to South African researchers writing in this week's PLoS Medicine," a PLoS press release reports.

1 Mar 2012

TWRI team develops new drug against damaging effects of stroke

Scientists at the Toronto Western Research Institute (TWRI), Krembil Neuroscience Center, have developed a drug that protects the brain against the damaging effects of a stroke in a lab setting. This drug has been in development for a few years.

1 Mar 2012

China's AIDS Action Plan calls for education, condom distribution to stem spread of HIV

China's State Council, or cabinet, on Wednesday "published the country's AIDS Action Plan for the 12th Five-Year Program period (2011-2015) on the website of the Chinese government," Xinhua/China.org.cn reports.

1 Mar 2012

New system improves chances of pregnancy during IVF

A novel system for processing embryos during IVF treatment has been shown to significantly improve the chances of pregnancy - by more than a quarter.

1 Mar 2012

Blog examines use of medicine as weapon of war

In this post in IntraHealth International's "Global Health" blog, Editorial Manager Susanna Smith responds to an editorial published in the Lancet earlier this month that "issued a dire warning to the international medical community" about the use of medicine as a weapon of war in Syria, writing, "It is just the latest in a series of reports from across the Middle East on how medical care and medical professionals and facilities are being used to inflict politically motivated violence."

1 Mar 2012

Aspirin may help postmenopausal women reduce risk of trans fat-related stroke

New research shows an increased risk of ischemic stroke in postmenopausal women who consume higher amounts of trans fatty acids, commonly found in baked goods, fried foods, and packaged products. Study findings now available in Annals of Neurology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society, suggest aspirin use may moderate the stroke risk caused by a diet high in trans fats.

1 Mar 2012

Ugandan official expresses concern over rise in TB, emergence of drug-resistant strains

In an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday, Francis Adatu, head of the national leprosy and tuberculosis (TB) program in Uganda, warned that TB "remains a major public health problem" and that multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) has emerged in the country, the news service writes.

1 Mar 2012

KF's TBI research director to speak at Washington conference

Jordan Grafman, PhD, director of Traumatic Brain Injury Research at Kessler Foundation, is an invited speaker at The 2nd Annual Traumatic Brain Injury Conference on March 6, 2012, in Washington, DC. Dr. Grafman will describe the long-term cognitive and social consequences of traumatic brain injury.

1 Mar 2012

States should consider highest-cost patients when developing essential benefits package

That recommendation comes from a report issued Tuesday by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, which concluded that those under age 65 have very different health spending habits than Medicare beneficiaries. Meanwhile, experts offer advice to states regarding development of essential benefits packages.

1 Mar 2012

Pregnant women and oral health

Oral health doesn't always top the list of concerns that expectant mothers may have, but it certainly should. Proper dental health and control of oral disease can safeguard a mother's health before and during pregnancy and reduces the transmission of bacteria from women to their children.

1 Mar 2012

Typhoid outbreak spreading in Zimbabwe; Officials working to improve sanitation, drug supply

"A typhoid outbreak that began in Harare last year is steadily spreading across Zimbabwe with more than 3,000 cases reported although only one death due to the disease has been reported so far, health officials have said," ZimOnline reports.

1 Mar 2012

New maternal health clinic targets women at increased risk of heart disease

A Queen's obstetrics professor has founded one of the first clinics in the world to use pregnancy and the postpartum as a key opportunity in a woman's life to focus on disease prevention.

1 Mar 2012

UnitedHealth acquisitions draw scrutiny, Maine's high court sides with regulators on insurance rate hikes

UnitedHealth Group's acquisition of a Calif. physician group and two Florida health plans are making news, and Maine's top court sides with regulators' authority to reject one Anthem's rate increases there.

1 Mar 2012

Ruxolitinib boosts QOL and survival for patients with myelofibrosis

A drug that relieves the severe symptoms of a life-threatening bone marrow cancer called myelofibrosis also improves the survival of patients with the disease, according to a phase III clinical trial published in the March 1 edition of New England Journal of Medicine.

1 Mar 2012

Republican presidential candidate Santorum could be beneficial to global health programs if elected president

In the Republican campaign for the presidential nomination, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), "the most religiously conservative candidate, surprisingly, is the most fervent advocate for U.S. global health diplomacy," Jack Chow, former U.S. ambassador on global HIV/AIDS and former assistant director-general of WHO on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, writes in a Foreign Policy opinion piece.

1 Mar 2012

Aging does not appear to be a factor in poor sleep

Aging does not appear to be a factor in poor sleep, a new survey of more than 150,000 Americans shows. In fact, subjective sleep quality seems to improve over a lifetime, with the fewest complaints coming from people in their 80s.

1 Mar 2012

Medical News

Drawing lessons from emerging economies on increasing access to medicines for NTDs

New prebiotic formula helps colonize newborn's gut with beneficial bacteria

Senate vote on contraception policy set for Thursday

Political Studies professor wants to see more research into remarkable examples of health

South African researchers call for new framework to help prioritize global mental health

TWRI team develops new drug against damaging effects of stroke

China's AIDS Action Plan calls for education, condom distribution to stem spread of HIV

New system improves chances of pregnancy during IVF

Blog examines use of medicine as weapon of war

Aspirin may help postmenopausal women reduce risk of trans fat-related stroke

Ugandan official expresses concern over rise in TB, emergence of drug-resistant strains

KF's TBI research director to speak at Washington conference

States should consider highest-cost patients when developing essential benefits package

Pregnant women and oral health

Typhoid outbreak spreading in Zimbabwe; Officials working to improve sanitation, drug supply

New maternal health clinic targets women at increased risk of heart disease

UnitedHealth acquisitions draw scrutiny, Maine's high court sides with regulators on insurance rate hikes

Ruxolitinib boosts QOL and survival for patients with myelofibrosis

Republican presidential candidate Santorum could be beneficial to global health programs if elected president

Aging does not appear to be a factor in poor sleep

Advancing Menopause Care: Non-Hormonal Treatments for Vasomotor Symptoms

Building quality into drug development for safer, faster medicines

How Pulp Fixin Is Turning Paper into High-Performance Sustainable Labware

Latest News