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Protesting Kenyans call for emergency donor conference to raise $2B for Global Fund

"Hundreds of HIV-positive Kenyans protested outside the European Union's Nairobi office on Monday, accusing the E.U. of causing unnecessary deaths by cutting funding to" the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, AlertNet reports.

1 Feb 2012

Majority of children can safely quit anti-rejection drugs after liver transplant from parents

Physicians at three transplant centers have found in a pilot study that a majority of children who receive liver tissue from a parent can eventually stop using immunosuppression (anti-rejection) medications safely. These drugs, which tamp down natural immune function, have been linked to a bevy of complications, including cancer, diabetes, hypertension and kidney failure.

1 Feb 2012

The health care sector and jobs creation

News reports reflect significant activity within the health industry – some highlighting job creation, some reflecting employment reductions.

1 Feb 2012

TGen, UA receive NFCR grant to study targeted pancreatic cancer therapies

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the University of Arizona (UA) have received a three-year, $600,000 grant to study targeted cancer therapies from the National Foundation for Cancer Research.

1 Feb 2012

Faster, less expensive methods of circumcision being tested, reviewed, New York Times reports

The New York Times examines developments in circumcision technology, after "three studies have shown that circumcising adult heterosexual men is one of the most effective 'vaccines' against [HIV] -- reducing the chances of infection by 60 percent or more."

1 Feb 2012

Continuous wound infusion with local anesthetic reduces pain after hip surgery

In patients undergoing hip replacement surgery, using a special wound catheter to infuse local anesthetic directly into the hip joint provides significant and lasting improvements in postoperative pain control, reports a study in the February issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society.

1 Feb 2012

HHS contraception rule continues to stir controversy

The Los Angeles Times reports that this new policy could face a difficult Supreme Court path and continues to draw outrage from Catholic clergy.

1 Feb 2012

Surgical breast biopsies may not be as overused as previously thought

Contrary to earlier findings, surgical breast biopsies may not be as overused as previously thought, according to a study in the February issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology. Surgical breast biopsies are more invasive than needle biopsies, requiring an incision and the use of general anesthesia.

1 Feb 2012

S&P warns some G20 nations face downgrade unless reforms to stem rising health care costs enacted

"Ratings agency Standard & Poor's warned it may downgrade 'a number of highly rated' Group of 20 [G20] countries from 2015 if their governments fail to enact reforms to curb rising health care spending and other costs related to aging populations," Reuters reports.

1 Feb 2012

CPET measurement predicts mortality in patients following liver transplantation

Researchers from the U.K. determined that preoperative cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is a specific predictor of 90-day survival following liver transplantation.

1 Feb 2012

Study demonstrates safety of weight reduction surgery in morbidly obese adolescents

Today, about one in five children in the United States are obese. That means that in just one generation alone the number of obese kids in this country has quadrupled.

1 Feb 2012

FDA clears Toshiba's Aquilion PRIME CT system

Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. announces the FDA clearance of the Aquilion PRIME CT system, the latest addition to the Aquilion CT product line and part of the "ONE Family" of CT scanners.

1 Feb 2012

Valence, arousal, and sex differences play a major role in brain activity

A woman's memory of an experience is less likely to be accurate than a man's if it was unpleasant and emotionally provocative, according to research undertaken by University of Montreal researchers at Louis-H Lafontaine Hospital.

1 Feb 2012

Early retirement due to back problems reduces long-term financial capacity

Back problems are a highly prevalent health issue, and people with the condition have a significantly greater chance of retiring early from the workforce, much more so than for any other health condition. A group of Australian researchers reports that not only does early retirement limit the immediate income available to these individuals, but it also reduces their long-term financial capacity, by reducing their ability to accumulate wealth to a significant degree.

1 Feb 2012

Potential way to block second wave of death from pneumonia treatment

An international research team may have found a way to block a second wave of death that can result from pneumonia treatment.

1 Feb 2012

Democrats anxiously await new GOP budget plan

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has indicated the soon-to-be-unveiled proposal will include a plan to privatize Medicare at least "in part."

1 Feb 2012

Oxidative stress in sperm linked to male infertility

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) patented an innovative system to specify in a simple, cost-effective and reliable manner the infertility of a person through the study of oxidative stress on sperm, a parameter rarely studied until now.

1 Feb 2012

Preliminary results from CINJ's Celebrex and Lipitor Phase II combination trial on prostrate cancer

Research from The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) on the FDA-approved drugs Celebrex and Lipitor -- used respectively for arthritis pain and lowering cholesterol -- shows that these drugs are well tolerated in the treatment of recurrent prostate cancer.

1 Feb 2012

NanoViricides files FluCide pre-IND briefing document with the FDA

NanoViricides, Inc. announced today that it has submitted a pre-IND briefing document to the US FDA. This submission provides the required information for the Company's highly effective anti-influenza drug candidate, FluCide, in support of a pre-IND Meeting.

1 Feb 2012

Certain strains of P. aeruginosa cause WBCs to produce high levels of histamine

Could some cases of asthma actually be caused by an allergic reaction to a common environmental bacteria? New research findings published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests that this idea may not be as far-fetched as it seems. In a research report appearing in the February 2012 print issue, researchers show a link between common environmental bacteria and airway inflammation.

1 Feb 2012