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First Edition: February 29, 2012

Today's headlines include reports on yesterday's GOP presidential primary elections and how health policy played a role in some of the rhetoric.

29 Feb 2012

Alzheimer's disease drugs may act like a bad electrician

Alzheimer's disease drugs now being tested in clinical trials may have potentially adverse side effects, according to new Northwestern Medicine research. A study with mice suggests the drugs could act like a bad electrician, causing neurons to be miswired and interfering with their ability to send messages to the brain.

29 Feb 2012

Creabilis initiates CT327 Phase IIb trial in psoriasis vulgaris

Creabilis SA, a European biotechnology company specialising in the development of treatments for dermatology, inflammation and pain, today announced the start of the Phase IIb global clinical trial of its lead product CT327 in patients with psoriasis vulgaris. Recruitment is progressing well.

29 Feb 2012

Physical activity and diet program in doctor's office may be effective for obese people

A physical activity and diet program implemented by health educators working in a doctor's office may be a more effective way to get obese people to lose abdominal fat than advice from a doctor alone, according to a study from Queen's University.

29 Feb 2012

CU professor to interview epilepsy sufferers and their families in depth

Sara Shostak, assistant professor in the department of sociology, along with principal investigator Ruth Ottman, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, and other collaborators were recently awarded a $2 million grant from The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to learn more about these questions.

29 Feb 2012

D-serine improves depressed rats' brain plasticity and memory

During depression, the brain becomes less plastic and adaptable, and thus less able to perform certain tasks, like storing memories. Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have now traced the brain's lower plasticity to reduced functionality in its support cells, and believe that learning more about these cells can pave the way for radical new therapies for depression.

29 Feb 2012

No link between gestational weight gain and cognitive performance of children

A child's cognitive development is not generally impacted by how much weight his or her mother gained during pregnancy, according to a study from Nationwide Children's Hospital. This is the first study to use methods controlling for the widest range of confounding factors when directly examining the association between gestational weight gain and childhood cognition.

29 Feb 2012

On health exchange, Neb. makes progress, Wis. and Texas mull next steps

A roundup of reports on what's happening on the ground in several states, where Republican governors have been opposed to implementing the health law's insurance exchanges.

29 Feb 2012

Minimally invasive treatments to be showcased at SIR's 37th Annual Scientific Meeting

The Society of Interventional Radiology will feature minimally invasive scientific advances and new discoveries that may change the way dozens of diseases are treated at its 37th Annual Scientific Meeting March 24-29 at San Francisco's Moscone Center.

29 Feb 2012

Obama contraception rule continues to fuel arguments

Conservative women opposed to the birth control mandate are pushing to reframe the debate around religious liberty. Meanwhile, a range of organizations, including pediatricians, labor unions and charities that fight birth defects, oppose an amendment by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., that would allow employers to exclude any insurance benefit they deemed immoral.

29 Feb 2012

UVA, Johns Hopkins receive NIH grant to develop methods against glioblastoma

The most common primary brain cancer is glioblastoma, a highly aggressive and deadly form of tumor that kills about 95 percent of its victims within five years of diagnosis. Like other brain cancers, it is extremely difficult to treat because glioblastomas are usually deeply embedded within healthy brain tissue and therefore nearly impossible to safely access. Chemotherapy drugs cannot reach these tumors because a membrane between the bloodstream and brain tissue, called the blood-brain barrier, blocks them.

29 Feb 2012

Simple and accurate device to study malaria

University of British Columbia researcher Hongshen Ma has developed a simple and accurate device to study malaria, a disease that currently affects 500 million people per year worldwide and claims a million lives.

29 Feb 2012

Tips for people to ensure heart health

There's not just one way to ensure heart health. Instead, it takes a multifaceted approach that includes regular exercise, a balanced diet and other elements. But regardless of age, it is relatively easy to take steps that will contribute to heart - and overall - health.

29 Feb 2012

Activists protest Novartis challenge to Indian patent law

In this guest post in the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog, Brook Baker of the Northeastern University School of Law Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy, "describes and comments on pharmaceutical company Novartis's court challenge to India's strict standards of patenting medicine" and worldwide protests against the company that took place last week prior to its shareholder meeting.

29 Feb 2012

AAN, ALS Association announce creation of Richard Olney Clinician Scientist Development Award

The American Academy of Neurology Foundation and The ALS Association are announcing the creation of the Richard Olney Clinician Scientist Development Award in ALS, named after Richard K. Olney, MD, a leading neurologist and pioneer in clinical ALS research who died late last month of ALS, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

29 Feb 2012

Mass. Senate race: Brown-Kennedy dust-up continues

Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., has refused a request from former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., to pull a campaign advertisement rejecting the federal birth control mandate that features Kennedy's father, the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

29 Feb 2012

Women use condoms less frequently during first year of college

Women gradually use condoms less frequently during their first year of college, according to a new study by researchers from The Miriam Hospital's Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine. This was particularly true for women who binge drink, have lower grade point averages or come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

29 Feb 2012

HPV vaccine recommended for boys

The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended boys - not just girls - be vaccinated against HPV, though questions about its cost-effectiveness remain.

29 Feb 2012

Project uses remote sensing to track and predict impact of climate change

Scientists from the University of Maryland and Beijing Normal University are partnering to track and predict the impact of climate change internationally.

29 Feb 2012

Clinton to testify about FY13 budget request

In this post on the Center for Global Development's (CGD) "Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Blog," Jenny Ottenhoff, policy outreach associate at CGD, previews issues that may be raised when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton testifies before four congressional committees this week about President Obama's FY 2013 budget request for the State Department and USAID.

29 Feb 2012