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Peter Munk Cardiac Centre doctors perform renal denervation in first Canadian patient

Doctors at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre today performed a minimally invasive surgical procedure to treat high blood pressure, called renal denervation, for the first time in Canada. The procedure can significantly reduce high blood pressure in patients who cannot effectively treat their hypertension through drugs. These patients, numbering approximately 250,000 Canadians, have to endure an especially high risk of heart attacks and stroke, which continues to kill thousands of Canadians every year.

18 Jan 2012

Researchers identify critical cellular, molecular events that lead to esophageal adenocarcinoma

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have identified the critical early cellular and molecular events that give rise to a type of esophageal cancer called esophageal adenocarcinoma, the fastest-rising solid tumor in the United States.

18 Jan 2012

Defects in mitochondria lead to devastating neurodegenerative disease

A devastating neurodegenerative disease that first appears in toddlers just as they are beginning to walk has been traced to defects in mitochondria, the 'batteries' or energy-producing power plants of cells. This finding by a team of researchers, led by investigators from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro- at McGill University, was published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

18 Jan 2012

Scientists identify pathway that activates hepsin on the surface of breast tumor cells

Scientists from the University of Helsinki and from UCSF have exposed a cell pathway that breast tumor cells use to destruct local tissue neighborhood. Cancer cells may use this pathway to free themselves from mammary epithelial tissue architecture, to spread to surrounding tissues. The cell pathway, the researchers found, is a biochemical chain of events leading to activation of a protein-cleaving enzyme on the surface of the tumor cells.

18 Jan 2012

Researchers to anticipate and track risk for infectious disease outbreak at London Olympics

A research team led by St. Michael's Hospital's Dr. Kamran Khan is teaming up with British authorities to anticipate and track the risk for an infectious disease outbreak at the London Olympics this summer.

18 Jan 2012

Chan faces financing challenges in second term as WHO director-general

The expected re-appointment of Margaret Chan as the WHO's director-general "comes at a perilous moment for WHO," a Lancet editorial states.

18 Jan 2012

Researchers discover changes that cause tumor progression and metastasis

Researchers at the Centro de Gen-mica e Investigaci-n Oncol-gica (GENYO) -of which the University of Granada, Pfizer and the Andalusian Regional Government are members- have identified the genetic and phenotypic changes that cause tumor progression and metastasis.

18 Jan 2012

Will the health law's future be decided by the high court or the election?

Media outlets weigh the various scenarios and where the ultimate muscle exists to advance or undo the health law.

18 Jan 2012

Paragon receives JVAP-CBMS contract from DoD

Paragon Bioservices, Inc., a Baltimore-based CMO focused on the process development and manufacturing of biologics, announced today that it has been awarded a JVAP-CBMS contract from the Department of Defense (DoD) for the vaccine development and subsequent GMP manufacturing of the "VEE Replicon Particle Trivalent Filovirus Vaccine."

18 Jan 2012

Viewpoints: Health care is a civil right; A Medicare strategy based on Lenin

Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy is one of progress toward a better life for every American, including equal opportunity in voting, housing, education, and employment. Reflecting on his legacy also means recognizing the steps we must take to address the inequalities that persist. Many of these involve health care. Poor and minority Americans suffer from more preventable diseases on average, lower-quality care, fewer treatment options, and less health insurance coverage.

18 Jan 2012

St. Baldrick's Foundation awards $47,000 to help kids with cancer

It takes life-saving research and access to clinical trials to help children with cancer. The St. Baldrick's Foundation, a volunteer-driven charity dedicated to raising money for childhood cancer research, awarded an infrastructure grant of $47,000 to the Biopathology Center (BPC), housed in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital.

18 Jan 2012

California single-payer system has another go before Senate committee

A proposal to institute a single-payer health care system in California has found its way to a key state Senate committee. The proposal, which would cover all Californians through a state-run health insurance program, died in the Senate Appropriations Committee in California last year.

18 Jan 2012

Study examines effect of MELD score-based allocation on post-liver transplant kidney failure

Research from the University of Michigan Health System shows the risk for kidney failure among liver transplant recipients is higher following the implementation of Model of End Stage Liver Disease (MELD), a policy change in 2002 that altered how liver transplant allocation is decided.

18 Jan 2012

S.D., Wisc. wrestle with health exchange implementation

While Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker faces a dilemma regarding his state's Early Innovator Grant, South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard announced his state wouldn't try to pass health exchange legislation because "there is too much uncertainty."

18 Jan 2012

Bioengineers receive $2 million NIH grant to develop new toxicology tests

Chemicals in pharmaceutical drugs can obviously save lives. But as more and stronger chemicals have been introduced, our basic knowledge of the broader health impact of all these chemicals has not kept up with the rapid pace of innovation. There is exceptionally little information on how chemicals in our drugs and also in the environment around us, including on the food we eat, impact some of the most important cells in our body: stem cells. Without basic knowledge and tests on the impact of chemicals on our stem cells, we may be unwittingly damaging essential regenerative functions in our body.

18 Jan 2012

GlobalPost blog reports on roundtable discussing country ownership of development aid

GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog reports on a roundtable held on Thursday and organized by the Ministerial Leadership Initiative for Global Health (MLI) -- a "five-year project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation" -- at which "U.S. officials, developing country leaders, and heads of non-governmental organizations that do tens of millions of dollars of work in health around the world" discussed country ownership with respect to development aid.

18 Jan 2012

Ethanol, nonalcoholic compounds in red wine may reduce risk of vascular disease

Observational epidemiologic studies relating wine and alcohol to health all suffer from the fact that they, of necessity, compare people who prefer certain beverages, but not the beverages themselves. While there have been many intervention trials in animals, randomized trials in humans are less common. Randomized crossover trials, in which each subject receives all interventions in sequence, can be especially important as they tend to avoid baseline differences among subjects and can detect effects of different interventions with smaller numbers of subjects.

18 Jan 2012

Making doctor notes more accessible to patients

The Houston Chronicle reports that Texas physicians are leading this trend. Meanwhile, KHN offers advice to help patients better understand what they might be reading.

18 Jan 2012

US BioDesign introduces new cardiovascular biomaterials business unit

US BioDesign announced today the launch of its cardiovascular biomaterials business segment. This portion of US BioDesign will be responsible for the research, analysis and production of products and services in the cardiovascular device area.

18 Jan 2012

PCORI to meet this week to release national priorities for medical effectiveness research

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, an independent board established by the health law, will meet this week to set priorities for "comparative effectiveness research." In other news related to the health law, the News Hour reports on how the overahul has impacted pediatric cancer patients and the New York Times reports on the law's provisions related to screening kids for obesity and providing them counseling.

18 Jan 2012