Medical News

RSS

Pennsylvania Department of Health to provide free influenza and Tdap vaccines

The Department of Health will offer free influenza and Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis (Tdap) vaccines at the 2012 Pennsylvania Farm Show, Jan. 9-13, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

7 Jan 2012

AnaptysBio enters new strategic alliances for antibody discovery

AnaptysBio, Inc., a privately-held therapeutic antibody company, today announced the initiation of new strategic alliances with two partners: Novartis and an undisclosed second pharmaceutical company.

7 Jan 2012

Study provides hope for stimulating remyelination in MS patients

Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard University, and the University of Cambridge have found that the age-related impairment of the body's ability to replace protective myelin sheaths, which normally surround nerve fibers and allow them to send signals properly, may be reversible, offering new hope that therapeutic strategies aimed at restoring efficient regeneration can be effective in the central nervous system throughout life.

7 Jan 2012

Stimflora launches new dietary health product

An exciting new dietary health product has been launched which promotes healthy digestion while strengthening the immune system.

7 Jan 2012

Employees at Virginia Commerce Bank complete 12-week 'Stepitup' fitness program

Virginia Commerce Bank employees recently stepped up their game by completing a company-wide walking program that encouraged fitness and overall wellness. The 12-week fitness program, named "Stepitup," utilized pedometers to track employees' steps and offered incentives for participation and for meeting minimum walking goals.

7 Jan 2012

Governments must rethink policies surrounding biosecurity, not resort to censorship

Author Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, writes in this Foreign Policy opinion piece that the announcement researchers from the Netherlands and the U.S. have developed a supercontagious variety of bird flu "has highlighted a dilemma: How do you balance the universal mandate for scientific openness against the fear that terrorists or rogue states might follow the researchers' work -- using it as catastrophic cookbooks for global influenza contagion?"

7 Jan 2012

Major tobacco company manipulates data on effects of additives in cigarettes

A new UCSF analysis of tobacco industry documents shows that Philip Morris USA manipulated data on the effects of additives in cigarettes, including menthol, obscuring actual toxicity levels and increasing the risk of heart, cancer and other diseases for smokers.

7 Jan 2012

Smokeless tobacco products in India associated with increased risk of oral cancer

The 2nd International Conference on the Frontiers in Prevention, Diagnosis & Therapy of Cancer was held on 7th Jan. 2012 at Allahabad, India and looked at the relationship of oral cancer with tobacco habits. Various innovations in oral cancer diagnosis, therapy and tobacco usage were discussed by experts from around the world.

7 Jan 2012

CMS selects UofL geriatrician for Innovation Advisors Program

Christian Davis Furman, M.D., M.S.P.H., vice chair for geriatric medicine in the Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine at the University of Louisville, has been selected for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) Innovation Advisors Program. She is the only Kentuckian among the 73 individuals from 27 states and the District of Columbia selected to participate.

7 Jan 2012

Hospice company accused of Medicare fraud

A national for-profit hospice care company that is partially owned by a San Francisco private equity firm has allegedly bilked Medicare of millions of dollars, according to a legal complaint filed this week by the U.S. Department of Justice.

7 Jan 2012

ACAAI allergist available to discuss importance of immediate access to epinephrine

This week a seven-year-old elementary school student in Chesterfield County, Virginia, died after suffering an allergic reaction at school. Allergist Dr. Stanley Fineman, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, (ACAAI) is available to discuss the importance of immediate access to epinephrine, the first-line treatment for an allergic emergency or anaphylactic reaction.

7 Jan 2012

Illegal drug use may be affecting health, death rates worldwide, Lancet report says

"About 200 million people around the world use illegal drugs every year, and that may be taking a toll on health and death rates in various countries, says a report released Thursday in the Lancet," the Los Angeles Times' "Booster Shots" blog reports.

7 Jan 2012

Dems hit GOP lawmakers on efforts to repeal health law, 'privatize' Medicare

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has gone on the offensive, criticizing Republicans for focusing on health issues instead of job creation. In related action, House Democrats signaled they would support using Medicare and Medicaid savings only as an offset for other health care provisions in a bill to extend expiring tax breaks and jobless benefits.

7 Jan 2012

Age-associated decline of remyelination process may be reversible

New research highlights the possibility of reversing ageing in the central nervous system for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The study is published today, 06 January, in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

7 Jan 2012

Gilead receives early termination of HSR waiting period for Pharmasset tender offer

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced that it has received early termination of the required waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR Act) with respect to Gilead's cash tender offer for Pharmasset, Inc.

7 Jan 2012

WHO confirms bird flu cases in Egypt, China

The WHO on Thursday "announced the deaths of two men from H5N1 avian influenza, one from Egypt and another from China whose death was reported earlier in the media," CIDRAP News reports. Both men are suspected to have contracted the virus from avian sources, although an investigation into the man from China's exposure to the virus is ongoing, according to news service.

7 Jan 2012

Prospective surveillance model can reduce treatment costs for breast cancer-related lymphedema

Early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer-related lymphedema by a physical therapist can significantly reduce costs and the need for intensive rehabilitation, according to an article published in the January issue of Physical Therapy (PTJ), the scientific journal of the American Physical Therapy Association.

7 Jan 2012