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Seven Sahel region nations declare emergencies with at least 12M people threatened by hunger

"Seven out of the eight governments in Africa's Sahel ... have taken the unprecedented step of declaring emergencies as 12 million people in the region are threatened by hunger," Inter Press Service reports.

16 Feb 2012

First study to evaluate motor impairments in children with ASD

Children with autism often have problems developing motor skills, such as running, throwing a ball or even learning how to write. But scientists have not known whether those difficulties run in families or are linked to autism. New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis points to autism as the culprit.

16 Feb 2012

Impact of child malnourishment similar to that of AIDS

"Globally, malnutrition is the most important cause of illness and death," Jeremy Laurance, health editor at the Independent, writes in this editorial. Laurance details the physical effects of malnutrition on a child and notes, "Malnutrition contributes to more than half of child deaths worldwide. ... It affects virtually every organ system," and "its impact on the immune system is similar to that of AIDS."

16 Feb 2012

CDC report: Suicide rate increases 2.4% in the U.S. between 2008 and 2009

The CDC report showed that between 2008 and 2009, the suicide rate increased 2.4 percent, with 36,909 suicide deaths reported nationally.

16 Feb 2012

One quarter of young children worldwide suffer effects of malnutrition, Save the Children survey shows

"Malnutrition is the root cause of the deaths of 2.6 million children each year, and the bodies and brains of 450 million more will fail to develop properly due to inadequate diet over the next 15 years unless immediate action is taken, according to a survey published Wednesday by" Save the Children, the Guardian reports.

16 Feb 2012

Midazolam autoinjector may effectively treat status epilepticus

Drug delivery into muscle using an autoinjector, akin to the EpiPen used to treat serious allergic reactions, is faster and may be a more effective way to stop status epilepticus, a prolonged seizure lasting longer than five minutes, according to a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. Status epilepticus is a potentially life-threatening emergency that causes 55,000 deaths each year.

16 Feb 2012

Hospital news: Colorado hospital settles suit with Indian tribe; In Dallas, 'problems persist' at Parkland

Two years ago, a Cortez hospital turned away a Ute Mountain Ute woman who was seeking treatment because she allegedly had been raped. ... The settlement inked this week between the Colorado Civil Rights Commission and Southwest Health Systems Inc., the company which operates Southwest Memorial Hospital, establishes new policies to ensure tribal members who come off reservations for medical treatment aren't discriminated against.

16 Feb 2012

Pure Health launches new fresh freeze dried Black Raspberry capsules

Pure Health, a leading online provider of pure, authentic superfruit supplements, launched today a new fresh freeze dried 100 percent pure Black Raspberry capsule supplement.

16 Feb 2012

Stress levels of unemployed people linked more to their surroundings

Stress levels of unemployed people are linked more to their surroundings than their age, gender, disposable income, and degree of deprivation, a study shows.

16 Feb 2012

State roundup: Legislatures tackling abortion restrictions, Medicaid cuts/revamps, Rx drug abuse

A Republican supermajority has muscled two of the most restrictive anti-abortion bills in years through the Virginia House, including one that would all but outlaw the procedure in the state by declaring that the rights of persons apply from the moment sperm and egg unite. The bills passed over bitter yet futile objections from Democrats. And one GOP delegate caused the House to ripple when he said most abortions come as "matters of lifestyle convenience." ... The bills now go to the Senate

16 Feb 2012

Wolters Kluwer Health enters distribution agreement with NEJM

Wolters Kluwer Health today announced it has entered into an expanded distribution agreement with the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the "gold standard" for quality biomedical research and for the best practices in clinical medicine.

16 Feb 2012

Zimbabwean officials call for improvements to water, sanitation systems to prevent further typhoid outbreaks

Zimbabwean health officials responding to typhoid outbreaks in the capital of Harare that have affected more than 2,000 people "have called on the local and central governments to overhaul water and sanitation systems" to stem the spread of the disease, VOA News reports.

16 Feb 2012

UCSF stem cell study suggests novel strategy for heart attack

A UCSF stem cell study conducted in mice suggests a novel strategy for treating damaged cardiac tissue in patients following a heart attack. The approach potentially could improve cardiac function, minimize scar size, lead to the development of new blood vessels - and avoid the risk of tissue rejection.

16 Feb 2012

Viewpoints: Health law in 'red and blue' states; OpEds slam Obama compromise on birth control; Illinois' Medicaid disaster

More than one in six Americans younger than 65 could have access to help with their health insurance costs as a result of the health law. Red and blue congressional districts look remarkably similar here. Republican districts have, on average, an estimated 18 percent of the nonelderly people eligible for help with health insurance costs under the reform law. Democratic districts have about the same, 17 percent.

16 Feb 2012

Pyromaker can rapidly sequence cancer-driving mutations

Using precise information about an individual's genetic makeup is becoming increasingly routine for developing tailored treatments for breast, lung, colon and other cancers. But techniques used to identify meaningful gene mutations depend on analyzing sequences of both normal and mutant DNA in tumor samples, a process that can yield ambiguous results. Now, a team of Johns Hopkins researchers says it has developed an easy-to-use online computer software application that can clear up any confusion faster and cheaper than other methods currently used to do the job.

16 Feb 2012

UC Cancer Institute to enroll up to 60 patients for AMG 595 phase-1 trial

The UC Cancer Institute is one of three centers internationally approved to test an experimental drug's safety and pharmacokinetics and also assess the clinical benefit against recurrent malignant glioma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

16 Feb 2012

Study identifies variations in non-pharmacological palliative care

Faced with the inevitability of death, we all wish for good caregiving during the final stage of our lives. A new study from Karolinska Institutet and Ume- University shows that non-pharmacological caregiving at the end of life in specialized palliative care is not as basic as one might believe but is based on complex professional decisions that weave physical, psychosocial and existential dimensions into a functional whole.

16 Feb 2012

Deep brain stimulation can also affect respiratory function

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has become a common treatment for patients with chronic pain or movement disorders. Now a unique set of experiments shows that electrical stimulation in some of the same brain areas can also affect respiratory function, according to a study in the February issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

16 Feb 2012

African-American children tend to be diagnosed later for autism

The rate of diagnosis for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is the same among all racial groups — one in 110, according to current estimates. However, a study by a Florida State University researcher has found that African-American children tend to be diagnosed later than white children, which results in a longer and more intensive intervention.

16 Feb 2012

Study finds low rate of contraception among sexually active young Latinos

Half of the young adult Latino men and women responding to a survey in rural Oregon acknowledge not using regular effective contraception - despite expressing a desire to avoid pregnancy, according to a new Oregon State University study.

16 Feb 2012