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Simple outpatient procedure can quickly diagnose and treat ankyloglossia

Mothers struggling to breastfeed are benefiting from a simple outpatient procedure to fix an easily missed 'tongue-tie' condition that could be preventing their newborns from feeding properly.

11 Nov 2011

Delirium may increase risk of death in elderly hospital patients

Hospital patients over 65 who are referred for a psychiatric consultation and found to have delirium are more likely than those without delirium to die within one year following diagnosis, according to a new study published in the journal General Hospital Psychiatry.

11 Nov 2011

Dramatic rise in obesity, fatty liver disease increases need for transplants

The dramatic rise in obesity is leading to more fatty liver disease in the United States, increasing the need for more transplants at a time when there already is a severe shortage of donated organs.

11 Nov 2011

Consumer advocates push for insurance oversight promised by health law

A letter was sent to the White House by more than 50 organizations demanding that the administration require simple, standardized health insurance forms starting next year, as called for in the law. Also in the news, Politico Pro reports on a political fight brewing in Michigan over the health law's medical-loss ratio requirements.

11 Nov 2011

Olfactory sensory neurons in older people show unexpected response to odor

Scientists studying how the sense of smell changes as people age, found that olfactory sensory neurons in those 60 and over showed an unexpected response to odor that made it more difficult to distinguish specific smells, putting them at greater risk from dangerous chemicals and poor nutrition.

11 Nov 2011

NAMI report: States cut mental health budgets just as demand goes up

Modest increases in some states' mental health budgets have done little to erase massive cuts nationwide over the past three years and a reduction in Medicaid funds, according to a report to be released Thursday by the nation's largest mental health advocacy group. All told, the Washington-based National Alliance on Mental Illness found, 28 states and the District of Columbia have cut nearly $1.7 billion from their mental health budgets since the 2009 fiscal year.

11 Nov 2011

AHAF: Requests for ADR research grants increase by 33% this year

The American Health Assistance Foundation (AHAF), a nonprofit organization funding innovative research through its Alzheimer's Disease Research (ADR) program, today announced that the number of scientists seeking ADR research grants through its annual application process increased by 33% this year.

11 Nov 2011

China considers ban on infant formula ads to encourage breastfeeding

"China may ban sales promotions and advertising for milk formula designed for babies younger than six months in an effort to encourage breastfeeding, the Ministry of Health" said Wednesday in a statement, Bloomberg reports, adding that "the government is canvassing public opinion on a draft plan." UNICEF "said it supported measures to curb the use of infant formula, whose sales in China more than doubled in four years," Bloomberg writes.

11 Nov 2011

Worm model to evaluate drugs for Parkinson's disease

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have devised a simple test, using dopamine-deficient worms, for identifying drugs that may help people with Parkinson's disease.

11 Nov 2011

Next chapter in health law legal challenges could be decided Thursday

Meanwhile, some conservative activists are renewing their calls for Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan to step aside in regard to cases that involve the health law. And, a judge makes a case for delaying a final decision until after 2014 in a dissenting opinion regarding the DC Circuit Court's ruling.

11 Nov 2011

Conference highlights advances in evidence-based integrative therapies for cancer

Today the Society for Integrative Oncology highlighted top research findings presented at the Eighth International Conference this week in Cleveland, Ohio. More than 80 abstracts will be presented at the annual meeting, which will be keynoted by National Institutes of Health Director, Francis Collins, MD, PhD.

11 Nov 2011

Global Press Institute examines HIV/AIDS among women in Zambia

"With the HIV prevalence rate higher among women than men in Zambia, experts say the epidemic now has a women's face here and, therefore, requires more specialized intervention programs," and "women living with HIV say that women must be taught how to live positively with it," the Global Press Institute reports in a story examining the epidemic among women in Zambia.

11 Nov 2011

New process allows for more rapid and cheaper separation of enantiomers

Enantiomers are pairs of molecules built in a mirror-inverted manner. They differ from each other like a left and a right glove. This property of the molecules that is referred to as chirality is of particular relevance to biosciences and pharmaceutics. "While many, especially smaller, molecules like carbon dioxide or methane are not chiral, many biologically relevant molecules, such as tartaric acid have this property," explains Professor Christof W-ll, Head of the KIT Institute of Functional Interfaces.

11 Nov 2011

USAID releases new issue of Frontlines

The November/December issue of USAID's Frontlines focuses on the agency's 50th anniversary and food security in the Horn of Africa. In his "Insights" column, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah writes, "As we continue to shape a brighter future for generations to come, we must rededicate ourselves to continually improve the way we work and strengthen our capacity to deliver meaningful results for people around the world and at home."

11 Nov 2011

Diabetics with kidney failure should not lower their hemoglobin A1C levels

Two separate studies presented during the American Society of Nephrology's Annual Kidney Week agree that diabetics with kidney failure shouldn't lower their blood glucose levels as much as diabetics without kidney failure.

11 Nov 2011

Report examines donor funding for health in low- and middle-income countries

A new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation tracks the most recently available data on funding from donor governments, including the United States, and from multilateral institutions for health in low- and middle-income countries. The report examines funding data through 2009 for a variety of health efforts, including malaria, AIDS and HIV, family planning, basic health and other areas.

11 Nov 2011

Xylitol can prevent inner ear infections in healthy children

There is "fair evidence" to support the use of xylitol, a natural sweetener used in gums and mints, to prevent inner ear infections in healthy children, a new evidence review finds.

11 Nov 2011

Children can have successful surgical repairs for hollow or sunken chest

Hollow or sunken chest, the most common congenital deformity of the chest wall affecting one in 300 to one in 400 children, is rarely life-threatening and virtually all children can have successful surgical repairs.

11 Nov 2011

Romney has strong debate showing; Obama takes on congressional Republicans

With eight weeks left before Republicans start voting for a presidential nominee, things could hardly be going better for Mitt Romney. ... Romney, more so than the seven other debate participants, used almost every question as a chance to criticize not his GOP rivals but Obama's record on jobs, health care and overall leadership.

11 Nov 2011

Johns Hopkins to establish new global center for childhood obesity

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has been awarded a $16 million U54 cooperative agreement from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish a global center of excellence to address the childhood obesity epidemic.

11 Nov 2011