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Exercise, vegetarian diet reduce risk of diabetes in African Americans

New research shows that following a vegetarian diet and exercising at least three times a week significantly reduced the risk of diabetes in African Americans, who are twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes when compared to non-Hispanic whites.

4 Nov 2011

Health law's reproductive health provisions continue to draw criticism

At a Wednesday subcommittee hearing, faith-based providers and some House Republicans lamented new federal rules that they say could erode long-standing "conscience clauses."

4 Nov 2011

UofL intervention program for caregivers of people with IDD

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities living in family or group homes are less likely to receive routine dental care than those living in institutions, according to University of Louisville School of Dentistry associate professor Catherine Binkley, D.D.S., Ph.D.

4 Nov 2011

Gates to address G20 leaders about foreign aid, Robin Hood tax

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is expected to tell G20 leaders on Thursday that tightening foreign aid budgets amid the current economic crisis "is counterproductive and pointless," the Toronto Star reports.

4 Nov 2011

AHA/ASA honors UH Case Medical Center with Get With The Guidelines-Stroke award

For the third consecutive year, University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines--Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.

4 Nov 2011

Kenyan company receives WHO prequalification for generic ARV

"The cost of HIV/AIDS medicine is expected to drop by 30 percent in Kenya, enabling more people to access life-prolonging drugs, after the World Health Organization (WHO) gave the green light to a local company manufacturing generics, The Star newspaper reported on Wednesday," AlertNet reports.

4 Nov 2011

Study reveals how default-mode network neurones interfere with our ability to pay attention

A study carried out by a team at the Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon has just revealed how this network interferes with our ability to pay attention, by assessing the activity of the human brain's default-mode network neurones on a millisecond scale for the first time ever, in collaboration with Philippe Kahane's epilepsy department in Grenoble.

4 Nov 2011

Parsing the health law's winners and losers, and its chances for survival

The AP reports on some of the measure's unexpected beneficiaries and The Christian Science Monitor details how it could be dismantled. Also, California Healthline follows the money that is lobbying to preserve the measure.

4 Nov 2011

LMG project to strengthen global health care delivery

The Yale Global Health Leadership Institute announces a new partnership with Management Science for Health, as part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Leadership, Management and Governance Project.

4 Nov 2011

Nicaragua's abortion law becomes issue in presidential election

"Nicaragua is heading for presidential elections, and among the issues dividing people in this mostly Catholic country is abortion," with advocates marching in the streets of the capital Managua to show support for overturning a ban on therapeutic abortions that was instituted five years ago, Al Jazeera reports.

4 Nov 2011

Seclusion should always be the last resort for managing adolescent aggressive behaviour

Seclusion should always be the last resort when it comes to dealing with aggressive episodes involving young offenders with psychiatric disorders, according to staff who took part in a four-country study published in the November issue of the Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing.

4 Nov 2011

Cerebellum contributes to creation of cognitive map in the hippocampus

The cerebellum is far more intensively involved in helping us navigate than previously thought. To move and learn effectively in spatial environments our brain, and particularly our hippocampus, creates a "cognitive" map of the environment. The cerebellum contributes to the creation of this map through altering the chemical communication between its neurones. If this ability is inactivated, the brain is no longer able to to create an effective spatial representation and thus navigation in an environment becomes impaired.

4 Nov 2011

Roundup: Mental health hospital woes; N.Y. Medicare scam bust

A Miami Herald series "Neglected to Death," focused this spring on critical breakdowns in Florida's enforcement system, including failures by the state's Agency on Health Care Administration to fully investigate deaths or to shut down some of the worst offenders among Florida's 2,850 assisted-living facilities. Although more states are using Medicaid money to pay for some portion of assisted living care for the poor, the federal government has a limited role in the facilities their oversight has been and will likely continue to be a state duty.

4 Nov 2011

Sustainable seafood initiatives could protect freshwater species

Sustainable seafood initiatives, including certification and ecolabeling and awareness schemes, could be extended to more effectively cover inland, freshwater fisheries, according to researchers writing in the November issue of BioScience.

4 Nov 2011

Moderate alcohol consumption during adult life, drinking patterns and breast cancer risk

A well-done analysis by Chen WY et al, published in JAMA assesses the association of moderate alcohol consumption during adult life, drinking patterns, and breast cancer risk. The authors use prospectively collected data from the 105,986 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study followed up from 1980 until 2008 with an early adult alcohol assessment and 8 follow ups.

4 Nov 2011

Calif. Hospital Association sues over Medi-Cal provider cuts

The trade group for California's hospitals has sued state and federal officials to block a 10 percent cut in government reimbursements for health care providers who treat low-income patients. The California Hospital Association said in its suit, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, that cuts to the Medi-Cal insurance program will threaten the ability of many hospitals to continue operating skilled nursing facilities.

4 Nov 2011

Commercial disease management models do not reduce Medicare costs in America

At a time when everyone is looking for ways to reduce health care costs in America, using commercial disease management programs to reduce the fee-for-service Medicare costs associated with chronic conditions among senior citizens seems like a practical approach.

4 Nov 2011

Long-duration space voyages can affect astronauts' visual systems

A new study sponsored by NASA finds that space flights lasting six months or more can cause a spectrum of changes in astronauts' visual systems.

4 Nov 2011

Investment in USAID has saved millions of lives, is critical for U.S. security

In this Politico opinion piece, Brian Atwood and colleagues, all former USAID administrators in previous Democratic or Republican administrations and current advisers to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, write, "Over the last half-century, USAID has had an extraordinary record of accomplishment. Using less than one percent of the U.S. budget annually, the American people have demonstrated their deepest values through USAID programs, saving tens of millions of lives worldwide with immunization programs, oral rehydration therapy, treatment for HIV/AIDS and work on other diseases."

4 Nov 2011

Impulsive men have lower levels of GABA in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Impulsive individuals tend to display aggressive behavior and have challenges ranging from drug and alcohol abuse, to problem gambling and difficult relationships. They are less able to adapt to different social situations. Impulsivity is also a common feature of psychiatric disorders.

4 Nov 2011