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Roundup: Conn.'s new insurance commissioner getting noticed; Miami-Dade County fires consulting firm over health care issue

Checking his watch, Thomas B. Leonardi worked quickly through his dense defense of this nation's state-by-state approach to insurance regulation. This small New England state generates more insurance business than all but a half-dozen nations. He sided with consumer advocates in March at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, helping to delay a federal regulation designed to protect fees for health insurance brokers. Advocates said the regulation would have driven up the costs of insurance to consumers.

28 Sep 2011

Healthcare becoming an overdrive model feel half of the primary physicians

In a new poll of primary care physicians, nearly half of them said their patients received too much medical care and more than a quarter said they were practicing more aggressively than they'd like to. This could mean ordering more tests, prescribing more drugs or diagnosing people with diseases, although they would never have experienced any symptoms. On the other hand, just six percent of doctors believed their patients were getting too little care.

27 Sep 2011

Sex therapy for prostate cancer after treatment may improve sex life: Study

Prostate cancer treatments can play havoc with men’s sex lives causing erectile dysfunction and other frustrating problems. For example, a recent study found about 60 percent of men with prostate cancer who had their prostate glands removed had not recovered their sexual function two years after their treatment. Many also lost some desire for sex and had a diminished ability to reach or enjoy orgasms. But new research shows that sex therapy can make a big difference.

27 Sep 2011

A Daddy’s heart is healthier: Study

A new study shows that fathers are less likely to die of heart disease than men who’ve never had kids. This raises questions about a possible biological link between male infertility and overall health. Other recent studies have found a connection between testicular and prostate cancer and infertility.

27 Sep 2011

Asthmatic kids with type 1 diabetes have tougher time maintaining healthy sugar levels: Study

The reason why asthma might complicate pediatric diabetes care remains unclear, however, and is “something that needs to be explored more,” said Dr. Anita Swamy, a pediatric endocrinologist and medical director of the Chicago Children's Diabetes Center at La Rabida Children's Hospital in Chicago. She was not involved in the new study. The study appears in the October issue of Pediatrics.

27 Sep 2011

Campaign gears up against fake plastic surgeons

A public safety campaign called, “White Coat Deception,” by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons is moving against doctors who provide care beyond their specialties.

27 Sep 2011

Low vitamin B12 raises risk of dementia in the elderly: Study

According to a latest study the elderly with low levels of vitamin B12 in their blood may be more likely to develop problems with their thinking skills and have more brain shrinkage. The study points to a link between low B12 and early cognitive decline, a condition that often leads to dementia. Previous research has found that those people with high levels of vitamin B12 in their blood have lower levels of an amino acid called homocysteine, which some studies have linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, memory loss, and stroke.

27 Sep 2011

Coffee reduces risk of depression in older women: Study

A new study shows that risk of depression decreases as coffee consumption increases. The findings however apply only to post-menopausal women who smoke.

27 Sep 2011

Raised blood pressure may higher risk of cancer, death

Raised blood pressure is linked to a higher risk of developing cancer or dying from the disease according to the findings of the largest study to date to investigate the association between the two conditions.

27 Sep 2011

$Hip fracture may increase short-term mortality for women ages 65 to 79 years$

Hip fracture may increase short-term mortality for women ages 65 to 79 years

Hip fracture is associated with an increase in short-term mortality (death within one year) for women ages 65 to 79 years and healthy women ages 80 years and older, although the risk returns to previous levels after one year for women ages 70 years and older, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

27 Sep 2011

BB&T Insurance announces acquisition of Atlantic Risk Management

BB&T Insurance Services, the nation's sixth largest insurance broker, announced its entrance into the metro Baltimore area with the acquisition of Atlantic Risk Management Corporation of Columbia, Md.

27 Sep 2011

CCG announces new version of protein structure database and visualization system

Chemical Computing Group (CCG) today announces a new version of its structure database and visualization system, PSILO, featuring new analytical tools and enhanced search capabilities.

27 Sep 2011

22nd Century completes enrollment in X-22 Phase II-B smoking cessation study

22nd Century Group, Inc., a company focused on smoking cessation and tobacco harm reduction products, announced today that enrollment of its X-22 Phase II-B clinical trial has been successfully completed; 234 smokers have been randomized in the double-blind, active-controlled, multi-center smoking cessation study.

27 Sep 2011

USPTO issues patent to Precision BioSciences' engineered meganucleases

Precision BioSciences, Inc., today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has issued U.S. Pat. No. 8,021,867. The '867 patent is owned by Duke University and exclusively licensed to Precision BioSciences.

27 Sep 2011

Methodist Hospital internist offers few simple suggestions to prevent cold and flu

The first few breezes of fall bring with them not only the promise of a welcome change in season, but also the threat of colds and flu. Dr. Joshua Septimus, an internist at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, offers a few simple suggestions to protect you and your family this cold and flu season. "The most useful tip I can pass along is to wash your hands," says Septimus. "It sounds so simple, but it is truly the most important thing you can do to protect yourself."

27 Sep 2011

With increasing population, now is not the time to cut international family planning funding

Robert Walker, executive vice president of the Population Institute, writes in this Huffington Post opinion piece that despite an increase in government and NGO support for maternal and child health programs, including family planning services, announced last week by the U.N. as part of its Every Woman, Every Child campaign, "the world's largest donor nation, the United States, is retreating on its commitments to international family planning, and other donor nations may follow suit."

27 Sep 2011

NYU Langone to lead NVVLS on long-term effects of PTSD

NYU Langone Medical Center announced that Charles R. Marmar, MD, the Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Psychiatry and chair of the Department of Psychiatry, was selected to lead the clinical evaluation component of a national survey — the National Vietnam Veterans Longitudinal Study (NVVLS) — on the long-term effects of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other related health conditions on Vietnam veterans.

27 Sep 2011

Two computerized tests increase ability to detect remaining vision in patients with RP

Two new computerized tests increase the ability to measure remaining vision in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and other blinding diseases, reports a study in the October issue of Optometry Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.

27 Sep 2011

Autism Speaks ATN receives federal grant to continue to serve as AIR-P

The Autism Speaks Autism Treatment Network (ATN), has received a $12 million federal grant to continue to serve as the Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health.

27 Sep 2011

Men with localized prostate cancer benefit from intensity modulated radiation therapy

Men with localized prostate cancer treated with a newer technology, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), have more than a quarter (26 percent) fewer late bowel and rectal side effects and a statistically improved lower dose of radiation to the bladder and rectum, compared to those who undergo 3D-CRT, according to a randomized study presented at the plenary session October 3, 2011, at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.

27 Sep 2011