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Medicare Advantage plans may be counter-productive for the elderly

In health care, more choice may not always lead to better choices, particularly for the elderly. In a new study, researchers from Harvard Medical School's Department of Health Care Policy found that the large variety of managed care plans offered by the Medicare Advantage program may be counter-productive.

18 Aug 2011

Making sense of maternal mortality statistics

Referring to a Maternal Health Task Force infographic depicting maternal mortality worldwide, Jen Quraishi, editorial coordinator for Mother Jones, writes in a post on Mother Jones' "Blue Marble" blog that "there are lots of ways to juggle maternal mortality numbers, and ultimately I find the death rate per capita more useful than the total number of deaths … Charts like these obscure the point that the relative wealth and size of a country do have an effect on its maternal mortality, but they're not everything."

18 Aug 2011

Majority of physicians continue to recommend annual cervical cancer screening

Investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have determined that the majority of primary care providers continue to recommend annual cervical cancer screening, and less than 15% would extend the screening interval when using the Papanicolaou test and human papillomavirus (HPV) test together, as some guidelines suggest.

18 Aug 2011

Mayo researchers to translate genomic discoveries into tools for individualized medicine

Mayo Clinic researchers will receive more than $3 million in a four-year grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute to translate recent genomic discoveries into tools for individualized medicine. Recent advances in the genetics of heart and blood vessel diseases will be integrated into electronic medical records so doctors can more accurately determine patients' risk of heart attacks, blood vessel diseases and adverse reactions to heart medications.

18 Aug 2011

Optical coherence tomography can distinguish between high and low risk pancreatic cysts

A team of researchers from four Boston-area institutions led by Nicusor Iftimia from Physical Sciences, Inc. has demonstrated for the first time that optical coherence tomography (OCT), a high resolution optical imaging technique that works by bouncing near-infrared laser light off biological tissue, can reliably distinguish between pancreatic cysts that are low-risk and high-risk for becoming malignant.

18 Aug 2011

UnitedHealthcare, 4-H to launch new nutrition and wellness program for young people

Texas 4-H and UnitedHealthcare joined together today to launch a new partnership - Youth Voice: Youth Choice - a program to help young people in the state improve their health and well-being through exercise, proper nutrition and attention to personal safety.

18 Aug 2011

Timing for Supreme Court's health law review unclear

The Wall Street Journal reports that the high court is likely to decide by January whether a ruling on the health law will come before or after the 2012 election. Meanwhile, Politico reports that a "conservative gadfly" has won a round in his battle against the Obama administration's health overhaul effort.

18 Aug 2011

Powder-free gloves linked to reduced latex allergy in health care workers

Researchers at The Medical College of Wisconsin investigating latex allergy in health care workers have demonstrated the most effective public health strategy to prevent allergic sensitization is by stopping the use of powdered latex gloves.

18 Aug 2011

Positive link between fish oil supplements and cognitive function

Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital's Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders Center have found positive associations between fish oil supplements and cognitive functioning as well as differences in brain structure between users and non-users of fish oil supplements.

18 Aug 2011

Two-color stimulated emission depletion microscopy in living cells

Researchers are able to achieve extremely high-resolution microscopy through a process known as stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy. This cutting-edge imaging system has pushed the performance of microscopes significantly past the classical limit, enabling them to image features that are even smaller than the wavelength of light used to study them.

18 Aug 2011

Context-focused intervention effective for children with cerebral palsy

A successful new rehabilitation approach to treating children with cerebral palsy puts its focus on where a child lives and plays, not just improving the child's balance, posture and movement skills.

18 Aug 2011

Humanitarian agencies stand by in Pakistan as floods kill 25, displace estimated 50,000 others

"Predictions by Pakistan's Meteorological Department of more rain in the days ahead have raised flood fears, especially in Sindh Province, as the monsoon season peaks," IRIN reports.

18 Aug 2011

ACS honors MIT professor with Priestley Medal for controlled-release drug discovery

Robert S. Langer, Sc.D., the David H. Koch Institute Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been named winner of the 2012 Priestley Medal by the American Chemical Society.

18 Aug 2011

Researchers isolate 17 novel antibodies against HIV

A team of researchers at and associated with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), The Scripps Research Institute, the biotechnology company Theraclone Sciences and Monogram Biosciences Inc., a LabCorp company, report in the current issue of Nature the isolation of 17 novel antibodies capable of neutralizing a broad spectrum of variants of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

18 Aug 2011

Patients with SVT more likely to develop venous thromboembolism

Patients with clinically diagnosed superficial vein thrombosis (SVT), a blood clot in the veins just beneath the skin that commonly resolves on its own without treatment, are four to six times more likely to develop venous thromboembolism (VTE), a dangerous, often life-threatening condition, according to study results published today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology.

18 Aug 2011

Unexplained hospital factors have impact on radioactive iodine use for thyroid cancer: Study

Where thyroid cancer patients go for care plays a large role in whether they receive radioactive iodine treatment, a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds.

18 Aug 2011

Alcohol before bed hampers sleep: Study

A new small-scale study showed the impact of drinking before going to bed on heart rate and sleep.

18 Aug 2011

Scientists turn drug-disease match makers

In a new medical breakthrough American researchers have devised a drug-disease matchmaking program that mines databases for potentially useful new treatment combinations and have actually turned up two so far, said a study on Wednesday.

18 Aug 2011

UNHCR reports 10 children dying daily and women facing risk of rape in Ethiopian refugee camps

"Ten Somali children under the age of five are dying every day of hunger-related causes in a refugee camp in Ethiopia, according to the U.N. refugee agency," the Guardian reports.

18 Aug 2011

Some Muesli fattier than double quarter pounder

According to a consumer organization Choice, a morning bowl of muesli may contain as much fat as a McDonald's Double Quarter Pounder. The consumer organization tested 159 types of muesli and discovered that the popular breakfast meal isn't necessarily a healthy choice.

18 Aug 2011

Medical News

Medicare Advantage plans may be counter-productive for the elderly

Making sense of maternal mortality statistics

Majority of physicians continue to recommend annual cervical cancer screening

Mayo researchers to translate genomic discoveries into tools for individualized medicine

Optical coherence tomography can distinguish between high and low risk pancreatic cysts

UnitedHealthcare, 4-H to launch new nutrition and wellness program for young people

Timing for Supreme Court's health law review unclear

Powder-free gloves linked to reduced latex allergy in health care workers

Positive link between fish oil supplements and cognitive function

Two-color stimulated emission depletion microscopy in living cells

Context-focused intervention effective for children with cerebral palsy

Humanitarian agencies stand by in Pakistan as floods kill 25, displace estimated 50,000 others

ACS honors MIT professor with Priestley Medal for controlled-release drug discovery

Researchers isolate 17 novel antibodies against HIV

Patients with SVT more likely to develop venous thromboembolism

Unexplained hospital factors have impact on radioactive iodine use for thyroid cancer: Study

Alcohol before bed hampers sleep: Study

Scientists turn drug-disease match makers

UNHCR reports 10 children dying daily and women facing risk of rape in Ethiopian refugee camps

Some Muesli fattier than double quarter pounder

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

PhD researcher at LifeArc

Unveiling Hidden Potential: Organoids for Disease Modeling in Neuroscience Research

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