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Politics, posturing swirl around Obama plan

President Barack Obama made clear that any cuts to entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid had to be accompanied by increased taxes for wealthy people and corporations. Many news outlets are analyzing the impact of the line in the sand he drew on the issues.

21 Sep 2011

Financial and political commitments to improve health of women and children

In only one year, more than 100 countries, foundations, multilateral organizations, the UN, the private sector, and academic and professional associations have made unprecedented financial and political commitments to greatly improve the health of women and children.

21 Sep 2011

Loyola offers 15 minute emergency balloon angioplasty for heart attack patients

When 45-year-old Bobbie Jeske arrived at Loyola's ER with a massive, life-threatening heart attack, it took Dr. Fred Leya just 15 minutes to perform an emergency balloon angioplasty.

21 Sep 2011

Tips for parents to keep their family physically fit and healthy

Pick up any newspaper, magazine or online publication and news about obesity is everywhere. While some parents feel helpless in the fight to keep their family physically fit and healthy, other parents are taking action. Studies show that exercising as a family not only promotes good health but also helps strengthen the emotional bonds between family members.

21 Sep 2011

New floating microscopic device for researchers to study wide range of cellular processes

It's a bit of a challenge. But, imagine a microscopic jet vacuum cleaner, the size of a pen nib that hovers over cell surfaces without ever touching them. Then imagine that the soap in the cleaning solution is replaced with various molecules that can be selectively delivered to the cells. This gives you a sense of a new device that researchers believe will serve as a powerful tool to study the behaviour of living cells and a range of crucial cellular processes, from cancer cell formation to how neurons align themselves in the developing brain.

21 Sep 2011

Report warns against shifting funding, prevention efforts away from countries successful in malaria fight

A new analysis conducted by the African Leaders Malaria Alliance, the Evidence to Policy Initiative at the University of California-San Francisco, and the Clinton Health Access Initiative "warns that if the countries that have produced impressive reductions in malaria cut or stop control activities, malaria will rapidly resurge and a decade of progress will have been in vain," BMJ News reports.

21 Sep 2011

Women with prior infant death more likely to have subsequent stillbirth

Women whose first pregnancy ended in infant death are significantly more likely to have a subsequent stillbirth finds new research published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

21 Sep 2011

Scientists discover crucial connection in skin formation

Skin is the body's armor, protecting us from disease agents, injury, excessive water loss, and cold and heat. Yet mutations in a single gene, the gene for the protein p63, cause numerous diseases and malformations of the uppermost layer of skin - the epidermis - and other tissues. In the epidermis, these range from skin cancers to dysplasias that cause cracking, bleeding, infection, and discoloration.

21 Sep 2011

One in five cancer patients more likely to develop venous thromboembolism

An analysis of more than 30,000 cancer patients has shown that blood clots are a more common complication than doctors may realize, causing additional hospitalizations and driving up the cost of care, according to a study led by a Duke Cancer Institute researcher.

21 Sep 2011

NIH announces recipients of 2011 Transformative Research Award Projects

The National Institutes of Health has announced the recipients of the 2011 Transformative Research Award Projects. This innovative research program was established in 2009 to support exceptionally innovative, high risk, original and/or unconventional research projects, and is supported by the NIH Common Fund.

21 Sep 2011

Kansas Medicaid 'imperiled,' says Lt. Governor; audit finds La. Medicaid providers received improper payments

Meanwhile, Texas pharmacists are lining up against the state's push to put more people in Medicaid managed care and payment arrangements for Connecticut's Medicaid medical homes programs are drawing debate.

21 Sep 2011

Maternal exposures to BPA are not transmitted to fetus: FDA study

The North American Metal Packaging Alliance, Inc. (NAMPA) applauds the publication of yet another government-funded and conducted study that provides reassuring evidence that bisphenol A (BPA) is not harmful to infants, children, or adults.

21 Sep 2011

UNC sports medicine researcher receives 2011 MacArthur Fellowship for concussion study

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill sports medicine researcher Kevin Guskiewicz, one of the country's leading experts on concussions, has been named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow.

21 Sep 2011

Sleep deprivation may disrupt insulin secretion and glucose levels in obese teens

Obese teenagers who don't get the proper amount of sleep may have disruptions in insulin secretion and blood sugar (glucose) levels, say pediatric researchers. Their study suggests that getting a good night's sleep may stave off the development of type 2 diabetes in these adolescents.

21 Sep 2011

NIH to honor two Scripps Research scientists with innovator awards

Two Scripps Research Institute scientists have won prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's New Innovator Awards. The recipients are Assistant Professor Michael Petrascheck of the institute's La Jolla, California campus, and Assistant Professor Brian Paegel of the Jupiter, Florida campus.

21 Sep 2011

FSS initiates FlexStent clinical trial for treatment of peripheral arterial disease

Flexible Stenting Solutions Inc. announced today the successful treatment of the first two patients enrolled in the OPEN (Evaluation of Safety and Efficacy of the FlexStent FemorOPopliteal Self-Expanding StENt System) clinical trial.

21 Sep 2011

Depression may increase risk of stroke and death

An analysis of nearly 30 studies including more than 300,000 patients finds that depression is associated with a significantly increased risk of developing stroke and dying from stroke, according to an article in the September 21 issue of JAMA.

21 Sep 2011

Beta-blocker drugs may improve survival time for melanoma patients

Beta-blocker drugs, commonly used to treat high blood pressure, may also play a major role in slowing the progression of certain serious cancers, based on a new study.

21 Sep 2011

FDA clears Anulex's fiXate Tissue Band System to treat chronic trunk/limb pain

Anulex Technologies, Inc., a privately held medical device manufacturer, has announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance to market the fiXate Tissue Band product, designed to secure Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) lead anchors to the fascia or interspinous/supraspinous ligament in patients with chronic, intractable pain of the trunk and/or limbs.

21 Sep 2011

Roundup: HIPAA enforcement; Brownback blasted for rejecting federal grant; nurses strike in Calif.

Only two state attorneys general have pursued the authority Congress gave them two years ago to prosecute privacy and security breaches of health information - despite training from federal agencies and a consensus among privacy groups that enforcement needs to improve. The expansion of jurisdiction to state attorneys general was awarded in concert with a $27 billion stimulus program initiated in 2009 to reward health care providers for switching from print to computerized health records.

21 Sep 2011