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Georgia creating consumer-focused electronic health records system

A groundbreaking project in northwest Georgia soon will encourage consumers to play a bigger role in their health care by creating electronic personal health records, uploading medical information and images into one easy-to-access location a button click away.

17 Aug 2011

High parity linked with increased risk of ER-/PR- breast cancer

Investigators from the Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have reported findings that may shed light on why African American women have a disproportionately higher risk of developing more aggressive and difficult-to-treat breast cancers, specifically estrogen and progesterone receptor negative (ER-/PR-) cancers.

17 Aug 2011

India and international aid priorities

In this Center for Global Development Global Health Policy blog post, Amanda Glassman, director of Global Health Policy and research fellow at CGD, and Denizhan Duran, a CGD research assistant, examine the question of whether European and other aid agencies should continue to give aid to India, a country that "now plans to give $11.3 billion in the next five to seven years" through its own aid agency.

17 Aug 2011

Study of Chicago neighborhoods tracks prevalence of five key public health issues

The south and southwest sides of Chicago suffer the most in terms of residents' health and access to basic health resources, according to a new study of 77 Chicago neighborhoods.

17 Aug 2011

Multistate plans should face 'level playing field,' insurance regulators urge

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners expressed concern about a provision of the health law that could allow multistate insurance plans an advantage over smaller plans operating in health insurance exchanges.

17 Aug 2011

When it comes to drug prices, Medicare shelling out more than Medicaid

Medicaid gets much deeper discounts on many prescription drugs than Medicare, in part because Medicaid discounts are set by law whereas Medicare prices are negotiated by private insurers and drug companies, federal investigators said Monday in a new report.

17 Aug 2011

OrbusNeich's Genous Stent safe, effective for patients at high risk of restenosis

OrbusNeich today announced that the that the company's Genous Stent showed no significant difference in the rate of target vessel failure (TVF) at two years compared to the Taxus Liberte™ paclitaxel-eluting stent in patients with de novo coronary artery lesions carrying a high risk for restenosis.

17 Aug 2011

U.S. 'can be proud' of past, future investments to improve food security

"Outside of immediate crisis relief," such as the administration of measles vaccinations or oral rehydration therapy for children affected by diarrheal diseases, the U.S. government's "past investments clearly are paying off" in the fight against drought and famine the Horn of Africa, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

17 Aug 2011

Clinical Trials Partnership Middle East Summit to take place in Dubai

Global pharmaceutical companies are currently seeking emerging markets to conduct clinical trials due to the increase in drug development costs and the demand to advance drugs faster.

From IQPC Ltd 17 Aug 2011

Dutch government to release $143M in frozen Qaddafi funds to buy medicine for Libya

In response "to an urgent appeal from the WHO," Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal said on Monday that the country's government is releasing $143 million "in frozen funds from Moammar Qaddafi's regime and sending the money to the World Health Organization to buy medicine for the Libyan population," according to Associated Press/Forbes.

17 Aug 2011

Young stressed females can impair future offspring, also improve resilience

The study found that stress experienced by young female rats can impair their future offspring, but can also improve resilience. The study also showed that providing the young stressed females with an enriched environment, can indeed ameliorate some of the effects.

17 Aug 2011

U-M's epilepsy surgery could successfully treat patients with seizures

John Ligerakis was told he had to learn to live with seizures that had made it challenging for him to work or drive a car. A young professional just starting his career, Ligerakis was devastated about what his future might bring.

17 Aug 2011

New tool can identify patients at high risk of venous thromboembolism

A new risk prediction tool can identify patients at high risk of serious blood clots (known as venous thromboembolism) who might need preventative treatment, says a study published on bmj.com today.

17 Aug 2011

Amphibian skin secretions can reveal amazing medicinal properties

Frogs place in culture ranges from the wise, to the prince in disguise. But it's the idea that a frog can produce life-saving medicine that's currently the subject of an international research project involving Professor Chris Shaw and colleagues at Queen's University Belfast, in Northern Ireland. They have discovered proteins in frog skins that could be used to treat cancer, diabetes, strokes and transplant patients by regulating the growth of blood vessels.

17 Aug 2011

WFP investigating fraud allegations in Somalia; U.N., Oxfam call for increased assistance

The World Food Programme (WFP) does not plan "to reduce aid to Somalia following allegations that international food shipments there are being diverted," the Associated Press reports.

17 Aug 2011

UCSD Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center receives ACCF/AHA's GWTG Gold award

UC San Diego Health System is one of only 167 hospitals nationwide to receive the American College of Cardiology Foundation's (ACCF) NCDR ACTION Registry-GWTG (Get with the Guidelines) Gold Performance Achievement Award for 2011.

17 Aug 2011

Biotage net sales increase 12% to 205.8 MSEK for January - June 2011

Biotage: Interim report January - June 2011. Group net sales amounted to 98.6 MSEK (103.5) in the second quarter and to 205.8 MSEK (203.4) in the period January - June. At comparable exchange rates net sales increased by 8 percent in the quarter and by 12 percent the first six months.

17 Aug 2011

PERCH study to look at current and likely future causes of childhood pneumonia

Pneumonia kills more children around the world than any other disease, but the last major effort to study the causes of childhood pneumonia across many countries was conducted in the 1980's. This week, a groundbreaking new study called the Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) study gets off the ground.

17 Aug 2011

Pegloticase can improve clinical outcomes of patients with chronic gout

Injections of pegloticase, a modified porcine enzyme, can produce significant and sustained clinical improvements in 2 out of 5 patients with chronic gout that is resistant to conventional therapies, researchers report in the August 17, 2011, issue of JAMA.

17 Aug 2011

Emotions hinder disease eradication

In a New York Times essay, journalist Donald McNeil writes, "To a doctor, all epidemics are objectively different … But to the mortals they mow down, all epidemics are emotionally alike — an onslaught of fear, awe, repulsion, stigma, denial, rage and blame — and doctors would be foolish to forget that."

17 Aug 2011