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Non-communicable disease epidemic a global problem

Later this month the United Nations will convene a high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases. The world's global health news has been so dominated by infectious culprits - HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, influenza - that it's easy to forget just how big a toll conditions like diabetes, cancer and heart and lung disease take say experts.

9 Sep 2011

Black children more at risk for peanut allergy: Study

U.S. researchers examined the genetic profiles of more than 1,100 urban children of different races, averaging around 3 years of age, and found that black children were more likely to have allergic antibodies to food allergens. The study also found that African ancestry was linked with levels of allergic antibodies to peanut typically associated with clinical peanut allergies.

9 Sep 2011

‘Weight Watchers’ twice as effective in weight loss as standard care: Study

A new study published this Thursday shows that overweight patients told by their doctors to go to Weight Watchers lose around twice as much weight as people receiving standard weight loss care over 12 months.

9 Sep 2011

Preterm babies may be experiencing pain during procedures: Study

Preterm may begin to feel pain around a woman's 35th week of pregnancy, about two to four weeks before delivery, according to a new study from University College London. Using EEG, researchers recorded the babies' brain activity in response to pain, comparing their pain responses from a touch and prick on the heels. The findings were published in the journal Current Biology.

9 Sep 2011

FDA panel votes 9-2 in favor of new blood thinner drug

A new stroke preventer from Bayer and Johnson & Johnson – Xarelto moved one step closer to U.S. approval, but questions remained about restrictions on labeling and the need for more studies.

9 Sep 2011

HPV vaccination updates

Texas Governor Rick Perry's GOP rivals sharply criticized him during Wednesday night's debate over his 2007 executive order mandating that teenage girls be vaccinated to prevent cervical cancer. The move had drawn strong opposition at the time from social conservatives and was later overturned by the state Legislature.

9 Sep 2011

Research roundup: U.S. doctors' pay exceeds foreign counterparts; Medicare Advantage prevents some hospitalizations

Higher Fees Paid To US Physicians Drive Higher Spending For Physician Services Compared To Other Countries -- Researchers focused on primary care visits and hip replacements in the U.S., Britain, Australia, Canada, France and Germany and found that, "public and private payers paid somewhat higher fees to US primary care physicians.

9 Sep 2011

Researchers demonstrate connection between circadian rhythm, platelet function and cardiovascular risk

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have demonstrated that the circadian system, the body's internal clock, regulates human platelet function and causes a peak in platelet activation corresponding to the known morning peak in adverse cardiovascular events. These findings are published in PLoS ONE on September 8, 2011.

9 Sep 2011

Roundup: Scott's plan stalls to outsource Fla. prison health care; Calif. Blue Shield begins issuing credits after profit cap

Florida's plan to outsource health care in the third-largest U.S. prison system to save $30 million has stalled, hindering efforts by Governor Rick Scott and lawmakers to hire private operators for state services. Requests for proposals on the prison work were withdrawn last month less than a week after they were issued.

9 Sep 2011

Moffitt researchers employ LC-MRM to detect acquired multiple myeloma drug resistance

"Acquired drug resistance" (ADR) is a major problem encountered in treating some forms of cancer. The ability to monitor the proteins involved in drug resistance has been a hurdle facing cancer researchers. However, a team of researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, and colleagues, are pioneering promising research utilizing a monitoring technology that could provide a better understanding of ADR and assist in clinical decision-making for developing individualized patient treatments for multiple myeloma.

9 Sep 2011

Stanford Hospital medical records data posted on public website, now removed

In what is being described as a major breach of privacy, the medical records of 20,000 emergency room patients were posted on a commercial website for a number of months. This situation raises questions about how to safeguard such information when it passes through numerous hands.

9 Sep 2011

Pharmacologists study first drug-resistant strain of pneumonia to enter Texas

A team of researchers from the University of Houston (UH) and St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital (SLEH) are working to develop improved screening methods to detect a potentially lethal, drug-resistant superbug that has made its way to Texas.

9 Sep 2011

State-by-state scorecard shows which states are best at long-term care support

The report, developed by AARP and the SCAN Foundation, found that Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado and Maine are performing best in a variety of ways, but still have room to improve.

9 Sep 2011

NIH awards $12.8 million renewal grant for Louisville adult stem cell research project

At the time when Dr. Roberto Bolli received word that he was awarded a $12.8 million grant renewal from the National Institutes of Health for one research project, five patients in another of his clinical trials at the University of Louisville have reached the successful endpoint of their participation.

9 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: 4th Circuit decision; Advice for the FDA; Docs and the AMA

Minutes after President Obama signed his health-care program into law on March 23, 2010, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II raced to become the first state official to challenge it in court. But as a federal appeals court panel concluded Thursday, being first isn't the same as being right. ... Even if timing were not an issue, the notion that a state could nullify a federal program in this way is absurd (9/8).

9 Sep 2011

Researchers create powerful anti-diabetic prototype drugs with lesser side effects

Researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Fla., report they have created prototype drugs having powerful anti-diabetic effects, yet apparently free - at least in mice - of dangerous side effects plaguing some current diabetes medications.

9 Sep 2011

Preventive benefits, exchanges and coverage options: A catch-all of health law implementation news

Media outlets report on a range of health law issues, including the latest estimates from the Department of Health and Human Services regarding the number of Medicare beneficiaries getting free preventive care, what difficulties may be ahead for health exchanges and the adminstration's new "Enroll America" campaign.

9 Sep 2011

Chemical biology researchers to meet at Scientific Oktoberfest in München

The "Scientific Oktoberfest" will be this year's meeting point for some of the internationally most distinguished researchers in the field of Chemical Biology. The so-called "CIPSM Fest of Chemical Biology" will be held from the 15th to the 16th of September in the Department of Chemistry of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) München.

9 Sep 2011

Obama would pay jobs plan tab with Medicare, Medicaid cuts and tax hikes

The jobs packaged unveiled Thursday by President Barack Obama includes a "pay for" plan that relies in part on trims to Medicare and Medicaid - a provision that Republicans may use to undermine his political messages during the upcoming campaign season.

9 Sep 2011

Autophagy also mobilizes and exports cholesterol from cells

Researchers at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) have discovered that an ancient pathway called autophagy also mobilizes and exports cholesterol from cells.

9 Sep 2011