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GOP candidates bicker but all denounce health law

About 20 minutes into the debate come the questions about Mitt Romney's health care plan in Massachusetts, against which he defends his record and pivots to Obamacare. He says he would repeal it.

8 Sep 2011

ATA announces five recipients of 2011 thyroid cancer research grants

The American Thyroid Association (ATA) announced the five recipients of its 2011 research grants, each of whom will receive up to $25,000 annually for up to two years. Three of the five recipients were awarded special ATA ThyCa grants for research projects that focus on thyroid cancer. These grants are funded by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors, Inc.

8 Sep 2011

Pharnext puts together €2.5M to fund development of Pleodrug for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

Pharnext SAS, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of innovative treatments based on Pleotherapy for severe neurological diseases, today announced that it has put together a €2.5 million round of financing (corresponding to a pre-money company valuation of €60 million).

8 Sep 2011

Apply lessons from the AIDS response to NCD control and prevention in developing countries

In anticipation of the September 2011 U.N. High-level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), low- and middle-income countries "should not only look at the lessons learned in the control of NCDs in developed countries, but also those from other areas of public health, especially AIDS, which can inform the design of an effective and sustainable response to NCDs in developing countries," Rebecca Dirks from FHI 360 and colleagues write in this PLoS Medicine Policy Forum editorial piece.

8 Sep 2011

Cam impingement may increase risk of hip OA in young men

Hip impingement may be a risk factor of osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip. A new study reveals that the presence of an underlying deformity, known as cam impingement, is associated with hip damage in young men without any arthritis symptoms and detected using magnetic resonance imaging.

8 Sep 2011

HHS Secretary tours Alaska health care facilities; judge halts rollback of Ariz. same-sex benefits

Alaska has a message for HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius: Don't assume that health care delivery reform can work the same way in every state. That's the lesson Sen. Mark Begich says he tried to impart to Sebelius as he toured some of the state's health and early child care centers with her last week. Sebelius went to learn first-hand about the state's health services, the Indian Health Service, and how the health law is being implemented.

8 Sep 2011

Mass. has fewest uninsured, Texas has the most, says poll

Texas residents are the least likely to have health-insurance coverage, while those in Massachusetts are by far the best-covered, according to a Gallup poll published on Tuesday. There are few surprises in the latest Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which finds on average 16.8 percent of U.S. adults went without any kind of health insurance in the first half of 2011, virtually the same as the year before but up from 14.8 percent in 2008.

8 Sep 2011

Scientist identifies how lack of dopamine leads to symptoms of Parkinson's

A scientist at the Gladstone Institutes has identified how the lack of a brain chemical known as dopamine can rewire the interaction between two groups of brain cells and lead to symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

8 Sep 2011

Medical students may act on unconscious racial preferences

New Johns Hopkins research shows that medical students — just like the general American population — may have unconscious if not overt preferences for white people, but this innate bias does not appear to translate into different or lesser health care of other races.

8 Sep 2011

Kansas doctors to request rollback of new regulations; anti-abortion group backs Ohio amendment

Two physicians who sued over new state regulations targeting abortion providers were set to ask Kansas health officials Wednesday to scrap the requirements, which they argue are "medically unnecessary" and designed to put operations like theirs out of business. Herbert Hodes and his daughter, Traci Nauser, a fellow suburban Kansas City doctor, submitted a statement ahead of a public hearing by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

8 Sep 2011

New review article assesses alcohol's causal role in sexual assault perpetration

A new review article published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review assesses the extent to which alcohol plays a causal role in sexual assault perpetration. Results found that men who are already prone to anger, who have hostile attitudes toward women, and who are in social environments that accept sexual aggression are most likely to engage in sexual aggression when intoxicated.

8 Sep 2011

Pall inaugurates new Singapore Life Sciences Centre of Excellence

Pall Corporation, a global leader in filtration, separation and purification, today inaugurated its Pall Life Sciences Centre of Excellence in Singapore, the latest addition to the company's global customer support network.

From Pall Corporation 8 Sep 2011

Daily moderate drinking may decrease atherosclerosis

For the first time, new research shows that patterns of alcohol consumption - a drink or two every night, or several cocktails on Friday and Saturday nights only - may be more important in determining alcohol's influence on heart health than the total amount consumed.

8 Sep 2011

Back-up plans for the individual mandate?

"What happens if the health law's individual mandate - the provision that requires almost all Americans to obtain health insurance or face a penalty - is overturned by the Supreme Court?"

8 Sep 2011

Cyclic proteins transport drugs faster

Biologists at the Technische Universität Darmstadt have discovered means for speeding the transport of the active ingredients of drugs into live cells that might allow drastically reducing drug dosages in the future.

8 Sep 2011

Study: Aerobic physical activity linked to reduced risk of dementia

Any exercise that gets the heart pumping may reduce the risk of dementia and slow the condition's progression once it starts, reported a Mayo Clinic study published this month in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

8 Sep 2011

Study shows household ownership of ITNs associated with lower child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa

"Children who live in households that own at least one insecticide-treated bed net (ITN) are less likely to be infected with malaria and less likely to die from the disease, according to a new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington," published today in PLoS Medicine, according to an IHME press release.

8 Sep 2011

Inhibition of Sab protein protects liver from acetaminophen toxicity

New research from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) may help prevent damage to the liver caused by drugs like acetaminophen and other stressors.

8 Sep 2011

Judge halts implementation of La. Medicaid managed care plan

A state judge, granting the request of Aetna Inc., has issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals from implementing its plan to shift more than 800,000 Medicaid recipients and their $2.2 billion in claims to private insurers.

8 Sep 2011

Donald Danforth Center receives $11.9M funding for Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa project

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center announced today that it has received additional funding totaling $11.9 million for the Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa (VIRCA) project to advance its work to improve the health and wellbeing of farmers, their families, and other consumers of cassava living in Sub Saharan Africa.

8 Sep 2011