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Study: Advanced practice nurse care as effective as physicians

Today's primary care physicians in the U.S. are too few in number to meet the healthcare needs of a burgeoning population; healthcare reform will only amplify the problem. That's where nurse practitioners, nurse midwives and other advanced practice nurses enter the picture.

3 Aug 2011

Hospitalist care does not reduce overall costs: Study

Inpatients cared for by hospitalists have higher Medicare costs in the 30 days after discharge than those whose personal physicians oversee their care. This is partly because hospitalists' patients are more likely to be discharged to a rehabilitation or nursing facility than to their homes and more likely to have subsequent emergency room visits and readmissions.

3 Aug 2011

PBS NewsHour profiles projects competing in saving lives at birth challenge

PBS NewsHour on Monday profiled five projects to improve maternal and child health that are competing for a share of $14 million in research grants through the Saving Lives at Birth challenge.

3 Aug 2011

Chromogenic in situ hybridization can identify ALK rearrangement in lung cancer patients

A relatively simple and inexpensive method may be used to determine whether a lung cancer patient is a candidate for crizotinib therapy, according to research published in the August issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official monthly journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

3 Aug 2011

Debt deal triggers nerves in health industry; Medicare providers brace for cuts

Physicians, hospitals, nursing homes and home health care providers are all bracing for pain as the debt-ceiling agreement kicks in.

3 Aug 2011

Menu labels not effective in improving meal choices and nutrient intakes

Researchers from the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering of Ghent University introduced the star-rating system to signal the nutritional quality of the canteen meals and as such to highlight the healthiest meal options.

3 Aug 2011

Study: Subjective memory deterioration could be the first manifestation of Alzheimer's

Scientists at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, and Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen in Bonn succeeded for the first time in demonstrating that even in merely subjective cases of memory deterioration changes may be visible in certain brain structures.

3 Aug 2011

New approach to overcome complexities of developing more effective drugs for treating diseases

Pharmaceutical scientists typically face a meager five percent success rate for anti-cancer drugs in clinical trials. To help improve this success rate, Japanese scientists, led by Dr. Tetsuya Terasaki, one of the top pharmaceutical scientists focused on drug transporters, have developed a new approach designed to overcome complexities of developing new, more effective drugs to treat diseases, including cancer.

3 Aug 2011

Combination molecules with BRAF inhibitors may help overcome drug resistance in melanoma patients

About 50 to 60 percent of patients with melanoma have a mutation in the BRAF gene that drives the growth of their cancer. Most of these patients respond well to two novel agents being studied in clinical trials that inhibit the gene, with remarkable responses that are, unfortunately, almost always limited in duration.

3 Aug 2011

Different health care delivery systems offer differing visions of efficiency

One California partnership that involved a large insurance company, a major hospital chain and a group of doctors has reduced health care costs. But a new report shows that the growing number of hospital-based physicians may ultimately be taxing Medicare resources.

3 Aug 2011

EAST clinical trial to assess early comprehensive rhythm control therapy for AF

The first patient has been enrolled, in Hamburg, Germany, for the largest pan-European study to determine whether an early comprehensive rhythm control strategy for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) will benefit patients.

3 Aug 2011

Role of molecular imaging in diagnosis and clinical trials

Two new studies published in the August issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) provide insight into the potential of positron emission tomography (PET) to differentiate between types of dementia and to identify pharmaceuticals to slow the progress of dementia. With proposed National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the Alzheimer's Association guidelines for detecting Alzheimer's-related brain changes expected in September, these articles give a preview of what may be to come.

3 Aug 2011

Bite Counter can help people monitor how much they eat

Two Clemson University researchers seek to make diners mindful of mindless eating. Psychology professor Eric Muth and electrical and computer engineering professor Adam Hoover have created the Bite Counter, a measurement device that will make it easier for people to monitor how much they eat.

3 Aug 2011

Insight into how brain organizes during development

Scientists at the Allen Institute for Brain Science have taken an important step in identifying how the brain organizes itself during development. The findings, published in the Journal of Comparative Neurology today, describe - in more detail than ever before - the consequences of the loss of a key molecule involved in establishing proper brain architecture during brain development.

3 Aug 2011

Model for comprehensive health care systems in developing countries

This report from researchers at Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business and the George W. Bush Institute, published in the MIT Press journal Innovations, looks at a "model and methods that provide an outline for complete and comprehensive health care systems for developing countries," according to a Rice University press release.

3 Aug 2011

Panasonic releases solution with gesture-based interfaces for digital entertainment and signage

Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd. announced today the release of a bundled solution for the digital entertainment and signage markets.

From PHC Europe B.V. 3 Aug 2011

AACE's five-tiered approach to elimination of endocrine healthcare disparities

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) today is announcing the adoption of a new policy reaffirming the Association's commitment to the elimination of endocrine healthcare disparities in the United States.

3 Aug 2011

APA to demonstrate three psychological science applications at 119th Annual Convention

The American Psychological Association plans to feature three public demonstrations of psychological science applications, including one that enables "seeing" with one's ears rather than eyes, at the organization's 119th Annual Convention here this week.

3 Aug 2011

Posttraumatic stress disorder linked to persistent fears of recurrent SAH

One-third of patients who have survived a life-threatening subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) have disabling symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), reports a study in the August issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

3 Aug 2011

GlobalPost interviews USAID officials about family planning, funding

GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog features an interview with Ellen Starbird, deputy director of the Office of Population and Reproductive Health at USAID, and Judy Manning, health development officer in USAID's Research, Technology and Utilization Division, who discuss "family planning and reproductive health issues, including new innovations and promising technologies still in the research stage."

3 Aug 2011