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Interests line up to guide 'super committee' decisions

The American Medical Association is among the groups taking a message to Congress — but it goes beyond trying to avoid the 2 percent cut that would be triggered if the deficit reduction panel doesn't meet its savings target. The AMA hopes to link fixing the scheduled Medicare physician payment cut to what it terms "any serious proposal" to address the nation's fiscal challenges.

18 Aug 2011

BIS monitor not superior in preventing intraoperative awareness than other alternatives

Anesthesiology researchers have shown that a device approved by the Food and Drug Administration to reduce the risk that patients will recall their surgery does not lower the risk of the problem, known as intraoperative awareness, any more than a less expensive method.

18 Aug 2011

Conference to expand awareness about benefits of human tissue research

When you have blood taken for a test or have tissue removed for a biopsy, it may be used for medical research. While there are clear benefits to such research, medical and health care professionals need to be aware of cultural and confidentiality concerns on the part of patients.

18 Aug 2011

Long-delayed forms to provide coverage details likely to be released today

Part of the health law, these rules will lay out, among other things, a new standard form that will provide consumers who are shopping for health coverage with policy details, such as deductibles and specific costs for certain medical circumstances.

18 Aug 2011

ADA releases papers that examine dental safety net programs

The American Dental Association today released the second in a series of papers that examine the challenges and solutions to bringing good oral health to millions of Americans, including the growing population whose only possible source of dental care is the so-called oral health safety net.

18 Aug 2011

Maternal stress may disrupt masculinization of developing mouse brain

Sons of male mice exposed to prenatal stress are more sensitive to stress as adults, according to a study in the August 17 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. These findings suggest experiences in the womb can lead to individual differences in stress response that may be passed across generations.

18 Aug 2011

Pittsburgh researchers combine Viscotek GPC and Zetasizer Nano in work on novel polymers for drug delivery

Molecular weight and molecular weight distribution measurements are a basic necessity in studying the synthesis of the novel polymers being carried out by researchers at the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh. For the Pittsburgh team, the applications and technical expertise provided by Malvern Panalytical is a significant factor in their use of the company’s Viscotek gel permeation chromatography (GPC) system to characterize polymer molecular weight, prior to applying the Zetasizer Nano for zeta potential measurements to study inter-molecular interactions.

From Malvern Panalytical 18 Aug 2011

New collaboration for development of new malaria vaccine

"The Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) today announced a new Memorandum of Understanding with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), focused on support of a collaboration with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) for the development of a new vaccine against malaria," an IDRI press release states.

18 Aug 2011

New process may eliminate need for full genome sequencing for cancer patients

People at risk for a certain form of colon and other types of cancer may soon have a better chance at surviving or even avoiding the diseases, thanks to a new study done by the Intermountain Clinical Genetics Institute at LDS Hospital.

18 Aug 2011

DNDi addresses 'alarming lack' of R&D for neglected diseases

In a Center for Global Health R&D Policy Assessment blog post, the third part of the center's Product Development Partnership (PDP) mini-series, "Bernard Pecoul from the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) discusses their experience with partnerships to develop treatments for neglected diseases."

18 Aug 2011

Researchers to unravel how brain makes everyday prognostications

Every day we make thousands of tiny predictions - when the bus will arrive, who is knocking on the door, whether the dropped glass will break. Now, in one of the first studies of its kind, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are beginning to unravel the process by which the brain makes these everyday prognostications.

18 Aug 2011

Philadelphia program promotes health services and insurance across cultural barriers

Promotoras — volunteer "health promoters" … carry messages of health and wellness to their peers, mostly Spanish-speaking Mexicans in South Philadelphia. As the minority group least likely to have a primary-care doctor and with nearly half living beneath the poverty line, Latinos, especially recent immigrants, have challenged doctors for decades.

18 Aug 2011

Medicare Advantage plans may be counter-productive for the elderly

In health care, more choice may not always lead to better choices, particularly for the elderly. In a new study, researchers from Harvard Medical School's Department of Health Care Policy found that the large variety of managed care plans offered by the Medicare Advantage program may be counter-productive.

18 Aug 2011

Making sense of maternal mortality statistics

Referring to a Maternal Health Task Force infographic depicting maternal mortality worldwide, Jen Quraishi, editorial coordinator for Mother Jones, writes in a post on Mother Jones' "Blue Marble" blog that "there are lots of ways to juggle maternal mortality numbers, and ultimately I find the death rate per capita more useful than the total number of deaths … Charts like these obscure the point that the relative wealth and size of a country do have an effect on its maternal mortality, but they're not everything."

18 Aug 2011

Majority of physicians continue to recommend annual cervical cancer screening

Investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have determined that the majority of primary care providers continue to recommend annual cervical cancer screening, and less than 15% would extend the screening interval when using the Papanicolaou test and human papillomavirus (HPV) test together, as some guidelines suggest.

18 Aug 2011

Mayo researchers to translate genomic discoveries into tools for individualized medicine

Mayo Clinic researchers will receive more than $3 million in a four-year grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute to translate recent genomic discoveries into tools for individualized medicine. Recent advances in the genetics of heart and blood vessel diseases will be integrated into electronic medical records so doctors can more accurately determine patients' risk of heart attacks, blood vessel diseases and adverse reactions to heart medications.

18 Aug 2011

Optical coherence tomography can distinguish between high and low risk pancreatic cysts

A team of researchers from four Boston-area institutions led by Nicusor Iftimia from Physical Sciences, Inc. has demonstrated for the first time that optical coherence tomography (OCT), a high resolution optical imaging technique that works by bouncing near-infrared laser light off biological tissue, can reliably distinguish between pancreatic cysts that are low-risk and high-risk for becoming malignant.

18 Aug 2011

UnitedHealthcare, 4-H to launch new nutrition and wellness program for young people

Texas 4-H and UnitedHealthcare joined together today to launch a new partnership - Youth Voice: Youth Choice - a program to help young people in the state improve their health and well-being through exercise, proper nutrition and attention to personal safety.

18 Aug 2011

Timing for Supreme Court's health law review unclear

The Wall Street Journal reports that the high court is likely to decide by January whether a ruling on the health law will come before or after the 2012 election. Meanwhile, Politico reports that a "conservative gadfly" has won a round in his battle against the Obama administration's health overhaul effort.

18 Aug 2011

Powder-free gloves linked to reduced latex allergy in health care workers

Researchers at The Medical College of Wisconsin investigating latex allergy in health care workers have demonstrated the most effective public health strategy to prevent allergic sensitization is by stopping the use of powdered latex gloves.

18 Aug 2011