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Data fusion of three vital signs may predict serious illness in children

The research will be presented today at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Academic Primary Care, hosted this year by the Academic Unit of Primary Health Care, University of Bristol. The research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research.

7 Jul 2011

Puerto Rico reports first cholera case linked to outbreak in Dominican Republic

Puerto Rico has reported its first case of cholera imported by a recent traveler to the island of Hispaniola, where a cholera outbreak began in October, the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

7 Jul 2011

Study provides information about trends in obesity, public health implications

Researchers out of Arizona State University recently published an article in the American Journal of Public Health titled "Shared Norms and Their Explanation for the Social Clustering of Obesity". It looked at why obesity seems to be common in some families and groups of friends.

7 Jul 2011

Some states slow in implementing health insurance exchanges

The Hill reports that the delays taking place in many states could put their legislatures at risk of handing over this aspect of the health overhaul to the federal government. Meanwhile, in a pair of articles, Politico revisits key political messages of the reform debate — "repeal and replace" as well as "death panels."

7 Jul 2011

Study finds link between genetic variation and cetuximab rectal cancer therapy

team of researchers led by Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) oncologist Heinz-Josef Lenz, M.D., has identified a genetic marker that may predict which patients with rectal cancer can be cured by certain chemotherapies when combined with surgery.

7 Jul 2011

Efforts to reduce Medicaid costs leave docs, hospitals feeling pinch

In an effort to contain health care costs, dozens of states are reducing Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals. A report from a University of Kansas researcher, though, finds a "glaring need" for more preventive services and patient education and argues these steps are ways to control Medicaid spending.

7 Jul 2011

Progress in reducing colorectal cancer mortality rates varies across U.S. states

Progress in reducing colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality rates varies significantly across states, with rates in the Northeast showing the most progress and those in the South showing the least progress, according to a new study.

7 Jul 2011

Medicare coverage, pricey cancer drugs and the 'rationing' issue

As health care costs play an ever-increasing role in Washington's budget drama, Medicare officials announced last week they will continue to pay for two extremely expensive cancer treatments despite lingering questions about their effectiveness. At a cost of about $88,000 per year, the cancer-fighting Avastin will still be available to eligible senior citizens for breast cancer treatment.

7 Jul 2011

Elsevier announces availability of new tool in expertise management solution

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the availability of a new tool in its expertise management solution SciVal Experts.

7 Jul 2011

U.N. Women report examines women's access to justice worldwide

"More than half of working women in the world, 600 million, are trapped in insecure jobs without legal protection, according to the first flagship report of the new agency U.N. Women. A similar number do not have even basic protection against domestic violence, it finds, while sexual assault has become a hallmark of modern conflict," the Guardian reports.

7 Jul 2011

Study: Cancer patients with VTE do not benefit from IVCF and fondaparinux

Cancer patients with blood clots -- which occur in one of every 200 cancer patients and are the second most common cause of death among cancer patients -- gain no benefit from the insertion of an inferior vena cava filter (IVCF) to the anticoagulant medication fondaparinux (Arixtra), according to research presented today at the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer, hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

7 Jul 2011

Malaria-carrying mosquitoes becoming increasingly resistant to pyrethroid insecticides

Mosquitoes that carry malaria are increasingly becoming resistant to pyrethroid insecticides, which are the only insecticides approved by the WHO to treat bed nets and are the most effective and cost efficient for indoor spraying, Nature News reports.

7 Jul 2011

Endoscopic testing prior to lung cancer surgery improves quality of life

Patients who underwent endoscopic testing prior to surgery for lung cancer had significantly better quality of life at the end of the staging process, with no significant difference in costs between the two strategies, according to data presented at the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Amsterdam, hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

7 Jul 2011

Gene therapy may help prevent progression of type 1 diabetes

Increasing a specific protein in areas of the pancreas that produce insulin blocks the immune attack that causes type 1 diabetes, researchers reported in the August issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, published early online.

7 Jul 2011

EU to provide $14.5M for emergency food aid to North Korea

"Responding to the growing threat of a humanitarian crisis in North Korea, the European Union announced on Monday that it will provide about $14.5 million in emergency aid to feed more than some 650,000 North Koreans," the New York Times reports.

7 Jul 2011

Current prevention strategies may not be very effective at reducing in-hospital falls

While falls are a common cause of injury, particularly in older, hospitalized patients, some may not be as preventable as once thought. According to a new literature review published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, many of the risks that frequently cause falls are not adequately addressed with the fall prevention initiatives used in healthcare facilities.

7 Jul 2011

Rate review issue faces key vote in Calif.; veto in Conn.

A bill that would allow state officials to reject rate increases proposed by health insurers is under intense lobbying pressure as it faces a key committee vote this week. Groups representing insurers, doctors and hospitals are trying to have the California bill weakened or killed, although for different reasons.

7 Jul 2011

Study illuminates roles of two nearly identical proteins in cancer development

Scripps Research Institute scientists have discovered a basic mechanism that can enable developing cancer cells to sustain abnormal growth. The finding is expected to lead to the targeting of this mechanism with drugs and diagnostic techniques.

7 Jul 2011

Human body may not completely absorb fat in pistachios

A new study now appearing in the peer-reviewed British Journal of Nutrition, finds that fat in pistachios may not be completely absorbed by the body.

7 Jul 2011

Improved global safety monitoring of HIV drugs is needed

With at least five million people worldwide taking antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection, the International Forum for Collaborative HIV Research, in a PLoS Medicine Policy Forum published on Tuesday, "recommends that improved and sustained global drug safety monitoring, including monitoring for substandard products, drug diversion, inappropriate use, and toxicity, is critical," a press release from PLoS states.

7 Jul 2011