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GAO: What's behind increase in federal workers' long-term care coverage

A large and unexpected premium increase in federal employees' long-term-care insurance two years ago stemmed from higher-than-expected enrollee coverage retention, longer life expectancies and additional claim submissions, according to the Government Accountability Office.

12 Aug 2011

C. difficile infection more prevalent in Chicago-area acute care hospitals

An outbreak strain of Clostridium difficile, a bacterium that causes diarrhea and sometimes life-threatening inflammation of the colon, is common in Chicago-area acute care hospitals, an investigation published in the September issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology suggests.

12 Aug 2011

Female sex hormone oestrogen could fight against cardiovascular disease

The sex hormone oestrogen could help protect women from cardiovascular disease by keeping the body's immune system in check, new research from Queen Mary, University of London has revealed.

12 Aug 2011

Medical College of Wisconsin to establish National Center for Systems Biology

The Medical College of Wisconsin has received a five-year, $13 million grant to establish a National Center for Systems Biology.

12 Aug 2011

Researchers discover key reason why pyrazinamide shortens duration of TB therapy

Pyrazinamide has been used in combination with other drugs as a first-line treatment for people with tuberculosis (TB) since the 1950s, but exactly how the drug works has not been well understood.

12 Aug 2011

Longer looks: A break for sleep-deprived docs; Gruber profile

Last month something extraordinary happened at teaching hospitals around the country: Young interns worked for 16 hours straight — and then they went home to sleep. After decades of debate and over the opposition of nearly every major medical organization and 79 percent of residency-program directors, new rules went into effect that abolished 30-hour overnight shifts for first-year residents.

12 Aug 2011

NPL scientists mimick the ways viruses infect human cells and deliver genetic material

Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) have mimicked the ways viruses infect human cells and deliver their genetic material. The research hopes to apply the approach to gene therapy - a therapeutic strategy to correct defective genes such as those that cause cancer.

12 Aug 2011

Turmeric effective in tennis or golfer's elbow

A new study shows that turmeric – a common culinary spice could help in the treatment of painful tendinitis which includes the conditions known as tennis or golfer's elbow.

12 Aug 2011

Study links low vitamin D with early menstruation in young girls

A study links low vitamin D in young girls with early menstruation, which is a risk factor for a host of health problems for teen girls as well as women later in life.

12 Aug 2011

Single engineered protein blocks two related angiogenic receptors

Cancer needs blood. In fact, some cancer medications work solely to slow or prevent cancer cells from creating new capillaries, choking off their much-needed blood and nutrient supply to halt the growth of tumors.

12 Aug 2011

New source for sexual problems in men – buddies!

Social researchers have found that there may be a new source for sexual problems among middle-aged and older men and it could be the relationships between their female partners and the men's closest friends.

12 Aug 2011

Elderly individuals with higher BMI have shorter life expectancy

While some past studies have shown that persons carrying a few extra pounds in their 70s live longer than their thinner counterparts, a new study that measured subjects' weight at multiple points over a longer period of time reveals the opposite.

12 Aug 2011

Blood test early in pregnancy to detect baby’s gender

While carrying the child, a mother's blood has cell-free fetal DNA floating around in it, and it's possible to use this to test for the baby's sex. In a meta-analysis that covered more, the test was found to be 95% efficient in guessing the sex of the fetus — and it works from as early as seven weeks. As the fetus and the placenta develop, the amount of DNA present in the mother increases, boosting the accuracy of the test, which hits its peak at 20 weeks.

12 Aug 2011

Rise of NCDs is 'growing but under-addressed challenge' in developed and developing countries

"The rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)" is "a growing but under-addressed challenge in both the developed and developing world," Jean-Luc Butel, executive vice president and group president for Medtronic's international operations, writes in a Muskegon Chronicle opinion piece.

12 Aug 2011

New model for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

By isolating cells from patients' spinal tissue within a few days after death, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a new model of the paralyzing disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

12 Aug 2011

Scientists identify new therapeutic target for ADHD, other neuropsychiatric disorders

A biochemical pathway long associated with diarrhea and intestinal function may provide a new therapeutic target for treating ADHD other neuropsychiatric disorders, according to a team of scientists from China and the United States reporting Aug. 11 in Science.

12 Aug 2011

TCHP receives Texas HHSC's managed care renewed contracts

Texas Children's Health Plan (TCHP) has been tentatively awarded managed care renewed contracts by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

12 Aug 2011

Study examines link between spirit consumption and risk of acute pancreatitis

A study on the effect of different alcoholic beverages and drinking behaviour on the risk of acute pancreatitis was conducted, using the Swedish Mammography Cohort and Cohort of Swedish Men, to study the association between consumption of spirits, wine and beer and the risk of acute pancreatitis.

12 Aug 2011

State roundup: Debt deal and states; Ariz. judge appoves Medicaid plan

Many expensive programs are exempt from the trigger cuts, including most that are considered "mandatory," which means that some of the largest joint state-federal programs aren't vulnerable. Those include Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (welfare) and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program.

12 Aug 2011

Mayo Clinic, ABTA to establish education program for brain tumor patients

The American Brain Tumor Association (ABTA) and Mayo Clinic are establishing a program to provide educational support for patients coping with the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors.

12 Aug 2011