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AAGL recommends vaginal or laparoscopic hysterectomies

Approximately 600,000 hysterectomies are performed in the United States annually to treat benign disorders of the pelvis. More than two-thirds are performed through an abdominal incision. In an evidence-based position statement published online today in The Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology, the AAGL, a medical specialty society of over 5,000 gynecologic surgeons, advocates the practice of performing these procedures vaginally or laparoscopically in a minimally invasive manner, thus reducing morbidity and facilitating a faster recovery period.

8 Nov 2010

TRPM7 protein plays a key role in maintenance of magnesium homeostasis

An international team led by researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has published new findings that demonstrate how a specific protein controls the body's ability to balance magnesium levels. Magnesium is an essential element for good health and is critical to more than 300 biochemical reactions that occur in the body.

8 Nov 2010

Scientists identify genes that enable some immune systems to halt HIV; finding could spur drug, vaccine development

Tiny variants in a protein that alerts the body to infection could explain how one in 300 HIV-infected people are able to resist the onset of AIDS for years without needing any treatment, researchers said Thursday in a study published online in the journal Science, Agence France-Presse reports

8 Nov 2010

Plexxikon's PLX4032 shows positive data in patients with metastatic melanoma

Plexxikon today announced positive preliminary data from a pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial of PLX4032 (RG7204) in metastatic melanoma, showing significant tumor shrinkage in the majority of patients.

8 Nov 2010

NeoGenomics receives $374,479 grant under Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

NeoGenomics, Inc., a leading provider of cancer-focused genetic testing services today reported that it had been awarded two research and development grants totaling $374,479 from the US government under HR: 3590 - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the "Act").

8 Nov 2010

Prophylaxis can prevent postoperative nausea and vomiting

Vomiting is unpleasant. Nearly 30% of all patients suffer from nausea and vomiting after surgery. The financial repercussions of this are longer patient stays in the recovery room, with increased need for personnel. Appropriate prophylaxis and treatment can prevent postoperative nausea and vomiting. In a systematic review of the literature, Dirk Rüsch and co-authors investigate how treatment recommendations for nausea after general anesthesia can be improved.

8 Nov 2010

Risk pools, drug prices and other issues in health law implementation

A health law program that directs $5 billion for coverage of otherwise uninsurable people through state-run high-risk insurance pools has attracted only 8,011 people according to health department enrollment figures, The New York Times reports. That's a paucity compared to the hundreds of thousands of people government actuaries predicted would flock to the program causing it to run out of money too early.

8 Nov 2010

Researchers identify key step in metabolic pathways linked to diabetes and cancer

United States and Japanese researchers have identified a key step in metabolic pathways linked to diabetes and cancer. The study on activation of the protein complex TORC 2 was published online in the journal Current Biology Oct. 28.

8 Nov 2010

NCRI launches first virtual biobank for prostate cancer research

The first virtual biobank dedicated to prostate cancer research has been launched today by the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI). The UK Prostate Cancer Sample Collection Database will house details of around 10,000 biological samples taken from men in the UK with and without prostate cancer.

8 Nov 2010

Pervasis receives $920,000 in grants under QTDP program

Pervasis Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has been awarded over $920,000 in grants through the U.S. government's Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project, which provides tax credits and grants to projects that show significant potential to produce new therapies, reduce long-term health care costs, or significantly advance the goal of curing cancer within the next 30 years.

8 Nov 2010

Hydroxychloroquine may reduce cardiac neonatal lupus in subsequent pregnancies: Research

Women with anti-SSA/Ro antibodies and a previous child who has heart block a condition where the electrical signal that makes the heart beat is damaged may potentially decrease their risk of delivering another child with life threatening heart disease by taking hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil), according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta.

8 Nov 2010

People with SLE more likely to develop hematologic malignancies

People with systemic lupus erythematosus are 1.15 times as likely to develop cancer as the general population and more than 2.5 times as likely to develop hematologic malignancies, such as lymphoma and leukemia, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta.

8 Nov 2010

ST Cardio Technologies receives $244,479 QTDP Program grant to develop Z6 Cardiac Stimulator

ST Cardio Technologies, an innovative developer of products utilized in the diagnosis and treatment of heart arrhythmias, announced today that it has been awarded a grant of $244,479 under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) Program. The company's grant is related to the development and clinical evaluation of the Z6 Cardiac Stimulator. The amount awarded to ST Cardio Technologies represents the maximum award for a grant under this program.

8 Nov 2010

Rcopia-MU certified as EHR Module by CCHIT

DrFirst announced today that Rcopia-MU, Version 3, is 2011/2012 compliant and was certified as an EHR Module on November 4, 2010, by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT), an ONC-ATCB, in accordance with the applicable eligible provider certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

8 Nov 2010

Military leaders look for way to cut health care costs

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is looking for ways to cut health care costs in the nation's military care, "an area that members of Congress have so far been reluctant to tackle," Politico reports. "Gates's drive for efficiency has run the gamut — from overhauling acquisitions to better tailoring military spending for current worldwide missions, including the war in Afghanistan and the one winding down in Iraq."

8 Nov 2010

Statin drugs do not benefit pediatric lupus patients

Lupus puts children at higher risk for coronary artery disease when they become adults, but routinely using statins doesn't provide enough benefit to warrant their regular use in children and adolescents, according to the largest study of pediatric lupus patients to date.

8 Nov 2010

Amgen wins Scrip Best New Drug award for Prolia

Amgen is pleased to announce that it has won the Best New Drug award for Prolia™ (denosumab), a novel treatment approved in the United States (U.S.) for women with postmenopausal osteoporosis at high risk for fracture, at the 2010 Scrip Awards ceremony Nov. 4 in London. Named one of TIME's Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs of 2009, Prolia is the first treatment specifically designed to target osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone.

8 Nov 2010

Chronic lower back pain may be linked to axial spondyloarthritis: Research

Chronic lower back pain may be linked to a recently defined form of inflammatory arthritis known as axial spondyloarthritis, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta.

8 Nov 2010

Sandata announces patent for new caregiver location monitoring solution

Sandata Technologies, LLC, a leading national provider of information technology solutions to the home healthcare industry, today announced that on November 16, 2010, the US Patent and Trademark Office will issue US Patent Number 7835955, "Time and/or Attendance System Using Synchronized Code," an innovative new caregiver location monitoring solution aimed at reducing home healthcare fraud and abuse.

8 Nov 2010

Medicaid pooled trusts keep seniors out of nursing homes

The New York Times reports on Medicaid pooled trusts: "[T]here is a little-known way for some people in certain states to receive home care through Medicaid, without requiring them to impoverish themselves first. Here's how it works: a federal law established in 1993 allows disabled people to put their monthly income or assets — above the amounts Medicaid allows them to keep — into a special type of pooled trust.

8 Nov 2010