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BMJ investigation raises concern on rosiglitazone diabetes drug safety

A BMJ investigation into the top-selling diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia) raises concerns about its safety and the whole system by which drugs are evaluated, regulated, and promoted around the world.

8 Sep 2010

Small businesses continue to gauge health law implications

Some small business owners remain wary of a health law they do not yet clearly understand, The Kansas City Star reports. "Employers with 50 or more employees know this: The new law has employee coverage mandates looming for them in 2014. Employers with fewer than 50 employees will escape the coverage mandate. But they're not resting easy." Business expect costs to increase by between 6 and 40 percent in 2011, and many wonder whether they will be able to continue to afford subsidizing their employees' insurance coverage (Stafford, 9/6).

8 Sep 2010

DTC consumers express concern on personal genetic risk test

One half of people using direct to consumer (DTC) personal genetic risk tests express concerns about testing yet more than 80 percent want to know their risk even for non preventable genetic diseases, according to a study in the September Genetics in Medicine, the official peer reviewed journal of The American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG).

8 Sep 2010

Obesity directly accelerates progression of acute lymphoblastic leukemia

The first study to demonstrate that obesity can directly accelerate the progression of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has been conducted at The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and will be published in Cancer Prevention Research, on October 5, 2010. Obesity has been associated with an increased incidence of many cancers, including leukemia, but it has been unknown whether the increase in incidence was a direct effect of obesity or associated with genetic, lifestyle, health, or socio-economic factors.

8 Sep 2010

HHS issues guidance on waivers for health plan limits

The Hill: "The Department of Health and Human Services has released guidance for health plans seeking a waiver from the healthcare reform law's restrictions on plans' ability to place annual limits on essential health benefits.

8 Sep 2010

Interventions targeting social cognition most effective in mitigating loneliness

Changing how a person perceives and thinks about others was the most effective intervention for loneliness, a sweeping analysis of previous research has determined. The findings may help physicians and psychologists develop better treatments for loneliness, a known risk factor for heart disease and other health problems.

8 Sep 2010

Research reveals need for initiatives to prevent, treat substance abuse when fighting violent crime

A new study from Sweden's Karolinska Institutet suggests that bipolar disorder or manic-depressive disorder does not increase the risk of committing violent crime. Instead, the over-representation of individuals with bipolar disorder in violent crime statistics is almost entirely attributable to concurrent substance abuse.

8 Sep 2010

Pawlenty asks for enhanced Medicaid funding

Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Gov. Tim Pawlenty wrote U.S. DHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Tuesday to ask for cash. The letter, in which Pawlenty requested Medicaid and foster care cash, the governor also bashed the federal health care overhaul." He "told the secretary that his order was fueled by concern about 'overspending' and 'unbearable burdens that spending will place on our economy.'

8 Sep 2010

Bariatric surgery before pregnancy reduces odds of developing gestational diabetes

Obese women who have bariatric surgical procedures before pregnancy were three times less likely to develop gestational diabetes (GDM) than women who have bariatric operations after delivery, according to new research findings published in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. The retrospective study also found that delivery after bariatric procedures was associated with reduced odds of cesarean section-an outcome associated with GDM.

8 Sep 2010

DiaTech Oncology files patent for Drug Discovery to validate cancer treatment

DiaTech Oncology has announced the filing of a patent for Drug Discovery that will provide a new strategy and approach to validate drugs that may be more effective in treating cancer patients

8 Sep 2010

Researchers identify eight clinical features for cancer

Scientists at Keele University have identified eight symptoms that, when they are presented to a GP, have a more than five per cent chance of turning out to be cancer.

8 Sep 2010

Hospitals hire to keep up with growing diversity, tech challenges

"As more immigrants crowd its waiting rooms, Elmhurst Hospital is joining a growing number of hospitals in New York and across the country that are going beyond hiring interpreters and offering translated paperwork and are adopting practices intended to improve care for an increasingly diverse patient population," The New York Times reports.

8 Sep 2010

Penn receives $12M NIH grant to study pharmacogenetics of nicotine addiction treatment

A variety of smoking cessation treatments are currently available for the more than 18 million adult Americans try to quit smoking each year, but success rates vary widely. Despite the importance of quitting smoking, more personalized approaches to smoking cessation treatment are needed to help smokers pick the right method that will work best for them. A major new personalized medicine clinical trial, led by addiction researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, will study how a smokers' genetic make-up influences their quitting success.

8 Sep 2010

ESPAC-3 trial shows promising results to prevent pancreatic cancer

A major international trial has shown a commonly used chemotherapy drug is as effective at helping prevent pancreatic cancer returning after surgery as the more expensive standard chemotherapy treatment, reveals a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association today (Wednesday).

8 Sep 2010

CDC ramps up production of new three-in-one flu vaccine

Health officials say that there will be plenty of flu vaccine available this year, now that the H1N1 pandemic has ended, The Washington Post reports. "The World Health Organization declared an end to the pandemic last month, based on indications that the H1N1 flu was transitioning to a more seasonal virus. Unlike last year, when there was one vaccine for H1N1 flu and another for seasonal flu, this year's vaccine is a 'three-in-one' that includes protection against H1N1 as well as two other strains."

8 Sep 2010

Alzheimer's disease drug market to increase from $4.3 billion to $13.3 billion in 2019: Report

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that, owing to the emergence of new agents that have the potential to affect disease progression, the Alzheimer's disease drug market will more than triple, from $4.3 billion in 2009 to $13.3 billion in 2019 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan.

8 Sep 2010

Static stretching leads to decreased running performance

Distance runners who stretch before running may not be able to run as far—and yet spend more energy doing it, according to a study in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning, official research journal of the National Strength and Conditioning Association. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.

8 Sep 2010

Candidates focus on health care politics

As candidates ramped up campaigning over Labor Day weekend, news outlets examined the role of the new health law in the 2010 elections.

8 Sep 2010

Study finds increase in bone morphogenetic protein usage for Off-Label procedures

Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) is increasingly used as an alternative to the patient's own bone for spinal fusion surgery. Yet at least 85 percent of these procedures are operations for which BMP use has not been formally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), suggests a study in the September 1 issue of Spine.

8 Sep 2010

Further evidence on adverse effects of smoking on fertility

Two new studies have shed more light on how smoking may damage fertility, and give further weight to advice that mothers and fathers-to-be should stop smoking before attempting to conceive. The research is published online in the reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction today (Wednesday 8 September).

8 Sep 2010