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New Concordia research links hormones with attention and learning

Feeling a little sluggish and having trouble concentrating? Hormones might be to blame according to new research from Concordia University published in the journal Brain and Cognition. The study shows that high estrogen levels are associated with an inability to pay attention and learn - the first such paper to report how this impediment can be due to a direct effect of the hormone on mature brain structures.

24 Sep 2010

The House approves six health-related measures, including legislation related to the disposal of unused prescription drugs

The Hill's Healthwatch Blog: "The House passed six health-related bills Wednesday evening, including efforts to combat Medicare fraud and dispose of unused prescription drugs." The measures were approved under suspension of the rules, "an expedited procedure that only allows for 40 minutes of debate followed by a voice vote."

24 Sep 2010

GOP 'pledge' to create jobs, control spending, repeal health law draws mixed reaction

The New York Times: "In the legislative blueprint that Republicans hope will serve as a roadmap to winning control of the House, they declared their two highest priorities to be creating jobs and stopping 'out-of-control spending' by the federal government." It includes a call to repeal the health law, while retaining "popular provisions."

24 Sep 2010

Genta commences new tesetaxel Phase 2 clinical trial in advanced bladder cancer

Genta Incorporated today announced that the Company has initiated a new Phase 2 clinical trial of tesetaxel in patients with advanced bladder cancer. Tesetaxel is the leading oral taxane in clinical development. The new trial will be conducted at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, and at least one site in the EU.

24 Sep 2010

Insurers irked by latest draft of spending requirements

"One of the most critical aspects of the federal health overhaul for insurers is shaping up as a mixed bag for the industry, as regulators issued draft rules Thursday on how the companies must account for how much they spend directly on patients' medical care," The Wall Street Journal reports. At issue is which expenses count as medical, versus administrative.

24 Sep 2010

Congress considers setting standards to reduce football concussions

NPR: "A college player who recently committed suicide had a degenerative brain disease normally linked to much older players. It's prompting a new round of questions about safety in the dangerous game that Americans love. ... [Chronic traumatic encephalopathy] is the football concussion 'disease of the moment.' In the past couple of years, Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy has revealed that many deceased NFL players had CTE. The symptoms include depression, erratic behavior and, ultimately, dementia" (Goldman, 9/23).

24 Sep 2010

Key pathway used by malaria parasite to infect human cells identified

Development of an effective vaccine for malaria is a step closer following identification of a key pathway used by the malaria parasite to infect human cells. The discovery, by researchers at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, provides a new vaccine target through which infection with the deadly disease could be prevented.

24 Sep 2010

Maine receives federal grants to upgrade electronic public health systems, scores of criminals provide home health care in Cal.

The Boston Globe: "Caritas Christi Health Care executives have told union negotiators they will shutter St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton and Carney Hospital in Dorchester if they can't close a deal for the six-hospital chain to be bought by a New York private equity firm. The warning was made during contract talks last week with the Massachusetts Nurses Association, according to two people who attended the meeting.

24 Sep 2010

Premium rates may skyrocket for many Medicare drug plans

The Associated Press: "A new analysis of government data finds that premiums will go up an average of 10 percent among the top plans that have signed up some 70 percent of seniors. That's according to Avalere Health, a private research firm that crunched the numbers. Marketing for next year's drug plans gets under way Oct. 1, and seniors will see some of the biggest changes since the Medicare prescription benefit became available in 2006. More than 17 million are enrolled in private drug plans offered through Medicare."

24 Sep 2010

Playing video games may help children become laparoscopic surgeons

Playing video games for hours on end may prepare your child to become a laparoscopic surgeon one day, a new study has shown. Reorganisation of the brain's cortical network in young men with significant experience playing video games gives them an advantage not only in playing the games but also in performing other tasks requiring visuomotor skills. The findings are published in the October 2010 issue of Elsevier's Cortex.

24 Sep 2010

Researchers create device to find ways to improve commonly used treatment for 'water on the brain'

Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) scientists participated in a study with researchers from the University of Utah that could help find ways to improve shunt systems used to treat the neurological disorder hydrocephalus, or "water on the brain," the leading cause of brain surgery for children in the United States. Researchers studied the shunt systems under a variety of conditions by creating a bioreactor that mimics the environment inside patients.

24 Sep 2010

Navilyst Medical to distribute VasoNova's VPS central venous catheter navigation technology

VasoNova announced a strategic partnership with Navilyst Medical Inc. today to distribute its VasoNova™ Vascular Positioning System™ VPS™ central venous catheter navigation technology.

24 Sep 2010

Competition on access: A role for government in health care markets

In this Kaiser Health News column, Austin Frakt and Rexford Santerre write: "In late August, The Wall Street Journal reported that government-owned hospitals are 'drowning in debt' due to high health care costs, high rates of uninsured patients and cuts in public payments. Some government facilities are closing while others are being sold to private-sector firms.

24 Sep 2010

Cook Medical submits PMA to FDA for new balloon expandable stent for renal artery disease

Cook Medical has submitted its Pre-Market Approval (PMA) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its new balloon expandable stent for renal artery disease. Intended for patients suffering from renal artery stenosis, a narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the kidneys, the new device features a low profile design and does not shorten upon expansion.

24 Sep 2010

Hyland Software announces acquisition of Computer Systems Company

Hyland Software has purchased privately held Computer Systems Company, Inc. (dba The CSC Group), a provider of business and clinical healthcare software and document conversion services. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

24 Sep 2010

Mayo Clinic initiates enrollment in first U.S. clinical Hand Transplant Program

Mayo Clinic has initiated the first clinical Hand Transplant Program in the United States and is now enrolling patients. This program offers hand transplantation as a clinically available option for patients with bilateral hand injuries or amputations. This allows patients to embark on this option of reconstructive surgery without being required to enroll in experimental trials.

24 Sep 2010

Critics say school lunch bill could damage food stamp program

The New York Times: "In her campaign to reduce childhood obesity and improve school nutrition, Michelle Obama has become entangled in a fight with White House allies, including liberal Democrats and advocates for the poor." The bill, which the House is expected to consider in the next few days, "would come up with some of the money by cutting future food stamp benefits. When the Senate passed the bill in early August, Mrs. Obama said she was thrilled. But anti-hunger groups were not.

24 Sep 2010

Enobia announces positive results from ENB-0040 Phase II juvenile clinical trial for hypophosphatasia

Enobia Pharma today announced positive results for its Phase II juvenile clinical trial of ENB-0040 (asfotase alfa), an experimental bone-targeted enzyme replacement therapy intended for the treatment of hypophosphatasia (HPP). Hypophosphatasia is a rare, inherited, and sometimes fatal metabolic bone disease that affects individuals of all ages.

24 Sep 2010

Democratic pollster: White House needs to go 'back to basics' to sell health law

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jenny Gold spoke with Peter Hart, a Democratic pollster and chairman of Peter D. Hart Research Associates, who said he doesn't expect a sea change in public opinion in coming weeks and that Democrats might want to avoid discussing the health care law in their campaigns (Gold, 9/23).

24 Sep 2010

FDA grants ArthroCare marketing clearance for Parallax Contour Vertebral Augmentation Device

ArthroCare Corp., a leader in developing state-of-the-art, minimally invasive surgical products, announced today that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its Parallax® Contour® Vertebral Augmentation Device (Contour) specifically for void creation in a vertebral body followed by injection of bone cement. Vertebral body void creation followed by bone cement augmentation is commonly used to treat painful vertebral compression fractures.

24 Sep 2010

Medical News

New Concordia research links hormones with attention and learning

The House approves six health-related measures, including legislation related to the disposal of unused prescription drugs

GOP 'pledge' to create jobs, control spending, repeal health law draws mixed reaction

Genta commences new tesetaxel Phase 2 clinical trial in advanced bladder cancer

Insurers irked by latest draft of spending requirements

Congress considers setting standards to reduce football concussions

Key pathway used by malaria parasite to infect human cells identified

Maine receives federal grants to upgrade electronic public health systems, scores of criminals provide home health care in Cal.

Premium rates may skyrocket for many Medicare drug plans

Playing video games may help children become laparoscopic surgeons

Researchers create device to find ways to improve commonly used treatment for 'water on the brain'

Navilyst Medical to distribute VasoNova's VPS central venous catheter navigation technology

Competition on access: A role for government in health care markets

Cook Medical submits PMA to FDA for new balloon expandable stent for renal artery disease

Hyland Software announces acquisition of Computer Systems Company

Mayo Clinic initiates enrollment in first U.S. clinical Hand Transplant Program

Critics say school lunch bill could damage food stamp program

Enobia announces positive results from ENB-0040 Phase II juvenile clinical trial for hypophosphatasia

Democratic pollster: White House needs to go 'back to basics' to sell health law

FDA grants ArthroCare marketing clearance for Parallax Contour Vertebral Augmentation Device

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

PhD researcher at LifeArc

Unveiling Hidden Potential: Organoids for Disease Modeling in Neuroscience Research

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