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Study unveils ways new moms can lose baby weight after childbirth

New moms who returned to work soon after delivery, had childcare help, breastfed, and did not experience postpartum depression were the ones most able to lose the baby weight within 6 months of giving birth, according to a new research study.

18 Aug 2010

Emerson Ecologics announces exclusive distribution of EcoNugenics' ProstaCaid supplement

Emerson Ecologics, LLC, the leading provider of professional-grade nutritional supplements to the healthcare practitioner market, announces the exclusive distribution of EcoNugenics' newest product ProstaCaid™ to healthcare practitioners. A professional dietary supplement based on the latest in prostate research, ProstaCaid is specifically formulated to promote and maintain prostate health.

18 Aug 2010

Psychological support from health visitors prevents depression after child birth: Study

The world's first ever analysis of data from a full scale clinical trial in adults shows that training Health Visitors to assess and psychologically support mothers after childbirth can prevent the development of depression over the following year.But the substantial reduction in the number of NHS health visitors was identified by researchers as a key issue for the health and well-being of mums.

18 Aug 2010

Agilent's HPLC-Chip/MS technology helps identify over 200 different human milk oligosaccharides structures

Agilent Technologies Inc. today announced that a group of researchers from the University of California, Davis, has made a significant discovery: human breast milk contains an unexpected abundance of sugars that coats the lining of infants' intestines, protecting it from noxious bacteria. Results of the research, which used Agilent technology, were published in this month's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

18 Aug 2010

Study finds black patients receive fewer opoid medications than whites

Black patients are prescribed fewer pain medications than whites and few women receive medications strong enough to manage their chronic pain, according to a study in the August issue of Journal of Pain.University of Michigan Health System researchers studied nearly 200 patients with chronic pain who sought help from a specialty pain center. Researchers analyzed the number and potency of medicines they were already taking and the adequacy of pain management.

18 Aug 2010

Moderate chocolate consumption lowers heart failure risk: Study

Middle-aged and elderly Swedish women who regularly ate a small amount of chocolate had lower risks of heart failure risks, in a study reported in Circulation: Heart Failure, a journal of the American Heart Association.

18 Aug 2010

Cigna lobbies to define medical loss ratio on insurers' terms

Cigna has become a player in the insurance industry's lobbying on what should count as medical care under new rules governing health care spending, Kaiser Health News and McClatchy report. "The insurer has stayed in step with larger rivals such as Aetna and WellPoint in an often contentious dialogue with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners — a network of state regulators that's been charged with advising federal officials on implementing the health care law.

18 Aug 2010

Researchers discover sugars that fight body's natural defenses, vaccines

A special set of sugars found on some disease-causing pathogens helps those pathogens fight the body's natural defenses as well as vaccines, say two Iowa State University researchers.This discovery may be a first step in understanding a disease family that includes tuberculosis for which there are currently no good vaccines or cures.Nicola Pohl, professor of chemistry, and Christine Petersen, assistant professor of veterinary pathology, discovered that a natural coating of sugar interacts with the body's defense cells to dampen its own immune response.

18 Aug 2010

NHLBI awards Vanderbilt Pediatrics and Nashville Parks $12 million to fight childhood obesity

Vanderbilt's Department of Pediatrics, in partnership with Metro Nashville Parks and Recreation, has been awarded a $12 million, seven-year grant from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) for an ambitious project aimed at stopping obesity in preschoolers before it can take hold.

18 Aug 2010

Holotranscobalamin protein may be key to early detection of cognitive decline

B vitamins-B-6, B-12 and folate-all nourish the brain. But much remains to be discovered about the relation between these essential nutrients and our brainpower.

18 Aug 2010

Alliance HealthCare Services offers to exchange series B senior notes due 2016

Alliance HealthCare Services, Inc.,a leading national provider of outpatient diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy services, announced today that it has completed its offer to exchange (the "Exchange Offer") up to $190 million aggregate principal amount of its 8.00% series B senior notes due 2016 which have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, for any and all of its outstanding 8.00% senior notes due 2016 which were issued in a private placement (the "Private Notes").

18 Aug 2010

Insurer mounts offensive and defensive strategies on health law

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, Arlene Weintraub writes: "In the increasingly tense wrangling between the insurance industry and state regulators over the definition of what spending can qualify as medical care under the new health law, one of the loudest lobbying voices is a relatively small player: Cigna Corp" (Weintraub, 8/16).

18 Aug 2010

Anesthesia Business Consultants designated as AQI Preferred Vendor

Anesthesia Business Consultants, LLC (ABC) is pleased and proud to announce that they are one of the first companies to meet the criteria for designation as an Anesthesia Quality Institute (AQI) Preferred Vendor.

18 Aug 2010

Researcher identifies immune system's ability to protect body against lung cancer

A Michigan State University researcher is analyzing the immune system's own ability to protect the body against lung cancer.The results of the work by Alison Bauer, an assistant professor of pathobiology and diagnostic investigation in the College of Veterinary Medicine, are expected to provide new approaches to prevent, identify and treat lung cancer.

18 Aug 2010

Breast cancer accomplice discovered

Scientists have discovered an accomplice in breast cancer - a master control switch with the power to set off a cascade of reactions orchestrated by a cancer-causing gene (or oncogene) named Wnt1. This executive molecule and its modus operandi are reported in back-to-back papers featured on the cover of the August 15 issue of Cancer Research.

18 Aug 2010

Pharmacy drug information confusing or lacking, study says

NPR: The Food and Drug Administration is about to make changes to drug information — often filled with technical medical jargon — to help consumers understand the risks and benefits of the drugs they take. "University of Florida professor Carole Kimberlin worked with colleagues to sample leaflets from some 400 pharmacies across the country recently at the request of the FDA. They found wide differences. 'Some of them were as little as 30 words, while others were over 2,500 words,' she says.

18 Aug 2010

Adult stem cells associated with poor prognosis of cancer: Research

Adult stem cells that are vital for airway repair in the lung but that persist in areas where pre-cancerous lesions are found are associated with a poor prognosis in patients who develop cancer, even those with early stage disease, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.These adult stem cells are found in repairing areas after injury and also are found in pre-cancerous areas, suggesting that these cells may mutate and become cancer causing stem cells, making them a potential cell-of-origin for lung cancer and a possible target for prevention strategies and new targeted therapies.

18 Aug 2010

Cardica, Intuitive Surgical enter license agreement

Cardica, Inc. today announced that Cardica and Intuitive Surgical, Inc. have entered into a license agreement providing Intuitive with a worldwide, exclusive license to Cardica's intellectual property, which relates to tissue cutting, stapling and clip appliers, for use in the robotics field. Pursuant to the license agreement, Cardica and Intuitive may also enter into future product development agreements.

18 Aug 2010

NIH awards Brain Plasticity $3.65M to improve cognitive function in people with schizophrenia

Brain Plasticity Inc., a new technology incubator dedicated to the discovery and development of novel technologies that harness the basic principles of brain plasticity to improve the lives of people with neurological and psychiatric disorders, was recently awarded $3.65 million dollars in two separate grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

18 Aug 2010

Scientist suggests emodin can reduce impact of type 2 diabetes

Emodin, a natural product that can be extracted from various Chinese herbs including Rheum palmatum and Polygonum cuspidatum, shows promise as an agent that could reduce the impact of type 2 diabetes. Findings published in this month's edition of the British Journal of Pharmacology show that giving emodin to mice with diet-induced obesity lowered blood glucose and serum insulin, improved insulin resistance and lead to more healthy levels of lipid in the blood. It also decreased body weight and reduced central fat mass.

18 Aug 2010