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WellPoint profits rise 51 percent amid scrutiny on several fronts

WellPoint, the U.S. health insurer with the biggest membership, announced Wednesday that its first-quarter earnings rose 51 percent compared to last year and were boosted by a mild flu season, The Wall Street Journal reports. Medical membership fell 2.1% to 33.8 million as of March 31 from a year earlier but rose by 165,000 during the quarter. The company trimmed its year-end medical membership projection to 33.1 million from 33.3 million."

29 Apr 2010

Normal BMI, regular exercise protect against musculoskeletal symptoms

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology have found an association between the level of leisure time physical exercise and a future risk of developing fibromyalgia. The research team also identified BMI as an independent risk factor for fibromyalgia. Details of the study appear in the May 2010 issue of Arthritis Care & Research, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology.

29 Apr 2010

NIDCR awards Selenium $912,943 grant for development of antimicrobial dental devices and water lines

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has issued a two-year $912,943 grant to biopharmaceutical company Selenium, Ltd. to support the development of antimicrobial dental devices and water lines. In the two-part grant the NIH has approved $492,972 for year one and $419,971 for year two dependent on achieving year one objectives.

29 Apr 2010

People consume fewer calories when foods are served from kitchen counters

Can eating less be as simple as leaving serving dishes on the stove and off the table? According to a team of researchers from Cornell University, it can.

29 Apr 2010

Small business owners have mixed reviews on health law's tax credits

Kaiser Health News staff writer Andrew Villegas reports: "Everyone wants a tax credit, right? Maybe not. Employers, particularly small businesses, are fretting over provisions in the health overhaul they say could burden their companies.

29 Apr 2010

Geron reports net loss of $16.6M for first-quarter 2010

Geron Corporation today reported financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2010.

29 Apr 2010

$145M Federal Government effort to harness power of nanotechnology to improve cancer patients

A $145-million Federal Government effort to harness the power of nanotechnology to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer is producing innovations that will radically improve care for the disease. That's the conclusion of an update on the status of the program, called the National Cancer Institute Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer.

29 Apr 2010

Study examines lifestyle-related causes of death in AIDS patients

The study, by researchers from the University of Bristol and a large group of international collaborators, examined data from the Antiretroviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration (ART-CC) which involved nearly 40,000 patients who started ART between 1996 and 2006 in Europe and North America.

29 Apr 2010

ECRI Institute's recommendations for controlling CT radiation dose

The benefits of computed tomography (CT) have increased greatly over the past decade. Now twice as powerful, it offers dynamic images of anatomy, including the beating heart. Future advancements promise to deliver even more clinical benefits. However, CT has always had a downside: it can deliver high radiation doses to patients, putting them at increased risk of developing cancer.

29 Apr 2010

MU researcher develops test to pinpoint neurological origins of dysphagia

Muscle degeneration and confinement to a wheelchair are the hallmarks of Lou Gehrig's disease, Parkinson's, muscular dystrophy and other neurodegenerative diseases. One of the silent, and most serious, symptoms of these diseases is losing the ability to swallow.

29 Apr 2010

RTI Biologics reports revenues of $37.8M for first-quarter 2010

RTI Biologics Inc., a leading processor of orthopedic and other biologic implants, reported operating results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2010

29 Apr 2010

Presence and type of cirrhosis complications are strong predictors of mortality: Study

A recent study by Danish researchers discovered patients with alcoholic cirrhosis had a high prevalence of complications at the time of the disease diagnosis.

29 Apr 2010

Nearly all U.S. states offer HPV vaccine to adolescent girls in juvenile justice facilities: Report

Nearly all U.S. states offer the human papillomavirus vaccine to adolescent girls who have been arrested or detained, according to a new report from The Miriam Hospital and Brown University. The study, published in the May issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, offers the first nationwide review of HPV vaccination practices among juvenile justice facilities.

29 Apr 2010

Former U.S. Secretaries of State urge Congress not to cut international affairs budget

"As the Senate Foreign Relations Committee begins mark up today of the first foreign affairs authorization bill in five years, all eight living former U.S. Secretaries of State have written a letter [.pdf] urging Congress not to cut the international affairs budget," Politico's Laura Rozen writes on her blog.

29 Apr 2010

pSivida receives full payment of $15M note from Alimera Sciences

pSivida Corp., a leader in the development of ophthalmic sustained release drug delivery products, today said it had received full payment of a $15 million note, including an additional $225,000 in accrued interest, from Alimera Sciences, Inc., pSivida's licensee developing Iluvien® for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME).

29 Apr 2010

USPTO issues new patent to Applied Spine Technologies

Applied Spine Technologies, Inc. www.appliedspine.com, a medical device company focused on motion preservation of the lumbar spine, has been awarded a new patent titled "Spinal Stabilization Device with Weld Cap".

29 Apr 2010

LCA acknowledges on-going work by ODP on lung cancer screening research

Lung Cancer Alliance acknowledges the on-going work by the Office of Disease Prevention at the National Institutes of Health on lung cancer screening research and the need for people who may be at risk for lung cancer to be well informed.

29 Apr 2010

Fluorescent inhibitors hold promise for early-stage tumor detection

A series of novel imaging agents could light up tumors as they begin to form - before they turn deadly - and signal their transition to aggressive cancers.

29 Apr 2010

Canadian leaders focus on hunger, disease prevention at G8 meeting

G8 countries should make use of low-cost, effective tools to prevent hunger, disease and premature deaths among women and children in developing countries, Bev Oda, Canada's international cooperation minister, said on Tuesday at the opening of a meeting of G8 development ministers in Halifax, the Toronto Sun reports (Payton, 4/27).

29 Apr 2010