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Autism experts, parents and professionals to attend ARI's Defeat Autism Now! Conference

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released new estimates that one in every 110 children (1 in 70 boys) is diagnosed with autism. Autism has become more common in our children than cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined. Autism affects children from all socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds and places a tremendous economic burden on affected families and society at large, costing up to $3.2 million per child for a lifetime of care and over $35 billion in annual societal cost.

8 Apr 2010

Adolescent inhalant misuse can lead to deadly consequences

Approximately 143,000 young people aged 12 to 17 used inhalants in the past year while dealing with a condition like pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma, or sinusitis, according to a new study sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The study determined that the rate of use was 4.4 percent among adolescents who had at least one of the aforementioned respiratory conditions, similar to the rate among adolescents overall (4.1 percent).

8 Apr 2010

April issue of National Geographic examines global water security

"Though water covers our world, more than 97 percent is salty. Two percent is fresh water locked in snow and ice, leaving less than one percent for us," writes National Geographic editor Chris Jones in an introduction to the magazine's April issue that examines the effects of diminishing water supplies around the world.

8 Apr 2010

Dubai conference calls for more coordinated approach to global health

Marking the conclusion of the three-day Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development (DIHAD) conference Tuesday, conference attendees called for humanitarians to adopt a more coordinated approach to tackling global health needs, the National reports. "Speakers, including health professionals and officials from international organisations, stressed the need to share medical knowledge and innovations during a crisis, citing the recent Haiti earthquake," the newspaper writes.

8 Apr 2010

L.A. Care Health Plan receives $15.6M federal grant to establish HITEC-LA

L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest public health plan, announced today that the organization has received a $15.6 million federal grant to establish the Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center, called HITEC-LA, that will help doctors in L.A. County adopt and use Electronic Health Records in a meaningful way.

8 Apr 2010

Clinical testing service for safer dosing of warfarin

Machaon Diagnostics, California's only independent laboratory for testing bleeding and clotting disorders has launched a clinical testing service for patients that have been prescribed warfarin. Warfarin, also known as Coumadin, Jantoven or warfarin sodium, is a potent 'blood thinner' or anticoagulant.

8 Apr 2010

9/11 rescue teams’ lungs still affected and aged by 12 years: say researchers

In a published report in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine this Wednesday researchers revealed that fire fighters and rescue workers who assisted in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001 had compromised lung function even seven years after the incident.

8 Apr 2010

Parents lack understanding of causes, signs and symptoms of dehydration in children

Dehydration is a condition that can have a significant impact on children and, if left untreated, may lead to serious complications and hospitalization. A national survey of more than 800 parents with children between the ages of one month and 10 years found that three out of five parents reported needing to know more information about dehydration, such as when to see a physician, warning signs, and treatment, if their child became sick - pointing to a greater need for awareness and education around the condition and its treatment.

From Baxter International Inc. 8 Apr 2010

Further delay in the trial of Dr. Jayant Patel

There is yet another delay in the Dr. Jayant Patel manslaughter trial. Justice John Byrne gave the jury a day off on Thursday agreeing to meet on Friday. He parted with encouraging words to the jury saying, "During the Second World War, so I'm told, at times when things were quiet for the soldiers, they were often encouraged with the words of (17th century poet John) Milton from three centuries earlier: `They also serve who only sit and wait'…I mention this because your involvement today now ceases and it will be not necessary for you to be involved in the trial for the rest of the day."

8 Apr 2010

Results of M118 EMINENCE clinical trial published in Circulation

Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in the characterization and engineering of complex mixture drugs, today announced that the results of the M118 EMINENCE clinical trial have published in Circulation.

8 Apr 2010

Dating and hooking up: Benefits and risks

As hooking up takes over from dating as a means of heterosexual interaction on university campuses, more women than men continue to prefer dating whereas more men than women rate hooking up above dating. Both genders however perceive similar benefits and risks to dating and hooking up. Carolyn Bradshaw from James Madison University in Virginia, US, and colleagues explored the reasons that motivate college men and women to hook up or to date, as well as the perceived relative benefits and costs of the two practices.

8 Apr 2010

New funding for hard-to-insure people could ease burden on states' high-risk pools

The health law will allocated $5 billion to help establish a federal high-risk insurance pool to help tide over people with preexisting conditions until 2014 when broader parts of the law kick in, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

8 Apr 2010

First proton therapy center for New Jersey

Cancer survivors joined representatives from ProCure Treatment Centers, Inc., Princeton Radiation Oncology, and CentraState Healthcare System to break ground on the ProCure Proton Therapy Center in Somerset - the first proton therapy center to be built in the state, located 40 miles from downtown Manhattan.

8 Apr 2010

Adherence to type 1 diabetes treatment lags if parents don't monitor

Teenagers and "tweenagers" with type 1 diabetes have more trouble sticking to their treatment plan - thus raising their risk of blindness, kidney failure and heart disease - if their parents become increasingly lax about monitoring the child's treatment, or if the mother-child relationship is poor.

8 Apr 2010

Secretary of Health announces five health research grants to improve health of Pennsylvanians

Secretary of Health Everette James today announced five health research grants totaling approximately $20 million will be awarded from Pennsylvania's share of the national tobacco settlement for 2009-2010.

8 Apr 2010

Complex back surgeries skyrocket, raising concerns about cost, complications

NPR: "Too many complex back surgeries are being done and people are suffering as a result, according to a study in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The general tendency noted in the study — that many patients and doctors think more medical care is always better — has implications for the new health overhaul law.

8 Apr 2010

Intermittent exotropia will lead to nearsightedness in most children

Intermittent exotropia, a condition in which the eyes turn outward while looking at an object, occurs in about 1% of American children and is less common than esotropia, where the eyes turn inward. In an article published in the March 2010 issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology, researchers from the Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation, Rochester, MN, followed 135 patients with intermittent exotropia over a 20-year period and found that slightly more than 90% of these children became nearsighted by the time they reached their 20s.

8 Apr 2010

Researchers find new genomic approach to identify smokers at risk of lung cancer

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine in collaboration with investigators at the University of Utah, have discovered a new approach for identifying smokers at the highest risk for developing lung cancer. The findings, which appear in the April 7th issue of Science Translational Medicine, will allow the researchers to use a genomic approach to prevent lung cancer in these individuals and to personalize cancer chemoprophylaxis and therapy.

8 Apr 2010

AMA Victoria supports Brumby opposing Rudd’s health plans

The Commonwealth had proposed health changes by taking control of health funding by withholding some GST revenue. The Victorian Government has released an alternative approach for this. This plan called ‘The Putting Patients First’ intends for increases in Commonwealth health funding to be distributed by the States.

8 Apr 2010

Healthcare reform scams: Tips to avoid being victimized

With the healthcare reform law only days old, Medical Mutual of Ohio is urging its customers and the public to beware of scammers who may try to sell phony health insurance policies.

8 Apr 2010