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Queensland rains and floods – boon or bane?

Warnings of floods and rains across Queensland have sparked fears related to Ross River fever among health authorities. Ross River fever is caused by a virus carried by a number of mosquito species. It is usually associated with joint pain and swelling that can last for weeks.

25 Mar 2010

Experimental vaccine can help delay IBD and colon cancer

An experimental vaccine against an abnormal protein found in some tumors has the potential to delay the onset of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and in turn prevent progression to colon cancer, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

25 Mar 2010

Canadian Diabetes Association launches new tools to help optimize diabetes care

Today the Canadian Diabetes Association launched new tools for people living with diabetes and healthcare practitioners to help optimize diabetes care across the country.

25 Mar 2010

Health reform debate often misrepresents changes to Medicare

Seniors, as well as doctors who treat Medicare patients, "have been shaken up by news that health care reform efforts are largely funded by about $455 billion worth of projected savings in the government health insurance program for the elderly.

25 Mar 2010

An interview with NIH director Francis Collins

The Washington Post interviewed Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, about the health care bill and the human genome project, among other topics.

25 Mar 2010

50% of bushfires deliberate and caused by school boys

The Australian Institute of Criminology and Monash University researchers say that 50% of the bushfires are deliberate and caused by school boys. The occurrence of these fires coincides with the time school ends. Research has shown that these school boys are a prey to habit and grow up to be arsonists. These crimes are one of the most difficult to solve with almost all criminals getting away from the scene.

25 Mar 2010

Medicaid cuts weaken Idaho’s health care safety net, says AARP

The 217,000 Idahoans, 15% of the state's population, who rely on Medicaid for basic health services, are bracing for bad news from state lawmakers -- more cuts to their health care safety net.

25 Mar 2010

Swine flu closely related to 1918 Spanish flu pandemic

In research on the swine flu virus it has been seen that the virus may seem new, but it has old relatives. An influenza virus which was pandemic in 1918 is seen to be very closely related, structurally speaking, to the H1N1 swine flu vaccine. This virus has the dubious distinction of having claimed between 40 million to 100 million lives in the flu wave of 1918.

25 Mar 2010

Gesture may be a tool for diagnosing language delays in children with brain lesions

About 1 in 4,000 infants has a brain injury known as pre- or perinatal brain lesions, mainly as a result of stroke, with risk factors involving both mothers and babies. Children with early brain lesions that affect one side of the brain often take longer to reach early language milestones; these delays normalize for many but persist for some.

25 Mar 2010

Industry continues to give thumbs up to overhaul

On Tuesday, "[p]rovider groups hailed the president's historic signing of the Senate's healthcare reform bill, which seeks to overhaul the healthcare system through the establishment of a new insurance marketplace, expansions to Medicaid and various insurance reforms," Modern Healthcare reports.

25 Mar 2010

China’s 3rd Annual Asia Scientific Congress programs feature latest updates on cancer

In an effort to curb the cancer rates, the country has adopted evidence-based treatment guidelines and continues to strengthen a number of strategic collaborations with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) as demonstrated by several NCCN programs scheduled throughout China this spring.

25 Mar 2010

Bariatric surgery may delay onset of type 2 diabetes, says study

A team of researchers, led by a UC Davis veterinary endocrinologist, has shown for the first time that a surgical procedure in rats that is similar to bariatric surgery in humans can delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.

25 Mar 2010

China set to dominate prescription drug markets

New reports indicate that prescription drug sales in emerging markets will grow quickly, especially in the hugely influential market of China. In fact, China's pharmaceutical market continues to expand its dominance and clout at an astonishing rate.

25 Mar 2010

Pernix Therapeutics Holdings acquires oral third-generation cephalosporin, CEDAX

Pernix Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. today announced the acquisition of the antibiotic CEDAX® (ceftibuten) from Shionogi Pharma, Inc.

25 Mar 2010

New study investigates effects of influenza among pregnant women

This spring, pregnant women in Bergen and Oslo will be invited to take part in the Norwegian Influenza Study (NorFlu). The aim is to find out how influenza in pregnancy affects maternal health and childhood development. NorFlu will also study any implications of vaccination during pregnancy.

25 Mar 2010

Study offers new insight on how human brain makes moral judgments

A new study from MIT neuroscientists suggests that our ability to respond appropriately to intended harms - that is, with outrage toward the perpetrator - is seated in a brain region associated with regulating emotions.

25 Mar 2010

Health law includes calorie-counting requirement for chain restaurants, vending machines

Health care reform legislation includes a provision requiring chain restaurants and vending machines to include calorie counts.

25 Mar 2010

Special medicated contact lenses can help treat common eye disorders

The popular dietary supplement vitamin E, loaded into special medicated contact lenses, can keep glaucoma medicine near the eye - where it can treat that common disease- almost 100 times longer than possible with current commercial lenses, scientists reported here today.

25 Mar 2010

DEA crackdown on nursing home drugs comes under Congressional scrutiny

The New York Times previews a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday where nursing home operators and caregivers will criticize a narcotics crackdown by the Drug Enforcement Administration that they say "has left seriously ill patients crying for pain relief.

25 Mar 2010

DEA regulations will impact nursing home residents, says AAHSA

In written testimony to the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging as part of a hearing entitled, "The War on Drugs Meets the War on Pain: Nursing Home Residents Caught in the Crossfire," the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) urged the committee to support legislation designed to recognize "chart orders" and the functional role of nurses as the de facto agent of physicians whose patients reside in nursing facilities.

25 Mar 2010