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U-M's tailored treatment more effective against heart attacks

A new study by the University of Michigan Medical School and VA Ann Arbor Health System challenges the medical thinking that the lower the cholesterol, the better.

19 Jan 2010

Incidence of diabetes more prevalent among First Nations women

A diabetes epidemic is affecting First Nations people, especially women in their prime reproductive years, according to a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj090846.pdf.

19 Jan 2010

Premera Blue Cross to provide personal health records to the employees of Microsoft

Premera Blue Cross today announced an important collaboration with Microsoft aimed at providing Microsoft employees with integrated, personal health records. Premera is combining its data and expertise with Microsoft’s technology to provide the company’s employees with greater visibility to their spending and healthcare claims through a connection to Microsoft HealthVault – a personal health application platform available to consumers.

19 Jan 2010

Humanitarian group's response targets vulnerable women and children in Haiti

CARE warned Saturday that pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and young children are at greatest risk in the wake of an earthquake that has devastated the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince and left nearly three million people in need of assistance.

19 Jan 2010

Tragic consequences of AIDS denialism in South Africa

Despite irrefutable proof that HIV treatments have proven benefits, AIDS denialists continue to deny their value. In a paper just published online in Springer's journal AIDS and Behavior, Professor Myron Essex and Dr. Pride Chigwedere, from the Harvard School of Public Health AIDS Initiative in the US, provide additional proof that withholding HIV treatments with proven benefits led to the death of 330,000 people in South Africa as the result of AIDS denialist policies. They also show that the harm has not been reversed and highlight that when denialism enters public health practice, as in South Africa, the consequences are disastrous.

19 Jan 2010

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: A deadly disease that often goes undetected

The tragic news of Chicago Bears defensive end Gaines Adams, 26, and Southern Indiana center Jeron Lewis, 21, whose sudden deaths are both suspected to be from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), are vital reminders that this deadly disease often goes undetected.

19 Jan 2010

Orbis Education completes $8M Series B financing to expand its online nursing education programs

Orbis Education, a developer of nursing education solutions, has announced the completion of its $8 million Series B financing, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners of Menlo Park, California.

19 Jan 2010

New data shows significant rise in healthcare premiums

Management consultant Hay Group expects that annual premium increases for health coverage will average approximately 9 percent during 2010. This estimate represents the increase in premiums before any changes in plan design, medical management or plan administration.

19 Jan 2010

Enrollment of Phase 2 portion of Cempra Pharmaceuticals' Phase 2/3 clinical trial of TAKSTA completed

Cempra Pharmaceuticals today announced completion of enrollment of the Phase 2 portion of its Phase 2/3 clinical trial of TAKSTA (sodium fusidate; CEM-102) for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections.

19 Jan 2010

Randomised trial shows fish oil is associated with improved clinical outcomes in septic patients

A randomised controlled trial of fish oil given intravenously to patients in intensive care has found that it improves gas exchange, reduces inflammatory chemicals and results in a shorter length of hospital stay. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care investigated the effects of including fish oil in the normal nutrient solution for patients with sepsis, finding a significant series of benefits.

19 Jan 2010

Blocking release of VEGFs may inhibit tumor growth

Researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Villigen, Switzerland, have determined the crystal structure of the ligand binding domain of a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor in complex with one of its ligands (VEGF-C).

19 Jan 2010

Attaching cartilage to polydioxanone plates facilitates corrective surgery on nasal septum

Attaching cartilage to plates made of the resorbable material polydioxanone appears to facilitate corrective surgery on the nasal septum, the thin cartilage separating the two airways, according to a report in the January/February issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

19 Jan 2010

Voice abnormalities in cochlear implants will improve over time, says study

Children with cochlear implants in both ears appear to have difficulty controlling the loudness and pitch of their voices, but these measures improve over time, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

19 Jan 2010

Smoking diabetics more likely to have a heart attack

The Canadian Diabetes Association encourages all Canadians living with diabetes who smoke to take action to quit smoking in the next seven days, during National Non-Smoking Week.

19 Jan 2010

Calsed earns proprietary clinical gold standard status from Decision Resources

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that Celgene/Nippon Kayaku's Calsed earns Decision Resources' proprietary clinical gold standard status in 2013 for the treatment of extensive-disease small-cell lung cancer, following its approval for the indication in 2012.

19 Jan 2010

New study indicates appendicitis may be caused by viral infection

The researchers evaluated data over a 36-year period from the National Hospital Discharge Survey and concluded in a paper appearing in the January issue of Archives of Surgery that appendicitis may be caused by undetermined viral infection or infections, said Dr. Edward Livingston, chief of GI/endocrine surgery at UT Southwestern and senior author of the report.

19 Jan 2010

Preventing two oestrogen influencing receptors from 'conversing' may prevent breast cancer

CANCER RESEARCH UK scientists have shown for the first time how preventing two receptors - 'cell antennae' - communicating with each other can influence the activity of oestrogen, the hormone that fuels the progression of breast cancer in many women. The research is published in Genes and Development.

19 Jan 2010

Adverse childhood experiences are associated with increased risk of lung cancer

Adverse events in childhood have been linked to an increase in the likelihood of developing lung cancer in later life. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Public Health describe how the link is partly explained by raised rates of cigarette smoking in victims of childhood trauma, but note that other factors may also be to blame.

19 Jan 2010

Daiichi Sankyo chooses IntraLinks as its information sharing solution

IntraLinks, the leading provider of critical information exchange solutions, announced today that Daiichi Sankyo has selected IntraLinks as the company's information sharing solution.

19 Jan 2010

Unique partnership leverages funds and technology to track and improve breast screening program

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Atlantic announced today a first-of-its-kind partnership between the breast screening programs of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador that yield benefits that could extend to the rest of Canada and beyond.

19 Jan 2010