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Tips for preventing cancer

The risk of cancer can be dramatically reduced through everyday choices about diet, exercise and tobacco use, according to a Special Report on Cancer Prevention in the November issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource.

12 Nov 2009

SPIN program highlights the importance of human milk for preterm babies

UC San Diego Medical Center recently launched a website dedicated to offering families and the medical community valuable information about the best way to provide human milk to premature and underweight infants. The website was developed with a $10,000 grant from The March of DimesSan Diego chapter.

12 Nov 2009

New Assure Pro blood glucose monitoring system from ARKRAY

ARKRAY, Inc., the world's 5th largest manufacturer of diabetes self-monitoring systems, today announced the launch of a new and improved Assure Pro Blood Glucose Monitoring Test Strip.

12 Nov 2009

Also in global health news: Funding shortfall in Philippines; WHO-approved ARV

Bloomberg examines the U.N.'s continued appeal for aid for the people of the Philippines "after three tropical cyclones left almost 1,000 people dead" and an estimated 1.7 million people displaced or living in flooded areas. "The UN's humanitarian agency issued a 'flash appeal' for $74 million in October and has received $26 million, according to the world body's newswire," the news service writes.

12 Nov 2009

Open EC Technologies, WOW GLOBAL sign Teaming Agreement

Open EC Technologies, Inc. ("Open EC" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:OCE) is pleased to report the signing of a Teaming Agreement with WOW GLOBAL, LLC ("WOW") for its subsidiary, SoftCare EC Solution Inc.("SoftCare") www.softcare.com.

12 Nov 2009

Almost 200m undernourished children worldwide, report says

In developing countries, almost 200 million children under the age of 5 "suffer from stunted growth and health problems due to poor nutrition in their early years," according to a UNICEF report released on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

12 Nov 2009

Details emerge for possible Medicare payroll tax in Senate health bill

Bloomberg: "White House Budget Director Peter Orszag said a proposal to apply Medicare taxes to capital gains earned by wealthy Americans as part of health-overhaul legislation is 'in play' in order to scale back a proposed levy on high-end insurance plans." Orszag made these comments while speaking at the Bloomberg Washington Summit today.

12 Nov 2009

CDC expected to revise H1N1 mortality figures

The New York Times: "About 4,000 Americans - rather than about 1,200 - have died of swine flu since the disease emerged in April, according to new figures being calculated by [CDC] epidemiologists" - an estimate that combines the number of "deaths from laboratory-confirmed cases of the flu and deaths that appear to be brought on by flu, even though the patient may have ultimately died of bacterial pneumonia, other infections or organ failure."

12 Nov 2009

IVF Witness uses RFID to identify the sperm and eggs, and reduces the risk of lab errors in infertility treatment

A new software technology is helping to reduce the risk of laboratory errors in infertility treatment, by electronically identifying the sperm, eggs, resulting embryos and other materials used in in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment cycles. Using non-invasive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), IVF Witness(TM) can track a patient's sperm, eggs and embryos during the course of treatment. If the wrong material is introduced in the lab environment, IVF Witness alerts the staff, via visual and audible signals, to help prevent mislabeling of any materials.

12 Nov 2009

Businesses at risk from health reform, or status quo, depending on source

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Employment Policies Institute and other friends of business have joined to launch a national television ad campaign, beginning Thursday, that will warn against the health care overhaul, The Boston Globe reports. The $10 million ad blitz "features June O'Neill, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, arguing that the bill would deepen the national debt and hurt job creation."

12 Nov 2009

ClearCount Medical Solutions' SmartSponge System wins "Best of What's New" award

ClearCount Medical Solutions, an innovator of patient safety solutions for the operating room, announced today that the editors of Popular Science have named the SmartSponge® System one of the top technology innovations of 2009. As a winner off a “Best of What’s New” award in the health category, the SmartSponge System stands out as the first and only system to incorporate the efficiency of counting with the safety of detection for the prevention of left-behind sponges during surgery.

12 Nov 2009

Pew report: Nine states face budget crises of Californian magnitude

A new Pew analysis, titled "Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril," warns that nine other states are also on the brink of economic catastrophe and urges state legislatures to act quickly, The Associated Press reports. While Michigan slashed health care spending, Arizona is in such a dire fiscal situation that officials have considered mortgaging state buildings to temporarily fend off disaster. The other states are Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

12 Nov 2009

ARYx Therapeutics announces operating results for the third quarter of 2009

ARYx Therapeutics, Inc. today reported results of operations and provided a general business update for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009.

12 Nov 2009

KHN column: Don't overlook the other determinants of health

In a column for Kaiser Health News, Gail Wilensky writes that "after months of discussion and debate, the House has passed its version of health care reform. But as many observers, including me, have already noted, health care reform has primarily become health insurance reform over the course of the year."

12 Nov 2009

Humana CEO: No no regrets about sending warning letters to Medicare customers

Humana's CEO says he does not regret sending Medicare customers a letter warning that health care reform could hurt their benefits. The letters caused government officials to probe whether the insurer violated federal regulations in September.

12 Nov 2009

Senesco's multiple myeloma drug candidate data to be presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC conference

Senesco Technologies, Inc. announced today that Catherine Taylor, one of the Company's funded researchers, will be presenting pre-clinical stability and biological activity data on SNS-01, Senesco's multiple myeloma drug candidate, at the 2009 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)-National Cancer Institute (NCI)-European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics Conference.

12 Nov 2009

The Quigley Corporation announces financial results for the third quarter of 2009

The Quigley Corporation, today reported net sales of $5.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2009, compared to net sales of $6.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2008.

12 Nov 2009

Florida officials say Medicaid reimbursement formula will drive deficit

Florida state legislators have written to their U.S. Senators to urge them address what they called a "serious flaw" in the formula that determines of how much money the state's Medicaid program receives from the federal government, Health News Florida reports.

12 Nov 2009

AARP leader provides powerful voice for seniors and health care

John Rother tries to dispel myths and quell fears that seniors may have about health care reform as a leader at the powerful lobby and senior group AARP.

12 Nov 2009

Cequent Pharmaceuticals proposes the first test of an orally administered RNA interference drug in humans

Cequent Pharmaceuticals, a pioneer in the development of novel products to deliver RNAi-based treatments to prevent and treat human disease, has announced that it has filed its first IND (investigational new drug) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

12 Nov 2009