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H1N1 vaccine for limited supply only to people at highest risk

The novel H1N1 virus (Swine Flu Virus) is expected to complicate the 2009/2010 flu season. The H1N1 vaccine has been approved for release but availability and access is still unknown. Seasonal influenza vaccine (flu shot) is available and the CDC recommends vaccination over the next few months.

28 Sep 2009

Podiatric experts recommend team approach for diabetic foot care

Every 30 seconds, across the globe an individual loses a limb due to poor diabetes management. In the U.S., diabetes affects nearly 24 million people. When poorly controlled, diabetes results in nerve damage and poor circulation to the legs and feet.

28 Sep 2009

Quintiles opens an expanded regional facility

To enhance service offerings throughout Europe, Quintiles Transnational Corp. today announced the opening of an expanded regional facility near Edinburgh, Scotland. The purpose-built facility consolidates three buildings into a single state-of-the-art complex.

28 Sep 2009

Physicians should implement new measures while diagnosing prenatal Down syndrome

New prenatal tests for Down syndrome are soon to be offered to all pregnant women across the United States, yet telling an expectant couple that their child will be born with Down syndrome is a task very few physicians are trained for, claims research published in the American Journal of Medical Genetics.

28 Sep 2009

WHO Asia-Pacific Countries pledge to use artemisinin with other drugs by 2015 to prevent drug-resistance

On Wednesday, nine of the 10 countries in the WHO's Asia-Pacific region "that suffer most" from malaria pledged to phase out the use of artemisinin-only to treat malaria and use it in combination with other drugs by 2015, Reuters reports (Lyn, 9/23).

28 Sep 2009

Universal bilirubin screening can reduce jaundice incidence in newborns

Screening all newborns for excessive bilirubin in the blood can significantly decrease the incidence of severe jaundice which, in extreme cases, can lead to seizures and brain damage, according to researchers at UCSF Children's Hospital and Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research in Oakland, CA.

28 Sep 2009

$Diabetic patients face increased risk of bone fractures$

Diabetic patients face increased risk of bone fractures

Current research suggests that the inflammatory molecule TNF-α may contribute to delayed bone fracture healing in diabetics. The related report by Alblowi et al, "High Levels of TNF-α Contribute to Accelerated Loss of Cartilage in Diabetic Fracture Healing" appears in the October 2009 issue of the American Journal of Pathology.

28 Sep 2009

UTAS chooses ADI Blackfin processors to ensure high quality patient care

Analog Devices, Inc. (NYSE: ADI) today announced that UTAS, a provider of medical devices for patient monitoring and diagnostics, has selected ADI Blackfin® processors to ensure high-performance digital signal processing operations and robust functionality across its full line of products.

28 Sep 2009

Research reveals prophylactic mastectomy is on the rise

A new study of New York State data finds that the number of women opting for surgery to remove the healthy breast after a cancer diagnosis in one breast is rising, despite a lack of evidence that the surgery can improve survival.

28 Sep 2009

AMA President: Alberta's health care system needs change

Alberta's health care system needs change, but change must be planned with proper consultation and true feedback from physicians, the public and other health professionals. This was the message of outgoing Alberta Medical Association (AMA) President Dr. Noel W. Grisdale.

28 Sep 2009

Progress on the Baucus Bill is in the eye of the beholder

The New York Times: "Senate Democrats on Friday preserved the guts of their proposal to reinvent the health care system, but Republicans scored political points on several issues, like the effects of the bill on older Americans. The Democrats beat back Republican attacks on the legislation as the Senate Finance Committee deferred some of the most contentious issues to next week."

28 Sep 2009

Fresh from G-20, Obama renews health care push

President Barack Obama on Saturday resumed his push to overhaul the health care system, telling a Congressional Black Caucus conference that there comes a time when 'the cup of endurance runs over.

28 Sep 2009

Neuroscience and sports scientists collaborate to help atheletes

Bioscientists and sports scientists are meeting this week to discuss the application of bioscience research to help investigate challenges presented by the UK high performance sport community.

28 Sep 2009

First heart surgery using MECC system completed

MAQUET Cardiovascular announced today that Johannes Bonatti, M.D., Professor of Surgery and Director of Coronary Surgery and Advanced Coronary Interventions at the University of Maryland Heart Center in Baltimore, has completed the world's first use of the MAQUET Minimized ExtraCorporeal Circulation (MECC) system during a successful robotic and fully endoscopic heart surgery. The new cardiopulmonary bypass technology is the first major advancement in perfusion technology in the last decade. It is designed to minimize the effects of traditional heart surgery and aid in minimally-invasive heart surgery without the need to stop the patient's heart from beating.

28 Sep 2009

Researchers measure the brain activity in infants

Do infants only start to crawl once they are physically able to see danger coming? Or is it that because they are more mobile, they develop the ability to sense looming danger? According to Ruud van der Weel and Audrey van der Meer, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, infants' ability to see whether an object is approaching on a direct collision course, and when it is likely to collide, develops around the time they become more mobile. Their findings have just been published online in the Springer journal Naturwissenschaften.

27 Sep 2009

Investigational vaccine regimen 31% effective in preventing HIV infection

In an encouraging development, an investigational vaccine regimen has been shown to be well-tolerated and to have a modest effect in preventing HIV infection in a clinical trial involving more than 16,000 adult participants in Thailand. Following a final analysis of the trial data, the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, the trial sponsor, announced today that the prime-boost investigational vaccine regimen was safe and 31 percent effective in preventing HIV infection.

27 Sep 2009

Rosiglitazone slows progression of cachexia in cancer affected mice

Insulin resistance, the hallmark of type 2 diabetes and a condition often associated with obesity, is paradoxically also an apparent contributor to muscle wasting and severe fat loss that accompanies some cancers, according to new research.

27 Sep 2009

S&P Consultants and Vedant collaborate to increase patient safety in Cerner Millennium implementations

A new business partnership of S&P Consultants, Inc. and Vedant Incorporated will now offer the highest levels of quality- and patient-safety assurance to both standard and customized applications built on the Cerner Millennium® platform. Both companies have particular expertise in the Cerner Millennium® environment, with S&P providing a broad range of consulting services and Vedant offering TestStream®, a comprehensive suite of software testing and validation solutions for systems of all levels of complexity and scale.

26 Sep 2009

Photographs from the Frontlines of Health

On exhibit for the first time in Canada, Providence Health Care and AstraZeneca Canada are co-presenting Beyond Barriers: Photographs from the Frontlines of Health, which celebrates the compassion and ingenuity of health professionals (doctors, nurses, social workers and others) working on Canada's frontlines.

26 Sep 2009

INFORMS annual meeting in San Diego from October 11th to 14th

When 4,000 experts in everything from problems with California's hospitals to a perpetual game of Monopoly come to San Diego on October 11, the city will find itself deluged not only by smart people who use math for a living but also problem solvers who tackle America's greatest threats.

26 Sep 2009