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Positivity speeds recovery from whiplash

Positive thoughts bring positive things to people and it's well documented these expectations have helped people recover from a number of health conditions. But until now, not much was known about the correlation between that belief and the recovery from injuries like whiplash.

5 Aug 2009

Health care reform must avoid conflicts-of-interest

As President Obama and Congress weigh changes in the nation’s health care system they must avoid creating a system where physicians are financially motivated to pressure patients into mandated treatments that conflict with their values and needs, two Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center physicians warn.

5 Aug 2009

Baxter completes production of batches of CELVAPAN A/H1N1 pandemic vaccine

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) today announced that it completed production of its first commercial batches of CELVAPAN A/H1N1 pandemic vaccine in late July and is discussing plans for distribution with national health authorities, subject to obtaining appropriate authorizations. CELVAPAN, the brand name for the company’s A/H1N1 pandemic influenza vaccine, is made using Baxter’s proprietary Vero cell culture technology.

From Baxter International Inc. 5 Aug 2009

Epigenetic alterations may serve as markers for chronic leukemia

A new study shows that certain genes are turned off early, before clinical signs of the disease appear, in the development of chronic leukemia.

5 Aug 2009

Impax Labs receives FDA approval for generic version of Depakote

Impax Laboratories has confirmed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted final approval of the Company’s Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for generic version of Depakote® (divalproex ER) 500mg Extended-release Tablets.

5 Aug 2009

New software for cochlear implants and hearing aids

Hearing aids and cochlear implants act as tiny amplifiers so the deaf and hard-of-hearing can make sense of voices and music. Unfortunately, these devices also amplify background sound, so they're less effective in a noisy environment like a busy workplace or cafe.

5 Aug 2009

Poll numbers show public wary of health reform legislation

"A Quinnipiac University poll released today suggests the public continues to be wary of health care legislation as members of Congress work through the August recess to sell President Obama's plan to voters," USA Today's On Politics blog reports (Fritze, 8/5).

5 Aug 2009

Cutting-edge imaging research aims to map brain injuries

In the first study of its kind, researchers at Saint Louis University are recruiting patients for a clinical trial that will use cutting-edge imaging equipment to map the brain injuries of combat veterans and civilians, aiming to better understand the nature of their injuries.

5 Aug 2009

Structure of an entire HIV genome decoded

The structure of an entire HIV genome has been decoded for the first time by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The results have widespread implications for understanding the strategies that viruses, like the one that causes AIDS, use to infect humans.

5 Aug 2009

Aptamers offer unique therapeutic advantages

A novel class of drugs composed of single strands of DNA or RNA, called aptamers, can bind protein targets with a high strength and specificity and are currently in clinical development as treatments for a broad range of common diseases, as described in a comprehensive review article published online ahead of print in Oligonucleotides.

5 Aug 2009

Baucus: Bipartisan group of finance committee members reach Medpac agreement

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said that a bipartisan group of six Finance Committee senators have "coalesced" around language "that would give new weight to the recommendations of an entity currently known as the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or MedPAC," Dow Jones reports.

5 Aug 2009

Obama: Healthcare reform bill to be passed by year end

During an Indiana speech on Wednesday, President Barack Obama said "there will be an overhaul of the health care system before the end of the year and said it doesn't have to be a bipartisan effort," according to The Associated Press. He also pledged that "successful conclusion of an ambitious health care overhaul that he has argued would stabilize the nation's fiscal health."

5 Aug 2009

Iowa funds swine vaccine research

A grant from a state economic development fund will help Iowa State University researchers develop and evaluate a vaccine designed to protect swine from novel H1N1 and other strains of influenza.

5 Aug 2009

$Questions raised about vertebroplasty for osteoporotic spinal compression fractures$

Questions raised about vertebroplasty for osteoporotic spinal compression fractures

A new study led by Mayo Clinic researchers has found that relief of pain from vertebral compression fractures, as well as improvement in pain-related dysfunction, were similar in patients treated with vertebroplasty and those treated with simulated vertebroplasty without cement injections. The article, “A Randomized Controlled Trial of Vertebroplasty for Osteoporotic Spine Fractures,” was released today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

5 Aug 2009

3D science-based film opens at the Health Museum

Imagine exploring an alien world where odd creatures roam bizarre terrain in search of food. Then witness the attack and counterattack of viral bacteria at a cellular level. Now imagine it all in 3D!

5 Aug 2009

Aspermont and AusBiotech announce significant joint venture

Aspermont Limited today announced that the company will launch a regionally focused life sciences news service in conjunction with the national biotechnology industry association, AusBiotech.

5 Aug 2009

World shortage of molybdenum may hinder nuclear medicine services

Problems with the world production and supply of molybdenum are leading to shortages of radioisotopes for nuclear medicine imaging tests, according to an editorial in the journal Nuclear Medicine Communications, official journal of the British Nuclear Medicine Society (BNMS).

5 Aug 2009

Social stress linked to visceral fat, atherosclerosis

A new study done by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine shows that social stress could be an important precursor to heart disease by causing the body to deposit more fat in the abdominal cavity, speeding the harmful buildup of plaque in blood vessels, a stepping stone to the number one cause of death in the world.

5 Aug 2009

Protein DNA repair complex key to avoiding DNA repair mistakes

As the body creates antibodies to fight invaders, a three-protein DNA repair complex called MRN is crucial for a normal gene-shuffling process to proceed properly, University of Michigan research shows.

5 Aug 2009

Insurance agents look into the future and see uncertainty and "opportunity"

For the tens of thousands of individual insurance agents nationwide, the idea of a health system overhaul hits close to home – and work. The changes currently under consideration could radically alter how they do business. For example, there could be requirements that all individuals have coverage, that employers provide insurance for their workers and that insurers cover anyone - regardless of preexisting conditions. In addition, there could be a government-run public plan that might compete with insurance companies.

5 Aug 2009