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Blacks' mortality rate after liver surgery two times higher than that of whites

Blacks have a mortality rate after liver surgery that is about twice as high as that of whites, according to a study published in the September issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgery, Reuters Health reports.

22 Sep 2008

House leaders say they will consider mental health parity as stand-alone bill this week

House leaders on Thursday told mental health lobbyists that mental health parity legislation will be taken up as a stand-alone bill next week under suspension of the rules, a procedure that prohibits amendments and requires a two-thirds majority for the bill to pass, CongressDaily reports (Edney, CongressDaily, 9/19).

22 Sep 2008

CDC recommends Asian, African immigrants be tested for hepatitis B

According to new guidelines CDC officials made public on Thursday, people born in either Asia or Africa who currently live in the U.S. should be tested for hepatitis B, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

22 Sep 2008

House Energy and Commerce Committee discusses options for health care reform amidst struggling economy

Lawmakers and witnesses on Thursday at a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing discussed several proposals to reform the U.S. health care system, CQ HealthBeat reports. Subcommittee Democrats said that the current economic downturn increased the need for health care reform.

22 Sep 2008

Researchers turn plant cells into medical factories

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland will coordinate the large EU research project called SmartCell. The four-year project focuses on developing methods for production of valuable pharmaceutical compounds using plant cells as a production host in an effective and controlled manner.

21 Sep 2008

High salt levels in food banished by seaweed

High salt levels in processed food could be a thing of the past, thanks to new research which has found that a certain type of seaweed can be used as a natural, health boosting alternative that doesn't affect the taste or adversely affect the shelf life of the food.

From Sheffield Hallam University 21 Sep 2008

National positive thinking trial aims to prevent childhood depression

More than 7,000 school pupils from across the UK will be taking part in the trial of a new positive thinking programme led by the University of Bath designed to prevent children developing problems with depression.

21 Sep 2008

Delaying elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery: post-operative death risks

Delaying elective coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery may be a significant risk factor for post-operative death. Research published today in the open access journal BMC Health Services Research reveals that when patients received timely surgery, the risk of death was reduced by a third.

21 Sep 2008

New kinds of optical sensors make MRI scans safer

Magnetic resonance scans will be safer for children and other patients needing anaesthesia, thanks to new kinds of optical sensors developed by a team of European researchers.

21 Sep 2008

Genetic fishing expedition yields surprising catch important to mammals

Johns Hopkins investigators report the discovery of master controllers of a gene critical to human and all mammalian development by trawling, implausibly enough, through anonymous genetic sequences using tiny zebrafish embryos.

21 Sep 2008

New type of gene manipulation therapy offers hope for Duchenne muscular dystrophy sufferers

A medical research team at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte headed by Qi Long Lu, M.D., Ph.D., has made a discovery that holds promise to restore muscle function in patients afflicted by Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

21 Sep 2008

Research provides new insights into how cells accessorize their proteins

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have gained new insight into how the cell's vast array of proteins would instantly be reduced to a confusion of lethally malfunctioning molecules without a system for proteins to "accessorize" in order to regulate their function.

21 Sep 2008

SOLX receives FDA clearance for new glaucoma laser

SOLX, Inc. has announced U.S. Food and Drug (FDA) 510(k) clearance for the SOLX 790 to perform Titanium:Sapphire laser trabeculoplasty (TLT).

21 Sep 2008

Hospital patients to be assessed for risk of venous thromboembolism

Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer, announced today the publication of a risk assessment for venous thromboembolism, recommended for all patients admitted to hospital in England.

21 Sep 2008

Breast MRI scan could determine need for radiation therapy

For women whose breast cancer has spread to their lymph nodes, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan could replace exploratory surgery as the method for determining whether those women need radiation therapy to treat their disease, according to a study to be presented during the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) which opens today in Boston.

21 Sep 2008

Arana updates inflammatory pipeline milestones

Biotechnology company Arana Therapeutics Limited today provided an update on the major inflammatory compounds in its drug development pipeline. As part of this update, Arana said it has developed a new antibody candidate ART123, targeting inflammatory diseases and it plans to start a Phase I clinical trial for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) candidate PMX53 in 2009.

21 Sep 2008

Review of drug delivery market

Combating losses due to patent expiries has become a high priority for pharmaceutical companies. Investing in new drug delivery technologies is becoming a critical strategy for them to maintain a strong presence in this cut-throat market as they offer the potential to enhance the life cycle of established drugs.

18 Sep 2008