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Child's sex is associated with the mother's diet

New research by the Universities of Exeter and Oxford provides the first evidence that a child's sex is associated with the mother's diet. Published today (23 April 2008), in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, the study shows a clear link between higher energy intake around the time of conception and the birth of sons.

22 Apr 2008

Farm Bill will not include provision to ban physician referrals to specialty hospitals

Senate conferees in negotiations on the farm bill have withdrawn a proposal that the conference report include a provision under which physicians could not refer patients to specialty hospitals in which they have a financial interest amid opposition from House conferees and others, CongressDaily reports.

22 Apr 2008

Number of general surgeons in U.S. declined by 26% since 1981

The ratio of practicing general surgeons to patients in the U.S. declined by 26% between 1981 and 2005, according to an analysis published Monday in the Archives of Surgery, Reuters reports.

22 Apr 2008

Maryland lawmakers approve measures intended to improve dental care for low-income children

In the 2009 fiscal year state budget, the Maryland General Assembly included millions of dollars in funding for initiatives that will expand dental care to more children enrolled in Medicaid, the Washington Post reports.

22 Apr 2008

Independent examines U.K. insurers' practices regarding MSM, risk of HIV

London's Independent on Saturday examined the practices of some insurance companies in the United Kingdom regarding men who have sex with men who are applying for policies for life insurance or major illnesses.

22 Apr 2008

Chicago Tribune profiles home for HIV-positive men

The Chicago Tribune recently profiled the Jo-Ray House, a home for HIV-positive men in Chicago. Jo-Ray was founded in 2003 by Ida Byther-Smith, who was diagnosed as HIV-positive in 1991.

22 Apr 2008

Sub-Saharan African countries not on track to meet MDGs, U.N. Secretary General Ban says

Sub-Saharan African countries likely will not meet the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals -- which include reducing the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria -- by 2015, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday at the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development in Accra, Ghana, AFP/Google.com reports.

22 Apr 2008

Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS Union calls on groups to provide post-testing services

The Zimbabwe HIV and AIDS Activist Union recently called on organizations involved in the fight against the disease to stop offering HIV tests if they cannot provide post-testing services, the Herald/AllAfrica.com reports.

22 Apr 2008

Jamaica to launch new female condom as part of HIV/AIDS prevention efforts

Jamaica's National Family Planning Board in the next few weeks plans to launch a new female condom in an effort to provide women with increased control over HIV/AIDS prevention methods, the Jamaica Gleaner reports.

22 Apr 2008

Life expectancy declines in some U.S. populations

Although life expectancy has been increasing in the U.S. for most people, there is a growing disparity in mortality depending on race, income and geography, according to a study published on Monday in the online journal PLoS Medicine, the New York Times reports.

22 Apr 2008

Class-action lawsuit over veterans health care system begins

Arguments began on Monday in a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs that alleges the agency is unequipped to provide medical services to treat the mental health problems of soldiers returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the New York Times reports. The lawsuit was filed by two groups, the Veterans for Common Sense and the Veterans United for Truth, in a federal court in San Francisco (MacFarquhar, New York Times, 4/22).

22 Apr 2008

NIH study reveals incidence, precursors and psychiatric sequelae of major psychiatric disorders

A new study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) presents results on the first onset of substance use disorders (i.e., alcohol and drug abuse and dependence) and major mood and anxiety disorders, based on Wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC).

22 Apr 2008

Pin1 is beneficial in Alzheimer's disease, detrimental to some forms of dementia

The most common form of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and a relatively rare hereditary form of dementia, frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism-17, share a common pathology: Both are the result of an overaccumulation of tau proteins, which form tangled lesions in the brain's neurons and eventually lead to the collapse of the brain cells responsible for memory.

22 Apr 2008

Discovery of primary driver of tumor development in the stomach

In a discovery that could lead to the development of new treatments for gastric cancer, scientists at the Melbourne Branch of the international Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) have discovered what appears to be the primary driver of tumor development in the stomach.

22 Apr 2008

Fat-cell hormone linked to kidney disease

Reduced levels of a hormone produced by fat cells and linked to the development of insulin resistance may also be related to a higher risk of kidney disease, according to a study led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Thomas Jefferson University.

22 Apr 2008

Sickest patients still struggle under new Medicare Part D benefit

A recent study finds that the advantages of the new Medicare Part D drug benefit-a program that for the first time offers Medicare recipients prescription drug coverage-are mixed.

22 Apr 2008

Cisplatin found to be less effective than standard treatment for patients with anal cancer

When administered before chemoradiation, the common anti-cancer drug cisplatin neither improved disease-free survival nor reduced the number of colostomies needed when compared to the standard treatment for patients with anal canal cancer, according to a study published in the April 23 issue of the JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

22 Apr 2008

Still lack of knowledge regarding Medicare's Part D prescription drug program

There still appears to be some lack of knowledge regarding Medicare's Part D prescription drug program, although there is evidence that cost-related medication nonadherence may have improved overall, according to two studies in the April 23/30 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

22 Apr 2008

Drug-releasing stent shows promise for improving outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease

For patients who underwent angioplasty to open narrowed coronary arteries, the use of stents releasing the drug everolimus reduced the rate of renarrowing of the arteries and significantly reduced the risk of major cardiac events, compared to the widely-used paclitaxel-releasing stents, according to a study in the April 23/30 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

22 Apr 2008

Effects of population tobacco control interventions on social inequalities in smoking

Population level tobacco control interventions have the potential to benefit more disadvantaged groups and to reduce health inequalities, suggests a new systematic review published ahead of print in the journal Tobacco Control.

22 Apr 2008

Medical News

Child's sex is associated with the mother's diet

Farm Bill will not include provision to ban physician referrals to specialty hospitals

Number of general surgeons in U.S. declined by 26% since 1981

Maryland lawmakers approve measures intended to improve dental care for low-income children

Independent examines U.K. insurers' practices regarding MSM, risk of HIV

Chicago Tribune profiles home for HIV-positive men

Sub-Saharan African countries not on track to meet MDGs, U.N. Secretary General Ban says

Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS Union calls on groups to provide post-testing services

Jamaica to launch new female condom as part of HIV/AIDS prevention efforts

Life expectancy declines in some U.S. populations

Class-action lawsuit over veterans health care system begins

NIH study reveals incidence, precursors and psychiatric sequelae of major psychiatric disorders

Pin1 is beneficial in Alzheimer's disease, detrimental to some forms of dementia

Discovery of primary driver of tumor development in the stomach

Fat-cell hormone linked to kidney disease

Sickest patients still struggle under new Medicare Part D benefit

Cisplatin found to be less effective than standard treatment for patients with anal cancer

Still lack of knowledge regarding Medicare's Part D prescription drug program

Drug-releasing stent shows promise for improving outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease

Effects of population tobacco control interventions on social inequalities in smoking

How microRNA is transforming science: From discovery to diagnostics

Advancing benzodiazepine detection

The Surgeon-Scientist Pioneering Regenerative Engineering

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