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Foreign docs face challenging transition to U.S. system

News outlets report on issues ranging from how foreign doctors are assimilated into the U.S. health care system to how nurse practitioners might help address the physician shortage and the job market nurses are facing.

13 Aug 2013

Simple tests to recognize ability of famous people may help doctors identify early dementia

A new study suggests that simple tests that measure the ability to recognize and name famous people such as Albert Einstein, Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey may help doctors identify early dementia in those 40 to 65 years of age.

13 Aug 2013

Few physicians receive adequate training to help patients with chronic pain

Pain is the most common reason a patient sees a physician but few physicians have received adequate training to help their patients, according to a Henry Ford Hospital article published in the Journal of American Osteopathic Association.

13 Aug 2013

Researchers say type 2 diabetes status should be taken into account in future BMI-mortality studies

The relationship between body mass index (BMI) appears to be stronger in adults without diabetes than those with existing diabetes. These findings- are published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine- in a study by Chandra Jackson of the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues.

13 Aug 2013

Researchers suggest neural stem cells may regenerate after anti-cancer treatment

Scientists have long believed that healthy brain cells, once damaged by radiation designed to kill brain tumors, cannot regenerate. But new Johns Hopkins research in mice suggests that neural stem cells, the body's source of new brain cells, are resistant to radiation, and can be roused from a hibernation-like state to reproduce and generate new cells able to migrate, replace injured cells and potentially restore lost function.

13 Aug 2013

Obama urges veterans to speak up for the health law

President says overhaul won't affect veterans' benefits. Meanwhile, religious leaders in Illinois are promoting the law.

13 Aug 2013

Quality of life of young, female cancer survivors is impaired after treatment

A new study led by a University of Colorado Cancer Center member recently published in the journal Quality of Life Research reveals that in young, female cancer survivors, quality of life is significantly impaired long after treatment. The study compared 59 cancer survivors to 66 healthy controls and found that, as expected, cancer survivors showed higher stress and anxiety than the general population.

13 Aug 2013

Patients with IBS-D treated with eluxadoline achieve better clinical response

Patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS-D, treated with eluxadoline achieved better clinical response and experienced more symptom improvement than those using placebo, according to a recent study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Eluxadoline, which is currently in phase 3 trials, is under development as a potential treatment for IBS-D.

13 Aug 2013

Harvard University receives grant to use organs-on-chips device to test human response to radiation

A team at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University has received a $5.6 million grant award from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use its Organs-on-Chips technology for a novel application of keen interest to national security and health officials: to test human physiological responses to radiation, and to evaluate drugs designed to counter those effects.

13 Aug 2013

Growing up with siblings may provide some protection against divorce as adult

Growing up with siblings may provide some protection against divorce as an adult, a new nationwide study reveals. And the more siblings, the better: Each additional sibling a person has (up to about seven) reduces the likelihood of divorce by 2 percent.

13 Aug 2013

Study provides clues to improve treatment of neuroblastoma with suppressor gene

Loss of a gene required for stem cells in the brain to turn into neurons may underlie the most severe forms of neuroblastoma, a deadly childhood cancer of the nervous system, according to a Ludwig Cancer Research study.

13 Aug 2013

Researchers explore potential of neural stem cells to repair brain damage

Scientists have long believed that healthy brain cells, once damaged by radiation designed to kill brain tumors, cannot regenerate. But new Johns Hopkins research in mice suggests that neural stem cells, the body’s source of new brain cells, are resistant to radiation, and can be roused from a hibernation-like state to reproduce and generate new cells able to migrate, replace injured cells and potentially restore lost function.

13 Aug 2013

Researchers create an efficient technique to target and repair defective genes

Using human pluripotent stem cells and DNA-cutting protein from meningitis bacteria, researchers from the Morgridge Institute for Research and Northwestern University have created an efficient way to target and repair defective genes.

13 Aug 2013

Adolescents with symptoms of depression also may be at risk for developing anxiety

Some adolescents who suffer with symptoms of depression also may be at risk for developing anxiety, according to a new study of children's mental health.

13 Aug 2013

Nuevolution forms scientific collaboration to investigate biological mechanism of GPCR drug target

Nuevolution A/S today announced that it has entered into a scientific collaboration with Duke University, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the investigation of the biological mechanism of action of a specified GPCR drug target.

13 Aug 2013

Medtronic adds disease management to its portfolio

Medtronic wades into the business of disease management in a bid to find business outside its medical device offerings. In the meantime, a popular calorie-counting app gets $18 million in new venture capital funding.

From Medtronic 13 Aug 2013

Learning "grammar" helps determine whether gene gets switched on or not

Researchers have probed deep into the cell's genome, beyond the basic genetic code, to begin learning the "grammar" that helps determine whether or not a gene gets switched on to make the protein it encodes.

13 Aug 2013

School lunch consumption and TV viewing associated with childhood obesity

Among middle-school children, the behaviors most often linked with obesity are school lunch consumption and two hours or more of daily TV viewing, according to a new look at the dramatic increase in childhood obesity.

13 Aug 2013

Abortion fights in the states turn to digital world

Eleven states now ban abortion by telemedicine, the Guttmacher Institute says in a new study. In the meantime, the Government Accountability Office is investigating how Planned Parenthood and other related organizations spend public money.

13 Aug 2013

Augmentation during childbirth appears to be linked with increased odds of autism

An analysis of North Carolina birth and educational records suggests that induction (stimulating uterine contractions prior to the onset of spontaneous labor) and augmentation (increasing the strength, duration, or frequency of uterine contractions with spontaneous onset of labor) during childbirth appears to be associated with increased odds of autism diagnosis in childhood, according to a study by Simon G. Gregory, Ph.D., of Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C., and colleagues.

13 Aug 2013