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Insurers face key health exchange deadline

Modern Healthcare reports that May 1 is the deadline for insurers to apply to offer heatlh plans for sale on state-run exchanges. However, the deadline for participation in states that have opted for federally run exchanges has been extended until Friday.

2 May 2013

PTSD study: Individuals with childhood abuse history have distinct changes in gene activity patterns

Abuse during childhood is different. A study of adult civilians with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) has shown that individuals with a history of childhood abuse have distinct, profound changes in gene activity patterns, compared to adults with PTSD but without a history of child abuse.

2 May 2013

PET/CT may enhance detection of inflammatory bowel diseases in the future

Inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, may be detected and monitored more effectively in the future with positron emission tomography/computed tomography, according to research published in the May issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

2 May 2013

New hope for patients with myotonic dystrophy

There's hope for patients with myotonic dystrophy. A new small molecule developed by researchers at the University of Illinois has been shown to break up the protein-RNA clusters that cause the disease in living human cells, an important first step toward developing a pharmaceutical treatment for the as-yet untreatable disease.

2 May 2013

At the Florida State House, Medicaid expansion drama continues

News outlets also detail the latest expansion news from Oklahoma, Iowa, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine and Arizona.

2 May 2013

Study suggests that biology plays role in eating disorders

Female rats are much more likely to binge eat than male rats, according to new research that provides some of the strongest evidence yet that biology plays a role in eating disorders.

2 May 2013

Scientists pursue new therapies as H7N9 flu spreads in China

An experimental drug has shown promise in treating influenza, preventing lung injury and death from the virus in preclinical studies, according to University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers publishing in the journal Nature on May 1.

2 May 2013

Exposure to daylight helps protect children from myopia

Two new studies add to the growing evidence that spending time outdoors may help prevent or minimize nearsightedness in children. A study conducted in Taiwan, which is the first to use an educational policy as a public vision health intervention, finds that when children are required to spend recess time outdoors, their risk of nearsightedness is reduced.

2 May 2013

Aetna cuts projections for policies it will sell in new marketplaces

Aetna said it expects to sell fewer health insurance policies than initially projected in the health law's online marketplaces, which are slated to open in October. The insurer also said its 1st-quarter profit slipped 4 percent but raised its 2013 forecast.

2 May 2013

Lund University research opens door to diabetes treatment

A Lund University research team has shed new light on why gastric bypass often sends diabetes into remission rapidly, opening the door to developing treatment with the same effect.

2 May 2013

New collaboration provides access, allows users to make decisions based on data

Archimedes, Inc., a healthcare modeling and analytics company, announced today that it has begun collaborating with the United States Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to provide unprecedented access to synthetic CMS claims data.

2 May 2013

Researchers study how ketamine reduces side effects of ECT in people with severe depression

The largest trial into the use of Electroconvulsive Therapy in the UK in more than 30 years will look into how the use of the Class C drug ketamine might reduce the side effects of ECT for those being treated for severe depression.

2 May 2013

42 percent of Americans unsure if health law stands

One poll about the health law highlights a continued lack of understanding about the measure and a second shows voters are still split in their support.

2 May 2013

Receiving general anesthesia not associated with dementia in elderly patients, research finds

Elderly patients who receive anesthesia are no more likely to develop long-term dementia or Alzheimer's disease than other seniors, according to new Mayo Clinic research.

2 May 2013

HCV screening of prison inmate drug users: an interview with Dr. Arthur Kim, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Prisoners overall have a very high rate of past or present injection drug use, which is a major risk factor for HCV infection due to repeated exposures to needles.

1 May 2013

Polymers for pulmonary drug delivery book released by Smithers Rapra

Pulmonary drug delivery has been a rapidly expanding field, moving from the traditional propellant based metered dose inhaler delivery of small asthma drugs, to a broader landscape of new devices and novel drugs for local and systemic delivery.

30 Apr 2013

SSRIs associated with increased risk of bleeding, transfusion, readmission and death

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) - among the most widely prescribed antidepressant medications - are associated with increased risk of bleeding, transfusion, hospital readmission and death when taken around the time of surgery, according to an analysis led by researchers at UC San Francisco and Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass.

30 Apr 2013

Study: Biologic response modifying drugs can cause acute liver injury

A commonly used class of biologic response modifying drugs can cause acute liver injury with elevated liver enzymes, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.

30 Apr 2013

New methods to evaluate how astrocytes contribute to brain function

A study in The Journal of General Physiology presents new methods to evaluate how astrocytes contribute to brain function, paving the way for future exploration of these important brain cells at unprecedented levels of detail.

30 Apr 2013

Cognitive training improves insomnia sleep quality

Older adults with insomnia could benefit from computerized cognitive training, which researchers have found helps in the initiation and maintenance of sleep.

30 Apr 2013