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Good dental health ‘cuts stroke risk’

Good dental health, including prophylaxis of periodontal disease, is associated with a reduced risk for ischemic stroke, results of a large retrospective cohort study indicate.

5 Mar 2013

Forceps delivery ‘does not increase atopy risk’

Results from a population-based cohort study suggest that forceps-assisted birth is associated with an increased risk for asthma, but not allergic sensitization, in later childhood.

5 Mar 2013

Phase III success with extended-release carbidopa–levodopa formulation

An extended-release formulation of carbidopa–levodopa reduces the amount of off-time in patients with Parkinson’s disease, show results from a phase III randomized trial.

5 Mar 2013

Study reveals key predictors of speech gains in children with autism, severe language delay

New findings published in Pediatrics (Epub ahead of print) by the Kennedy Krieger Institute's Center for Autism and Related Disorders reveal that 70 percent of children with autism spectrum disorders who have a history of severe language delay, achieved phrase or fluent speech by age eight.

5 Mar 2013

Study: Women receiving social support during pregnancy less likely to develop postpartum depression

Women who receive strong social support from their families during pregnancy appear to be protected from sharp increases in a particular stress hormone, making them less likely to develop postpartum depression, according to a new study published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

5 Mar 2013

GlobalPost reports on IOM evaluation of PEPFAR

GlobalPost reports on "an independent evaluation of the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), released February 20 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM)," writing that the report "lauded the program's achievements as proof that HIV services can be delivered successfully on a large scale" and "also recommended several changes to the program, to ensure that the HIV/AIDS response is sustainable."

5 Mar 2013

Study confirms rapid effectiveness of temporary, nonsurgical alternative to LASIK

A contact lens technique called overnight orthokeratology (OK) brings rapid improvement in vision for nearsighted patients. Now a new study shows that OK treatment works mainly by flattening the front of the cornea, reports a recent study, "Posterior Corneal Shape Changes in Myopic Overnight Orthokeratology", appearing in the March issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.

5 Mar 2013

States continue to formulate Medicaid expansion strategies

As the Obama administration gives some states the OK to pursue alternatives to the health law's Medicaid expansion, the shape of the debate in state legislatures changes.

5 Mar 2013

U.S. researchers report 'functional cure' for infant born with HIV

"A baby born with the virus that causes AIDS appears to have been cured, scientists announced Sunday, describing the case of a child from Mississippi who's now two and a half and has been off medication for about a year with no signs of active infection," the Associated Press reports.

5 Mar 2013

Researchers explore factors associated with distress after sleep paralysis episodes

Ever find yourself briefly paralyzed as you're falling asleep or just waking up? It's a phenomenon is called sleep paralysis, and it's often accompanied by vivid sensory or perceptual experiences, which can include complex and disturbing hallucinations and intense fear.

5 Mar 2013

Nurse practitioners juggle scope-of-practice issues with providing care

A study published last week, for instance, notes that although scope-of-practice laws might not restrict nurse pratitioners' ability to provide primary care, it does impact how they are paid.

5 Mar 2013

Hiring nurses with four-year degrees decreases patient deaths, new research report says

When hospitals hire more nurses with four-year degrees, patient deaths following common surgeries decrease, according to new research by the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing's Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research as reported in the March issue of the prestigious policy journal Health Affairs.

5 Mar 2013

Schizophrenic people with MIR137 tend to develop illness at younger age

Some of the dramatic differences seen among patients with schizophrenia may be explained by a single gene that regulates a group of other schizophrenia risk genes. These findings appear in a new imaging-genetics study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

5 Mar 2013

Much anticipation surrounds push to bring more transparency to medicine

After years of anticipation, all of the nation's drug and medical device makers must soon begin publicly reporting payments they make to U.S. physicians, according to final regulations announced this afternoon by the federal government.

5 Mar 2013

Idiopathic brood disease syndrome the largest risk factor for predicting bee colony deaths

A new long-term study of honey bee health has found that a little-understood disease study authors are calling "idiopathic brood disease syndrome" (IBDS), which kills off bee larvae, is the largest risk factor for predicting the death of a bee colony.

5 Mar 2013

New initiative aims to increase access to Jadelle reversible contraceptive

Writing in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Gary Darmstadt, head of the Family Health Division of the foundation, examines the Jadelle Access Program, announced last week, which aims to "reduce the price of Jadelle and make this effective, long-acting, reversible contraceptive more available to more than 27 million women in the world's poorest countries."

5 Mar 2013

KMO gene variant associated with increased production of kynurenic acid

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have found an explanation for why the level of kynurenic acid (KYNA) is higher in the brains of people with schizophrenia or bipolar disease with psychosis. The study, which is published in the scientific periodical Molecular Psychiatry, identifies a gene variant associated with an increased production of KYNA.

5 Mar 2013

Health law implementation largely untouched by automatic spending cuts

The Associated Press reports that only a small fraction of the overhaul's funding is subject to the sequester's cuts. Meanwhile, the Obama administration indicates that insurers will have to report rate increases no matter how small and offers rules to clarify other provisions.

5 Mar 2013

Ten tips to reduce risk of colorectal cancer

With colorectal cancer the second leading cause of cancer death, it's a great time to take a look at the health of your colon. "Colorectal cancer surpasses breast and prostate cancers as a leading cause of cancer death in men and women," said Dr. James Yoo, assistant professor of surgery and chief of the colon & rectal surgery program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "It is largely preventable with early screening and detection."

5 Mar 2013

tRNA synthetases play unexpected and critical role in cancer metastasis

Studied for decades for their essential role in making proteins within cells, several amino acids known as tRNA synthetases were recently found to have an unexpected - and critical - additional role in cancer metastasis in a study conducted collaboratively in the labs of Karen Lounsbury, Ph.D., University of Vermont professor of pharmacology, and Christopher Francklyn, Ph.D., UVM professor of biochemistry.

5 Mar 2013