Medical News

RSS

New standards emphasize healthier snacks in schools

Snacks sold in U.S. schools would need to be lower in fat, salt and sugar and include more nutritious items like fruits, vegetables and whole grains, under standards proposed on Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

5 Feb 2013

Patients with MS more likely to develop MI and stroke, regardless of migration background

A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) run a high risk of heart attack, stroke and heart failure, regardless of migration background. According to Dr Tahereh Moradi, principal investigator, the study is the first in the world to examine the risk of cardiovascular diseases in male and female MS patients with both non-immigrant and immigrant backgrounds.

5 Feb 2013

Blog examines U.S. commitment to ending global hunger

"Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been a champion of the fight to end global hunger and undernutrition, making the case for increased investments in food security and nutrition to help move people out of poverty, create stronger communities, and build a more stable world," Jonathan Shrier, acting special representative for global food security, writes in a post in the State Department's "DipNote" blog.

5 Feb 2013

Oregon Health Insurance Experiment wins HSR Impact Award from AcademyHealth

AcademyHealth today awarded its Health Services Research (HSR) Impact Award to work that used for the first time a randomized, controlled study design to answer questions about how access to public insurance affects health, health care use, and other outcomes.

5 Feb 2013

GOP small biz chair says employer mandate hurting growth

The House Small Business Committee chairman says the health law's employer insurance mandate will hurt small business growth in America while House Republicans will again this week try to pass bills on health care that the Senate ignored.

5 Feb 2013

UPCI researchers uncover new technique to stop growth of cancer cells

University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) researchers have uncovered a technique to halt the growth of cancer cells, a discovery that led them to a potential new anti-cancer therapy.

5 Feb 2013

Women, girls central to global health, development agendas

Noting the U.N. Millennium Development Goals created in 2000 and the process to determine development goals for 2030, Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in the foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, "We have seen the importance of investing in women and girls and keeping them at the center of the global health and development agenda.

5 Feb 2013

Vitamin C supplements increase risk of kidney stones in men

New research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that men who take vitamin C supplements regularly run a higher risk of developing kidney stones. The study, which is published in the scientific periodical JAMA Internal Medicine, did not however observe an increased risk between kidney stones and multivitamins - which contain lower concentrations of vitamin C.

5 Feb 2013

Will Secretary Kerry influence the White House AIDS budget?

As John Kerry begins his role as Secretary of State, "some very important decisions will be being made, including the budget for the coming year for key development programs. Will Secretary Kerry fix the administration's AIDS budget problem?" AIDS and human rights activist Matthew Kavanagh writes in the Huffington Post "Politics" blog.

5 Feb 2013

Presenilin-1 gene plays central role in development of neuronal histamine system

Researchers at University of Helsinki, Finland, have shown in a study conducted on zebrafish, that the presenilin-1 (psen1) gene associated with Alzheimer's disease functions as a central regulator for the development of the histamine system. Histamine system is also altered in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

5 Feb 2013

GAVI Alliance to fund HPV immunization projects in 8 countries

The GAVI Alliance "is to help protect more than 180,000 girls in eight countries across Africa and Asia from cervical cancer by funding immunization projects with vaccines from Merck and GlaxoSmithKline," Reuters reports in an article examining the group's efforts to vaccinate young women with Merck's Gardasil and GSK's Cervarix, "the world's only two approved shots designed to protect against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes the vast majority of cervical cancer cases."

5 Feb 2013

NSU-COM to hold grand opening for America's first Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine

Nova Southeastern University's College of Osteopathic Medicine (NSU-COM) will hold a grand opening for America's first Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine on Feb. 12.

5 Feb 2013

State roundup: Minn. officials want money for coverage expansion

Gov. Mark Dayton and his Human Services commissioner will travel to Washington, D.C., this week to lobby for federal money for MinnesotaCare. MinnesotaCare is a state-subsidized health plan that insures about 130,000 people under age 65. Dayton and Commissioner Lucinda Jesson are scheduled to meet Tuesday in Washington with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

5 Feb 2013

Direct link between exposure to pesticides in food, air and water and prevalence of type 2 diabetes

A study led by the University of Granada reveals that there is a direct relationship between the presence of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the body and the development of type 2 diabetes, regardless of the patient's age, gender or body mass index.

5 Feb 2013

State officials, policy experts mull health law implementation issues

The Medicaid expansion continues to trigger significant debate and discussion among state officials.

5 Feb 2013

Water tubing-related injuries on the rise: Study

Water tubing, a recreational activity in which participants ride an inner tube which is pulled behind a boat by a tow rope, has grown in popularity in recent years. Unfortunately, the number of injuries related to this activity has also increased.

5 Feb 2013

CMS releases overdue final 'Sunshine Act' rule on payments to physicians

Under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, financial relationships that drug and device makers have with doctors must be disclosed.

5 Feb 2013

ATI Neurostimulation System demonstrates clinical effectiveness in treating cluster headache

Autonomic Technologies, Inc. (ATI), the developer of the ATI Neurostimulation System designed for the treatment of severe headaches, today announced results of their clinical study in cluster headache, now published online in Cephalalgia.

5 Feb 2013

Turf battles emerge as non-physician health workers step in to fill gaps

Also in the news, home health care aides are waiting for new labor rules which will determine whether they receive minimum wage.

5 Feb 2013

NeuroSigma receives third NIH grant to develop subcutaneous trigeminal nerve stimulation for DRE

NeuroSigma, Inc., a California-based medical device company, today announced it received a Notice of Award, for a Fast Track Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

5 Feb 2013