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Mental health efforts in gun debate are raising concerns

Some advocates worry that a new focus on mental health issues could lead to unfair assumptions about patients and could keep them from seeking help.

3 Feb 2013

Study examines mental health of 376 Ugandan workers at 21 humanitarian aid agencies

Latest research points to the high risk for mental health problems among staff working in humanitarian organizations in northern Uganda, due in large part to their work environment.

3 Feb 2013

Science reports on reform in China's health care system

Science examines reforms taking place within the Chinese health care system, which "aim to expand infrastructure, cover the poor, and combat chronic diseases," according to the journal.

3 Feb 2013

VMAT use to deliver prostate intensity-modulated radiation therapy reduces treatment time

According to a study in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology, the use of volume-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) to deliver intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) to prostate cancer patients results in an overall reduction in treatment time of approximately 14 percent. The study was performed at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta.

3 Feb 2013

Health law counts new allies, all-time high support in Calif.

The battle to win American hearts when it comes to supporting the health law continues as a new organization takes hold, a ranking lawmaker reiterates his intent to defend it and the law finds all-time high support in California.

3 Feb 2013

Study shows how placental circulation can influence malarial parasite behavior and infection

Malaria in pregnancy causes a range of adverse effects, including abortions, stillbirths, premature delivery and low infant birth weight. Many of these effects are thought to derive from a placental inflammatory response resulting from interaction of infected red blood cells with the placental tissue.

3 Feb 2013

CMS releases delayed final rule on payments to physicians

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

3 Feb 2013

Epidermal growth factor speeds recovery of blood-making stem cells after radiation exposure

Epidermal growth factor has been found to speed the recovery of blood-making stem cells after exposure to radiation, according to Duke Medicine researchers. The finding could open new options for treating cancer patients and victims of dirty bombs or nuclear disasters.

3 Feb 2013

Ark., Ga. latest to ponder Medicaid budget shortfalls, solutions

Arkansas and Georgia are the latest to debate the cost of Medicaid to their budget bottom lines -- and possible solutions.

3 Feb 2013

High intensity interval training more suitable to achieve sustainable changes in exercise behaviour

With many of us struggling to get enough exercise, sport and exercise scientists at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and the University of Birmingham, under the lead of Professor Anton Wagenmakers, have been working on a time-saving solution.

3 Feb 2013

Facing a 'transition year,' Aetna's fourth-quarter profits are halved

The insurer's net income dropped 49 percent as higher medical costs squeezed the profit margin for the insurer.

3 Feb 2013

New survey outlines funding deficiency in brain and eye disease research

BrightFocus Foundation, a nonprofit organization that funds research worldwide to save sight and mind, today released the results of a survey of more than 170 leading biomedical scientists that explores the most significant barriers to progress in ending brain and eye diseases.

2 Feb 2013

Global Health Corps training global health leaders of the future

"At the Global Health Corps, we recruit, connect and train ... the global health leaders of the future," Barbara Bush and Dave Ryan, co-founder and founding director of the Global Health Corps, respectively, write in a Devex guest commentary.

2 Feb 2013

Two new methods could accelerate development of improved antisense drugs

Powerful antisense drugs that target disease-associated genes to block their expression can be used to treat a broad range of diseases. Though antisense therapy has been proven effective, challenges remain in ensuring that the drugs reach their intended targets.

2 Feb 2013

Two new studies examine causes, treatment of severe malnutrition

"Two studies of malnourished children offer the first major new scientific findings in a decade about the causes and treatment of severe malnutrition, which affects more than 20 million children around the world and contributes to the deaths of more than a million a year," the New York Times reports.

2 Feb 2013

Scientists produce monoclonal antibody in tobacco plants that neutralizes rabies viruses

Smoking tobacco might be bad for your health, but a genetically altered version of the plant might provide a relatively inexpensive cure for the deadly rabies virus. In a new research report appearing in The FASEB Journal, scientists produced a monoclonal antibody in transgenic tobacco plants that was shown to neutralize the rabies virus.

2 Feb 2013

Experts contemplate whether Medicare should pay for Alzheimer's test

Also in the news, Astra Zeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb step up their diabetes-drug partnership.

2 Feb 2013

Researchers create high-resolution map of gene regulatory elements in the brain

Future research into the underlying causes of neurological disorders such as autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia, should greatly benefit from a first-of-its-kind atlas of gene-enhancers in the cerebrum (telencephalon).

2 Feb 2013

Overbilling and out-of-network care contribute to marketplace tension

Though he was living on $18,000 a year as a graduate student, [Angel] Gonzalez had good insurance and the hospital, St. Charles in Port Jefferson, N.Y., was in his network. But the surgeon who came in to remove Mr. Gonzalez's gallbladder that Sunday night was not.

2 Feb 2013

PKCζ protein plays a critical role in regulating tumor metabolism

Cancer cells need food to survive and grow. They're very good at getting it, too, even when nutrients are scarce. Many scientists have tried killing cancer cells by taking away their favorite food, a sugar called glucose. Unfortunately, this treatment approach not only fails to work, it backfires-glucose-starved tumors actually get more aggressive.

2 Feb 2013