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Bariatric surgery: an interview with Dr Shyam Dahiya

The only long term solution to severe or morbid obesity, as found by the National Institutes of Health, is surgery. When someone has tried diet and other means to lose weight and has failed, surgery is the only option.

12 Dec 2012

$Study finds increase in prevalence of nonrefractive visual impairment in the U.S.$

Study finds increase in prevalence of nonrefractive visual impairment in the U.S.

The prevalence of nonrefractive visual impairment (not due to need for glasses) in the U.S. has increased significantly in recent years, which may be partly related to a higher prevalence of diabetes, an associated risk factor, according to a study in the December 12 issue of JAMA.

12 Dec 2012

Kaiser Permanente suggests simple steps to improve overall health

Kaiser Permanente Southern California wants you to take a 12 minute break and think about how you're going to achieve total health this New Year to become a better you!

12 Dec 2012

Scientists determine specific genetic switches that sync liver activity to the circadian cycle

When it's dark, and we start to fall asleep, most of us think we're tired because our bodies need rest. Yet circadian rhythms affect our bodies not just on a global scale, but at the level of individual organs, and even genes.

12 Dec 2012

BBC News examines HIV microbicide research

BBC News examines ongoing efforts to develop a female-controlled microbicide to prevent HIV infection. But so far, "efforts ... have presented a great deal of frustration in the fight against this global epidemic," the news service writes, detailing the history of some failed experiments.

12 Dec 2012

Scarless gallbladder surgery performed at Sinai Hospital

Yassar Youssef, M.D., is the first surgeon in Baltimore City to perform gallbladder surgery using just one incision and the da Vinci Surgical System. Because the single incision of about an inch is made in the patient's navel, he or she is left without a noticeable scar.

12 Dec 2012

Remove special interests from food aid equation

"Each year, the United States spends more than $1.5 billion feeding starving people overseas," columnist Farah Stockman writes in a Boston Globe opinion piece. "But our charity comes with a catch: The food has to be bought in America, and much of it must be shipped on American ships," she continues, adding, "Researchers estimate that buying food closer to where needy people are costs about half as much."

12 Dec 2012

Employers complain about health law's costly 'sleeper fee'

The Associated Press reports on a new, $63-per-person charge, which will be levied for three years beginning in 2014 to "cushion" the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions and to stabilize the insurance market. Large employers say it works out to tens of millions in added costs which are likely to be passed onto workers.

12 Dec 2012

Inotuzumab ozogamicin selectively destroys malignant cells responsible for ALL in weekly dosing

A potent chemotherapy agent wrapped within a monoclonal antibody selectively destroys the malignant cells responsible for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) in either weekly or monthly dosing, researchers report at the 54th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.

12 Dec 2012

Syrian conflict destroying country's health care system

"The nearly two-year conflict in Syria has taken tens of thousands of lives, destroyed entire neighborhoods and sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing. But more quietly, it has also eaten away at the country's health care system," IRIN reports.

12 Dec 2012

Link between CTNNA3 gene mutations and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy

Unfortunately, newspaper articles about young athletes dying suddenly on the field are not unheard of. Such reports fuel discussions about compulsory screening, for example of young footballers, for heart failure. Research by scientists from Ghent (VIB/UGent) and Italy will benefit these screening methods.

12 Dec 2012

Adversity in childhood can shape long-term health outcomes

Noting the "16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence," Neil Boothby, U.S. government special adviser and senior coordinator to the USAID administrator on children in adversity, writes in USAID's "IMPACTblog," "The science is clear -- childhood experiences shape adult outcomes, including long-term health, cognitive development, academic achievement, and one's ability to be gainfully and safely employed."

12 Dec 2012

Report analyzes risk factors and infection control strategies taken to prevent spread of NDM1-Kp

As the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant infections continue to rise around the world, a hospital in Canada detected the presence of New Delhi Metallo---lactamase-1-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (NDM1-Kp), a multidrug resistant bacteria that is resistant to carbapenems, one of the last lines of antibiotics.

12 Dec 2012

Six states get an early greenlight on health exchanges from HHS

The Obama administration also gave conditional approval on Monday to six states -- all led by Democratic governors -- that were the first to meet the health law's rules for setting up health insurance marketplaces.

12 Dec 2012

Bipolar and borderline personality disorder associated with unemployment

Unemployment poses a significant burden on the public no matter what the cause. But for those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric illness, chronic unemployment is often coupled with significant health care costs. A Rhode Island Hospital study compared unemployment rates among those with various psychiatric disorders, and found that borderline personality disorder is associated with as much unemployment as bipolar disorder.

12 Dec 2012

African scientists gather in Kenya to discuss global response to NTDs

"African scientists from key research institutions and universities have challenged governments to take serious the issues of neglected and tropical disease to curb millions of deaths among the poor," Xinhua reports.

12 Dec 2012

Epi-marks can lead to homosexuality

Epigenetics - how gene expression is regulated by temporary switches, called epi-marks - appears to be a critical and overlooked factor contributing to the long-standing puzzle of why homosexuality occurs.

12 Dec 2012

In 'fiscal cliff' talks, Medicare and Medicaid savings ideas draw scrutiny

The Wall Street Journal asks when cuts to these programs will start affecting beneficiaries and causing access issues. Other savings ideas face a burden of proof. Also, The Hill reports that the White House is cooling to the idea of $100 billion in Medicaid cuts floated earlier this year. In the background, news outlets offer reports about progress or lack thereof in averting the looming cliff.

12 Dec 2012

U-M devises new system to capture and study circulating tumor cells

A glass plate with a nanoscale roughness could be a simple way for scientists to capture and study the circulating tumor cells that carry cancer around the body through the bloodstream.

12 Dec 2012

HHS to states: Partial Medicaid expansion won't get full federal funding

On Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services said it was all or nothing on the health care law's expansion of Medicaid eligibility, disappointing some Republican governors who were considering smaller growth in the state-federal program for the poor and elderly.

12 Dec 2012