Endocrinology
Hives are also known as urticaria, welts, wheals, or nettle rash. It is a red, raised, itchy skin rash that is sometimes triggered by something that produces an allergic reaction - an allergen. When there is an allergic reaction the body releases a protein called histamine. When histamine is released our capillaries (tiny blood vessels) leak fluid. The fluid accumulates in the skin and causes a rash.
Two new specialist teams will be set up to improve diagnosis, care and support for people with eating disorders in Wales, Health Minister Edwina Hart officially announced.
The earliest known writings about herbal medicines date back to 2800 B.C. in China, but while many complementary modalities may not be new, their application in veterinary medicine is still novel to many Americans.
A pet bites a child, and the owner is faced with an excruciating decision: Is it safe to keep this dog?
More and more children are participating and getting hurt playing sports each year. A
DxS, a personalised medicine company, has had its TheraScreen: K-RAS Mutation Kit granted a licence by the regulatory body Health Canada for use as a diagnostic for anti-EGFR therapies and as the companion diagnostic for Amgen"s colorectal cancer therapy, Vectibix™ (panitumumab).
Eye experts based at Southampton General Hospital are trialling a drug that could repair vision without the need for surgery.
To ensure patients receive the highest quality and safest food possible, the Premier healthcare alliance released a set of standards for foodservices delivered to hospitals.
The Department of Health and Hospitals" Bureau of Primary Care and Rural Health is offering grants to medically underserved, rural and urban areas to expand access to primary care services.
El Salvador and Benin have marked World Asthma Day by placing orders with the Asthma Drug Facility (ADF). Through the ADF these and other low- and middle-income countries will be able to obtain quality-assured essential asthma medicines at affordable prices for the first time.
Research published in the June 26, 2009 edition of Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences provides further evidence for novel roles of tRNA synthetases in disease, validating the therapeutic potential for aTyr Pharma"s new class of naturally occurring protein agents. The aminoacyl tRNA synthetases are universal and essential components of protein synthesis machinery found in all organisms, but human synthetases have naturally occurring resected variants with potent cell signaling activities that are vital to normal functioning of humans. aTyr Pharma"s proprietary product generating engine consists of these resected proteins (resectins) of human aminoacyl tRNA synthetases with cell signaling activities distinct from the protein synthesis activities. In this recently published study, a model of a human neuropathy was created in the fruit fly (Drosophila) by introducing mutations in the tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase which correspond to disease associated mutations in humans. These dominant mutations do not cause a loss in the protein synthesis activity, indicating that the neuropathy arises from distinct activities of this tRNA synthetase. This work provides further proof of noncanonical roles for tRNA synthetases in human disease.
TUESDAY: Dozens of Registered Nurses to March on Kaiser Permanente-Fremont to Protest Effort to Slash Urgent Care
An iconic photograph (http://img.timeinc.net/time/80days/images/530228.jpg) of Nobel laureates Drs. Francis Crick and James Watson show the pair discussing with a rigid model of the famous double helix.
In their first meeting, President Obama and Pope Benedict XVI on Friday discussed their views on abortion, embryonic stem cell research and the rights of health care workers to object to procedures and services that go against their beliefs, the Los Angeles Times reports. During a 30-minute discussion, the pope expressed to Obama his beliefs about "the defense and promotion of life and the right to abide by one"s conscience," according to the Vatican. The Times reports that the statement was a "clear reference" to debates over abortion rights, embryonic stem cell research and "conscience" protections for health care providers who refuse care on moral or religious grounds (Chu, Los Angeles Times, 7/11).According to Time, Benedict showed "no intention of papering over differences on what the Vatican calls "life" issues," including abortion rights. Vatican spokesperson the Rev. Federico Lombardi said that the pope told him how Obama "explicitly expressed his commitment to reducing the number of abortions and to listen to the Church"s concerns on moral issues" (Israely, Time, 7/10). According to White House deputy national security aide Denis McDonough, Obama was "eager to find common ground on these issues and to work aggressively to do that" (Simpson/Feller, AP/Boston Globe, 7/11). However, "[I]t may just be that there"s issues that you can"t come to agreement on," McDonough added, noting that Obama believes that "you can disagree without being disagreeable" (Los Angeles Times, 7/11).Montsignor Georg Ganswein, the pope"s personal secretary, said that Obama was given a copy of "Dignitas Personae," or "The Dignity of a Person," a Vatican document released in December detailing the Roman Catholic Church"s most recent stance on bioethics issues (Time, 7/10). The document "hardened" the Church"s opposition to embryonic stem cell research, cloning and in vitro fertilization (AP/Boston Globe, 7/11). Obama assured the pope he would read the document that day on his flight from Italy to Ghana. Ganswein said that the document "can help the president better understand the position of the Catholic Church." Lombardi noted that it "would be ambiguous to hide or minimize what we believe," adding, "It"s not meant to be divisive or polemical" (Time, 7/10).
The Assembly of parliamentarians of Francophone countries have adopted a resolution reaffirming their commitment to the AIDS response. The resolution, which was adopted during their annual assembly which was held from 3 to 6 July 2009 in Paris, gave a strong message that Francophone parliamentarians are continuing to put AIDS high on the agenda and push the response forward in their countries and beyond.
Even as our global population rises, our world is getting smaller. International travel by both people and animals from all corners of the world occurs every hour of every day, bringing both into contact with each other.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday the U.S. has agreed to put an addition $1 billion towards ingredients for the production of a vaccine that offers protection against the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, Reuters reports. "There"ll be another $1 billion worth of orders placed to get the bulk ingredients for an H1N1 vaccination. Congress has agreed with the president that this is the number one priority, keeping Americans safe and secure," Sebelius said (7/12).
Statement of Captain Charles D. Connor, U.S. Navy (Ret.), American Lung Association President and CEO:
According to research reported at the Alzheimer"s Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease (ICAD 2009) in Vienna, the number of people with Alzheimer"s disease and dementia in Europe may be higher than previously reported since both the number of new cases and the total number of people affected continue to rise among the very oldest segments of the population.
"I am stopping TB and controlling HIV" was the theme of an event marking World TB Day (24 March) in Uganda"s Masindi district. The Union Uganda Office participated in this event, which attracted representatives from both government and a wide variety of NGOs, as well as the public.
In response to the publication of the story of heart transplant patient Hannah Clark in the Lancet , Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation (BHF), described the operation as "an exciting and important event".
They"re called "fruit flies" for a reason, and it sure isn"t for lack of appetite. But like most animals, the pests typically lose their appetite when they get infected. We humans go them one better: Even when bug-free and hungry, some of us are tempted to do some serious fasting, in hopes of living longer, healthier lives.
The results of a preliminary clinical trial suggest that a new Alzheimer"s drug from Humanetics Corporation is safe for daily use and that cognitive performance in patients with mild to moderate disease remained stable during the six-week course of the trial. The lack of decline in cognitive performance was an encouraging finding to be further evaluated in a Phase IIB clinical trial.
Researchers at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center and Graduate Center for Toxicology (GCT) have gained new insight into the genetic mechanisms underlying Huntington"s disease and other neurodegenerative or neuromuscular disorders caused by trinucleotide repeats (or TNRs) in DNA.
Researchers have invented computational tools to decode and rapidly determine whether natural compounds collected in oceans and forests are new - or if these pharmaceutically promising compounds have already been described and are therefore not patentable.
A child"s brain has to work overtime in a noisy classroom to do its typical but very important job of distinguishing sounds whose subtle differences are key to success with language and reading.
Many of the approximately one million Canadians(i) living with psoriasis may be faced with physical or emotional challenges as they struggle with public misperceptions and stigmas of this painful, chronic immune disorder that affects the skin. Now, a Leger Marketing survey of Canadians with psoriasis, pSoriasis Knowledge IN Canada (SKIN), reveals that the debilitating skin condition presents a substantial problem for them in their daily lives. The SKIN survey, which included questions about burden of illness, revealed that two-thirds (66 per cent) of SKIN respondents agreed with the statement that psoriasis ranks among the top two illnesses in terms of its impact on quality of life (QoL) out of ten of the worst diseases, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and arthritis.(1) Of those SKIN respondents who stated that their psoriasis "sometimes" or "very often" caused them problems in their personal or social relationships, and difficulties with normal daily activities when it was not in control, almost 60 per cent indicated that their disease was
In response to the growing threat of swine flu, a UQ team is applying nanopatch technology to potentially solve the problems associated with vaccinating millions of Australians, thanks to a recently announced government grant.
Cataracts are cloudy areas in the lens inside the eye - which is normally clear. Cataracts can develop in one or both eyes. If they develop in both eyes, one will be more severely affected than the other. A normally clear lens allows light to pass through to the back of the eye, so that the patient can see well-defined images. If a part of the lens becomes opaque light does not pass through easily and the patient"s vision becomes blurry - like looking through cloudy water or a fogged-up window. The more opaque (cloudier) the lens becomes, the worse the person"s vision will be.
The American Academy of Dermatology (Academy) recently issued an updated position statement on vitamin D after an updated review of the increasing body of scientific literature on this vitamin and its importance for optimal health.
Plastic surgeons are turning to mathematics to take the guesswork out of efforts to ensure that live tissue segments that are selected to restore damaged body parts will have enough blood and oxygen to survive the surgical transfer.
As the Government sets out proposals to reform social care, leading mental health charity Mind welcomes the move to simplify the process and create a fairer system for the many thousands of people with mental health problems who currently pay for social care services.
Welcoming the publication of the Government Green Paper, Shaping the future of care together, Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said the current social care system was "confusing, bewildering and unacceptable" and that today"s plans provide "a historic opportunity to establish fair care under the welfare system in England." He said:
At the 146th Annual Convention of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), association leaders welcomed a new president and took action on animal welfare and antimicrobial policies as well as cost cutting measures.
A USA Today/Gallup Poll found that "most Americans say it"s important to overhaul health care this year," but "they are less enthusiastic about some of the proposals to pay for it," USA Today reports. "And while a majority say controlling costs should be the legislation"s top goal, more than nine in 10 oppose limits on getting whatever tests or treatments they and their doctors think are necessary." But some good news for President Obama: "A third of those surveyed say they trust him and congressional Democrats most when it comes to changing health care, compared with 10% who choose congressional Republicans. Another 45% trust doctors and hospitals the most."
"Senators agreed Monday to give high-tech biologic drugs 12 years of market protection before generic versions can compete," according to The Associated Press.
"An unprecedented effort to computerize the nation"s hospitals and physician offices could be the key to reducing crippling health care costs - or a giveaway to technology vendors whose sales will be subsidized by taxpayers," the Dallas Morning News reports. The $45 billion, stimulus-funded effort in question could help reduce costs by cutting into the country"s $37.6 billion in medical errors each year, for instance. But, if requirements for providers seeking stimulus funding are too strict, the program could turn into "a bonanza for software vendors."
Passport Health of Massachusetts, specialists in vaccinations against dread diseases faced by international travelers, is concerned that eastern New England"s wettest spring and early summer in decades can be more deadly than usual.
"Swiss drug company Novartis AG and the Institute for OneWorld Health, a nonprofit group, will announce this week a partnership to discover drugs for a type of diarrhea that kills about 1.6 million children each year in the developing world," the Wall Street Journal reports.
NICE today welcomed the Office for Life Sciences new Blueprint to support the life sciences industry, which will also improve patient access to innovative new drugs.
Richard Hunt CBE, appointed as the new Chair of the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust.
Compared with women who have never taken hormone therapy, those who currently take it or who have taken it in the past are at increased risk of ovarian cancer, regardless of the duration of use, the formulation, estrogen dose, regimen or route of administration, according to a study in the July 15 issue of JAMA.
A unique study looking at the difference in cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke) and life expectancy between people of high and low socio-economic status has found that a person"s IQ may have a role to play.
Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ: LMNX), the worldwide leader in multiplexed solutions, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared labeling updates for the company"s xTAG® Respiratory Viral Panel (RVP) to include data about the performance of the test in humans infected with the pandemic strain of influenza A, 2009 influenza A/H1N1, which is sometimes referred to as "swine flu." The test"s labeling has been updated to include information from two new studies that demonstrate that xTAG RVP can be an effective aid in the detection of 2009 Influenza A/HIN1, but cannot identify the hemagglutinin gene of the 2009 Influenza A/H1N1 in clinical specimens.
A large study of patients with mild cognitive impairment revealed that results from cognitive tests and brain scans can work as an early warning system for the subsequent development of Alzheimer"s disease.
NYU and NYU School of Medicine received a $29.4 million, five-year Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish a University-wide Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI) in partnership with the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC). The funding is designed to train medical researchers, more rapidly advance science from the lab to the patient to the community and to allow researchers to explore mechanisms of health disparities and develop evidence-based approaches targeted at their reduction. With this grant, NYU, the NYU School of Medicine and HHC will become part of a network of 46 existing Clinical and Translational Science centers based at academic medical centers around the country.
A paper published on bmj.com reports that there is a need for precise estimates of the severity of the new H1N1 virus. Experts need to assess in particular how many deaths might arise over the course of the pandemic. This will be the focus of healthcare planning over the upcoming months.
Based on the data presented, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) recommended that the combination of DOXIL(R) (doxorubicin HCI liposome injection) and docetaxel did not provide a sufficient benefit-risk profile for first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
The American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.), whose mission is to improve patient care by advancing the science and practice of nutrition support therapy, is saddened by the recent death of an infant in Madrid, Spain, who died when formula was given to him through an IV catheter and not through a feeding tube in his stomach.
Sanofi-aventis (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY) announced the release of an Expert Statement by a multidisciplinary board of renowned international experts following an in-depth assessment of the recent publications of registry analyses with Lantus(R) (insulin glargine [rDNA] injection) in Diabetologia. This board of international specialists in the field of endocrinology, oncology and epidemiology came to the conclusion, that all four manuscripts have significant methodological limitations and shortcomings, and that they provide inconsistent and inconclusive results regarding a potential link between insulin glargine use and an increased risk of cancer.
Caregivers of children under five years of age can now answer five simple questions to determine if their child"s breathing problems are not under control. AstraZeneca funded a research project to create the Test for Respiratory and Asthma Control in Kids, or TRACK, the first validated respiratory- and asthma-control assessment test specifically for patients under five years of age. TRACK helps evaluate respiratory control based on guidelines -- defined asthma impairment and risk.
Scientists have sequenced the genome of the parasite that causes intestinal schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia or snail fever), a devastating tropical disease that afflicts more than 200 million people in the developing world.
During the second day of her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor said she views the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion in the U.S. as settled law reaffirmed by subsequent Supreme Court rulings, the Washington Post reports (Goldstein et al., Washington Post, 7/15). At Tuesday"s hearing, lawmakers pressed Sotomayor on her views regarding abortion rights and Supreme Court precedent, the New York Times reports. She told committee members that the contraception rights case that is the foundation for Roe was "the precedent of the court, so it is settled law." She also said the 1992 ruling in Casey v. Planned Parenthood "reaffirmed the core holding of Roe," adding, "That is the precedent of the court and settled law in terms of the holding of the court" (Savage, New York Times, 7/15). Sotomayor said that "there is a right of privacy" and that the Supreme Court "has found it in various places in the Constitution." She cited the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure and the 14th Amendment guaranteeing equal protection of the law (AP/Yahoo! News, 7/14).Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) asked Sotomayor if she considered the 2007 ruling in Gonzales v. Carhart an example of settled law. In the case, the court voted 5-4 to uphold the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. The ruling was the first time since Roe that the court upheld an abortion restriction that made no exception for the health of the woman, the Times reports. In her response, Sotomayor said that "[a]ll precedent of the Supreme Court I consider settled law, subject to the deference the doctrine of stare decisis would counsel," although she did not address the health exception component of the Gonzales case.Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) later pressed Sotomayor to elaborate on her views on Gonzales. Feinstein noted that at least seven Supreme Court rulings prior to the 2007 case stated that abortion laws "cannot put a woman"s health at risk." She added that Gonzales "essentially removed this basic constitutional right for women." Feinstein asked Sotomayor, "When there are multiple precedents and a question arises, are all the previous decisions discarded, or should the court re-examine all the cases on point?" Sotomayor replied that she does not consider Gonzales to be a precedent making it settled law that health exceptions for abortion laws are constitutionally unnecessary. She said, "That was, I don"t believe, a rejection of its prior precedents," which are "still precedents of the court." Sotomayor added that the "health and welfare of a woman must be -- must be a compelling consideration." Feinstein pressed Sotomayor to clarify that she meant that it is still settled that abortion restrictions must have health exceptions. Sotomayor said, "It has been a part of the court"s jurisprudence and a part of its precedents. Those precedents must be given deference in any situation that arises before the court" (New York Times, 7/15).Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) asked Sotomayor if the Constitution prohibits Congress or state legislatures "from defining life or regulating the rights of the unborn or protecting the right of the unborn in the first trimester?" Sotomayor began to cite the 14th Amendment to answer the question. Graham interrupted, asking, "[I]s there÷ anything in the document written about abortion?" Sotomayor said the "word "abortion" is not used in the Constitution, but the Constitution does have a broad provision concerning a liberty provision under the due process" clause (Holman, "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," PBS, 7/14).Graham also asked Sotomayor about her work with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which had submitted legal briefs in the past that supported public funding for abortion coverage for low-income women. Sotomayor served on the group"s board from 1980 to 1992. She said that she "wasn"t aware of what was said in those briefs." She noted that she had served on the board but was not a lawyer for the gro
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor would be the sixth Roman Catholic currently on the court if she is confirmed, but there have been no more than "a few scattered references to this fact," Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn writes. He continues that "for the most part the judge"s religion has been greeted, as a USA Today headline put it, with a "yawn."" McGurn adds, "How different from just a few years ago," when Catholics Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts were nominated by former President George W. Bush.According to McGurn, when Alito was a Supreme Court nominee, "talk was about the "fifth Catholic" on the bench." He adds that Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal "complained that "with Alito, the majority of the court would be Roman Catholics."" McGurn writes that prior to the confirmation hearings for Chief Justice John Roberts, the Los Angeles Times "ran a piece headlined, "Wife of Nominee Holds Strong Antiabortion Views."" According to the Times, Roberts" wife worked for Feminists for Life, and the paper "characterized [her] as an "extremely, extremely devout Catholic,"" McGurn writes."It"s possible, of course, that Democrats and their allies in the media and activist community no longer regard Catholics with the suspicion they did back when ... Bush"s nominees were up for consideration," according to McGurn. "More likely, the relatively soft reaction to Ms. Sotomayor"s Catholicism is because of a calculation that when it comes to hot-button issues such as abortion or gay marriage, she doesn"t really believe what her church teaches," he writes.McGurn continues that if the "indifference" to "Sotomayor"s Catholicism were truly a sign of a new respect for the "no religious test" provisions of the Constitution, that would be something to celebrate." He concludes, "But in the unlikely case that this "wise Latina" ever comes to see the legal wisdom of overturning [Roe v. Wade] and returning abortion to the democratic process, we"ll be reading a very different story" (McGurn, Wall Street Journal, 7/14).
Kaiser Veterans Affairs hospitals and outpatient clinics under review are not always complying fully with federal privacy requirements, often exposing women when they bathe or receive exams, according to government auditors, The Associated Press reports.
"Rising unemployment and spiking Medicaid and welfare caseloads have put [New Hampshire"s] most recent budget to the test just two weeks after its adoption," New Hampshire Public Radio reports. The state"s Medicaid caseload is just 39 enrollees away from putting the "state"s Medicaid budget in the red."
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius commended the Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR) for the new Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Outbreak Response. These guidelines assist local, state and federal agencies in preventing and managing foodborne disease outbreaks through planning, detection, investigation, control and prevention.
New research shows that childhood adversity is associated with diminished neural activity in brain regions implicated in the anticipation of possible rewards.
Animas Corporation announcedthe approval of its OneTouch® Ping™ Glucose Management System by Health Canada. OneTouch Ping is the first full-feature insulin pump that wirelessly communicates with a blood glucose meter-remote. Using the OneTouch Ping meter-remote, a person can calculate insulin doses and opt to wirelessly instruct the pump to deliver them without touching the pump at all, giving patients more freedom and flexibility in using their insulin pump.
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) testified yesterday before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy on "Biologics and Biosimilars: Balancing Incentives for Innovation."
Two international research teams have determined the complete genetic sequences of two species of parasitic flatworms that cause schistosomiasis, a debilitating condition also known as snail fever. Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma japonicum are the first sequenced genomes of any organism in the large group called Lophotrochozoa, which includes other free-living and parasitic flatworms as well as segmented roundworms, such as the earthworm.
Social cognition - the ability to think about the minds and mental states of others - is essential for human beings. In the last decade, a group of regions has been discovered in the human brain that are specifically used for social cognition. A new study in the July/August 2009 issue of the journal Child Development investigates these brain regions for the first time in human children. The study has implications for children with autism.
Research by a group of Montreal scientists calls into question one of the most basic assumptions of human genetics: that when it comes to DNA, every cell in the body is essentially identical to every other cell. Their results appear in the July issue of the journal Human Mutation.
PolyMedix, Inc. (OTCBB: PYMX), an emerging biotechnology company developing acute care products for infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders, announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent assigned to PolyMedix relating to angiogenesis inhibitors. The patent, number 7,553,876, entitled "Polycationic Compounds and Uses Thereof," relates to therapeutic uses of PolyMedix compounds for inhibiting angiogenesis.
The research team led by Dr. Timm Schroeder, stem cell researcher at Helmholtz Zentrum MÃønchen, has developed a new bioimaging method for observing the differentiation of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) at the single-cell level. With this method the researchers were able to prove for the first time that not only cell-intrinsic mechanisms, but also external environmental factors such as growth factors can control HPC lineage choice directly. The findings, published in the current issue of the prestigious journal Science, provide an essential building block for understanding the molecular mechanisms of hematopoiesis and are an important prerequisite for optimizing therapeutic stem cell applications.
Scientists from the University of Cambridge have identified 27 genes that are associated with either Asperger Syndrome (AS) and/or autistic traits and/or empathy. The research is published in the journal Autism Research. This is the first candidate gene study of its kind.
Just like a conductor cueing musicians in an orchestra, Fgf10, a member of the fibroblast growth factor (Ffg) family of morphogens, lets brain stem cells know that the moment to get to work has arrived, ensuring that they hit their first developmental milestone on time, report scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in the July 16, 2009, edition of the journal Neuron.
The Institute for OneWorld Health, the US-based non-profit pharmaceutical company that develops drugs for people with neglected infectious diseases in the developing world, today announced that it has launched a collaboration with global pharmaceutical leader Novartis to discover and develop a novel therapy for secretory diarrhea, a deadly disease that kills more than 1.6 million children in the developing world each year.
Neurofeedback - also called EEG Biofeedback - is a method used to train brain activity in order to normalize Brain function and treat psychiatric disorders. This treatment method has gained interest over the last 10 years, however the question whether this treatment should be regarded as an Evidence-Based treatment was unanswered until now. Tomorrow a study will be published in the scientific journal "EEG and Clinical Neuroscience" demonstrating that Neurofeedback can indeed be regarded as an evidence-based treatment for Attention Deficit- / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Mylan Inc. (Nasdaq: MYL) announced that its subsidiary Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Liothyronine Sodium Tablets USP, 5 mcg (base), 25 mcg (base) and 50 mcg (base).
The Lewin Group today released a new report assessing the financial impact and administrative burden that out-of-network claims pose in Medicaid managed care. The authors of the report recommend a federally mandated payment standard for Medicaid health plans similar to that used in the Medicare Advantage managed care program.
A recently identified gene allows immune cells to start the self-destructive processes thought to underlie autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and rheumatoid arthritis, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.
Advances in neonatal care enable two-thirds of premature babies born with respiratory problems to be ready for school at an appropriate age, but those living in poverty are far less likely to be ready on time than their better-off peers, researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center report in the July issue of the journal Pediatrics.
Americans are unsure that a healthcare reform bill introduced this week is the solution to problems with the U.S. healthcare system, according to a poll created and commissioned by a public policy expert at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
A national program to help mentally ill people on Social Security disability programs find jobs could spur greater independence while saving the federal government $368 million annually, according to a study by Robert Drake of Dartmouth Medical School and colleagues in the May-June 2009 issue of Health Affairs.
Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) said he plans to introduce an amendment to the House health care overhaul bill (HR 3200) that would prohibit insurers from being required to cover abortion, unless the woman"s life is at risk or the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, CQ Today reports. Pitts said he will offer the amendment Thursday at the first House Energy and Commerce Committee mark-up session.The House bill would authorize the Obama administration to craft minimum benefit standards for health insurance plans, CQ Today reports. President Obama has said that he considers reproductive health care an essential service. Democrats say Republicans are trying to expand the Hyde amendment"s exclusion on using federal Medicaid funding to cover abortion to all health care services. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), vice chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said, "I think that if anti-choice Republicans or others see this as an opportunity to expand prohibitions on a legally allowed and medically appropriate practice, then they are wrong." She added, "We are not going to use the health care bill to expand prohibitions on a legal medical practice, period." Pitts, Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) and other supporters of the amendment say it is necessary to block the administration from requiring abortion coverage. The committee has blocked three of Smith"s abortion-related amendments so far this year (Wayne, CQ Today, 7/15).
All Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinics and hospitals are failing to fully comply with federal privacy standards for women, according to a Government Accountability Office report, the AP/Boston Globe reports. The report comes as thousands of female veterans are entering the VA health system after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.GAO auditors said that many VA facilities had gynecological tables that faced the door. In one instance, a gynecological table faced a door opening to a waiting room. The investigation also found cases where women had to walk through waiting rooms to use the restroom -- a violation of VA policy requiring adjoining restrooms. Four VA hospitals did not guarantee women access to private bathing facilities. In two of those cases, the facilities did not have locks.Nearly 20% of female veterans have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and many of them have experienced sexual trauma while serving, according to the report. The report also said that most female veterans at VA facilities are ages 20 to 29. On average, female veterans using VA facilities are much younger than male VA patients, it noted.Randall Williamson, director of health care issues at GAO, said that although top VA officials are committed to improving care for female veterans, facilities are not always taking simple steps, such as repositioning exam tables. Patricia Hayes, chief consultant for VA"s veterans strategic health care group, said that the agency recognizes issues and is making changes to address disparities in care. She noted that VA is creating a long-term plan for construction improvements to address space and building layout challenges (AP/Boston Globe, 7/15).
"This is Year 20 for America"s Best Hospitals, a tool for patients who need medical sophistication that most facilities are unable to provide," reports U.S. News and World Report. The magazine ranked hospitals based on how well they did in "complex and demanding situations" such as "replacing an 85-year-old"s heart valve, diagnosing and treating a spinal tumor, and dealing with inflammatory bowel disease." Out of a total 4,861 hospitals analyzed, "Only 174 hospitals scored high enough to be ranked in even one of the 16 specialties. And of these, just 21 qualified for [the] Honor Roll by ranking at or near the top in at least six specialties." The ranking list includes the 50 highest scoring hospitals (Comarow, 7/15).
The health ministers of six South American countries gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday to "coordinate defenses against" the H1N1 (swine flu) virus which has killed nearly 200 people in the region," the AFP/Google.com reports. Ministers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay used the meeting to voice concern over the rapid spread of the H1N1 virus in their countries, which are now in the southern hemisphere"s winter months, and discuss ways to share supplies to help prevent the spread of the virus. The article includes the individual strategies being taken by some South American countries (7/15).
The board of directors of Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), announced that the company"s annual meeting of shareholders will be held at 10:30 a.m., Central Daylight Time, on Thursday, August 27, 2009 at Medtronic World Headquarters, located at 710 Medtronic Parkway, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Shareholders of record at the close of business on June 29, 2009, will be eligible to vote at the meeting.
Yesterday"s Senate HELP Committee"s vote for a health reform bill and the beginning today of the committee markup process in the House of Representatives mark significant steps forward on the path to comprehensive health reform.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press has launched a new monthly publication, Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, that provides comprehensive, systematically structured surveys of research in exciting areas of molecular and cellular biology, genetics, developmental biology, neuroscience, cancer biology, and molecular pathology.
Researchers from the Institute of Prevention Research at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) found in a recent study that overweight youth were twice as likely to have overweight friends.
Consumers may be able to eat longer-lasting, potentially healthier fish fillets if research at Oregon State University makes its way to the supermarket.
Gliomas are among the most common and most malignant brain tumors. These tumors infiltrate normal brain tissue and grow very rapidly. As a result, surgery can never completely remove the tumor. Now, the neurosurgeons Dr. Darko S. Markovic (Helios Klinikum Berlin-Buch) and Dr. Michael Synowitz (Charit̩) as well as Dr. Rainer Glass and Professor Helmut Kettenmann (both Max Delbr̿ck Center for Molecular Medicine, MDC, Berlin-Buch), have been able to show that glioma cells exploit microglia, the immune cells of the brain, for their expansion (PNAS Early Edition)*.
After a period of improvement, trends in the sexual and reproductive health of U.S. teens and young adults have flattened, or in some instances may be worsening, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The latest rise in the indirect taxation on tobacco and alcohol took place in June. The most popular brand of cigarettes went up in price from 3.10 euros to 3.30 euros per packet. Are these taxes a form of dissuasion or a way of compensating the rest of society for the harm generated by those who smoke? A study by the Polytechnic University of Cartagena has looked into the most significant questions concerning the tobacco economy.
Those travelling abroad should take seriously advice to pack their condoms and keep their needles to themselves: research published today in the open access journal Retrovirology shows that tourists, travellers and migrants from Greece, Portugal, Serbia and Spain actively export HIV-1 subtype B to other European nations.
University of Minnesota McKnight professor and Director of Center for Neuroengineering Bin He has developed a new technique that has led to preliminary successes in noninvasive imaging of seizure foci. He"s technique promises to play an important role in the treatment of epileptic seizures.
A little toothache can pretty quickly turn into a big headache - not just for your mouth but for your wallet too. That"s why CIGNA"s new series of dental HMO plans places an even greater emphasis on affordability and promoting wellness by covering more preventive dental care services.
A single evolutionary event appears to explain the short, curved legs that characterize all of today"s dachshunds, corgis, basset hounds and at least 16 other breeds of dogs, a team led by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health, report. In addition to what it reveals about short-legged dogs, the unexpected discovery provides new clues about how physical differences may arise within species and suggests new approaches to understanding a form of human dwarfism.
American Medical Systems, Inc. (AMS) (NASDAQ: AMMD) a trusted provider of medical solutions for restoring men"s and women"s pelvic health, announced that its AMS 700® with INHIBIZONE® has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the only inflatable penile prosthesis with clinical evidence showing a significant reduction in the rate of revision surgery due to infection.
Congress is expected to take up legislation this summer aimed at improving the nation"s healthcare system. Whatever the shape of the final bill, it will have at least some impact on one of the three leading causes of death in the U.S.: stroke.
WHO publishes its first guidelines on indoor air quality, addressing dampness and mould (WHO guidelines on indoor air quality: dampness and mould. Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2009 (See Here).
Some people say they never forget a face, a claim now bolstered by psychologists at Harvard University who"ve discovered a group they call "super-recognizers": those who can easily recognize someone they met in passing, even many years later.
Experiences with relationship violence beyond the formative and developmental years of childhood and adolescence can have far-reaching effects on the health status of disadvantaged urban women, a new study shows.
The nation"s largest union and professional association of registered nurses hailed passage of a key amendment in the House Education and Labor Committee to the national healthcare reform bill this morning that would enable individual states to go a step farther and adopt single-payer, Medicare-for-All style reforms.
Asking members of Congress to support patient-focused reform of the Medicare home oxygen therapy benefit, patients and family members with the National Emphysema/COPD Association (NECA), a national advocacy organization representing patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other lung diseases, descended on Capitol Hill this week. Patients urged members of the U.S. House to support and pass the Medicare Home Oxygen Therapy Act of 2009 (H.R. 3220), which was recently introduced.
Adults between the ages of 34 and 56 are at a greater risk of dying from poisonings than from motor vehicle accidents, according to a new report from the CDC.
Highly intelligent adults with Asperger Syndrome still have difficulties in day-to-day social interaction. These difficulties may be explained by "mindblindness", the idea that they are unable to predict what other people will do by thinking about their mental states, that is, their knowledge and beliefs. If this is true then why do people with Asperger syndrome pass all the standard tests of mental state attribution? Is the theory wrong or are the tests insensitive? This study reports evidence from eye movements, that adults with Asperger Syndrome do not spontaneously anticipate another person"s behaviour on the basis of that person"s mental state. This is in stark contrast with typical adults, and even young toddlers.
The "religious right and its Republican enablers" are "playing the abortion card" with health care reform legislation by contending that "federal government dollars will pay directly for abortions," according to an American Prospect opinion piece by Dana Goldstein, an associate editor for the magazine. It is "unlikely" that federal money would be used this way, but the groups "want grassroots conservatives to believe it will, hoping the resulting outcry will scuttle attempts to reform our expensive health care system," Goldstein continues. She writes, "This rhetoric is beyond hyperbolic -- it is downright deceptive."Goldstein quotes Adam Sonfield, a senior policy associate at the Guttmacher Institute, who said discussion of family planning in federal law ""never includes abortion."" She adds, "In actuality, "family planning" language refers exclusively to contraceptive services, in part because of the Hyde Amendment," which bars the use of federal Medicaid dollars for abortion. She also notes that reproductive health issues are "so politicized ... that even to offer birth control to poor women who do not meet Medicaid"s strict eligibility requirements, individual states must apply for a waiver from the federal government." About half of states have done so, she says. In "choosing what services to cover under any potential public insurance plan," the HHS secretary "will likely be bound by all of the existing laws that prevent the federal government from financing abortion," according to Goldstein. She adds, "None of these restrictions would be explicitly overturned by any of the health reform proposals currently being considered in Congress."Antiabortion-rights Senate Republicans have said they will oppose any health reform bill "that subsidizes abortion coverage or even includes, in the proposed health insurance exchanges, private insurers that cover abortion," Goldstein writes. She adds that 87% of existing health plans include some abortion coverage, meaning that most women would lose coverage under the Republicans" demands. "The result would be a near-blanket restriction on women"s access to insurance-subsidized abortion, one far more radical than the Hyde Amendment," Goldstein says. Meanwhile, women"s health advocates have said that overturning the Hyde Amendment is not currently their top priority because "they are simply too busy playing defense on health reform" and do not have the votes, Goldstein writes.According to Goldstein, by "playing the abortion card, the real goal of anti-choicers is not only to maintain existing restrictions on abortion access, but to use health reform as a vehicle to expand them to the majority of American women." She writes, "If such efforts lead to legislative impasse, many conservatives will be delighted." She concludes, "After all, they"ve never really put any political muscle behind fixing our inadequate health care system" (Goldstein, American Prospect, 7/14).
California cuts back on health insurance for children, while New Hampshire expands state insurance to young adults. Meanwhile, a regional health commission in Missouri hopes to help the uninsured, and an Iowa report concludes that minorities face discrimination in the health care system.
Malaria is one of humankind"s greatest killers, yet despite the best efforts of scientists, an effective vaccine is still not available to prevent it. A new book from ASM Press, The Elusive Malaria Vaccine: Miracle or Mirage? tells the story of the search for a still unrealized vaccine.
Experts estimate that over 24 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, and many of these people live in low- and middle-income countries. Recently, there has been growing interest in whether dietary factors, particularly oily fish and meat, might influence the onset and/or severity of dementia. Oily fish are rich in omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, which some studies suggest are positively related to cognitive function in later life. Conversely, there is a suggestion from some studies that increased meat consumption may be related to cognitive decline. To examine this, a group of international researchers studied older people in 7 middle- to low-income countries. You can read the results of their study in the August 2009 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
New strategies are needed to encourage general practitioners to teach medical students in their practices, according to a letter published in this year"s General Practice edition of the Medical Journal of Australia.
Medical practitioners should be required to participate in a new national medical labour force survey as part of their registration obligations, to assist workforce planning, according to an article published in this year"s General Practice edition of the Medical Journal of Australia.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is launching its "LOVE Condom" campaign with an event today in the New Delhi region on the 18th of July, 2009. The campaign includes the distribution of free AHF "LOVE"-brand condoms, as well as a "Stay Negative" public service advertising campaign. Bollywood actor Ronit Roy will be the chief guest at today"s launch event. The event will be at Metropolitan Hotel Nikko, New Delhi. This campaign will be a new start of HIV AIDS education in India.
Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) and GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) today announced that BENLYSTA™ (belimumab, formerly LymphoStat-B®) met the primary endpoint in BLISS-52, the first of two pivotal Phase 3 trials in patients with serologically active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In the placebo-controlled BLISS-52 study, the results showed that BENLYSTA plus standard of care achieved a clinically and statistically significant improvement in patient response rate at Week 52, compared with standard of care alone. Study results also showed that belimumab was generally well tolerated, with adverse event rates comparable between belimumab and placebo treatment groups.
Researchers from the Coriell Institute for Medical Research and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) have announced the discovery of five sites of variation in the genome that are associated with blood pressure in African Americans.
Researchers at Mayo Clinic compared two popular television shows, CSI and CSI: Miami, to actual U.S. homicide data, and discovered clear differences between media portrayals of violent deaths versus actual murders. This study complements previous research regarding media influences on public health perception. Mayo Clinic researchers presented their findings at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting in San Francisco.
A major research grant will help scientists study the links between memory and oral health in a bid to establish control over Alzheimer"s disease.
Actelion Ltd (SIX: ATLN) announced the launch of Zavesca® (miglustat) in the UK and Republic of Ireland; the first and only licensed treatment available for people with Niemann-Pick type C (NP-C) disease [1]. NP-C is a rare, genetic disease with significant neurological deterioration that can be fatal and affects infants, children and adults [2,3].
Update 20 July 2009: Statement from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) about the recent news about advice for pregnant women in Australia and New Zealand.
The Lupus Research Institute (LRI) and its National Coalition of state and local organizations congratulate Human Genome Sciences (HGS) and GlaxoSmithKline on the highly promising results of this landmark clinical trial of Benlysta(TM) (belimumab) for people with systemic lupus.
Children with stressed out parents may be more susceptible to developing asthma associated with environmental triggers such as high levels of traffic-related pollution and tobacco smoke, according to a new study led by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC).
Karolinska Institutet accounts for almost half of the academic medical research conducted in Sweden, and contributes regularly to new discoveries that save lives and alleviate suffering. Today, the university"s president, Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson, is to receive an honorary distinction for eminent women in science by Exploratorium, the renowned American science museum.
-39% of suicides by hanging took place when the patient was supposed to be subject to observation by staff