Endocrinology
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that the United States Senate unanimously confirmed Dr. Nicole Lurie as the next Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at HHS. Dr. Lurie, an internationally recognized leader in public health, most recently served as co-director of the RAND Corporation Center for Domestic and International Health Security, senior natural scientist and professor of policy analysis at the RAND Corporation.
An MS Society-funded study has highlighted the impact that MS has on partners" lives and demonstrates the need for support and services for partners of people with MS.
Dr Elaine Vickers, Research Relations Manager at Asthma UK, says: "This is an important piece of research which helps to explain why the majority of children with severe eczema go on to develop asthma in later childhood, as a result of their genetic make-up.
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) respects and values PETA"s right to express an opinion and hold a peaceful demonstration at our 146th Annual Convention in Seattle. On the other hand, we disagree with their position on our use of fish during an educational and motivational presentation by the fishmongers of Pike Place Fish Market.
A new national service which will provide comprehensive care and support
NovImmune, an immunology-focused biotech company
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) last week held a private meeting to discuss a compromise on health care reform legislation that would include a "fallback public plan," implemented in several years if private insurers do not take steps to make coverage more affordable and accessible, CongressDaily reports. The plan is modeled on the Medicare prescription drug benefit, under which the government can offer prescription drug benefits if private insurers choose not to do so. The government currently does not offer a Medicare Part D directly plan because a sufficient number of private firms have done so. According to CongressDaily, Snowe is seeking to go further than the fallback option under Part D, in which success is measured on the number of participating insurers. Snowe would measure success by the affordability and accessibility of private plans. Snowe has had conversations regarding the plan with Senate Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), CongressDaily reports. In addition, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Thomas Carper (D-Del.) also have expressed interest in the proposal. A Republican committee aide said that a public plan that offers the same benefits as private plans and is funded by money from premiums rather than taxpayer money, such as that proposed by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), could be put in place if private insurers fail. The aide said, "If you"ve done everything you possibly can, and you don"t get the result that you need, then a lever there might be helpful as long as the lever doesn"t take over the whole system" (Edney, CongressDaily, 5/19). Other Reform News
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) announced CE Mark for its LATITUDE® Patient Management system. The LATITUDE system remotely monitors patients with implantable cardiac devices, gathering information on both the device and a patient"s heart health status. The system can also detect clinical events between scheduled physician visits and send relevant data directly to a patient"s physician. It will be launched in Europe in a phased approach beginning this week.
The Harley Medical Group has revealed that the number of nipple correction surgical procedures carried out has risen 30% year-on-year. Mr Riccardo Frati, surgeon at The Harley Medical Group, appeared on GMTV to discuss nipple correction surgery with Lorraine Kelly. He said: "There are nipple surgery options out there and a minority of women seek to change the size or shape of their nipples through reconstructive surgery purely for cosmetic reasons. Another option, nipple elevation, involves the nipple being raised above its existing level to enhance its appearance and make the breast look more pert.
Women"s Way, North Dakota"s breast and cervical cancer early detection
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a draft guidance on the use of inks, pigments, flavors, and other physical-chemical identifiers (PCIDs) by manufacturers to make drug products more difficult to duplicate by counterfeiters, and to make it easier to identify the genuine version of the drug.
British scientists are leading the field at the International Conference of Alzheimer"s Disease, in Vienna (ICAD, 11 - 16 July).
Nonin Medical, Inc., a leading innovator of noninvasive physiological monitoring solutions, announced FDA clearance for its Model 7600 Regional Oximetry System. Introduced in June 2009 at the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA) conference in Milan, Italy, the innovative Model 7600 offers real-time monitoring of cerebral oxygenation for patients at risk of ischemia.
Thomson Reuters today announced the results of a study documenting Brazil"s steady rise during the last two decades in both the volume and impact of its scientific work. According to Science Watch, these findings underscore Brazil"s standing among the emergent "BRIC" nations. BRIC -- an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India and China -- are the countries possessing the res and economic potential to capture a significant share of the world"s future economic growth.
A landmark study conducted by Children"s Hospital & Research Center Oakland is the first to reveal a new syndrome in children that presents with a combination of allergy, apraxia and malabsorption. Autism spectrum disorders were variably present. Verbal apraxia has until now been understood to be a neurologically based speech disorder, although hints of other neurological soft signs have been described. The new study, led by Children"s Hospital & Research Center Oakland scientist and pediatric emergency medicine physician, Claudia Morris, MD, and Marilyn C. Agin, MD, a neurodevelopmental pediatrician at Saint Vincent Medical Center in New York, however, suggests that the symptoms of verbal apraxia are, at least for a sub-group of children, part of a larger, multifactorial, neurologic syndrome involving food allergies/gluten-sensitivity and nutritional malabsorption.
In a speech before the Ghanaian Parliament, President Obama on Saturday reiterated U.S. support for public health programs that will reduce maternal mortality and the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa, the New York Times reports. The speech, which was televised across the continent, focused on international relations with Africa and empowering African nations to address problems (Baker, New York Times, 7/12).In a portion of the speech about strengthening public health, Obama said that there has been "enormous progress ... in parts of Africa" in recent years. He continued, "Far more people are living productively with HIV/AIDS, and getting the drugs they need. But too many still die from diseases that shouldn"t kill them." He added, "When children are being killed because of a mosquito bite, and mothers are dying in childbirth, then we know that more progress must be made." Obama said that "incentives often provided by donor nations" often compel doctors and nurses to "go overseas, or work for programs that focus on a single disease," which "creates gaps in primary care and basic prevention." He also said that Africans must "make responsible choices that prevent the spread of disease, while promoting public health in their communities and countries."Obama noted that the U.S. has committed $63 billion "to meet these challenges." He added that the U.S. will not "confront illnesses in isolation" but instead "invest in public health systems that promote wellness and focus on the health of mothers and children" (AP/USA Today, 7/11). Obama also visited a women"s clinic to highlight U.S-backed programs to fight infant and maternal mortality (New York Times, 7/12).
One in three breast cancer patients identified in certain nations" public screening programs might have undergone unnecessary treatment, according to a study published Friday in BMJ, the AP/Google.com reports. For the study, Karsten Jorgensen and Peter Gotzsche of Copenhagen"s Nordic Cochrane Centre examined breast cancer trends at least seven years before and after the launch of government-run screening programs in parts of Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Norway and Sweden. The programs usually test women ages 50 to 69.According to the AP/Google.com, effective screening programs should detect more cases and result in a decline in advanced cancer cases detected in older women, whose cancers would have been caught in earlier screenings. However, the study found that the national screening systems simply detected thousands more cases than previously identified.Experts say that overtreatment of cancer occurs wherever there are widespread screening programs, including in the U.S. Some cancers develop too slowly to ever cause symptoms or death, the AP/Google.com reports. However, it is impossible to determine which cancers will be deadly, so all detected cases are treated. Jorgensen said that there is "significant harm in making women cancer patients without good reason" and that the "information needs to get to women so they can make an informed choice."Gilbert Welch of the VA Outcomes Group and the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Research wrote in an accompanying editorial that although mammography "undoubtedly helps some women," it "hurts others." Welch wrote that it is "one of medicine"s "close calls," ... where different people in the same situation might reasonably make different choices."Britain"s National Health Service recently stopped distributing breast cancer screening pamphlets in response to criticism that they included too little information on cancer overtreatment. Laura Bell of Cancer Research UK said that although the organization still urges women to be screened, it is important that they be made aware of potential benefits and harms (Cheng, AP/Google.com, 7/9).
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.
Rural Americans are hopeful that health reform includes funding for clinics and health care services in their communities, where the cost of care is often high, CNN reports.
The mood in Washington to compromise with hospitals, pharmaceutical makers and physician groups is not extending to physician-owned specialty hospitals, Time reports. "Any health-reform package passed by Congress will likely deal a major blow to an upstart competitor of many hospitals. Buried in the 850-page House health-reform draft is a provision that could in effect ban further construction of doctor-owned, for-profit specialty hospitals and prohibit existing ones from expanding. ņ¦ Senators Charles Grassley and Max Baucus, who lead the body"s powerful Finance Committee, have been vocal critics of the doctor-owned specialty-hospital model and the industry expects similar language to be included in any upcoming Senate health-reform bill as well."
Needle exchange programs (NEPs) "are an inexpensive public health intervention, especially when compared with the social costs of treating individuals with HIV or hepatitis-related chronic liver disease," Maureen Trotter, a pathologist and president of the Taylor-Jones-Haskell County Medical Society, writes in the Abilene Reporter News. She adds that legislation introduced this year in the Texas Legislature "to allow public health departments and organizations to establish disease control programs that provide for the anonymous exchange of used hypodermic needles and syringes for sterile ones, offer education and substance abuse treatment and blood-borne disease testing" failed to come to a floor vote. Trotter further discusses NEPs, citing data on outcomes of NEPs, and writes, "The costs of preventing one case of HIV is estimated between $4,000 and $12,000 via NEPs. The medical cost of treating a person infected with HIV is about $200,000," adding, "These programs, if implemented, could save Texas millions of dollars" (7/12).
Wall Street Journal: A recent decision by CMS to end Medicare coverage of virtual colonoscopies is "a preview of how health care will be rationed when Democrats" create "a new "universal" health insurance entitlement for the middle class," a Journal editorial states. According to the editorial, the prospects of such a health system are "playing out in miniature in Medicare" where CMS has decided that offering an alternative to the traditional colonoscopy is "too pricey." The editorial states that the situation features "precisely the sort of complexity that the Democrats would prefer to ignore as they try to restructure health care" and use comparative effectiveness research to determine what works best for the majority of patients. According to the editorial, "The problem is that what "works best" isn"t the same for everyone." It continues that CMS "made the hard-and-fast choice that it was cheaper to cut [virtual colonoscopies] ... for all beneficiaries. If some patients are worse off, well, too bad." The editorial concludes that the situation is "merely a preview of the life-and-death decisions that will be determined by politics" if Democrats enact their ideal system (Wall Street Journal, 5/19).
Group B Streptococcus (GBS), a bacterial pathogen that causes sepsis and meningitis in newborn infants, is able to shut down immune cell function in order to promote its own survival, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Their study, published online July 13 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, offers insight into GBS infection - information that may lead to new medical therapies for invasive infectious diseases that affect nearly 3,500 newborns in the United States each year.
Men and women who walk or ride a bike to work appear more fit, and men are less likely to be overweight or obese and have healthier triglyceride levels, blood pressure and insulin levels, according to a report in the July 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Patients with multiple sclerosis who smoke appear to experience a more rapid progression of their disease, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Implantable lenses made of a collagen-like substance appear to provide stable correction of moderate to high nearsightedness (myopia) over four years of follow-up, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Plans to improve access to occupational health services in Wales to help tackle absenteeism and ill-health in the workplace will be announced today [Tuesday, 14 July] by Health Minister Edwina Hart.
AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAG) announced that Feraheme ™ (ferumoxytol) Injection is now available for commercial sale in the United States. Feraheme is an intravenous (IV) iron replacement therapy for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in adult patients with chronic kidney disease. Feraheme can provide patients with a 1 gram therapeutic course of iron in two 510 mg IV injections administered as quickly as 17 seconds each, within one week. Feraheme was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on June 30, 2009.
A new study identifies a group of individuals at increased risk for developing colon cancer and holds the promise for developing new tailored cancer treatments. The study in this week"s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) is by Sanford Markowitz, M.D., Ph.D., the Markowitz-Ingalls Professor of Cancer Genetics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and oncologist at the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center, and colleagues.
Changes in the brain measured with MRI and PET scans, combined with memory tests and detection of risk proteins in body fluids, may lead to earlier and more accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer"s, according to new research reported at the Alzheimer"s Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease (ICAD 2009) in Vienna.
Anne Arundel County, Md., Executive John Leopold recently appointed 20 community leaders, government officials and health workers to serve on the county"s first HIV/AIDS commission, which aims to understand and develop strategies for addressing the disease, the Baltimore Sun reports. The Sun reports the commission is believed to be the first of its kind in a suburban Maryland county and similar to a commission launched in Baltimore City. Council member Daryl Jones in 2008 proposed legislation to create the commission, citing the increasing number of HIV cases in the northern part of the county, likely because of its close proximity to Baltimore. According to Jones, the commission aims to generate funds for testing and outreach services; address stigma associated with the disease; and heighten awareness of the virus among residents. The commission also will produce an annual report on HIV/AIDS-related issues in the county, Jones said. Anne Arundel County had 1,000 recorded HIV/AIDS cases in 2006, with 56 newly reported HIV cases that year, according to the Maryland AIDS Administration. "It"s pretty much what I would classify as having the potential to reach epidemic proportions," Jones said, adding that Baltimore has the second highest AIDS rate among major metropolitan areas in the country. According to Kelly Sipe Russo, a physician clinical specialist with the county health department"s division of public health, the department has identified "hot spots" in the county with high HIV/AIDS rates, including the northern area and Annapolis. Russo noted that while HIV/AIDS rates in the county are not on the rise, they also are not declining, even with programs in place to increase awareness and provide help for those living with the disease. According to the Sun, although res and staffing are limited for many programs, health department officials still believe the programs are slowly having an effect and that more outreach is needed, especially for testing and treatment. Jones said that the economic downturn could lead more people to drug or alcohol use. He also noted that the stigma surrounding the disease is a major factor behind the creation of the commission. "Part of what the commission will address is figuring out ways to take away some of the fear factor" associated with HIV testing, he said. The Sun also profiled Carolyn Massey, an HIV-positive woman appointed to the commission. She said that stigma associated with the virus still is widespread, adding, "I feel we"re doing some of the right things the right way. HIV infection is something that does not have to happen" (Dixon, Baltimore Sun, 5/18).
Commenting on the news that a GP has died after contracting swine flu, Dr Laurence Buckman, Chairman of the BMA"s GPs Committee, said:
CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTR), a biopharmaceutical research and development company engaged in the development of high-value human therapeutics, today announced that its investigational cancer drug INNO-206 caused a dramatic destruction of implanted tumors in an experimental animal model of breast cancer, performing considerably better than the broadly used and generally effective chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin. In addition to improved efficacy in this animal trial, INNO-206 was comparable in toxicity with doxorubicin based on animal body-weight loss.
Lifestyle choices are pieces of the cancer prevention puzzle, but exactly which steps to take remain unclear, even to scientists. Still, more and more individuals are incorporating small changes into their daily routine such as drinking green tea in hopes of keeping cancer risk at bay.
A new review of existing research says there is little evidence to support mandatory hearing-loss prevention programs at the workplace.
While only two-thirds of Texas doctors treat Medicaid patients, a Texas government agency is using tactics that might turn more doctors away from the program, according to the Texas Medical Association (TMA).
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."
Dr. Regina Benjamin is President Obama"s pick for surgeon general. The Alabama family physician has been an advocate for universal care, and is expected to have a role "at the table" in health reform, which would be an unusual degree of influence over policy for a surgeon general. Obama said Benjamin "represents what"s best about health care in America."
New figures published show A&E departments in England have met the
A new federal rating system to track quality gives nursing homes mixed reviews. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the Nursing Home Compare Web site, which compares the nation"s 15,600 homes. There were complaints that the old site was unmanageable.
"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday she is frustrated over the failure" to name a new head of the USAID, despite it being a priority for the administration, AFP/Google.com reports. "Clinton, addressing USAID staff who asked why there was no administrator and deputy six months into President Barack Obama"s administration, complained about what she called an increasingly burdensome vetting process," the news service writes (7/13).
In the first day of her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor said on Monday that "fidelity to the law" is central to her judicial philosophy and that the role of a judge is "not to make law" but "to apply the law," the Washington Post reports. Sotomayor said her record as a district and federal appeals judge "reflects my rigorous commitment to interpreting the Constitution according to its terms, interpreting statutes according to their terms and Congress" intent, and hewing faithfully to precedents established by the Supreme Court and by my circuit court." She also said her "personal and professional experiences help me listen and understand, with the law always commanding the result in every case" (Barnes et al., Washington Post, 7/14). The first day of the hearings was dedicated to opening statements from Sotomayor and senators, with the questioning portion scheduled to begin on Tuesday. According to the Wall Street Journal, Sotomayor is expected to be confirmed, as Democrats outnumber Republicans on the committee 12-7 and hold a 60-member majority in the Senate (Bravin/Bendavid, Wall Street Journal, 7/14). The New York Times reports that senators from both parties are likely to use Sotomayor"s confirmation as a way to frame the debate for the next Supreme Court nominee, with Democrats hoping to "build a lopsided victory" to give President Obama more leeway to choose a more liberal nominee. Conservatives, on the other hand, "hoped to draw a line making the president think twice about picking someone" like Sotomayor in the future, the Times reports (Baker/Lewis, New York Times, 7/14).In Monday"s hearing, both parties gave indications of how they plan to proceed for the rest of the confirmation process, the Post reports. Democrats in their statements portrayed Sotomayor as a role model for the country and a judge with a modest approach who would bring balance to the conservative-leaning court (Washington Post, 7/14). Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Sotomayor "puts rule of law above everything else." He added, "Given her extensive and evenhanded record, I am not sure how any member of this panel can sit here today and seriously suggest that she comes to the bench with a personal agenda" (Stern/Perine, CQ Today, 7/13). Republicans used their statements to cast Sotomayor as a partial judge, saying previous statements and rulings show she is an activist judge (Washington Post, 7/14). In particular, GOP senators on the committee referenced a comment from a 2001 speech in which Sotomayor said that a "wise Latina" would reach better decisions than a white man in some cases (Baker/Lewis, New York Times, 7/14). Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), the ranking Republican on the committee, said, "No senator should vote for an individual ... who believes it is acceptable for a judge to allow their own personal background, gender, prejudices or sympathies to sway their decision." He continued, "Call it empathy, call it prejudice or call it sympathy, but whatever it is, it"s not law" (Wall Street Journal, 7/14). However, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) noted that Republicans lost in last year"s presidential election and told Sotomayor, "Unless you have a complete meltdown, you"re going to get confirmed" (Lewis, New York Times, 7/14).Antiabortion-Rights Protesters Arrested During HearingsFour antiabortion-rights protesters were arrested for shouting comments during the senators" remarks (CQ Today, 7/13). One of the arrested protesters was Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff "Jane Roe" in Roe v. Wade. According to the AP/Google.com, McCorvey began screaming that Sotomayor was "wrong" about abortion during the opening statement of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.). McCorvey and the other three arrested protesters were charged with unlawful conduct-disruption of Congress. The protesters also prompted a warning from Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who said, "We"ll show respect to everybody who is here, we will show respect to everyb
Boehringer Ingelheim and AmeriCares Free Clinics announced the opening of a new, expanded clinic in Danbury to serve the medical needs of the working poor at a time when demand for such services is higher than ever due to economic pressures.
A bill (HR 20, S 324) in Congress that would mandate funding for research, services and public education related to postpartum depression has sparked debate over whether all women should be screened for the condition, Time reports. The Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act, also known as the Mothers Act, passed the House and is before the Senate. The bill does not specifically include funding for PPD testing, though an earlier version did; regardless, critics say it would still lead to greater screening. According to Time, the issue at the center of the debate is whether PPD screening identifies actual cases "or simply contribute[s] to the potentially dangerous medicalization of motherhood." Ingrid Johnston-Robledo, director of women"s studies at the State University of New York, said that experts on both sides of the debate agree about increased support for women. "The problem with women"s reproductive health issues is that they tend to be ignored or exaggerated," Johnston-Robledo said. She added, "We need to find a way to come down in the middle: acknowledge women"s depression but not assume that all women who struggle with the transition to motherhood are depressed."Critics of the bill argue that mental health screenings are notorious for giving false positives. They also contend that increased testing is a bid by pharmaceutical companies to sell more medication to women who do not need it. Some psychologists argue that universal PPD screening would be misdirected because the greatest risk factor for the condition is previous depression, not giving birth. Paula Caplan, a clinical and research psychologist, said, "(We) should be addressing the social factors causing women to be upset after they give birth, not locating the problem within the women."Some proponents of PPD screening say it is not supposed to be used as a diagnostic tool but as a way to identify which patients require further evaluation. According to Time, studies suggest that PPD affects as many as one out of seven women who have recently given birth and that leaving it untreated exposes women and their infants to unwarranted risk. Katherine Wisner, a psychiatrist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said, "Postpartum depression is not a benign, uncommon thing." She added, "We screen all infants for (the genetic disorder) phenylketonuria, which is extremely rare. Why don"t we screen women for this?" (Elton, Time, 7/20).
On July 14, the American Association for Dental Research released its policy statement titled "Oral Health Care within Health Care Reform," which focuses on the scientific base of oral health and its associations to other aspects of health.
Chronic exposure to tobacco smoke in childhood may contribute to early emphysema later in life, according to new research. Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is known to be associated with a variety of serious health problems, but it had not previously been associated with the development of emphysema over the life course. The data was presented on Tuesday, May 19, at the 105th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego.
The University of Florida will receive nearly $26 million over five years to speed the transformation of scientific discoveries into medical advances for patients.
The human brain can adapt to changing demands even in adulthood, but MIT neuroscientists have now found evidence of it changing with unsuspected speed. Their findings suggest that the brain has a network of silent connections that underlie its plasticity.
The interaction between a network of altered genes appears to play an important role in the development and progression of brain tumors, according to a study in the July 15 issue of JAMA.
Patients who have a heart defect known as patent foramen ovale incidentally discovered and repaired during surgery for a different condition may have an increased odds of postoperative stroke, along with no clear benefit on short-term outcomes or long-term survival, 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.
Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:HALO) today announced the commencement of patient dosing in a Phase 2 clinical study of Insulin-PH20 in patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. This randomized cross-over design study is designed to compare the postprandial glycemic excursions following a standardized test meal after treatment with either insulin lispro+PH20 or regular insulin+PH20 relative to treatment with lispro (Humalog) alone.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announcedrecently that Mount Sinai School of Medicine has received a Clinical and Translational Research Award (CTSA) for $34.6 million over the next five years. The CTSA will help support a new research paradigm at Mount Sinai that will facilitate the translation of breakthrough research from bench to bedside and will be led by Hugh Sampson, MD, Dean for Translational Biomedical Sciences, Director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, and the Kurt Hirschhorn Professor of Pediatrics.
A significantly more accurate* way of calculating the dosimetry of cancer treatments will be introduced by Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) at the GEC-ESTRO exhibition in Porto, Portgual, on May 14-16. BrachyVision™ Acuros™ enables clinicians to rapidly calculate patient doses for brachytherapy treatments (a form of radiotherapy) with an extremely high level of accuracy.
The 2009 Interventional Radiology Coding Users" Guide, a comprehensive re for endovascular and interventional procedures and services, is now available in both book and CD formats. This unique reference is made available by the Society of Interventional Radiology, a national organization of physicians, scientists and allied health professionals dedicated to improving public health through disease management and minimally invasive, image-guided therapeutic interventions.
An e-mail intervention program is an effective way to significantly improve diet and physical activity by helping people move more, sit less, and make healthier food choices, according to a Kaiser Permanente Division of Research study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Onset Therapeutics, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused in dermatology, announced the FDA approval and commercial launch of HYLATOPIC™ Emollient Foam, a unique, non-steroidal prescription product indicated to manage and relieve the burning, itching and pain experienced with various types of dermatoses, including atopic dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis and radiation dermatitis.
Dimebolin, originally administered as an antihistamine, has previously been found to help slow the decline of cognitive ability in participants.
A sub-analysis of a Phase IIb multinational study(1) with edoxaban(2) - an investigational oral Factor Xa inhibitor - provides insights into why patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) receiving edoxaban once daily (QD) experienced fewer bleeding events than patients given edoxaban twice a day (BID). The analysis finds that bleeding associated with edoxaban is most closely correlated with minimum concentration levels of the drug in the blood, and that these trough levels may best predict bleeding events, rather than total exposure or maximum concentration levels.
Animas Corporation announced the approval of its OneTouch((R)) Ping(TM) 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.
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.
A Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)-based research team has identified how a chromosomal abnormality known to be associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)- the most common cancer in children- initiates the disease process. In the July issue of Cell Stem Cell, they describe how expression of this mutation in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which usually occurs before birth, leads to the development of leukemia many years later.
Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. (SWISS: BSLN) announces that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued the Final Appraisal Determination (FAD) recommending the use of Toctino® (alitretinoin) within its licensed indication, as a treatment option for adults with severe chronic hand eczema that has not responded to potent topical corticosteroids.
"A veteran California lawmaker with ties to the biotechnology industry said she thinks her proposal to protect brand-name biologic makers has enough support to carry in the House Energy and Commerce Committee," Dow Jones Newswires/Wall Street Journal reports. The proposal, by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., would protect brand-name biologic products from competition for 12 years. A similar proposal cleared the Senate health committee earlier this week.
A California device maker settles a Medicare fraud case while a New Jersey doctor and his office manager are accused in a Medicare fraud scheme.
An overhaul of the U.S. health care system would probably help maintain improvements already made in Iowa, Gov. Chet Culver and other health advocates said Tuesday, according to the Des Moines Register.
Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered a novel protein that can protect brain cells by interrupting a naturally occurring "stress cascade" resulting in cell death.
"Brazil has been successful in its nearly 20-year effort to treat people living with" HIV/AIDS, and generic medicines have been "a large part of the solution," according to a recent Health Affairs review, UPI reports (UPI, 7/14). The review examines Brazil"s passing of "a law in the 1990s that guaranteed citizens free and universal access to drugs for HIV and AIDS treatment" as well as the country"s production of generic HIV/AIDS medicines in public factories, AHN reports. "The [Brazilian] government also prompted drug companies to lower their prices by threatening to make generic versions of [patented] HIV and AIDS drugs in the public factories," writes AHN (Goodhue, 7/14).
Pfizer Inc announced today results from two Phase 1 safety studies, one of PF-04360365, a humanized anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody (mAb), and another of dimebon (latrepirdine*) in combination with donepezil HCl tablets, in patients with Alzheimer"s disease.1,2 Based on the Phase 1 study results, PF-04360365 has advanced into Phase 2.3 Dimebon (latrepirdine), being co-developed by Pfizer and Medivation Inc., is in Phase 3 development.4 These data were presented this week at the Alzheimer"s Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease (ICAD) in Vienna, Austria.
The University of Miami (UM) School of Nursing and Health Studies has received two grants totaling over $60,000 from the Department of Health and Human Services" Health Res and Services Administration (HRSA). One grant will provide scholarships to undergraduate students while the other grant will support students in the school"s graduate nurse practitioner programs.
New research shows that childhood adversity is associated with diminished neural activity in brain regions implicated in the anticipation of possible rewards.
A student team in the Virginia Tech College of Engineering is providing the blind with an opportunity many never thought possible: The opportunity to drive.
Sunitinib prolongs progression-free and overall survival, and is safe and well tolerated in advanced kidney cancer (metastatic renal cell carcinoma) patients with a poor prognosis such as the elderly and those whose cancer has spread to the brain, finds an Article published Online First (http://www.thelancet.com) and in the August edition of The Lancet Oncology.
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.
Children raised in institutions are more likely to lag physically, socially, and cognitively, but little is known about what happens to children"s brains when they live in institutions. Now a new study finds that placing institutionalized children in high-quality foster care may improve their brain activity.
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 "sloppier copier" discovered by USC biologists is also the best sixth man in the DNA repair game, an article in the journal Nature shows.
Today, more than 100 future physicians from across the nation will descend on Capitol Hill to lobby on upcoming health care reform legislation.
As policymakers consider ways to cut health costs as a part of health reform, a new national survey of physician practices finds that physicians on average are spending the equivalent of three work weeks annually on administrative tasks required by health plans. According to the study published May 14 on the Health Affairs Web site by Lawrence P. Casalino of Weill Cornell Medical College and colleagues, physician practices report that overall the costs of interacting with insurance plans is $31 billion annually and 6.9 percent of all U.S. expenditures for physician and clinical services.
An innovative treatment for infections of the respiratory tract in cystic fibrosis patients has received a second orphan drug designation in the US only weeks after a first designation was granted. The recent designation relates to Burkholderia cepacia pathogens that can cause lethal infections in cystic fibrosis patients. For Axentis Pharma AG of Zurich, Switzerland, both designations affirm the therapeutic potential of its product candidate Fluidosomes(TM)-tobramycin, whose unique microbiological profile sets it apart from other antibiotic formulations (including free tobramycin).
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.
This week, Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Constabulary, Dr Timothy Brain OBE, officially launched the Meningitis Trust"s annual Five Valley"s Walk; and started the fundraising with a donation of ÷£1500 he received after winning the Communicator of the Year Award 2008, from GSL/APPRO for his efforts during the Water Emergency of 2007.
The California Nurses Association concurred on the need for improved enforcement to protect patients affected by the handful of nurses alleged to have found to have committed egregious misconduct that put patients in jeopardy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it is conducting a safety review of Xolair (omalizumab), a drug used to treat certain adults and adolescents with moderate-to-severe persistent asthma.
Determined to cut Medicare costs, the White House unveiled a plan that would shift much of the power over Medicare payment rates from Congress to the executive branch.
Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have discovered a set of brain proteins responsible for some of the most common and devastating brain diseases. The proteins underlie epilepsy, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disease, mental retardation and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer"s and Huntington"s diseases.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has awarded AIDS Services of Austin a five-year, $1.6 million grant to fund a program targeting black residents who were recently incarcerated, the Austin Business Journal reports. The grant will be used to create Project Fresh Start, a substance abuse and HIV prevention program aimed at black adults in Travis County who were released from prison or jail in the last two years. The program is set to launch in September. "An estimated 9,000 people will be served during the lifetime of the project," according to the Business Journal (7/15).
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) announces the debut of the Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize, to be awarded at ASH"s annual meeting in December. The inaugural recipients are Thomas Maniatis, PhD, of Harvard University, and Yuet Wai Kan, MD, of the University of California - San Francisco.
More than 43,000 children are injured in bathtubs and showers every year, mostly from slips and falls, according to the study, "Injuries Associated With Bathtubs and Showers Among Children in the United States." While bathtub injuries associated with tap water burns and submersions have generated much research, this is the first study using nationally representative data to look at injuries from slips and falls, which are responsible for the majority of bathtub injuries. Using data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission from 1990 to 2007, researchers evaluated an estimated 791,200 bathtub- and shower-related injuries during the 18-year study period among children 18 years old and younger who were treated in U.S. emergency departments.
As part of a series about Americans" response to the H1N1 flu outbreak, the Harvard Opinion Research Program at the Harvard School of Public Health is releasing a national poll that focuses on Americans" views and concerns about the potential for a more severe outbreak of Influenza A (H1N1) in the fall or winter. The polling was done June 22-28, 2009.
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.
A person who has exercised regularly prior to the onset of a stroke appears to recover more quickly, say researchers from Mayo Clinic in Florida, who led a national study.
Barrow Neurological Institute researchers have identified a novel receptor in the brain that is extremely sensitive to beta-amyloid peptide (AB) and may play a key role in early stages of Alzheimer"s disease.
Following Gordon Brown"s meeting at Downing Street with Britain"s top drinks industry executives he called for them to harness their considerable marketing powers to drive for change in social norm and cultural attitudes towards alcohol in the UK. This has resulted in Project "N" - a collaboration of the not inconsiderable res of top companies throughout the UK.
Young people with asthma have nearly twice the incidence of depression compared to their peers without asthma, and studies have shown that depression is associated with increased asthma symptoms and, in some cases, death.
A team of Canadian scientists have discovered that naringenin, a flavonoid found in citrus fruit, and especially grapefruit, makes the liver burn fat instead of storing it after a meal. (This chemical compound also gives grapefruit its bitter taste.)
Given equivalent results with regards to survival, the impact of anastomotic methods on QOL becomes even more important. There is still no consensus on how to choose a reconstruction method for proximal gastrectomy in patients with upper third gastric cancer.
Aradigm Corporation (OTC BB: ARDM.OB) ("Aradigm") announced that Zogenix, Inc. was granted approval of the Sumavel™ DosePro™ (sumatriptan injection) needle-free delivery system which enables subcutaneous delivery of sumatriptan without a needle for the treatment of acute migraine. Aradigm is entitled to a $4 million milestone payment upon first commercial sale, and royalty payments upon any sales of products in the U.S. and other countries, including the European Union, which may be developed and sold using the DosePro technology.
There she is again: the cute girl at the mall. Big eyes. Long legs. She smiles at you. You"re about to make your moveņ¦ but wait! What"s she wearing? It"s a letterman jacket, one clearly belonging to a hulking football player named "Steve." This girl is taken. Wisely, you move on.
Early results of a trial in Uganda showed that circumcising men with HIV did not protect their female partners, and as circumcision does not
New alternatives to statutory regulation for currently unregulated health and occupational professions have been proposed by a specialist working group, Health Minister Ann Keen announced recently.
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.
Argenta Discovery Limited, the respiratory drug discovery and development company, announces a major milestone in its joint programme with AstraZeneca aimed at identifying improved inhaled bronchodilators to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The National Cancer Research Institute"s free online cancer research portal, ONIX, has launched to the public today.
Teens who drink heavily are more likely than their peers to have behavioural and attention problems and suffer from anxiety and depression, a team led by researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has reported.
The Obama administration ramps up efforts to promote health care reform and reacts to a sobering announcement by the Congressional Budget Office about the scoring of a health care bill.
A new study finds more veterans being diagnosed with mental health issues. The study was posted Thursday on the web site of The American Journal of Public Health.
IAS Conference Blog; Lancet Profiles Incoming Executive Director
A proposed amendment to Washington, D.C."s federal appropriation for 2010 "would prohibit the city from using federal funds to distribute needles for the "injection of illegal drugs ņ¦ within 1,000 feet of a public or private day care center, elementary school, vocational school, secondary school, college, junior college, university, public swimming pool, park, playground, video arcade or youth center,"" the Washington Post reports. Local HIV/AIDS advocates "are concerned that [the] proposed amendment ņ¦ would drastically reduce public funding for needle exchange programs and take away a weapon in the fight against HIV and AIDS," according to the Post. A companion bill in the Senate does not contain language prohibiting the use of federal dollars for needle exchange programs. "Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) urged her colleagues to fight the amendment which is before the full House this afternoon," the article states. The district has provided $700,000 in the past year to four non-profit organizations for needle exchange programs (Fears, 7/16).
CDC"s latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) examines the sexual health of young adults and teenagers in the U.S., Reuters reports. "The data presented in this report indicate that many young persons in the United States engage in sexual risk behavior and experience negative reproductive health outcomes," the MMWR states (7/16). For the report, CDC compiled data from several different studies involving hundreds of thousands of teenagers and young adults age 10 to 25. Among other findings, the data indicated that AIDS rates among boys age 15 to 19 increased from 1.3 cases per 100,000 in 1997 to 2.5 cases in 2006. The report also said that new HIV and AIDS diagnoses were highest among young blacks across all age groups (Chicago Tribune, 7/17). Kevin Fenton, director of CDC"s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, said, "It is imperative that all of us at the national and community level work together to ensure STD and HIV prevention programs are reaching young people, particularly in communities with the greatest burden of disease" (Brewington, "Picture of Health," Baltimore Sun, 7/16).
A low-cost generator with the potential to transform lives in the world"s poorest communities is now being tested across the UK and in Nepal. The Score project, led by The University of Nottingham, is developing a bio-mass burning cooking stove which also converts heat into acoustic energy and then into electricity, all in one unit.
Luv N" Care Ltd. of Monroe, La., is initiating a nationwide recall of gel-filled teethers with the brand names "Nuby," "Cottontails" and "Playschool," because the liquid inside the gel-filled teethers has been found to contain Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus circulans bacteria in the gel.
Yesterday the AMA issued formal endorsement of the House Healthcare Bill. According to Sermo (http://www.sermo.com), the largest online community of physicians in the US, AMA"s endorsement does not reflect the position of practicing physicians.
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers have uncovered a gene signature that may help predict clinical outcomes in certain types of breast cancer.
An initiative to boost cancer prevention, treatment and care throughout Europe by improving communications within the cancer community kicks off today (Monday 20 July) with the launch of a new website: http://www.eurocancercoms.eu. The project will involve all those with an interest in cancer, from researchers and doctors to patients.
18 months on from the landmark KP3 report, a "snapshot" review concludes that though the safety of the UK"s offshore installations is improving, the work is by no means complete and will require sustained effort and investment.
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.
Jeff Kepner, the nation"s first bilateral hand transplant recipient, spoke at a news conference today about his surgery and showed the progress he has made since the May 4 procedure. Mr. Kepner, who lost both hands and feet following a bacterial infection in 1999, is the second patient to be treated with the "Pittsburgh Protocol," a new immune modulation therapy that aims to reduce the risk associated with toxic anti-rejection drugs.
Data from two presentations highlighting the use of Perforomist® (formoterol fumarate) Inhalation Solution in moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients were featured at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego. In one analysis, use of Perforomist Inhalation Solution, when added to maintenance tiotropium, resulted in improved pulmonary function, dyspnea (shortness of breath) and rescue medication use versus treatment with tiotropium alone. In a second study, patient satisfaction increased in those treated with Perforomist Inhalation Solution twice daily compared with ipratropium/albuterol metered-dose inhaler (MDI) four times daily.
At the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. marshals today seized livestock and horse feeds stored under filthy conditions at the Bi-County Farm Bureau Cooperative Association, Inc., in Florence, Ky.
Fungi (Singular: fungus) are classified within their own kingdom - The Kingdom Fungi, while some are in The Kingdom Protista. A fungus is neither a plant nor an animal. It is similar to a plant, but it has no chlorophyll and cannot make its own food like a plant can through photosynthesis. They get their food by absorbing nutrients from their surroundings.
Quotient Bioresearch Limited ("Quotient"), a leading provider of drug development services, announces that it has acquired Charles River Laboratories" (Charles River) Edinburgh clinical research facility. This represents the sixth acquisition in approximately three years for Quotient.
Transoral (through-the-mouth) laser surgery to remove cancer at the base of the tongue is as effective as more invasive open surgery and may improve quality of life according to a new study by Rush University Medical Center. The study is published in the July issue of the scientific journal Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.
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.
The House Education and Labor Committee on Friday voted 26-22 to approve the House health reform bill (HR 3200) after adopting 20 amendments, many of which sought to expand the scope of coverage and increase the number of U.S. residents eligible for purchasing coverage through a health insurance exchange, CQ Today reports. The panel voted 19-28 to reject two amendments offered by Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) that would have precluded plans participating in the health insurance exchange -- including the proposed public insurance plan -- from covering abortion services. The committee agreed to allow some existing state and federal programs to obtain waivers from the bill"s requirements. Among the approved amendments was a 400-page amendment by committee Chair George Miller (D-Calif.) that would open the exchange to more small businesses, certain retirees, and families whose premiums and out-of-pocket costs total more than 11% of their income. The amendment was adopted by voice vote (Demirjian, CQ Today, 7/17).