The H5N1 manuscript redaction controversy
Updated: 2012-01-31 16:09:22
Harper government invests in personalized medicine
Updated: 2012-01-31 15:58:04This press release is available in French . Ottawa, Ontario -- The Harper Government today announced an important investment that will help Canadians in getting more effective treatments and make the healthcare system more sustainable through personalized medicine. The announcement was made by the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, and the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister o...New target for cancer therapy identified, preclinical study shows
Updated: 2012-01-31 15:57:49New York, NY -- Scientists from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) in Brussels identified a new target for cancer therapy, an enzyme which prevents the immune system from recognizing and destroying certain types of tumors. Called tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase or TDO, the enzyme works by depriving immune cells of tryptophan, an amino acid essential to their activity. TDO is produced b...Gene linked to pancreatic cancer growth, U-M study finds
Updated: 2012-01-31 15:57:36ANN ARBOR, Mich. A mutant protein found in nearly all pancreatic cancers plays a role not only in the cancer's development but in its continued growth, according to a new study from University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers. The finding suggests a possible target for developing new ways to treat this deadly disease. Researchers have known that mutations in the K...NIH to join multi-center clinical trial of new tuberculosis vaccine
Updated: 2012-01-31 15:57:14Rockville, MD, USA Aeras announces today that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH), has joined as a partner for a Phase II proof-of-concept clinical trial of a tuberculosis vaccine candidate jointly developed by Aeras and Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell. NIH has a long history of supporting...The NSABB statement on H5N1 research
Updated: 2012-01-31 15:15:45Chad: Why polio is so hard to eliminate
Updated: 2012-01-31 14:58:49Japan suspends imports of Australian poultry products
Updated: 2012-01-31 05:55:43Bangladesh: Nipah virus outbreaks with 75% CFR
Updated: 2012-01-31 03:44:15Haiti: More news from MSPP
Updated: 2012-01-31 01:46:36CIDRAP: Battle over H5N1 research continues in media, journals
Updated: 2012-01-31 01:25:22Extreme tuberculosis raises alarms in Canada
Updated: 2012-01-30 23:41:15Brazil: Governor of Goiás state has dengue
Updated: 2012-01-30 23:29:46Article looks at reform concepts put into practice
Updated: 2012-01-30 23:09:26
Here's a recent story that touches on a whole lot of themes in health reform – without getting bogged down in a lot of jargon. Value-based purchasing. Evidence-based medicine. Shared decision-making.
Jackie Crosby of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune writes about how a Minnesota insurer, HealthPartners, has introduced a new approach for patients with low ...On balance: Lazar explains a little-discussed fundamental fact of aging
Updated: 2012-01-30 23:09:12It's not easy to write well about the nitty-gritty details of aging – the wear and tear on bones and joints, the deterioration of seeing and hearing, the gradual onset of frailty in barely observable increments.
But everyone encounters this when they've lived long enough; physical decline is a fundamental part of ...Fukushima pets in no-go zone face harsh winter
Updated: 2012-01-30 16:44:00NTDs take spotlight at “London Declaration” meeting
Updated: 2012-01-30 15:34:39Indonesia: B2B H5N1 outbreak in Bogor
Updated: 2012-01-30 14:53:44Defining TDR-TB
Updated: 2012-01-30 14:44:38WHO on ending neglected tropical diseases
Updated: 2012-01-30 14:35:33Mike Coston on long-term disaster consequences
Updated: 2012-01-30 14:27:25U-M study urges parents to enforce booster seat use when carpooling
Updated: 2012-01-30 08:09:17ANN ARBOR, Mich. Most parents report that they typically require their child to use a life-saving booster seat, but more than 30 percent said they do not enforce this rule when their child is riding with another driver. The study, conducted by child health experts at University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, also revealed that 45 percent of parents do not require their kids...Lumbar disc degeneration more likely in overweight and obese adults
Updated: 2012-01-30 08:09:03One of the largest studies to investigate lumbar spine disc degeneration found that adults who are overweight or obese were significantly more likely to have disc degeneration than those with a normal body mass index (BMI). Assessments using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) show elevated BMI is associated with an increased number of levels of degenerated disks and greater severity of disc dege...Indonesia: Flap over moving Jakarta pet market
Updated: 2012-01-30 05:02:50Haiti: Dr. Carroll's latest post resonates
Updated: 2012-01-30 04:56:50Pakistan: Dengue victim nurse honoured
Updated: 2012-01-30 03:30:21Blood pressure: One arm good, two arms better
Updated: 2012-01-30 00:57:55: : , H5N1 News and Resources about Influenza , Infectious Diseases and Public Health Australia : Crackdown on avian influenza in Victoria Main Pakistan : Dengue victim nurse honoured January 29, 2012 Blood pressure : One arm good , two arms better This is a bit off topic , but since my mini-stroke early this month I've gained a new interest in my blood pressure . which my doctor takes in just one arm . This report in The Lancet says checking both arms can spot trouble before it happens : Association of a difference in systolic blood pressure between arms with vascular disease and mortality : a systematic review and meta-analysis The : abstract Background Differences in systolic blood pressure SBP of 10 mm Hg or more or 15 mm Hg or more between arms have been associated with peripheralAustralia: Crackdown on avian influenza in Victoria
Updated: 2012-01-30 00:36:45Cancer sequencing initiative discovers mutations tied to aggressive childhood brain tumors
Updated: 2012-01-29 18:58:30Researchers studying a rare, lethal childhood tumor of the brainstem discovered that nearly 80 percent of the tumors have mutations in genes not previously tied to cancer. Early evidence suggests the alterations play a unique role in other aggressive pediatric brain tumors as well. The findings from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Pr...2-arm blood pressure check indicator for risk from heart disease or death
Updated: 2012-01-29 14:22:43A systematic review and meta-analysis carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD) has found that differences in systolic blood pressure between arms could be a useful indicator of the likelihood of vascular risk and death. The findings add support to the calls for both-arm blood pressure checks to be performed as standard. ...Teen Driver's Friends Can Be Dangerous Distraction, Studies Find
Updated: 2012-01-29 12:00:52SUNDAY, Jan. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Teens who think of themselves as thrill-seekers and who believe their parents don't set rules are among the most likely to drive with other teens in the car, which in many states violates graduated licensing laws, a new study finds. And a second study of teens involved in serious accidents found that for those carrying other teen passenger...With state funds gone, Okla. dental programs still serve needy
Updated: 2012-01-27 23:26:38Writing for the local NPR StateImpact outlet, Logan Layden looks at how dental programs for the needy are coping in the absence of state funding. In the 2010 state budget crisis, Layden writes, "Funding for several programs, including Dentists for the Disabled and Elderly in Need of Treatment, was totally ...Test Might Predict Risk of Lung Cancer's Return
Updated: 2012-01-27 17:09:51By Randy Dotinga HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- A new industry-funded study suggests that a molecular test can provide insight into whether patients are at high risk of a relapse after surgical treatment for a form of lung cancer. The test, which is currently available, could help doctors decide whether the patients should undergo chemotherapy to...Experts Offer Tips on Avoiding iPad-Linked Shoulder, Neck Strain
Updated: 2012-01-27 17:09:29FRIDAY, Jan. 27 (HealthDay News) -- If working with your iPad or other tablet computer gives you shoulder or neck pain, there are ways around it, a new study suggests. Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health, Microsoft Corp. and Brigham and Women's Hospital say this type of pain can be avoided if people do not use the tablet while it's resting in their laps, and by...Common Gastro Disease Occurs Even With High-Fiber Diet
Updated: 2012-01-27 17:09:08FRIDAY, Jan. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Eating a high-fiber diet does not lower a person's risk of diverticulosis, but a low-fiber diet might, according to a new study that contradicts what doctors have believed for decades. Diverticulosis is a disease of the intestines in which pouches develop in the colon wall. Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medic...Bedwetting can be due to undiagnosed constipation, research shows
Updated: 2012-01-27 17:08:32Winston-Salem, N.C. Jan. 27, 2012 Bedwetting isn't always due to problems with the bladder, according to new research by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Constipation is often the culprit; and if it isn't diagnosed, children and their parents must endure an unnecessarily long, costly and difficult quest to cure nighttime wetting. Reporting online in the journal Urology , researchers...Georgia Bio honors biotech company that enables stroke care
Updated: 2012-01-27 17:08:15Augusta, Ga. It was a "common sense" decision to start the company in a large, mostly rural state in the middle of the stroke belt. "We wanted to give better stroke care," said Dr. David Hess, stroke specialist and Chairman of the Department of Neurology at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Health Sciences University. It was the year 2000 and Hess and his colleagues were frustr...Body location plays part in scratching pleasure
Updated: 2012-01-27 17:08:00WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Jan. 27, 2012 An itch is just an itch. Or is it? New research from Gil Yosipovitch, M.D., Ph.D., professor of dermatology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and a world-renowned itch expert, shows that how good scratching an itch feels is related to the itch's location. While previous studies by Yosipovitch have shown the pleasurability of itching, analysis of...Diagnostic brain tumor test could revolutionize care of patients
Updated: 2012-01-27 15:55:10DALLAS Jan. 26, 2012 Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have developed what they believe to be the first clinical application of a new imaging technique to diagnose brain tumors. The unique test could preclude the need for surgery in patients whose tumors are located in areas of the brain too dangerous to biopsy. This new magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) technique pro...Discovery of new vaccine approach for treatment of cancer
Updated: 2012-01-27 15:54:35Scientists in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, have developed a new vaccine to treat cancer at the pre-clinical level. The research team led by Professor Kingston Mills, Professor of Experimental Immunology at Trinity College Dublin discovered a new approach for treating the disease based on manipulating the immune response to malignant tumours. The discovery has been patented and there are p...Survivor goes undercover in Tijuana cancer clinics
Updated: 2012-01-27 15:25:34Reporting for Al Jazeera English's People & Power, Sarah Macdonald tells how her own battle with breast cancer led her to shave her head, hide a camera and go undercover to investigate south-of-the-border clinics touting alternative cancer therapies.
The thriving sub-industry of alternative Tijuana cancer clinics relies primarily on palliative care ...Share your thoughts on database design for tracking pharma payments to doctors
Updated: 2012-01-26 17:25:45Curtis Brainard of Columbia Journalism Review reminds reporters that their input is needed on the design of a federal database that will track payments from drug and device makers to doctors.
Investigations and databases, such as Dollars for Docs by Propublica, have revealed payments to doctors who had been accused of ...PLoS Medicine article advocates using legal system to stem ghostwriting
Updated: 2012-01-25 22:27:22An essay published by PLoS Medicine makes the case that the "guest" authors of ghostwritten articles – typically academic researchers who provide little or no input – in medical journals should be held legally liable for damages or deaths caused by the drug or device that is the subject of articles ...Web outlet pumps out dozens of stories on prescription drug abuse
Updated: 2012-01-25 22:27:19In partnership with USC’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and a number of other organizations, Santa Barbara online news outfit Noozhawk (about), put together "Prescription for Abuse," an exploration of the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs in the Santa Barbara area. In the extensive, online-only series, the reporters ...‘Every day is an improvisation’ when caring for aging relatives
Updated: 2012-01-25 06:25:29How many of us have seen problems with older relatives that we've looked away from, not wanting to acknowledge their seriousness or fully face the consequences?
There's a word for this: denial. And there's a good example of how it can affect family decision making in the current issue of the Journal of ...NYT series digs into overprescription and developmentally disabled adults
Updated: 2012-01-23 22:37:23In the series Abused and Used, New York Times reporter Danny Hakim and a host of his colleagues have been investigating how public resources are used to treat developmentally disabled New Yorkers. The series is ongoing, but hit an inflection point with the publication of Hakim's piece on the few-strings-attached ...Swine flu death toll hits nine in Mexico as cases almost double
Updated: 2012-01-23 06:21:40
Nine people have died from an outbreak of swine flu in Mexico, with the number of cases almost doubling in a week.Reuters shows how shell companies hide Medicare fraud in plain sight
Updated: 2012-01-20 23:26:35Reporting for Reuters, Brian Grow and Matthew Bigg used an analysis of public data to investigate the practice of using shell companies to defraud Medicare of millions while staying a step or two ahead of federal investigators.
While the specific damage inflicted by shell companies has not been tracked, "Last year, ...