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Study Finds Higher Education Predicts Better Cardiovascular Health Outcomes In High-Income Countries, But Not In Low- And Middle-Income - In one of the first international studies to compare the link between formal education and heart disease and stroke, the incidence of these diseases and certain risk factors decreased as educational levels increased in high-income countries, but not in low- and middle-income countries. Researchers - who reported their study in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association - also found that smoking rates unexpectedly increased with greater education level among women in high-income and low-and middle-income regions ...

Drink-Driving: Decision-Making Deficits Related To Driving Under The Influence Are Often Undetected - Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol is a major public health problem. A study of people who had relapsed to DUI found subtle deficits in their decision-making abilities that tend to go undetected through conventional neuropsychological testing. Results will be published in the December 2010 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View ...

Levels Of Stress Hormones Increased By Chronic Drinking, Leading To Neurotoxicity - Both drinking and withdrawal from chronic drinking can raise circulating glucocorticoid levels, known as cortisol in humans and corticosterone in rodents. Prolonged and high concentrations of glucocorticoids can have damaging effects on neuronal function and cognition. Evidence shows that glucocorticoids are associated with neurotoxicity during abstinence after withdrawal from alcohol dependence (AD), and that glucocorticoid receptor antagonism may represent a pharmacological option for recovery ...

Insulin Implicated In Cell Survival, Cell Metabolism And Stress Response - Researchers at the Buck Institute for Age Research have discovered a novel way in which insulin affects cell metabolism and cell survival. Surprisingly the insulin signaling pathway, which is involved in aging, diabetes and stress response, is active at a deeper level of cell activity than scientists expected. The study appears in the September 8th issue of Cell Metabolism. Insulin is vitally involved in many cell functions ...

Risk Of Gestational Diabetes, Cesarean Section, Reduced In The Obese By Bariatric Operations - Obese women who have bariatric surgical procedures before pregnancy were three times less likely to develop gestational diabetes (GDM) than women who have bariatric operations after delivery, according to new research findings published in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. The retrospective study also found that delivery after bariatric procedures was associated with reduced odds of cesarean section - an outcome associated with GDM ...

In Male/Female Twins, Females Benefit From Improved Mental Rotation Performance - Having a sibling, especially a twin, impacts your life. Your twin may be your best friend or your biggest rival, but throughout life you influence each other. However, a recent study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, shows that having an opposite-sex twin may impact you even before you are born: females with a male co-twin score higher on mental rotation task than females with a female co-twin ...

Progeria, The Rare Aging Disease, Linked To Aging In The General Population - Progeria, also known as Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), is a rare, fatal genetic disease characterized by an appearance of accelerated aging in children. All children with Progeria die of the same heart disease that affects millions of normal aging adults (atherosclerosis), but instead of occurring at 60 or 70 years of age, these children may suffer heart attacks and strokes even before age 10, and the average age of death is 13 years. Finding treatments and a cure for Progeria may provide clues to preventing or treating heart disease in the general population ...

Colon Cancer Outcomes Unaffected By Multivitamin Use - Patients with colon cancer who used multivitamins during and after being treated with post-surgical chemotherapy did not reduce the risk of the cancer returning or their dying from it, according to researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In a study of patients with stage III colon cancer - characterized as cancer in the large bowel area with some cancer cells in a few nearby lymph nodes - the researchers found that while multivitamin use had no beneficial effect on patients' outcomes, it also did not have a detrimental effect ...

Gene Set Identified That Shows Which Patients Benefit From Chemo After Surgery - Lung cancer researchers have identified a genetic signature that can help doctors determine which patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer are at high risk for developing disease recurrence and therefore may benefit from chemotherapy after surgery ("adjuvant chemotherapy"). "The findings give patients and their doctors a clearer map of the appropriate post-operative treatment route to follow ...

How Vaccines Are Saving Lives And Money - Research!America is highlighting the vital importance of vaccines with a new fact sheet in its Investment in Research Saves Lives and Money series. CDC recently reported that routine vaccination rates are increasing among teens aged 13-17, but for many diseases the vaccination rates are far below the CDC's recommended 90% mark. With kids heading back to school and flu season fast approaching, now is a good time to remind readers of the importance of vaccines and disease prevention. Vaccine prevention is one of the most proven and effective methods for saving lives and money ...

Health, Agriculture, Biofuels Impacted By Microbial Breakthrough - For the first time ever, University of Illinois researchers have discovered how microbes break down hemicellulose plant matter into simple sugars using a cow rumen bacterium as a model. "This is ground-breaking research," said Isaac Cann, associate professor in the U of I Department of Animal Sciences and member of the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) in the Institute for Genomic Biology. "The implications are very broad, yet it all started with a simple rumen microbe ...

Data Gathering In Behavioral Studies By Computer-Based Video Analysis - For decades, carefully logging data about how mice go through the motions of their daily routines has been a tedious staple of behavioral and neuroscience research: Hour 2, minute 27: mouse 4 is sleeping; Hour 3, minute 12: mouse 7 is eating; and so on. It's a task most people would happily cede to automation. Now, says Thomas Serre, assistant professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences at Brown University, that's finally possible. In a paper to be published online Sept ...

Study Reveals Personality Predicts Cheating More Than Academic Struggles - Students who cheat in high school and college are highly likely to fit the profile for subclinical psychopathy - a personality disorder defined by erratic lifestyle, manipulation, callousness and antisocial tendencies, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. These problematic students cheat because they feel entitled and disregard morality, the study found. Cheating, a perennial concern for educators, "has been facilitated by new technologies," said Delroy Paulhus, PhD, who led the research ...

Teasing About Weight Can Profoundly Affect Pre-Teens - Schoolyard taunts of any type can potentially damage a child's sense of self-confidence. But a new study suggests that a particular kind of teasing - about weight - can have distinctive and significant effects on how pre-teens perceive their own bodies. The research, among the first to specifically examine the impact of weight-based criticism on pre-adolescents, also hints that the practice can cause other health and emotional issues for its victims ...

Diet-Induced Obesity Accelerates Leukemia - The first study to demonstrate that obesity can directly accelerate the progression of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has been conducted at The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and will be published in Cancer Prevention Research, on October 5, 2010. Obesity has been associated with an increased incidence of many cancers, including leukemia, but it has been unknown whether the increase in incidence was a direct effect of obesity or associated with genetic, lifestyle, health, or socio-economic factors ...

TAU Investigates Brain Connections To Understand Disorders Of The Mind - Uncovering the secrets of the brain requires an intense network of collaborative research. Building on a tool that was co-developed in his laboratory and described in a recent issue of Brain, Dr. Yaniv Assaf of Tel Aviv University's Department of Neurobiology is collaborating with an international team of scientists to understand how different parts of the human brain "connect" - and to turn this information into a "brain atlas." Brain researchers already know that autism and schizophrenia are not localized disorders - there is no one place in the brain they can be found ...

Animal Model Of Rheumatoid Arthritis (KRN-CTM) Deepens Understanding Of The Disease - Current research provides a novel model for rheumatoid arthritis research. The related report by LaBranche et al, "Characterization of the KRN cell transfer model of rheumatoid arthritis (KRN-CTM), a chronic yet synchronized version of the K/BxN mouse," appears in the September 2010 issue of The American Journal of Pathology. Nearly 1% of the population is affected by rheumatoid arthritis, and women are affected three to five times more often then men ...

Starting From Scratch: Career Counseling To Young Patients Or Adolescents At Risk For Neurodermatitis - A child who can't stop scratching himself may well be suffering from atopic dermatitis, also known as neurodermatitis. Extreme irritability of the skin with a concomitant urge to scratch is typical of the disorder. The condition often appears during the first year of life and is on the increase in industrialized countries. The patient's skin becomes hypersensitive and reacts strongly to even mild irritation. A research team led by LMU's Dr ...

Solving The Problem Of Cell Death Aids Stem Cell Research - Human pluripotent stem (hPS) cells can generate any given cell type in the adult human body, which is why they are of interest to stem cell scientists working on finding therapies for spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease, burns, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and other ailments. Before hPS cell technologies can be translated into clinical applications, however, some obstacles must first be overcome ...

International Conference On Frontotemporal Dementias - Dementia researchers and caregivers from across the globe will meet in Indianapolis Oct. 6-8 for the 7th International Conference on Frontotemporal Dementias. The conference provides a rare opportunity for caregivers and researchers to meet and share information in a context that instills a new understanding of the complexities of this disease. Originally known as Pick's disease, frontotemporal dementia symptoms are associated with the degeneration of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. The disease progresses steadily and often rapidly and treatment options remain limited ...

Obesity Surgery Pays For Itself In 12 Months, Says New Report - Failure by the NHS to provide cost-effective surgical treatment for morbid obesity is costing the wider economy hundreds of millions of pounds a year. This is one of the findings of the first ever economic impact assessment of obesity surgery released yesterday (Wednesday 8th September 2010) in a new report by the Office of Health Economics for the Royal College of Surgeons of England, National Obesity Forum, Allergan and Covidien ...

CVS Caremark Offers $5 Million In Free Flu Vaccinations To Uninsured Individuals - CVS Caremark and Direct Relief USA have joined forces to offer $5 million in free flu vaccinations to community clinic and health center patients who have no health insurance coverage. CVS Caremark informs that the shots are currently available at all its CVS pharmacies and MinuteClinics throughout the USA. The company says free flu-shot vouchers will be distributed by CVS Caremark and Direct Relief USA to participating medical centers ...

Medical Malpractice System Accounts For 2.4% Of America's Health Care Spending, $54.4 Billion Annually - A new report reveals that $54.4 billion is spent annually on medical malpractice systems; 2.4% of America's health care spending. America's health care has existed with two separate, but related crises - its high rates of medical errors, and dissatisfaction with the malpractice liability system. The Institute of Medicine, in a 1999 study estimated that between 44,000 and 98,000 thousand patients died annually as a result of avoidable errors in inpatient hospital treatment. This perceived "crisis" has been around for much longer than people realize. Over 20 years ago, Howard H ...

Machine Translates Brain Signals Into Words "Better Than Chance" - US scientists have moved a step closer to developing a mind-reading machine: they wired a man's brain up to a computerized device that helped them to determine at a rate significantly better than chance, which brain signals represented which word he had read from a list. The study is the work of a team based at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and also another researcher from the University of Washington in Seattle. A paper about their research was published online on 1 September in the Journal of Neural Engineering ...

FDA Warns Tea Drink Makers About Unsubstantiated Claims - Ever heard of tea-flavored beverage makers making health claims for their teas which really should only be made for properly brewed tea? It seems the FDA (Food and Drug Administration, USA) has, and is warning both Dr. Pepper Snapple Group about its Canada Dry Sparkling Green Tea Ginger Ale and Unilever Americas over its website claims and labeling for Lipton Green Tea. It accuses them of making unsubstantiated claims, among other things ...

Weight Loss Raises Industrial Pollutant Levels In Blood - People with long-term weight loss have higher levels of persistent organic pollutants in their blood, which are known to increase the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes, according to an article published today in the International Journal of Obesity. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds, they are resistant to environmental degradation - they do not break down easily, so they persist and build up in the environment. POPs can bioaccumulate (build up) in human and animal tissue, as well as food chains ...

BioAlliance Pharma Announces The Grant Of Its European Acyclovir Lauriad(R) Patent - BioAlliance Pharma SA (Paris:BIO)(Euronext Paris - BIO), a company dedicated to the supportive care and treatment of cancer patients, announced the grant of a European patent protecting its product acyclovir Lauriad®. This patent is now validated in all European countries; this first patent validation is a major step and the procedures up to the grant are ongoing in the other major global areas, America and Asia. This patent specifically protects the muco-adhesive tablet containing acyclovir, its process for manufacturing and its clinical application ...

Survey Reveals Cereal Tops The List Of Preferred Ways To Serve A Quick And Nutritious Breakfast - A recent Kix® survey shows 79 percent of parents eat breakfast with their children, and the majority (96 percent) agree it's essential to pass along healthy habits and good nutrition. As parents shift back to routine, busier schedules leave many looking for simple solutions to meet the nutritional and developmental needs of their "big kids'" growing bodies. Data published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association shows frequent cereal eaters, including kids, tend to have healthier body weights, making cereal an important part of the busy morning ritual for many families ...

GE Awarded $538,000 Grant From National Institutes Of Health For Human Microbiome Studies - Researchers from GE Global Research have been awarded a $538,000 human microbiome project from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop new technology that would allow for the study of individual cells growing inside and outside the body believed to have a significant impact on human health. The human microbiome refers to the collection of microorganisms, which grow on and in a person's body and are thought to have an influence on their health ...

Can-Fite BioPharma Announces The Initiation Of Phase 3 In Dry Eye Syndrome - Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, announced today that it has opened an Investigational New Drug application (IND) with the US-FDA for a Phase 3 study of its lead drug, CF101, in patients with moderate to severe Dry Eye Syndrome. In an earlier Phase 2 study, in which CF101 taken orally as a monotherapy for 12 weeks, a statistically significant benefit in the clearing of fluorescein staining in the nasal, temporal, pupillary and inferior parts of the cornea was documented ...

Study: Preventive Services Can Saves Lives, Billions Of Dollars, At Little Or No Cost - Preventive health services such as daily aspirin use, tobacco cessation screening and alcohol abuse screening can potentially save 2 million lives and nearly $4 billion annually, according to a new paper produced by the National Commission on Prevention Priorities (NCPP). The NCPP is convened by the Partnership for Prevention. Four of the five lead authors perform research with HealthPartners Research Foundation. The paper, "Greater Use Of Preventive Services In U.S. Health Care Could Save Lives At Little Or No Cost," is published in the September issue of Health Affairs ...

Survey Data Reveals Shocking 'Insulin Pump Postcode Lottery' - A comprehensive new survey of all 152 PCTs undertaken and published by the Medical Technology Group (MTG), backed by national diabetes support groups INPUT, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), clinicians and leading cross-party MPs, has exposed major inequities in care for patients with diabetes across the country. The findings show that 17% of patients with type 1 diabetes in Blackburn with Darwen PCT benefit from insulin pump therapy, compared with only 0.4% in Luton, leaving tens of thousands of patients with type 1 diabetes without access to the right treatment from the NHS ...

BJGP Study Highlights Eight Early Symptoms Of Cancer - Eight clinical features that predict cancer at a high probability rate which could improve early diagnosis have been identified by researchers writing in this month's British Journal of General Practice (BJGP). Dr Mark Shapley and colleagues from Keele University identified eight symptoms or findings with which to predict cancer with sufficient accuracy to oblige urgent investigation in specific age and sex groups, unless individual patient centred reasons exist ...

Bone Growth Factor Most Used For Non-Approved Spine Operations - Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) is increasingly used as an alternative to the patient's own bone for spinal fusion surgery. Yet at least 85 percent of these procedures are operations for which BMP use has not been formally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), suggests a study in the September 1 issue of Spine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy ...

For Obese Teens, Weight Problems Persist Into Young Adulthood - The older teens get, the more likely they are to pack on pounds, and obesity rates climb sharply between adolescence and young adulthood, finds a new study from Australia. "Being obese as an adolescent is bad news. If an adolescent gets to the point of being obese, the likelihood of spontaneous recovery to normal weight by young adulthood is small," said George Patton, M.D., director of the Centre for Adolescent Health at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Victoria ...

UC San Diego To Lead New Pharmacogenomics Project - An international team, led by University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers, has been awarded a $6.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the pharmacogenomics of a key mood-stabilizing drug used to treat bipolar disorder. The grant expands the NIH's Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN), a long-term, multi-million dollar effort to investigate and fulfill the potential of personalized medicine. John R ...

Penn Receives NIH Grant For Personalized Smoking Cessation Research - A variety of smoking cessation treatments are currently available for the more than 18 million adult Americans try to quit smoking each year, but success rates vary widely. Despite the importance of quitting smoking, more personalized approaches to smoking cessation treatment are needed to help smokers pick the right method that will work best for them. A major new personalized medicine clinical trial, led by addiction researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, will study how a smokers' genetic make-up influences their quitting success ...

GWCI Receives $2.4 Million Grant To Establish D.C. City-Wide Patient Navigation Network (CPNN) - The GW Cancer Institute (GWCI) was recently awarded a $2.4 million grant from the D.C. Cancer Consortium to establish and coordinate a City-wide Patient Navigation Network (CPNN) in Washington, D.C. The CPNN will create a seamless cohesive framework for cancer care coordination across the entire city. The CPNN will ensure that all D.C ...

Johns Hopkins Researchers Unravel Clues To Infertility Among Obese Women - Obese women have a well-known risk for infertility, but a new Johns Hopkins Children's Center study has unraveled what investigators there believe is the mechanism that accounts for the risk. The research, conducted in mice and published online on Sept. 8 in the journal Cell Metabolism, shows that the pituitary gland actively responds to chronically high insulin levels, triggering a cascade of hormonal changes that disrupt ovarian function and impair fertility ...

Canadian Food Inspection Agency Seeks Comments On Regulatory Proposal For Imported Food Sector - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is seeking input from stakeholders and the Canadian public on the proposed principles that will guide the development of new regulations for certain imported food products. This would include enhanced food safety requirements as well as an importer licensing initiative. The consultation, which is available on the CFIA website and open for comments until October 4, 2010 , is intended to assist in the development of the proposed regulations ...

AAMC President Says New Doctors Are Key To Advancing Patient Safety - In an article published in the September issue of Health Affairs, AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., says the next generation of physicians will drive a culture of patient safety in health care and that residents are important agents of change, mentoring both peers and faculty. The article, "Changing the Culture In Medical Education to Teach Patient Safety," co-authored by Philip G ...

Cuts To Public Spending On Research Will Jeopardise Funding For Medical Research From Private And Charitable Sources, UK - The Academy of Medical Sciences has warned that the UK's competitive advantage in medical science is reliant on a Government commitment to maintaining a thriving publicly funded research base. Any cuts risk damaging the UK's rich landscape of medical research funders and would jeopardise the private and charitable funding leveraged by public spending ...

Election 2010: The Nation's Mental Health Crisis; Are Candidates Addressing The Facts? Check Out StateGrades: 21 Ds And 6 Fs - The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is reminding editors, reporters and others to ask candidates for public office at every level what they intend to do about the nation's mental health crisis. Everything from Medicaid to the nation's economic crisis to recovery from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico involves mental health. Unemployed individuals are four times more likely to report symptoms of mental illness. State budget crises across the country have led to devastating cuts in mental health services, putting lives at risk ...

Superiority Breeds Contempt - British Psychological Society - People who boast that they are better than others actually incur the opposite of their intentions. This is the conclusion of Professor Vera Hoorens from Leuven University, Belgium, (in collaboration with Professor Constantine Sedikides from the University of Southampton) who will presented her findings on the 7 September 2010, at the British Psychological Society's Social Psychology Section annual conference at the University of Winchester ...

It's Good To Gossip - But Be Nice! - Gossiping has some positive benefits - at least for the person doing the gossiping. Gossipers feel more supported and positive gossip - praising somebody - may lead to a short-term boost in gossipers' self-esteem. These are the findings of research conducted by Dr. Jennifer Cole and Hannah Scrivener from Staffordshire University, who presented their preliminary findings on the 7th September 2010, at the British Psychological Society Social Psychology Section annual conference at the University of Winchester ...

New UNICEF Study Shows MDGs For Children Can Be Reached Faster With Focus On Most Disadvantaged - The global community can save millions of lives by investing first in the most disadvantaged children and communities, according to a new UNICEF study released today. Such an approach would also address the widening disparities that are accompanying progress toward the MDGs. The new findings are presented in two publications: Narrowing the Gaps to Meet the Goals and Progress for Children: Achieving the MDGs with Equity , UNICEF's signature data compendium ...

ANF Welcomes Labor Government, Australia - Nurses and midwives will welcome the opportunity to work with the new Labor Government towards much needed reform of Australia's health care system, the Australian Nursing Federation said today. ANF federal secretary Lee Thomas said she welcomed the decision of key Independents Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Andrew Wilkie and the Greens in supporting Labor to form a stable government. "The ANF looks forward to a constructive working relationship with the new government ...

New Octapharma 10% High Purity Immunoglobulin Enters Phase II/III Study In Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) - Octapharma AG announced the imminent start of the biggest ever study of an intravenous immunoglobulin preparation (IVIG) in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP). The double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, multicentre, adaptive, two-stage Phase 2/3 dose-finding study will investigate the efficacy and safety of Octapharma's novel 10% intravenous immunoglobulin in the treatment of CIDP and, together with results from additional on-going and upcoming studies, will support its regulatory filing in Europe and the US ...

Neurogenetic Pharmaceuticals Announces Studies Showing Its Proprietary Compound Reduces Brain Plaques Associated With Alzheimer's Disease - In the Sept. 9, 2010 issue of Neuron, Neurogenetic Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NGP) reports proof of concept studies that show its proprietary compound, NGP 555, is effective in preventing the amyloid pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a transgenic mouse model. The study further demonstrates that following chronic treatment with the gamma secretase modulator (GSM) compound from NGP, the mice were devoid of gastrointestinal side effects, an adverse finding commonly associated with gamma secretase inhibitors (GSIs) ...

Court Denies Sandoz/Momenta's Summary Judgment Of Invalidity In Copaxone(R) Litigation - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq:TEVA) announced today that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has denied a motion for summary judgment filed by Sandoz Inc./Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., that the patents at issue are invalid for indefiniteness. The court has not yet set a trial date. Richard Egosi, Corporate Vice President and Chief Legal Officer commented: "Teva is very pleased with today's decision, which reaffirms our belief that the patents are valid and enforceable ...

TPP Global Development Ltd Enters Into An Agreement With The University Of Edinburgh For Future Drug Development - TPP Global Development Ltd (TPP) announced an agreement with the University of Edinburgh to collaborate on the development of novel pre-clinical intellectual property originated within the University. TPP and the University of Edinburgh will focus on commercialisation opportunities in the areas of nervous system disorders, immunology/inflammation and oncology. Initially the agreement will run for five years, after which it may be extended. Thomas Brown, TPP's CEO commented, "We are delighted to have entered into this agreement with the University of Edinburgh ...

ImmunoSolv Merges With Grampian BioConsultants & Secures Additional Funds, Scotland - ImmunoSolv, a leading Edinburgh-based private company developer of immunology platform technology, is pleased to announce that it has completed a merger with Aberdeen-based Grampian BioConsultants Limited (GBC). The merged company will retain the name ImmunoSolv Limited. The merger provides ImmunoSolv with a complementary portfolio of immunology and immuno-technology expertise with which to exploit "a new biology of cell death" to target the key global emerging markets for its award-winning Dead-Cert® dead-cell removal technology platform and its anti-cancer therapeutics pipeline ...

Bristol Surgeon Receives Almost 120,000 Pounds For Pioneering Research Project - A trainee heart surgeon from the Bristol Heart Institute has received a grant of £117,166 from national heart charity, Heart Research UK, for a project to help prevent irreversible damage to the heart. Mr Simon Duggan, 32, has been awarded a Research Training Fellowship Grant for an innovative project that will investigate 'reperfusion injury.' This irreversible injury to the heart can happen when patients undergo heart bypass surgery or angioplasty. Mr Duggan will examine what causes reperfusion injury by studying heart cells and how they become damaged ...

Antiabortion-Rights Group Capitalizes On Supreme Court Ruling On Campaign Ads - AUL Action, the legislative arm of the not-for-profit antiabortion group Americans United for Life, will become one of the first groups to take advantage of a Supreme Court ruling in January that expanded corporations and unions' ability to directly influence elections, the AP/Washington Post reports. The group's one-minute ads launched on Friday and will run for one week. AUL is incorporated as a not-for-profit organization under the federal tax code ...

NIH Awards Nearly $10 Million To UF Pharmacogenomics Researcher - A University of Florida genetics researcher has received $9.8 million to further a national effort to use genetic data to more effectively pinpoint which medications and treatments are best for individual patients. Julie A. Johnson, Pharm.D., a UF professor and chair of pharmacotherapy and translational research, is one of 14 researchers and seven resource development groups who have received a five-year award as part of the National Institute of Health's Pharmacogenomics Research Network ...

PTSD And Traumatic Brain Injury Common Among Returning Troops - NPR reports on post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury in troops returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Though thousands of soldiers are diagnosed with PTSD, many more suffer without treatment. Among those who do seek treatment, doctors are finding another, distinctly different problem called traumatic brain injury, or TBI. The two conditions have similar symptoms, but the causes are quite different ...

Local Efforts Seek To Reduce Childhood Obesity; Sleep-Deprived Kids Most Vulnerable - NPR: "[A] new study finds that even for infants and preschoolers, a good, long night's sleep may be just as important as diet and physical activity. Over the past three decades, obesity rates have doubled among children age 2 to 5, and tripled among 6- to 11-year-olds. So University of Washington maternal and child health researcher Janice Bell wanted to know whether sleep had anything to do with it. She looked at federal data collected on nearly 2,000 children and compared those who slept 10 hours or more a night with those who slept less ...

CDC Ramps Up Production Of New Three-In-One Flu Vaccine - Health officials say that there will be plenty of flu vaccine available this year, now that the H1N1 pandemic has ended, The Washington Post reports. "The World Health Organization declared an end to the pandemic last month, based on indications that the H1N1 flu was transitioning to a more seasonal virus. Unlike last year, when there was one vaccine for H1N1 flu and another for seasonal flu, this year's vaccine is a 'three-in-one' that includes protection against H1N1 as well as two other strains." Officials are recommending for the first time that everyone older than 6 months get vaccinated ...

State Roundup: Some Premiums Soar In Washington State; Building Boom For Denver Hospitals; Looking For Uninsured Kids - The Seattle Times: "Whopping rate increases are coming soon for many people with individual health-insurance policies. Most insurers offering individual policies in the state have asked for and been granted rate increases, effective Oct. 1, according to the state's insurance commissioner. Regence BlueShield's rate increase - an average 16.5 percent - was one of the highest. It was topped by Asuris Northwest Health, a Regence subsidiary, with an increase of 23.7 percent. Group Health Cooperative, the fifth-largest insurer of individuals, was considerably lower, with an 8 ...

OpEds: Health Costs And New Law; Penn. Doctor Supply; Anesthesiologists Vs. Nurses - Healthcare Reforms Don't Go Far Enough The Los Angeles TimesSome sort of Medicare-for-all program remains the only equitable way that every American can be provided with adequate and affordable coverage. This wouldn't be socialized medicine and it wouldn't be state-run healthcare (David Lazarus, 9/7). Despite Reform, Health Costs Are Still On The Rise The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal Health insurance reform was supposed to be a political plus for Democrats in this year's election. Unfortunately for them and the rest of the nation, it's not working out that way (9/7) ...