Health and Medical News Headlines for December 4, 2008

Psychiatric drugs force queried

The practice of forcing psychiatric patients to take medication is not backed by evidence, say researchers.
Source: BBC News | Health | World Edition | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:26 pm

Baby Faith remains seriously ill

A baby girl remains seriously ill after her conjoined twin died following emergency surgery to separate them.
Source: BBC News | Health | World Edition | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:01 pm

Zimbabwe declares national health emergency (AP)

AP - Zimbabwe has declared a national emergency over a cholera epidemic and health care system collapse, and is seeking more international help to pay for food, drugs and hospital equipment, the state-run newspaper said Thursday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:41 am

Hong Kong Finds More Tainted Eggs

For the fourth time in less than two months, a batch of eggs imported to Hong Kong from China were found to be contaminated with illegal levels of melamine, officials said.

Source: NYT > Health | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:22 am

Zimbabwe cholera 'an emergency'

Authorities in Zimbabwe declare a cholera outbreak that has killed more than 500 people a national emergency, state media reports.
Source: BBC News | Health | World Edition | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:00 am

ATS Medical to Participate at the RBC Capital Markets Healthcare Conference

Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsHealth | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:30 am

CIC says Mmamabula project can produce 6,000MW

JOHANNESBURUG, Dec 4 (Reuters) - CIC Energy said on Thursday its Mmamabula coal field in Botswana could produce 6,000 megawatts of power over 40 years.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsHealth | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:29 am

ExonHit is Honoured by the "Innovation Trophy" From The National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI)

Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsHealth | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:25 am

INTERVIEW-Hewlett-Packard looks to leasing to prime sales

TAIPEI, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard , the world's top personal computer seller, said on Thursday it is exploring new ways to help businesses afford PCs as many cut back on spending in the current...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsHealth | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:11 am

UPDATE 1-Norway bumps up 2009 oil/gas investment view

OSLO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Norway's statistics agency raised on Thursday its forecast for 2009 investment in the country's oil and gas sector by 9.6 percent to a record-high 145.5 billion crowns ($20.34 billion)...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsHealth | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:00 am

OncoGenex To Present At The RBC Capital Markets 2008 Healthcare Conference

Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsHealth | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:00 am

NovaRx Appoints Industry Veteran as President and COO

Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsHealth | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:00 am

VentiRx Pharmaceuticals Commences Phase I Clinical Trial of VTX-2337, a Novel TLR8 Agonist for the Treatment of Oncology

Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsHealth | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:00 am

UPDATE 2-Panasonic sweetens Sanyo bid, Goldman may counter

TOKYO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp has sweetened its offer for Sanyo Electric Co by 8 percent to about $8.6 billion, sources familiar with the matter said, but major shareholder Goldman Sachs rejected...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsHealth | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:52 am

UPDATE 3-Roche hit as FDA seeks more data on arthritis drug

ZURICH, Dec 4 (Reuters) - U.S. approval for Roche Holding AG's Actemra has been delayed further after regulators asked for more non-clinical data on the potential blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsHealth | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:34 am

Deborah Heart & Lung Center Receives Top Honors For Outstanding Cardiovascular Outcomes

The highest designation given to hospitals by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), a three-star rating for quality of heart surgery, has been awarded to Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills, N.J. Only ten percent of heart centers throughout the nation attain this level.
Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:00 am

BioElectronics Announces Positive Clinical Results - Rapid Recovery Breast Augmentation Study

BioElectronics Corp. (Pink Sheets:BIEL), the maker of ActiPatch™, the drug-free, anti-inflammatory patch, with an embedded, battery-operated microchip delivering continuous pulse therapy that revolutionizes the way people heal, today announced results from an important clinical study designed to determine the benefits of pulsed electromagnetic therapy using ActiPatch topical patch devices.
Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:00 am

The NHS Constitution Will Provide Real Benefits To Patients - The King's Fund Response To The Queen's Speech

Responding to the NHS Reform Bill outlined in today's Queen's Speech, which will create a duty to take account of the new NHS Constitution and also introduce measures to improve the quality of health care and public health, The King's Fund's Chief Executive Niall Dickson said: On a new constitution for the NHS 'A constitution for the NHS is a welcome move.
Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:00 am

Relevance Of Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) And Image Analysis Software In Early Colon Cancer Screening And Diagnosis

Medicsight PLC, an industry leader in and principal developer of Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) and medical image analysis software today announced clinical results from a new study that demonstrated CAD significantly increased the sensitivity of readers in the detection of colorectal cancers in multi-row detector CT (MDCT) colonography (CTC).
Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:00 am

USC Researchers Head Global Effort To Collect Data On Genetic Risks That Contribute To Psychiatric Diseases

A multi-institution team of investigators led by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) has received $19 million in funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) for a groundbreaking effort to collect genetic information
Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:00 am

Resourceful And Resilient Women Are Less Pear-Shaped

A study of non-western and western women's body shapes found that the "perfect" hour-glass or pear shape supposedly favoured by men where the waist to hip ratio is 0.7 or less, is rarely found among women who have to rely on their own resources, such as going out to work or to search for food, to support themselves and their families.
Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:00 am

Medtronic Launches Sprinter(R) Angioplasty Balloon Cathethers On Rapid Exchange

Expanding its angioplasty product portfolio, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), announced today the U.S. market launch of the Sprinter Legend (semicompliant) and the NC Sprinter (noncompliant) balloon dilatation catheters on a rapid exchange delivery system. Recently approved by the U.S.
Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:00 am

Genta Receives Complete Response Letter From FDA To Amended Application Of Genasense(R) In Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Genta Incorporated (OTCBB: GNTA.OB) today announced that the Company has received a complete response letter from the Office of Oncology Drug Products (OODP) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the Company's amended New Drug Application (NDA) for the use of Genasense® plus chemotherapy in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:00 am

Governor O'malley And The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission Host First Maryland Stem Cell Research Symposium

More than 250 individuals today attended the First Maryland Stem Cell Research Symposium, jointly hosted by Governor Martin O'Malley and the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission (Commission). This event was the first of what will become an annual event.
Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:00 am

Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America Announces MH2850U Projector With DICOM Simulation Mode For Medical Training

Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America's Presentation Products Division, known for award-winning, high-quality presentation and display products, has introduced the MH2850U, its newest SXGA+ (1400 x 1050 pixels) resolution high-brightness LCD projector offering both Clearbase and Bluebase DICOM® (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) simulation.
Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:00 am

Parents Torn Over Fate of Frozen Embryos

Couples around the country are having difficulty deciding whether to discard or donate extra embryos created by in vitro fertilization.

Source: NYT > Health | 4 Dec 2008 | 8:06 am

Extended Drug Therapy for Hepatitis Is Challenged

Medications are ineffective for many hepatitis C patients who do not respond to initial drug therapy, a new study suggests.

Source: NYT > Health | 4 Dec 2008 | 7:53 am

Study: Most Child Abuse Goes Unreported (Time.com)

Time.com - A series of reports on child abuse suggest that as many as nine in 10 cases of child maltreatment and neglect go unreported
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 4 Dec 2008 | 7:30 am

Morning Rounds: Industry vs. Reform, School Lunches and Toxic Incinerators

Health news from around the Web.

Source: NYT > Health | 4 Dec 2008 | 7:10 am

City Pushes Cooling Therapy for Cardiac Arrest

Ambulances will take patients to specially equipped hospitals, believed to reduce the chances of brain damage.

Source: NYT > Health | 4 Dec 2008 | 7:08 am

Fitness: A Drop in Pay, but a Leap in Karma

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts the fitness field will grow 27 percent from 2006 to 2016. Are you ready to trade in your corporate skills for a leotard?

Source: NYT > Health | 4 Dec 2008 | 6:01 am

More High-Risk Women Preempt Breast Cancer (HealthDay)

HealthDay - WEDNESDAY, Dec. 3 (HealthDay News) -- SheKayla Love, 26, of Dallas, had the first cyst in her breast removed when she was just 14, the second when she was 19.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 4 Dec 2008 | 4:47 am

Clinical Trials Update: Dec. 3, 2008 (HealthDay)

HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of CenterWatch:
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 4 Dec 2008 | 4:47 am

Exercise Eases Obesity and Anger in Kids (HealthDay)

HealthDay - WEDNESDAY, Dec. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Overweight kids may be able to work out their anger with exercise, a new report finds.

Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 4 Dec 2008 | 4:47 am

School-Based Program Can Change Kids' Lives (HealthDay)

HealthDay - WEDNESDAY, Dec. 3 HealthDay News) -- Urban kids who took part in a social development program in elementary school had improved mental health, sexual health, and educational and economic success as young adults, a new study finds.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 4 Dec 2008 | 4:47 am

Well: For Three Years, Every Bite Organic

Fruits, vegetables and animals can be 100 percent organic. What about people?

Source: NYT > Health | 4 Dec 2008 | 3:53 am

Recipes for Health: Rich Garlic Soup With Spinach and Pasta Shells

This soup is a meal in a bowl with a generous egg yolk enrichment and lots of iron-rich spinach.

Source: NYT > Health | 4 Dec 2008 | 3:11 am

Child obesity 'may harm thyroid'

Being obese as a child may actually alter the shape of a gland important to growth and metabolism, say Italian scientists.
Source: BBC News | Health | World Edition | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:51 am

Single cancer cell 'poses danger'

Cancer researchers may have underestimated the power of some cancers to spread, say US researchers.
Source: BBC News | Health | World Edition | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:45 am

Texas time warp? State criticized for mental care (AP)

AP - For more than a century, thousands of mentally disabled Americans were isolated from society, sometimes for life, by being confined to huge state institutions.

Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:27 am

Findings: Health Halo Can Hide the Calories

Have Americans been seduced into overeating by the so-called health halo associated with certain foods and restaurants?

Source: NYT > Health | 3 Dec 2008 | 11:44 pm

The Evidence Gap: British Balance Benefit vs. Cost of Latest Drugs

Skyrocketing health care prices have led other countries to follow Britain’s example by asking how much life is worth.

Source: NYT > Health | 3 Dec 2008 | 11:43 pm

CDC Provides Details on Heparin Contamination Investigation

A new paper tells the story of how the CDC, after identifying oversulfated chondroitin as the plausible culprit contaminant, linked products containing the contaminant to the clinical symptoms of patients treated across 21 facilities in 13 states.
Heartwire
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 3 Dec 2008 | 10:35 pm

"Our Greatest Challenge": Tackling CVD in Developing World

Despite a grave situation with regard to cardiovascular disease in low- and middle-income countries worldwide, there is still a window of opportunity to intervene and prevent this epidemic from reaching its full proportions, says a new report.
Heartwire
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 3 Dec 2008 | 10:25 pm

Generic Drugs in CVD: Just as Effective as Brand-Name Pills

Twenty years of research show that generic drugs for cardiovascular disease across 9 classes are just as good as brand-name agents, yet editorials often boost superiority of brand-name agents.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 3 Dec 2008 | 10:00 pm

Additional Asthma Severity Measurements May Change Assessment Methods in Teens

For measurement of asthma severity in adolescents, adding forced expiratory volume in 1 second and forced vital capacity to symptom history changed the severity distribution by 17%.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 3 Dec 2008 | 10:00 pm

FDA Safety Changes: Celexa, Erbitux, ACE Inhibitors

The FDA has approved revisions to the safety labeling for citalopram HBr tablets and oral solution, cetuximab intravenous infusion, and certain angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 3 Dec 2008 | 10:00 pm

Female Heavy Drinkers Have Increased Risk of AF

Women consuming more than 2 alcoholic drinks per day are at increased risk for the development of atrial fibrillation vs their nondrinking counterparts, a new study has found.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 3 Dec 2008 | 10:00 pm

Hair Accessories Often an Overlooked Danger in Blunt Head Injuries

Fashion hair accessories are often difficult to identify following cranial trauma, neurosurgeons warn, but they must be considered in the differential diagnosis and removed.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 3 Dec 2008 | 9:58 pm

Paroxetine, Fluoxetine In Early Pregnancy Linked to Heart Defects in Offspring

New findings suggest 2 of the most commonly used selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors increase the risk of congenital cardiac abnormalities in the offspring of women who took these medications in early pregnancy. However, say investigators, the findings do not warrant cessation of antidepressant therapy with these agents in this patient population.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 3 Dec 2008 | 8:37 pm

Study raps Web sites touting stem cell therapies (AP)

AP - Consumers should be wary of Web sites from clinics that offer stem cell treatments, says a study that found a lack of firm medical evidence to back up their claims. The Web sites in the study generally portrayed their therapies as safe, effective and ready for routine use, but published research doesn't support that "overoptimistic" picture, the study authors said.

Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 3 Dec 2008 | 8:10 pm

RSNA 2008: Single CT Scan Can Screen for Colon Cancer and Osteoporosis

Computed tomography (CT) colonography, or virtual colonoscopy, can reveal bone-mineral density of the spine, meaning colon cancer and osteoporosis screening can be conducted with a single test.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 3 Dec 2008 | 6:41 pm

Lab Study Pegs Myocardial Fibrosis as a Novel Heart-Failure Treatment Target

A molecule that suppresses a specific microRNA in "the long-underestimated cardiac fibroblast" might attenuate or prevent ventricular remodeling independently of any involvement from myocytes, according to researchers, who say the findings point to fibrosis as a primary pathologic process in heart failure.
Heartwire
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 3 Dec 2008 | 6:27 pm

Zimbabweans ill with cholera crossing border

Doctors worry about the woman sitting on a bed inside the large tent, an IV in her arm. Chipo Matewe, 23, is eight months pregnant and stricken with cholera.

Source: CNN.com - Health | 3 Dec 2008 | 5:50 pm

TV presenters in NHS data fears

BBC Scotland presenters are told their personal health records may have been inappropriately accessed by a doctor.
Source: BBC News | Health | World Edition | 3 Dec 2008 | 4:49 pm

Nigeria buys baby poison antidote

Nigerian medical authorities are flying an antidote to try and stem the deaths of babies poisoned by a teething syrup.
Source: BBC News | Health | World Edition | 3 Dec 2008 | 4:23 pm

Less sun, more depression for people with SAD

Douglas Cootey is replacing his lightbulbs with brighter ones, but not just to see better. The new broad spectrum lights simulate sunlight, and might help enliven his mood in the gloomy winter months. Cootey realized that his symptoms fit those of seasonal affective disorder, a condition that typically generates depression during autumn and winter and then goes away in the sunnier months.

Source: CNN.com - Health | 3 Dec 2008 | 3:50 pm

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