Health and Medical News Headlines for February 2, 2010

Experiment takes aim at genetic learning disorder (AP)

AP - A pill to ease a type of mental retardation? An experiment is under way to develop one, aimed at a genetic disorder that might unravel some of the mysteries of autism along the way.

Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 2 Feb 2010 | 1:45 am

Zuma told 20th child harms safe sex drive (Reuters)

Reuters - South African opposition parties accused President Jacob Zuma on Monday of a cavalier attitude to safe sex that is hurting the HIV/AIDS campaign after news that a woman not one of his wives had had his 20th child.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 2 Feb 2010 | 1:25 am

Frequent Flier: Living Well With Diabetes, and Showing Others How

A retiree takes on a volunteer mission to teach other diabetics how to control the disease and live full lives.

Source: NYT > Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 11:26 pm

China investigates as tainted milk reappears (Reuters)

Reuters - China has launched nationwide checks for melamine-tainted milk products after the industrial compound, which killed at least six children in 2008, reappeared on shop shelves, an official newspaper said on Tuesday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 1 Feb 2010 | 10:40 pm

China investigates as tainted milk reappears

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has launched nationwide checks for melamine-tainted milk products after the industrial compound, which killed at least six children in 2008, reappeared on shop...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 1 Feb 2010 | 10:40 pm

First Mention: Paul Ehrlich, 1908

The German scientist who discovered a cure for syphilis became known before that as a co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

Source: NYT > Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 10:39 pm

Really?: The Claim: Heart Attack Rates Rise During the Super Bowl

Is the Super Bowl a health hazard for diehard football fans?

Source: NYT > Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 10:38 pm

Personal Health: Rules Worth Following, for Everyone’s Sake

Michael Pollan’s new book, “Food Rules,” is an easy-to-digest guide to health and eating that could do almost anybody good.

Source: NYT > Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 10:37 pm

Cases: Homeless, Shoeless, Even Nameless

A young woman who received treatment at a psychiatric ward in Portland, Ore., lamented the loss of the voices in her head.

Source: NYT > Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 10:36 pm

Vital Signs: Children: Quality of Life With Cochlear Implants

A study found that children with implanted hearing aids rated aspects of their lives as highly as children with normal hearing.

Source: NYT > Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 10:35 pm

Vital Signs: Aging: Higher Co-Payments Tied to Costlier Care

A study found that doubling Medicare co-payments led patients to cut back on doctors’ visits but increased their chances of needing more expensive treatment at hospitals.

Source: NYT > Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 10:34 pm

Vital Signs: Prevention: An Alternative for Treating Arrhythmia

A study suggested trying a procedure that cauterizes the muscle around a vein if abnormal heart rhythms did not respond to medication.

Source: NYT > Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 10:34 pm

Global Update: Seattle Group Paying F.D.A. for Work on a Pneumococcal Disease Vaccine

The agency said the group, PATH, would pay it $480,000 to begin building a better vaccine for the disease.

Source: NYT > Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 10:33 pm

Bordeaux wine industry rallies to survive in US

Bordeaux vintners and merchants are rallying to survive in a thirsty but tumultuous US market after their biggest customer there defected. US importer Chateau & Estate Wines...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 1 Feb 2010 | 10:30 pm

Infection Persists, Despite Vaccine

The PCV7 vaccine has all but eliminated strains of pneumococcal disease, but a serious and sometimes fatal complication has become more common.

Source: NYT > Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 10:28 pm

Loving Foster Homes Improve Kids' Attention, Impulsivity (HealthDay)

HealthDay - MONDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Foster children who are placed in stable, loving homes show noticeable improvement in symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity compared to children who get moved around a lot and live with parents who are often annoyed or angry at them, research finds.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 1 Feb 2010 | 9:48 pm

Clinical Trials Update: Feb. 1, 2010 (HealthDay)

HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of ClinicalConnection.com:
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 1 Feb 2010 | 9:48 pm

Diabetes Drug Helps Dieting Teens Lose Weight (HealthDay)

HealthDay - MONDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- A medication used to treat type 2 diabetes appears to help overweight teenagers lose weight when combined with a program designed to help them change their lifestyle habits, researchers report.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 1 Feb 2010 | 9:48 pm

UPDATE 2-Tribune creditors seek to file suit over buyout

* Tribune working to file reorganization plan this month (Adds details from internal memo)
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 1 Feb 2010 | 9:13 pm

UPDATE 2-Tribune creditors seek to file suit over buyout

* Tribune working to file reorganization plan this month (Adds details from internal memo)
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 1 Feb 2010 | 9:13 pm

UPDATE 2-Tribune creditors seek to file suit over buyout

* Tribune working to file reorganization plan this month (Adds details from internal memo)
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 1 Feb 2010 | 9:13 pm

China launches emergency crackdown on tainted milk products after several found on sale

BEIJING - China has launched a 10-day emergency crackdown on tainted milk products after several were found creeping back onto the market despite a massive scandal that sickened hundreds...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 1 Feb 2010 | 9:13 pm

Sinopec northwest field eyes 5.6 pct more oil output

BEIJING, Feb 2 (Reuters) - China's top refiner Sinopec Corp said that it planned to produce 5.6 percent more of crude oil in its northwest oil field in 2010.
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 1 Feb 2010 | 9:09 pm

UPDATE 1-Big banks' risky trading should be curbed-Volcker

WASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - White House adviser Paul Volcker will urge Congress to curb the risks taken by large banks to help prevent them from being treated as "too big to fail," according to testimony...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 1 Feb 2010 | 8:43 pm

Report drawing on experience of inmates calls for needle exchange for prisons

TORONTO - A new report calls for the establishment of needle and syringe distribution programs in Canada's prisons, warning the high rate of bloodborne infections in prisons is a public...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 1 Feb 2010 | 8:23 pm

UPDATE 1-M.Stanley to sell China property to Singapore's Alpha

* M.Stanley arm in talks to sell Shanghai apartment complex
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 1 Feb 2010 | 8:22 pm

Birth defect total in California town now at 6 (AP)

AP - The local health director says a sixth birth-defect case has been confirmed in Kettleman City, where residents are battling plans to expand California's largest hazardous-waste landfill.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 1 Feb 2010 | 6:08 pm

'Immune jab' blocks chronic pain

A treatment already used for immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis appears to also work for chronic pain, scientists discover.
Source: BBC News | Health | World Edition | 1 Feb 2010 | 5:02 pm

Fish oils 'beat mental illness'

Taking a daily fish oil capsule can stave off mental illness in those at highest risk, trial findings suggest.
Source: BBC News | Health | World Edition | 1 Feb 2010 | 5:02 pm

Success seen with experimental abstinence program (AP)

AP - An experimental abstinence-only program without a moralistic tone can delay teens from having sex, a provocative study found.

Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 1 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pm

Senate Sets Stage for SGR Fix to Freeze Medicare Pay for 5 Years, Followed by Massive Cut

Those hoping for a permanent solution to the notorious formula for setting Medicare rates may have to settle for another temporary fix that would freeze pay and then cut it by 25% to 30% in 2015.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 1 Feb 2010 | 3:49 pm

Best Timing of Surgery for Active Mitral Endocarditis Remains Controversial

A small study suggests supports the safety of early surgery for mitral regurgitation in the setting of endocarditis, instead of waiting for the usual six weeks for antibiotics to work.
Heartwire
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 1 Feb 2010 | 3:25 pm

No Time Like the Present: Study Supports Early Mitral-Valve Repair in Asymptomatic Patients

In a study of 4586 patients with severe degenerative mitral regurgitation, even mild heart-failure symptoms are associated with decline in cardiac function, suggesting that early valve surgery will yield better long-term outcomes than surgery after symptoms become manifest.
Heartwire
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 1 Feb 2010 | 3:25 pm

Herbal remedies, heart drugs a dangerous combo

If you take heart medication, you may want to avoid some of the most popular over-the-counter herbal supplements on the market, including ginseng, saw palmetto, and echinacea. These herbal remedies -- and many others -- can cause potentially serious problems in people taking heart medications, a new report warns.

Source: CNN.com - Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 3:19 pm

Herbal remedies, heart drugs don't mix: review (Reuters)

Reuters - Taking ginkgo biloba, St. John's wort and other widely used herbal supplements may be risky for people on heart disease medication, especially the elderly, according to a medical review released on Monday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 1 Feb 2010 | 3:14 pm

FDA liver risk warning for Bristol-Myers HIV drug (AP)

AP - Federal health officials said Monday that patients taking a Bristol-Myers Squibb drug for HIV are at risk of a rare, but potentially fatal, liver disorder.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 1 Feb 2010 | 3:03 pm

Pratchett would test suicide law

Sir Terry Pratchett offers to be a test case for assisted suicide "tribunals" for terminally ill people wishing to end their lives.
Source: BBC News | Health | World Edition | 1 Feb 2010 | 2:53 pm

FDA Approves Lapatinib/Letrozole Combination for Advanced Breast Cancer

The FDA has approved an expanded indication for lapatinib in combination with letrozole for the treatment of hormone-positive and HER2-positive advanced breast cancer in certain postmenopausal women.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 1 Feb 2010 | 2:46 pm

Cardiovascular Risk With Androgen-Deprivation Therapy for Prostate Cancer

There might be an association between androgen-deprivation therapy and increased cardiovascular risk, according to a new advisory, but the data are not definitive.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 1 Feb 2010 | 2:43 pm

New clues found in body image disorder

An obsession with one or more bodily features, normally in the face, indicates a condition called body dysmorphic disorder. A new study shows people with this condition have abnormal brain function when seeing their own face.

Source: CNN.com - Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 2:24 pm

Mental Decline Predicts Stroke Risk

People whose minds are slipping are at greater risk of stroke, a new study finds.
Source: Livescience.com - Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 2:09 pm

ACS Establishes Surgical Case Log in Haiti

The American College of Surgeons has created a surgical registry for surgeons in Haiti to collect data on every surgical case they encounter.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 1 Feb 2010 | 2:08 pm

Abstinence Programs for Children Work, Study Finds

"Abstinence-only" sex education programs can work in certain groups of children, a new study says.
Source: Livescience.com - Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 2:05 pm

Breakthrough in AIDS Research

Researchers have made a breakthrough in HIV research that had eluded scientists for over 20 years.
Source: Livescience.com - Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 1:00 pm

Survival Rates Similar After Peripheral Blood Cell and Bone Marrow Transplantation in Leukemia

Patients transplanted with peripheral blood stem cells have survival rates similar to those who undergo bone marrow transplantation, despite a higher incidence of chronic graft-vs-host disease.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 1 Feb 2010 | 12:54 pm

Stem Cell Transplant No Extra Help in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Patients with acute myeloid leukemia and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome appear to gain little from adding stem cell transplantation to chemotherapy, UK researchers report.
Reuters Health Information
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 1 Feb 2010 | 11:02 am

Quality of Life Acceptable After Anal Cancer - Except for Sexual Function

Two or more years after radiotherapy for anal cancer, overall quality-of-life (QOL) scores are acceptable in most patients but sexual function scores tend to be poor, new research shows.
Reuters Health Information
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 1 Feb 2010 | 11:02 am

Cancers Rarely Missed by Upper GI Endoscopy

In Western populations, cancer is very rarely missed on esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), say researchers from Australia in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
Reuters Health Information
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 1 Feb 2010 | 11:02 am

Market Access Europe Conference, March 2010

Diminishing market access has become one of the central challenges for the pharmaceutical industry. Whereas regulatory agency approval used to be the final hurdle in drug development, now pharmaceutical companies must negotiate an obstacle course of reimbursement dossiers, cost-effectiveness studies, decentralized health authorities, and post-launch observational research. To do so effectively, pharmaceutical companies must reconsider or introduce new market access strategies that anticipate these challenges during drug development...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 1 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting In New Orleans, May 22-26 Features Renowned Experts And Cutting-Edge Research

Top experts and researchers in psychiatry will present cutting-edge research and important clinical updates at the American Psychiatric Association's 2010 Annual Meeting in New Orleans in May. The APA's 163rd Annual Meeting, the world's largest psychiatric meeting, will run Saturday, May 22 to Wednesday, May 26, 2010 in New Orleans at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. APA President Alan F. Schatzberg, M.D...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 1 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

Wakeful Resting Linked To Improved Memory

New research from the US shows that resting while awake appears to strengthen memory, revealing new insights into how forms of rest other than sleep, affect the memory consolidation process. The findings suggest that even though it may not look like it, when we rest while awake, our brains are still working, something we may find hard to accept in an information technological world that is on the go 24/7...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 1 Feb 2010 | 10:00 am

Haitian Government Entrusts SOS Children's Villages With The Care Of 33 Children - Alleged Victims Of Child Trafficking

SOS Children's Villages, a global organization dedicated to the long-term care and prevention of orphaned and abandoned children, are currently caring for the 33 children who are alleged victims of child trafficking. The Haitian Social Ministry entrusted SOS with the children - who range from three months to 12 years -- after Haitian police arrested 10 U.S. citizens attempting to take the children from Haiti to the Dominican Republic on January 29 in a suspected illicit adoption scheme...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 1 Feb 2010 | 10:00 am

Gordon Brown Receives Prescription Promise 'Wake-Up Call', UK

People across England will be joining forces to demonstrate their outrage at Gordon Brown's failure to act on his promise to abolish prescription charges for people with long-term conditions, by taking part in a simultaneous 'wake-up phone call' to No 10. The wake-up call will take place at 11am on Monday 1 February 2010, representing the eleventh hour of the campaign, with large numbers of people with long-term conditions, their carers, families and health care professionals expected to call the Downing Street phone lines...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 1 Feb 2010 | 10:00 am

Can I Donate Blood to Myself?

Autologous donation is most often employed in surgery on bones, blood vessels, the urinary tract, and the heart, when the likelihood of transfusion is high.
Source: Livescience.com - Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 9:40 am

WHO Pneumonia Expert Recognized For Efforts To Ensure Children Receive Life-saving Vaccines

WHO pneumonia expert Dr. Thomas Cherian will be honored by a group of the world's leading infectious disease experts today for his pivotal work to accelerate access to vaccines preventing pneumococcal disease, the world's leading vaccine-preventable killer of children under age five...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 1 Feb 2010 | 9:00 am

Pets' choppers key to their health

Gum disease, the most commonly diagnosed problem in dogs and cats, is linked to diabetes, strokes, kidney disease and other life-threatening disorders.

Source: CNN.com - Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 8:58 am

Opinion: Some kids cut to feel better

They come from all walks of life. One teenage girl cuts her thighs after piano lessons to avoid the crushing pressure for perfection. She sees a therapist twice a week, but she never gets better.

Source: CNN.com - Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 8:27 am

Haitian medical evacuations to resume

Flights transporting critically injured Haitians to the United States are set to resume Monday morning, according to a spokeswoman for a University of Miami team of volunteers in Port-au-Prince.

Source: CNN.com - Health | 1 Feb 2010 | 8:19 am

Synosia Announces Positive Interim Results For Potential First-in-Class Treatment For Parkinson's Disease

Synosia Therapeutics announced interim positive data from a Phase IIa clinical study of an adenosine 2a (A2a) receptor antagonist (SYN115) in Parkinson's disease. The Phase IIa trial was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study in 24 Parkinson's patients using doses up to 120mg/day for one week. The effects of SYN-115 as an add-on therapy to a stable dose of levodopa was assessed using a number of techniques, including functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), clinical ratings such as the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale and various cognitive tests...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 1 Feb 2010 | 8:00 am

Enhancing Sales And Marketing Performance For Oncology Therapeutics Conference, March 2010

Understanding & implementing best practice approaches to value-based sales in the competitive cancer marketplace Conference dates: 15th-16th March, 2010 Venue: Brussels, Belgium This will be the only event looking at "best practice" approaches to selling and marketing high-value cancer drugs, and working in partnership with generalists and specialists such as oncologists, haematologists radiologists and cancer hospitals to provide real value and to improve patient access...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 1 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am

Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler Honored With Catalyst Award At Glaucoma Research Foundation Benefit

Jeffrey B. Kindler received the 2010 Catalyst Award, the Glaucoma Research Foundation's highest honor, acknowledging his exemplary leadership in sustaining innovative research and education. Mr. Kindler is Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Pfizer Inc., the world's largest research-based pharmaceutical company. Mr. Kindler leads a worldwide company dedicated to improving human health and preventing vision loss from blinding eye diseases. The Award was presented during the Glaucoma Research Foundation Annual Benefit celebration on Wednesday evening at The Palace Hotel...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 1 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

Best Practice In Clinical Site Selection And Performance Management Conference, March, 2010

Develop and implement your tactics to enhance the performance of your site pool to ensure the time, cost and quality objectives of your global trial. Conference dates: 17th-18th March, 2010 Venue: Radisson Royal, Brussels, Belgium This event will look at the principal factors that affect the performance of clinical sites when conducting trials...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 1 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

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