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Gene manipulation can improve survival rates during sepsis infection

Sepsis is a major killer in hospital intensive care units. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have found that manipulating a genetic factor that can launch or throttle the body's defenses can improve survival rates during bacterial infection.

13 May 2011

Court finds feds fell short in providing veterans with mental health services

A federal appeals court Tuesday lambasted the Department of Veterans Affairs for failing to care for those suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and ordered a major overhaul of the behemoth agency. Treatment delays for PTSD and other combat-related mental illnesses are so "egregious" that they violate veterans' constitutional rights and contribute to the despair behind many of the 6,500 suicides among veterans each year, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said in its 2-1 ruling.

12 May 2011

First Edition: May 11, 2011

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, Hilary Abramson writes: "Now comes the hard part. California, which has had a long, sometimes-tortured history of trying to overhaul its health care markets, beat every other state last year when it passed a law creating a health insurance exchange - an online marketplace where millions of uninsured residents will be able to get insurance".

11 May 2011

Shanghai Zhabei Health Bureau, CWRU sign 10-year research deal to study Chinese lifestyle

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has signed an unprecedented 10-year research agreement with the Shanghai Zhabei District Health Bureau to study how an increasingly westernized diet and a less active lifestyle are affecting the health of China's residents.

11 May 2011

U.S. veterans over 70 and older can benefit from current colon cancer screening methods

A new study of U.S. veterans ages 70 and older finds that the healthiest get the most benefit from current colon cancer screening methods. However, for many less healthy veterans the burdens of screening may outweigh the benefits.

10 May 2011

Wealth, population size, race and age associate with local availability of hospice programs

Wealth, population size, race and age associate with the supply of hospice care available in a county, according to a study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management this month.

10 May 2011

Fat returns after liposuction

Liposuction has become one of the most popular plastic surgeries in the country. It has been around since 1974 and there are now more than 450,000 operations a year. But does the fat come back? A recent study by Teri L. Hernandez, PhD, RN and Robert H. Eckel, MD, at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have found that the fat eventually returns within one year, and is redistributed to other areas of the body, especially the upper abdomen.

10 May 2011

Health Net achieves reaccreditation from URAC

Health Net Federal Services, LLC, part of the Government Contracts segment of Health Net, Inc., announced today it has been awarded full Health Network Reaccreditation, effective July 1, 2011 - July 1, 2014, from URAC, a Washington, DC-based health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry.

10 May 2011

Research roundup: Racial disparities in cancer screening and VA treatment

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Colorectal Cancer Screening Persisted Despite Expansion Of Medicare's Screening Reimbursement. This study looked at the effect in minority groups of expanded reimbursements by Medicare for colorectal cancer screenings.

7 May 2011

VA and DoD produce new collaboration guidebook on clinical health research

Researchers from the Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense have produced a new 56-page guidebook to spur more collaboration between the agencies on clinical health research.

7 May 2011

Clinicians must address limited health literacy of patients with kidney disease

Many patients on dialysis may not understand medical information critical to their wellbeing, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

6 May 2011

H. pylori DNA may help treat severe colitis

DNA from Helicobacter pylori, a common stomach bacteria, minimizes the effects of colitis in mice, according to a new study by University of Michigan Medical School scientists.

6 May 2011

U.S. Army and VA team up to provide simulation-based training for medical staff

The Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of the Army are working together to provide cutting-edge simulation-based training for medical staff to enhance the quality of patient care at VA medical facilities across the Nation.

6 May 2011

Coronary artery bypass graft surgeries have declined by 30% between 2001 and 2008

Between 2001 and 2008, the annual rate of coronary artery bypass graft surgeries performed in the United States decreased by more than 30 percent, but rates of percutaneous coronary interventions did not change significantly, according to a study in the May 4 issue of JAMA.

4 May 2011

New nano-vault delivery system can fight cancer

UCLA scientists have discovered a way to wake up the immune system to fight cancer by delivering an immune system-stimulating protein in a nanoscale container called a vault directly into lung cancer tumors, harnessing the body's natural defenses to fight disease growth.

4 May 2011

Military members with prior mental health disorders are more likely to develop PTSD

Military service members who screened positive for mental health disorders before deployment, or who were injured during deployment, were more likely to develop post-deployment posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms than their colleagues without these risk factors, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

3 May 2011

Case Western Reserve launches new scientific and computational programs in Ohio

The Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is pleased to announce it has established the first PhD and MS program in Systems Biology and Bioinformatics in the State of Ohio. Based in the School of Medicine, with the Center for Proteomics and Bioinformatics as its administrative home, the faculty cohort will include faculty from multiple departments and schools, and the fundamental core competencies for this program will include: genes and proteins; bioinformatics; and quantitative analysis and modeling.

3 May 2011

VA develops FATE survey to access treatment quality at the end of patients' lives

Though there have been significant improvements in the treatment of head and neck cancer, there is still a lack of data on the experience of end of life care for head and neck cancer patients, according to a new study published in the May 2011 issue of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

2 May 2011

Henry M. Jackson Foundation to honor Heroes of Military Medicine

A U.S. senator, an Army leader and a military surgeon are among the "Heroes of Military Medicine" to be honored May 4 by the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine's Center for Public-Private Partnerships.

30 Apr 2011

American Legion supports proposed legislation that will help MST victims

The American Legion is supporting proposed legislation that, if enacted, would require records on military sexual trauma incidents to remain permanently filed by the Department of Defense.

30 Apr 2011