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Sign language helps deaf people to pick up on body language

Deaf people who use sign language are quicker at recognizing and interpreting body language than hearing non-signers, according to new research from investigators at UC Davis and UC Irvine.

12 Jan 2012

COPDF announces expansion of Bronchiectasis Research Registry

The COPD Foundation (COPDF) today announced expansion of its Bronchiectasis Research Registry to include patients with Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM), an often misdiagnosed orphan disease that can cause severe lung infections that mimic tuberculosis when certain individuals are exposed to soil and water.

12 Jan 2012

Appeals court rules Texas can enforce abortion law while case is pending

A federal appeals court has ruled that while a controversial abortion law is decided in court, Texas can enforce a law that requires women who are seeking an abortion to be presented with a sonogram.

12 Jan 2012

First Edition: January 11, 2012

In today's headlines, the 26 states opposed to the health law have filed their Supreme Court arguments against the measure's Medicaid expansion.

11 Jan 2012

The sharpness of the brain dulls beyond 45: Study

Researchers from the Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in France and University College London in the UK studied more than 7,000 people over a 10-year period and show the brain's capacity for memory, reasoning and comprehension starts waning in middle age rather than in the 60s.

9 Jan 2012

AB receives TÜV approval for Neptune waterproof sound processor in Europe

Advanced Bionics (AB), the global leader in cochlear implant technology, announced today that it received approval in Europe for Neptune, the world's first and only swimmable, waterproof sound processor.

7 Jan 2012

Research reveals how bats parse duties at single neuron level

Imagine listening to music while carrying on a conversation with friends. This type of multi-tasking is fairly easy to do, right? That's because our brains efficiently and effectively separate the auditory signals - music to the right side; conversation to the left. But what researchers have not been able to do in humans or animals is to see a parsing of duties at the single neuron level - until now.

4 Jan 2012

Researchers identify gene required for proper development of mouse inner ear

Providing clues to deafness, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a gene that is required for proper development of the mouse inner ear.

4 Jan 2012

In-your-face advertisements target childhood obesity

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta is hearing strong criticism from some camps for its in-your-face advertising campaign designed to attack Georgia's childhood obesity epidemic. But the pediatric health system stands firmly by its approach, saying the grim advertisements featuring overweight kids are necessary to get families to recognize the widespread public health problem.

4 Jan 2012

Roundup: HIV staff to be cut in Ga.; Abortion news in N.J., Mo.; Wis. Medicaid coverage in limbo

A loss of $3.7 million in federal funds is forcing Georgia to reduce its workforce for HIV prevention. After an inquiry by Georgia Health News, the Department of Public Health this week acknowledged that 20 people in state health districts have been notified they will probably lose their jobs in January, and that an unspecified number of staffers at the department level have received the same notification.

23 Dec 2011

Toddlers don't respond to their own voice

When grown-ups and kids speak, they listen to the sound of their voice and make corrections based on that auditory feedback. But new evidence shows that toddlers don't respond to their own voice in quite the same way, according to a report published online on December 22 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

23 Dec 2011

Roundup: Texas members oppose state's MLR waiver; Calif.'s disability case takes unusual turn

If you want to know what a Tea Party America might look like, there is no place like Kansas. In the past year, three state agencies have been abolished and 2,050 jobs have been cut. Funding for schools, social services and the arts have been slashed. The new Republican governor rejected a $31.5 million federal grant for a new health-insurance exchange because he opposes President Obama's health-care law. And that's just the small stuff.

23 Dec 2011

Roundup: Health coverage drops again in Fla.; Calif. wrestles with issue of violence in mental hospitals

Enrollment in commercial health insurance is continuing to decline in Florida. An annual market report adopted Tuesday by the Florida Health Care Insurance Advisory Board shows enrollment dropped by 4.3 percent during 2010. That's the fifth straight year it's gone down.

22 Dec 2011

High court sets March dates for health law arguments

March 27 will be the day for two hours of arguments over the provision, which starting in 2014 will require most Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty. The high court is expected to announce its decision by the end of June.

21 Dec 2011

State roundup: Ariz. high court to hear Medicaid funding challenge

The Arizona Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider a challenge to state Medicaid cuts. The court put the matter on its Feb. 15 agenda and will decide then whether to take the case and hear oral arguments. Three public-interest law groups challenged an enrollment freeze for childless adults in the state's Medicaid program, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. A lower-court judge and an Arizona appeals-court panel upheld the cuts.

21 Dec 2011

Gene therapy may promote growth of hair cells in inner ear

Normal hearing depends on the presence of healthy hair cells in the inner ear. Gene therapy has the potential to slow the loss of hair cells and promote the growth of hair cells that have already been damaged.

20 Dec 2011

If misused, popular noisy toys may permanently damage children's hearing

While Road Rippers Lightning Rods, Let's Rock Elmo and the I Am T-Pain musical microphone might be sought-after gifts this holiday season, parents should ensure that their children don't risk permanent hearing damage by misusing them.

17 Dec 2011

State roundup: Florida awaits Medicaid waiver news

Now, nurses regularly do everything from give insulin shots to empty urinary catheter bags. At the same time, state budget cuts mean the number of school nurses in California is shrinking. As a result, nurses say, they are responsible for more students every year and are largely consumed with keeping "medically fragile" children in class.

16 Dec 2011

Increased temperatures can shorten gestation time and lead to stillbirth

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) world-first research has found a link between increases in temperature and the incidence of stillbirth and shorter pregnancies.

16 Dec 2011

IQWiG publishes report on Esbriet benefit assessment for treatment of IPF

InterMune, Inc. today reported that the private Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has today published its report on the benefit assessment of Esbriet (pirfenidone) for the treatment of mild to moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

16 Dec 2011