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President Obama discusses health reform prospects with House Democrats

President Obama on Tuesday met with Democrats from the House Energy and Commerce Committee to discuss a climate change bill and health care, the Washington Times reports.

6 May 2009

Lesotho, UNICEF, European Union launch pilot program to provide financial support to AIDS orphans

The Lesotho government in partnership with the European Union and UNICEF has begun a pilot project to provide monetary assistance to children whose parents have died of AIDS-related causes, Inter Press Service reports. The pilot project -- called the Lesotho Child Grants Program -- will be rolled out in 1,200 households in the Mafeteng, Maseru and Qacha's Nek districts.

6 May 2009

Attitudes toward tobacco industry linked to smoking behavior

A new study by UCSF researchers concludes that media campaigns that portray the tobacco industry in a negative light and that appeal to young adults may be a powerful intervention to decrease young adult smoking.

6 May 2009

Self-management programs for asthma improve drug adherence, disease control

Asthma patients who spend as little as 30 minutes with a health care professional to develop a personalized self-management plan show improved adherence to medications and better disease control, according to a new study by a team of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

6 May 2009

Countries move toward more sustainable ways to roll back malaria

The United Nations Environment Programme and the World Health Organization, in partnership with the Global Environment Facility, today announced a rejuvenated international effort to combat malaria with an incremental reduction of reliance on the synthetic pesticide DDT.

6 May 2009

New influenza A (H1N1) having powerful impact on us

The new influenza A (H1N1), known as the swine flu, demonstrates the power of people's perceptions of risk. Sales of face masks are breaking all records not only in Mexico but also in Sweden. Hotel guests are being isolated at a hotel in Hong Kong, and people with the sniffles are being isolated in airports around the world. But before the outbreak of the flu, this was a risk that extremely few Swedes perceived as a serious threat to themselves.

6 May 2009

New antidepressants might be no more effective than the best existing drugs

The reviews suggest that sertraline - sold under the brand name Zoloft since 1991- could be the best initial choice of antidepressant in people with acute major depression. The generic formulation produced the best balance of effectiveness, tolerability and purchase price, the authors say.

5 May 2009

Asthma coaching can reduce hospitalizations in some children

Working with an asthma coach helps to significantly reduce hospitalizations of low-income, African-American children with asthma, results of a new, two-year study show.

5 May 2009

International community should ensure access to diagnostic, treatment services to control tuberculosis in Africa, blog entry says

Tuberculosis "remains the most common cause of adult death in some countries" even though the global health community knows "what causes" the disease, "how it spreads" and "how to treat it," Ruth McNerney of the TARGETS Consortium at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine writes in the Guardian's "Katine Chronicles" blog.

5 May 2009

Senate HELP Committee moves up FDA Commissioner-Designate Hamburg's confirmation hearing due to H1N1 outbreak

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has moved to Thursday the confirmation hearing for Margaret Hamburg, President Obama's pick for FDA commissioner, citing the need to address the H1N1 influenza outbreak, the Wall Street Journal reports.

5 May 2009

Sen. Schumer proposes holding public health insurance option to same standards, rules as private insurers

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday proposed that any public health insurance option developed as part of comprehensive health care reform legislation be subject to the same rules and standards as private insurance, the New York Times reports.

5 May 2009

Iran reports on new HIV cases

At least 19,435 HIV cases have been reported in Iran, with more than 1,000 cases recorded since December 2008, according to a report recently released by the country's Ministry of Health, AFP/Google.com reports.

5 May 2009

Study looks at parent-child relationships

The majority of parents and adult children experience some tension and aggravation with one another, a new study says.

5 May 2009

New Jersey free HIV clinic to close, Federal funding at risk

New Jersey's Bergen County Department of Health Services plans to close the county's Counseling Center in Hackensack, which has operated for 20 years and is the only clinic in the county that provides no-cost HIV testing, NorthJersey.com reports.

5 May 2009

Average age of autism diagnosis nearly six years old - wide age gap between possible and actual diagnosis

"Timely identification and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can impact a child's development and is the key to opening the door to the services and therapies available to children with autism," says Paul Shattuck, Ph.D., assistant professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. "Unfortunately, our research shows that the average age of autism diagnosis is nearly six years old, which is three to four years after diagnosis is possible."

4 May 2009

Psyched out by stereotypes: IU research suggests thinking about the positive

In a new study, cognitive scientists have shown that when aware of both a negative and positive stereotype related to performance, women will identify more closely with the positive stereotype, avoiding the harmful impact the negative stereotype unwittingly can have on their performance.

4 May 2009

Call for mothers to address bone health with daughters

Of all the gifts that generations of women have passed on to their loved ones, one of the most important is the gift of knowledge about health - especially information about bone health and osteoporosis.

3 May 2009

Wealthier people choose better diets - but pay more per calorie

As people become more educated, studies have demonstrated that they tend to choose foods that are lower in calories but higher in nutrients. They also pay more. In a study published in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers from the University of Washington compared the eating habits and food costs of a sample of 164 adults in the Seattle, Washington area.

3 May 2009

Sebelius, Obama take action on swine flu

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Wednesday held two press conferences and briefed congressional lawmakers on the recent public health emergency involving swine flu, also known as the "2009 H1N1 influenza virus," CQ HealthBeat reports (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 4/29).

30 Apr 2009

Sen. Baucus proposes Medicare changes he says could drive 'transformation of the health care delivery system'

The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday during a six-hour meeting discussed proposed changes to the Medicare system from committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the New York Times reports (Pear, New York Times, 4/30).

30 Apr 2009