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Computer model reveals a central "road" in the human stomach

A computer model or "virtual stomach" revealed a central "road" in the human stomach, dubbed the Magenstrasse, that could explain why pharmaceuticals sometimes have a large variability in drug activation times, according to a team creating computer simulations of stomach contractions.

20 Sep 2006

Ophthalmologists improve LASIK

Ophthalmologists have developed a formula that slashes by nearly two-thirds the likelihood that patients will need repeat visits to an eye surgeon to adjust their vision after their initial LASIK visit. That's because the formula makes it more likely that surgeons will get it right the first time.

20 Sep 2006

Young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory

Researchers have found the first evidence that young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory over the course of a year compared to children who do not receive musical training.

20 Sep 2006

Health IT legislation should allow portability for electronic health records

"Steps are now under way to bring ... lifesaving" electronic health records to all hospitals and physician offices in the U.S., but "Congress is considering a bill that would make it harder to allow your information to follow you throughout your health care treatment," former National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David Brailer writes in a New York Times opinion piece.

20 Sep 2006

Chemotherapy, nutrition and metallic flavors

About two million cancer patients currently receiving certain drug therapies and chemotherapy find foods and beverages to have a foul metallic flavor, according to a medical study. In general, more than 40 percent of hospitalized patients suffer from malnutrition due to taste and smell dysfunction.

19 Sep 2006

Health risks for children from ozone layer depletion

Looking at your shadow (the shorter it is, the more dangerous UV radiation is), and covering up with hats, sunglasses and sunscreen, are among the practical tips for children contained in a new guide on the ozone layer for primary school teachers.

18 Sep 2006

Bill Gates puts hand in pocket and gives $70 million for research into tropical diseases

Bill Gates has once again put his money where his mouth is by donating almost U.S$70 million for research into fighting tropical diseases in the 'third world'.

18 Sep 2006

Industry using third parties to manage public concerns about genetic screening

The use of genetic tests to screen for inherited diseases is one of the most controversial applications of gene technologies.

13 Sep 2006

Prospect for passage of final health care IT bill uncertain

Negotiations to reconcile House and Senate versions of legislation that would promote the implementation of health care information technology have not progressed, and prospects for passage of a final bill prior to the midterm elections are uncertain, according to congressional aides, CongressDaily reports (Lee, CongressDaily, 9/12).

13 Sep 2006

Concerns that stem cell study could influence future embryonic stem cell legislation

Technique that could derive human embryonic stem cells without destroying human embryos, recently published in the journal Nature, could impede funding for stem cell research in this week's "Health on the Hill From kaisernetwork.org and CQ."

13 Sep 2006

WiCell and Advanced Cell Technology offer to distribute new stem cell lines

The WiCell Research Institute (WiCell) and Advanced Cell Technology announced today an agreement, in principle, to collaborate to jointly distribute to U.S. scientists a range of new cell lines.

12 Sep 2006

MIT device to detect and prevent epileptic seizures

Epilepsy affects about 50 million people worldwide, and while anticonvulsant medications can reduce the frequency of seizures, the drugs are ineffective for as many as one in three patients.

12 Sep 2006

'Plenty of time' to pass final health care IT Bill, Rep. Deal says

House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health Chair Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) on Thursday said Congress has "plenty of time" prior to midterm elections to pass legislation that would promote the implementation of health care information technology, CQ HealthBeat reports (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 9/7).

11 Sep 2006

N.Y. Gubernatorial candidates discuss health care plans

New York governor candidates last week discussed their plans for health care.

11 Sep 2006

SemBioSys Genetics granted immunoglobulin related patent

SemBioSys Genetics has announced it has been granted U.S. patent 7,098,383 entitled "Methods for the production of multimeric immunoglobulins, and related compositions".

11 Sep 2006

Sens. Specter, Harkin say 'hype' surrounding Nature study harms chances of expanding Federal stem cell funding

"Hype" surrounding a study published in the Aug. 24 edition of the journal Nature describing a technique that could derive human embryonic stem cells without destroying the embryo is harming chances of approving legislation to expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, CQ HealthBeat reports (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 9/6).

7 Sep 2006

Please go Tshabalala-Msimang!

HIV/AIDS advocates and scientists, including a U.S. Nobel laureate, on Tuesday in a letter to South African President Thabo Mbeki called for Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to step down and protested the government's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Wall Street Journal reports.

7 Sep 2006

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital learning from 9/11

With the nation's busiest burn center and the metropolitan area's largest hospital Emergency Medical Services (EMS) fleet, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital rescued and treated many survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center.

7 Sep 2006

China appears to have beaten the world to a bird flu vaccine

Scientists in China have developed a potential vaccine against the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus currently sweeping across Asia.

7 Sep 2006

Some researchers question conclusion in Nature study that stem cells can be created without destroying embryos

Some human embryonic stem cell researchers recently have questioned whether methods used in a study published in the Aug. 24 edition of the journal Nature were sufficient to conclude that human embryonic stem cells could be created without destroying the embryo, the Wall Street Journal reports (Hamilton/Regalado, Wall Street Journal, 9/5).

6 Sep 2006