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Beetroot juice effective for simulated competition environment

Winning margins in the Tour de France can be tight - last year just 39 seconds separated the top two riders after more than 90 hours in the saddle. When every second counts, riders do everything possible to gain a competitive advantage - from using aerodynamic carbon fibre bikes to the very latest in sports nutrition.

2 Jul 2011

IRIN reports on concerns over poor midwife training in Senegal

IRIN reports on concerns about the low level of training midwives in Senegal undergo, a topic that was discussed at the launch of the U.N. Population Fund's (UNFPA) State of the World's Midwives report in Senegal.

2 Jul 2011

State insurance officials' panel seeks protection for insurance brokers

By voice vote, the task force called on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to endorse legislation by Rep. Mike Rogers that would exclude fees paid to agents and brokers when calculating how much health plans are spending on administrative costs versus medical care.

2 Jul 2011

CDC helping to detect and control disease outbreaks in other countries

"The Atlanta-based CDC is expanding its involvement in cases of illness overseas, from helping track the source of the highly toxic E. coli outbreak in Germany to homing in on the cause of cholera in the aftermath of Haiti's earthquake," in an effort "to stop epidemics before they can reach the United States," Reuters/MSNBC.com reports.

2 Jul 2011

Analysis of appeals court ruling on health law focuses on Bush appointee

Ever since the early days of the health-care reform law, its supporters have argued that there is a "conservative" argument to be made for the constitutionality of the law.

2 Jul 2011

Minn. government shuts down; new Calif., Iowa and Ill. budgets take effect

Talks imploded Thursday between DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders in the final hours before a midnight deadline, and Minnesota began a historic government shutdown. ... Even before the shutdown, Minnesotans got an early peek at the inconvenience from the mothballing of many state services.

2 Jul 2011

TB fight must break from status quo

"As WHO prepares for reform, it is also adjusting to a new financially constrained environment. WHO's STOP TB department, like others, has to downsize and refocus its activities. With increasing demand for guidance, technical support, and capacity-building in countries, the STOP TB department and partnership will have to do more with less in the future," a Lancet editorial states.

2 Jul 2011

International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer welcomes publication of NLST results

The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) today welcomed the publication of positive results of the National Lung Screening Trial.

2 Jul 2011

Senate to keep working next week on debt talks

The Senate abandoned plans for a July 4 break as time dwindled for lawmakers to strike a compromise on avoiding a government default and reducing mammoth federal deficits. In a challenge to President Barack Obama, the chamber's top Republican invited him to the Capitol to discuss the impasse with GOP lawmakers.

2 Jul 2011

Study confirms link between delayed access to tertiary care for IPF, higher risk of death

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)―scarring and thickening of the lungs from unknown causes―is the predominant condition leading to lung transplantation nationwide. Columbia University Medical Center researchers confirmed that delayed access to a tertiary care center for IPF is associated with a higher risk of death.

2 Jul 2011

Al Jazeera examines how war has affected Iraq's health system and physicians

Al Jazeera examines how Iraq's public health system has been affected by the war and the challenges doctors in the country currently face. Iraq had 34,000 registered physicians before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, and it is estimated that 20,000 of them have left the country, according to the Brookings Institution.

2 Jul 2011

Global health funding should not create 'winners' and 'losers'

Andrew Harmer, a research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in this globalhealthpolicy.net blog post lays out the global health "winners" and "losers" in terms of funding.

2 Jul 2011

Medical practitioners can help reduce breast cancer deaths in African-American women

Wayne State University researchers believe medical practitioners can help reduce the number of breast cancer deaths among low-income African-American women by more effectively educating their patients about the importance of mammography screening.

2 Jul 2011

MSF website lends voice to TB patients

"Medecins Sans Frontieres, whose volunteer doctors run TB clinics around the world, has launched a website called TB and Me, where patients are regularly blogging on their experiences," Sarah Boseley writes in the Guardian's "Global Health Blog."

2 Jul 2011

New stem cell bioprinting for uniform, controlled size embryoid body formation

Ever since an ordinary office inkjet printer had its ink cartridges swapped out for a cargo of cells about 10 years ago and sprayed out cell-packed droplets to create living tissue, scientists and engineers have never looked at office equipment in quite the same way. They dream of using a specialized bio-inkjet printer to grow new body parts for organ transplants or tissues for making regenerative medicine repairs to ailing bodies.

2 Jul 2011

Judge halts enforcement of S.D. abortion law; hearing on Kansas law today

A federal judge on Thursday barred a tough new South Dakota abortion law from taking effect while it's being challenged in court. The law, which would have taken effect Friday, requires women seeking abortions to face a three-day waiting period and undergo counseling at pregnancy help centers that discourage abortion.

2 Jul 2011

U-M researchers a step closer to developing treatments for aging and chronic diseases

As our bodies first form, developing cells are a lot like children put on the school bus with their names and addresses pinned to their shirts. The notes identify one as a future heart cell, another as a liver cell, a third as a neuron. And that's what they each grow up to be. But once those cells reach adulthood, changes to those original marching orders caused by aging, disease and other stressors like smoking can precipitate a kind of identity crisis, researchers at the University of Michigan Health System have found.

2 Jul 2011

WFP funding shortfall forcing cutbacks in Afghanistan

"The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) is being forced by a funding shortfall to cut its recovery programmes in nearly half of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, a spokesperson said," just as the country prepares for expected food shortages over the coming months, IRIN reports.

2 Jul 2011

Aquatain surface layer helps control malaria mosquitoes in rice-agro ecosystems

A thin, liquid layer applied on the surface of inundated rice paddies effectively kills malaria mosquito larvae without having an impact on other aquatic life. Rice yield remains the same and water was saved because of the anti-evaporative properties of the layer.

2 Jul 2011

IPS looks at U.N. Women funding levels

Inter Press Service looks at funding for U.N. Women six months after the organization launched. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "set an initial target of 500 million dollars as the proposed annual budget for the new gender-empowered body. But nearly six months later, the voluntary funding for U.N. Women (UNW) from the 192 member states has remained painfully slow," IPS writes.

2 Jul 2011