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Research Roundup: U.S. life expectancy ratings; Medicare Advantage outlook; Should advanced cancer patients have routine screening tests?

Health Affairs: What Changes In Survival Rates Tell Us About US Health Care -- Proponents of changes in the U.S. health system have often pointed to studies that find health outcomes in this country are worse than other developed nations, even though the United States "spends well over twice the median expenditure of industrialized nations on health care, and far more than any other country as a percentage of its gross domestic product." Others point to high rates of smoking, obesity and traffic fatalities.

25 Oct 2010

New gene therapy product reduces plasma cholesterol levels

Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics (AMT) Holding N.V. a leader in the development of gene based therapies, today announced that its gene therapy product incorporating siRNA sequences into microRNA scaffolds to silence Apolipoprotein B100 (AAV-miApoB) was able to significantly lower plasma cholesterol levels in vivo over a period of 18 weeks. These preliminary results suggest that this approach could lead to a treatment for high cholesterol in humans

25 Oct 2010

Nestle announces plan to decrease sodium content in products

Nestle Prepared Foods Company today announced a comprehensive plan to decrease the sodium content in its products by another 10 percent from reductions made earlier this decade.

25 Oct 2010

Experts identify efficient way to increase minority access to colorectal cancer screening

Minority patients have a significantly decreased survival from colon cancer compared to white patients, most often as a result of a late diagnosis. To help address this problem, a team of healthcare professionals at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has identified an efficient way to increase minority access to lifesaving colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) in communities where multiple barriers to preventive care exist.

25 Oct 2010

Sleep disturbances increase risk of work disability

Sleep disturbances increase the risk of work disability and may slow the return to work process. This is especially true in cases where work disability is due to mental disorders or musculoskeletal diseases. These results come from a recent study conducted by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in collaboration with the universities of Turku and London.

25 Oct 2010

Anxiety sensitivity levels may help in choosing medical treatment for AF patients

Levels of anxiety sensitivity may be important in choosing medical treatment for patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation (AF), Montreal Heart Institute researchers today told the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2010, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.

25 Oct 2010

Sen. Grassley asks HHS to probe doctors using excessive prescriptions

The Miami Herald: "Based on the huge numbers of prescriptions written by a Miami psychiatrist, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is continuing to pressure federal officials to investigate why some doctors write stunning numbers of scripts for tax-funded Medicare and Medicaid programs.

25 Oct 2010

Research finds succimer drug not effective in removing mercury

Succimer, a drug used for treating lead poisoning, does not effectively remove mercury from the body, according to research supported by the National Institutes of Health. Some families have turned to succimer as an alternative therapy for treating autism.

25 Oct 2010

State officials adopt standards for insurers' expenses

The New York Times: "State insurance commissioners on Thursday unanimously endorsed tough new standards that would require many health insurance companies to spend more of each premium dollar for the benefit of consumers. The new federal health care law stipulates that at least 80 percent of premium revenue must be spent on medical care and 'activities that improve health care quality' for patients — not retained as profits or used to pay executive compensation and administrative expenses.

25 Oct 2010

Inovio announces publication of minimally-invasive intradermal device in journal Gene Therapy

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that a peer-reviewed research article describing the development of a new intradermal, minimally-invasive DNA vaccine delivery device was published in the prestigious journal Gene Therapy.

25 Oct 2010

NIH awards $3.9M for Fanconi anemia research

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a three-year, $3.9 million grant to Children's Hospital Boston researchers and their colleagues to develop a therapy to treat Fanconi anemia, a fatal genetic blood disease.

25 Oct 2010

H70 study provides data on cognitive symptoms that predict dementia

Today´s 70-year-olds do far better in intelligence tests than their predecessors. It has also become more difficult to detect dementia in its early stages, though forgetfulness is still an early symptom, reveals new research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, based on the H70 study.

25 Oct 2010

Study finds metabolic syndrome may indicate breast cancer risk in post-menopausal women

Metabolic syndrome, associated with the sedentary lifestyle and energy dense diet of Western industrialized societies, may be an indicator of breast cancer risk in post-menopausal women, according to a new study to be released at the National Italian American Foundation event, "Let's Talk About It: A Spotlight on Women's Health" on October 22nd at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C.

25 Oct 2010

Joint Commission: Medical errors in hospitals tied to 'handoffs' of patients

The Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals, released an update on a collaborative project with 10 health systems tragetting the frequent errors that happen in hospitals when a patient is handed off from one provider to another.

25 Oct 2010

Cholera outbreak kills 138, more than 1,500 other cases reported, Haitian health ministry officials say

Haitian Health Ministry officials have informed the World Health Organization that 138 deaths are a part of a fast-moving cholera outbreak north of Port-au-Prince, a U.N. official said, CNN reports.

25 Oct 2010

Fred Hutchinson Center offers research-based tip sheets for breast cancer survivors

Throughout October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, experts from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and its clinical care partner, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, are offering weekly research-based tip sheets regarding breast cancer prevention, screening and early detection, treatment and survivorship.

25 Oct 2010

UC San Diego researchers receive two federal grants for biomedical informatics

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, led by Lucila Ohno-Machado, MD, PhD, chief of the Division of Biomedical Informatics in the Department of Medicine, have received two federal grants totaling more than $25 million to develop new ways to gather, analyze, use and share vast, ever-increasing amounts of biomedical information.

25 Oct 2010

BAFF protein can promote aggressive leukemia and lymphomas

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells survive and thrive not just by their own innate wiles, but by also acquiring aid and support from host cells in their surrounding environment.

25 Oct 2010

Massive Medicare fraud operation nets millions in Miami

Federal agents crack down on a massive Medicare fraud operation in Miami.

25 Oct 2010

Cellectis and CiRA commence iPS cell scientific collaboration

Cellectis, the French genome engineering specialist, and the Center for iPS Cells Research and Application (CiRA) of Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, have announced today that they have started a scientific collaboration to combine Cellectis' genome engineering technologies with CiRA's induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS) technology to improve the natural characteristics of iPS cells for use as cellular tools.

25 Oct 2010