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An analysis of key provisions in health care legislation released to-date

The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) today released a side-by-side comparison of chronic care provisions contained within health reform legislation passed out of committee.

11 Aug 2009

New personal assistance voice dialer for seniors who need to call for help in an emergency

eMed-ID, the world's first emergency medical device franchise, announced today the launch of eMed-Alert, a next-generation personal assistance voice dialer designed for seniors who may need to call for help in an emergency. With more than 11 million Americans age 65 and older living alone today, eMed-Alert provides seniors a way to maintain their independence.

11 Aug 2009

Hillary Clinton tours International Medical Corps operations in DRC

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited International Medical Corps operations in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Tuesday, a region devastated by more than a decade of conflict and displacement, and pledged an additional $17 million in support for victims of sexual and gender-based violence, and $3 million to form a female police force.

11 Aug 2009

Drug-resistant tuberculosis can apread as easily as drug-sensitive tuberculosis, study says

New research has found that drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis are just as likely to be transmitted between people as drug-sensitive TB, which could make drug-resistant forms of the disease "highly prevalent in the next few decades," the Australian Associated Press/Sydney Morning Herald reports (Rose, 8/11).

11 Aug 2009

Aldose reductase inhibition shows promise for asthma

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have found that a single enzyme is apparently critical to most allergen-provoked asthma attacks - and that activity of the enzyme, known as aldose reductase, can be significantly reduced by compounds that have already undergone clinical trials as treatments for complications of diabetes.

11 Aug 2009

American Medical Alert Corp. reports Q2 2009 results

American Medical Alert Corp. (NASDAQ: AMAC) a provider of healthcare communication services and advanced telehealth monitoring technologies, today announced operating results for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2009.

11 Aug 2009

Canadian health care: Socialized insurance, not socialized medicine

"Amid the debate about reforming heath care in the United States, it's tough to turn on your television these days without hearing a political ad condemning the Canadian health care system," NPR reports. While those ads are "provocative," NPR asks whether they accurately portray Canadian health care.

11 Aug 2009

Britain's first swine flu vaccine trials start

Britain's first swine flu vaccine trials, led by the University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, are taking place at the Leicester Royal Infirmary.

11 Aug 2009

Landmark legislation brings much-needed reform to New Jersey

New Jersey significantly reformed its mental illness treatment law on August 11th when Governor Corzine signed Senate Bill 735 into law. Senator Richard Codey and countless advocates battled for years to give New Jersey a way to better help those who refuse treatment because of incapacitating symptoms of illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. “Our goal is to minimize time in the hospital and keep patients in the least restrictive environment that will help foster their recovery,” said Codey.

11 Aug 2009

Toxic levels of Alzheimer's clusters in brain determined

Scientists have long suspected that Alzheimer's disease (AD) is caused by a small protein called the amyloid β-protein (Aβ). This protein clumps or binds to itself, eventually changing chemically to create brain protein deposits (plaques) that are characteristic of AD.

11 Aug 2009

U.S., Mexico, Canada vow to work together against H1N1

President Obama together with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper "vowed on Monday to fight the spread of the H1N1 swine flu," during their summit in Guadalajara, Mexico, Reuters reports.

11 Aug 2009

New type of anti-clotting drug called Apixaban

The dean of the University of Oklahoma College of Public Health and a team of scientists worldwide have found a better way to prevent deadly blood clots after joint replacement surgery - a major problem that results in thousands of unnecessary deaths each year. The research appears this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

11 Aug 2009

Regular use of aspirin after colorectal cancer diagnosis may reduce the risk of cancer death

In the August 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study's authors also find that the aspirin-associated survival advantage was seen primarily in patients with tumors expressing the COX-2 enzyme, a characteristic of two-thirds of colorectal cancers.

11 Aug 2009

Metabolon awarded patent for metabolomics software

Metabolon, Inc. has announced that it has been awarded a patent for its metabolomics software, Ion Tracker™, which provides a mechanism for creating new chemical library entries.

11 Aug 2009

High-fat diet affects physical and memory abilities of rats after 9 days

Rats fed a high-fat diet show a stark reduction in their physical endurance and a decline in their cognitive ability after just nine days, a study by Oxford University researchers has shown.

11 Aug 2009

$Denosumab reduces fracture risk in men receiving androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer$

Denosumab reduces fracture risk in men receiving androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer

Twice-yearly treatment with denosumab, a new targeted therapy to stop bone loss, increased bone density and prevented spinal fractures in men receiving androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer.

11 Aug 2009

VIVUS reports Q2 2009 financials

VIVUS, Inc. (Nasdaq: VVUS), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and commercialization of novel therapeutic products, today reported its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2009.

11 Aug 2009

Hillary Clinton visits Democratic Republic of Congo

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday in the Democratic Republic of Congo said the U.S. is "very concerned about civilian casualties, both deaths and rapes, and other injuries from the military action" in the country, Reuters reports (Pleming, 8/11).

11 Aug 2009

Only the best looking men tempt women into casual sex

Men are far more interested in casual sex than women. While men need to be exceptionally attractive to tempt women to consider casual sex, men are far less choosy. These findings by Dr Achim Schützwohl, from the Department of Psychology at Brunel University in the UK, and his team are published online in Springer's journal Human Nature.

11 Aug 2009

Discovery of a genetic mutation underlying late-onset Leigh syndrome

Researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro), McGill University have discovered a genetic mutation underlying late-onset Leigh syndrome, a rare inherited metabolic disorder characterized by the degeneration of the central nervous system.

11 Aug 2009