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DNA evidence found at crime scenes can easily be falsified

Nucleix, Ltd., an emerging life science company specializing in forensic DNA analysis, announced that company researchers have proven DNA evidence found at crime scenes can easily be falsified using basic equipment, know-how and access to DNA or a DNA database.

18 Aug 2009

H1N1 pandemic: no time for complacency

Prevention of H1N1 influenza virus through vaccination must be our top priority if disease patterns in the northern hemisphere follow those in the southern hemisphere this fall, writes Paul Hébert, Editor-in-Chief of CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) in an editorial.

18 Aug 2009

New technology for measuring heart rate via a conventional wrist watch

SPO Medical Inc. (SPOM) announced today that it has successfully demonstrated to several leading sports and fitness watch manufacturers its vital sign technology for measurement of the heart rate via a conventional wrist watch, negating the need of the traditional chest strap currently used by most sports watch manufacturers.

18 Aug 2009

Consumer driven health plans overtake HMO plans in popularity with employees

Consumer Driven Health Plans (CDHPs) in the U.S. have surpassed HMO plans in covered employees, according to preliminary results released by United Benefit Advisors (UBA) from its 2009 UBA Health Plan Survey, the nation's largest health plan benchmarking survey with 17,655 plans from 12,316 employers reporting.

18 Aug 2009

Sebelius to discuss health care fraud prevention

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will give the keynote address at the U.S. Administration on Aging’s Annual SMP (formerly called Senior Medicare Patrol) Conference taking place August 18-20 in Washington, D.C.

18 Aug 2009

Signs of racism occur in the midst of health care reform debate

NPR and Georgia Public Broadcasting report that Georgia congressman David Scott is dealing with signals of racism and heated passions in the midst of this summer's efforts toward health care reform.

18 Aug 2009

Genentech announces Phase III study results for Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with chemo in HER2-negative breast cancer

Genentech, Inc. today announced that a Phase III study (RIBBON 2) of Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with chemotherapy increased the time women with metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer whose initial chemotherapy had stopped working lived without the disease worsening (progression-free survival or PFS), compared to chemotherapy alone.

18 Aug 2009

New colon cancer target

New research led by scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have found a drug target that suggests a potent way to kill colon cancers that resist current drugs aimed at blocking a molecule found on the surface of cells.

18 Aug 2009

Tiny magnetic particles guide stem cells to damaged tissue

Microscopic magnetic particles have been used to bring stem cells to sites of cardiovascular injury in a new method designed to increase the capacity of cells to repair damaged tissue, UCL scientists announced today.

18 Aug 2009

Prion found to be a biomarker for pancreatic cancer

Mad cow disease is caused by the accumulation of an abnormal protein, the prion, in the brain of an affected patient. Outside of the brain, very little is known about prions.

18 Aug 2009

New findings on how hepatitis C survives for so long in the body

Researchers at the University of Leeds have discovered a previously unknown mechanism that allows the hepatitis C virus (HCV) to remain in the body for decades.

18 Aug 2009

Obama pledges reform won't change veterans' health care

During his speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Phoenix, Ariz., on Monday, President Barack Obama "noted that his administration was committed to increased spending on VA health care," The Associated Press reports.

18 Aug 2009

Shire starts two adult ADHD outreach programs

Shire plc today announced two initiatives reinforcing their commitment to the care of adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a psychiatric behavioral disorder that affects an estimated 10 million adults across the country.

18 Aug 2009

Aspirin improves survival after colorectal cancer diagnosis

Men and women who were diagnosed with colorectal cancer and began regular use of aspirin had a lower risk of overall and colorectal cancer death compared to patients not using aspirin, according to a study in the August 12 issue of JAMA.

18 Aug 2009

Opinion: Chronic disease in Africa; education can help combat disease; climate change and health; TB vaccine

"An epidemic of chronic, non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, mental illness, cancer, diabetes, and obesity is growing in Africa, a continent still struggling with infectious and nutritional diseases," according to a Boston Globe opinion piece by Michelle Holmes and Shona Dalal.

18 Aug 2009

Sleep apnea increases chances of dying

Nightly bouts of interrupted, oxygen-deprived sleep from a collapsed airway in the upper neck raises the chances of dying in middle-aged to elderly people by as much as 46 percent in the most severe cases, according to a landmark study on sleep apnea by lung experts at Johns Hopkins and six other U.S. medical centers.

18 Aug 2009

$Denosumab reduces fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis$

Denosumab reduces fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis

Fractures are a major cause of disability and health care costs among postmenopausal women. Now a study in the New England Journal of Medicine highlights an alternative therapy that prevents fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

18 Aug 2009

Cost-saving value of some medical tests challenged

The Boston Globe: "One of President Obama's favorite arguments for his health care overhaul plan is that he would require insurance companies to pay for tests and other preventive care that can determine whether a person has a life-threatening disease,"

18 Aug 2009

Smoking increases risk for brain shrinkage in multiple sclerosis

People who smoke and have multiple sclerosis (MS) may be at increased risk of brain shrinkage and increased brain lesions related to the disease, according to a study published in the August 18, 2009, print issue of NeurologyÂ®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Smoking has already been linked to an increased risk of developing MS.

18 Aug 2009

Scientists harness carbon nanomaterials for drug delivery, oxygen sensors

Two nanoscale devices recently reported by University of Pittsburgh researchers in two separate journals harness the potential of carbon nanomaterials to enhance technologies for drug or imaging agent delivery and energy storage systems, in one case, and, in the other, bolster the sensitivity of oxygen sensors essential in confined settings, from mines to spacecrafts.

17 Aug 2009