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90% of veterans' hospital facility problems are routine 'wear and tear'

Routine maintenance issues account for 90% of the 1,100 problems found in the nation's 1,400 Veterans Affairs' health clinics and hospitals, according to a report released Wednesday based on a review ordered by VA Secretary Jim Nicholson, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

22 Mar 2007

Prescription drug safety legislation introduced in House

Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman (Calif.) and Edward Markey (Mass.) have introduced legislation (HR 1561) that they say would make greater strides toward ensuring the safety of prescription drugs than Senate legislation (S 484) introduced by Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), CQ HealthBeat reports.

22 Mar 2007

FDA proposes rules to prevent conflicts of interest among agency advisory committee members

FDA on Wednesday announced proposed rules under which medical experts with more than a $50,000 financial interest in pharmaceutical companies could not serve on agency advisory committees that review their products or the products of their competitors, the Washington Post reports.

22 Mar 2007

House Ways and Means committee passes bill to prohibit genetic discrimination

The House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday by voice vote unanimously approved a bill (HR 493) that would ban discrimination against U.S. residents based on the results of genetic tests, CongressDaily reports.

22 Mar 2007

AACR's Sixth Annual Landon Awards recognize Richard Kolodner, Douglas Lowy and John Schiller

Scientists whose discoveries have led to fundamental advances in the science and treatment of cancer are the recipients of two prestigious international prizes offered by the Kirk A. and Dorothy P. Landon Foundation and the American Association for Cancer Research.

22 Mar 2007

Creatine may help Parkinson's patients by giving an energy boost to dying cells

Whether a supplement used by athletes to boost energy levels and build muscle can slow progression of Parkinson's disease is the focus of a North American study.

22 Mar 2007

U.S. tuberculosis rates all-time low in 2006

Drug-resistant TB, including extensively drug-resistant TB, presents significant challenges to treatment and control of the disease in the United States and abroad, according to articles in today's "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" (MMWR).

22 Mar 2007

Pioneer work on cellular response to DNA Damage wins GlaxoSmithKline award

The Biochemical Society's GlaxoSmithKline Award 'for distinguished research leading to new advances in medical science' goes to Stephen Jackson (University of Cambridge) for his pioneering work on cellular response to DNA damage.

22 Mar 2007

Root of dyscalculia found

Scientists led by UCL (University College London) have induced dyscalculia in subjects without the maths learning difficulty for the first time. The study, which finds that the right parietal lobe is responsible for dyscalculia, potentially has implications for diagnosis and management through remedial teaching.

22 Mar 2007

Researchers discover vitiligo gene

In a study appearing in the March 22 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers at St George's, University of London, the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC) and the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes have discovered a connection between a gene and the chronic skin condition vitiligo, as well as a possible link to an array of other autoimmune diseases.

22 Mar 2007

Combatting chronic obstructive lung disease

You are more likely to contract chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) if you have a low income and below average education.

22 Mar 2007

Protein-coated gold electrode to test people for gluten intolerance

Drs Thomas Balkenhol and Fred Lisdat and a team at the University of Applied Sciences, Wildau, have invented the sensor that detects antibodies involved in coeliac disease.

22 Mar 2007

Nerites receives grant for tissue adhesive technology

Nerites Corporation has received a $100,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

22 Mar 2007

Microbix granted Canadian patent for vaccine technology

Microbix Biosystems has announced that it has been granted a patent by the Canadian Patent Office for its Vaccine Technology. This technology holds the promise of significantly boosting global production of influenza vaccines.

22 Mar 2007

Atorvastatin shows potential as a new treatment for spinal cord injuries

A multidisciplinary investigation led by Inderjit Singh, Ph.D, of the Medical University of South Carolina, has resulted in a new treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI). The study investigates the efficacy of atorvastatin (AT), (i.e. Lipitor) as a treatment for spinal cord injuries following trauma.

22 Mar 2007

Osteoporosis: sensitivity and specificity of dental radiographs

Researchers in the Academic Center for Dentistry Amsterdam have created a unique way of identifying patients at risk of osteoporosis by using ordinary dental x-rays. Professor Paul F. van der Stelt and his team developed the largely automated approach to detecting the disease during a three-year, EU-funded collaboration with the Universities of Manchester, Athens, Leuven, and Malmo.

22 Mar 2007

Flu pandemic could cost U.S. $683 billion

Trust for America's Health (TFAH) released a new report today that finds a severe pandemic flu outbreak could result in the second worst recession in the U.S. since World War II. The U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could drop over 5.5 percent, leading to an estimated $683 billion loss.

22 Mar 2007

CardioMEMS implants first wireless pressure sensor to monitor hypertension

CardioMEMS has announced that its wireless pressure sensor was successfully surgically implanted into the wrist of three severely hypertensive patients at Hospital DIPRECA in Santiago, Chile by cardio-thoracic surgeons, Miguel Luis Berr, MD and Michael Tuchek, DO.

22 Mar 2007

Males had more than a million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures in 2006

Surprisingly, the overall number of male cosmetic plastic surgery procedures declined by 7 percent; however, there was growth in minimally invasive procedures that provide volume in the face and in surgical procedures for a more toned body.

22 Mar 2007

Emergency responses greatly increase risk to firefighters for heart disease

Firefighters engage in a dangerous occupation, risking life-threatening burns and smoke inhalation, among other hazards. So it may surprise some that the leading cause of death on duty among U.S. firefighters is coronary heart disease (CHD).

22 Mar 2007