Check it out: AXIS-2: G-CSF Fails to Improve Recovery After StrokeAXIS-2: G-CSF Fails to Improve Recovery After Stroke

New guidelines debunk evidence to support the existence of an ��economy class syndrome �� -- the idea that passengers in the cheaper seats with the least leg room have an elevated risk for developing deep vein blood clots. ... more

It ��s natural for testosterone levels to decline as men age, but sometimes low testosterone can cause symptoms ranging from low sex drive to depression. This article explains what happens when you have low testosterone and what the options are for treatment. ... more

Under recently revised criteria, nearly all people currently diagnosed with very mild or mild Alzheimer ��s disease dementia would be classified instead as having mild cognitive impairment, akin to slight memory loss, which could mislead patients and their families, according to a leading Alzheimer ��s researcher. ... more

In the quest for a healthy heart, can foods fortified with calcium, omega-3s, plant sterols, and other nutrients help? ... more

Here are five nutrients in functional food nutrients that may be worth your money. ... more

Searching for healthy meal options but pressed for time? Get tips on navigating the supermarket aisles with good nutrition in mind. ... more

Worried about a nagging problem? Learn how to shift your attention and focus on the day ahead. ... more

According to a new study, those starting new weight loss programs may be surprised to find out that both location and level of experience may influence their success. A recent article finds that African-American women beginning a new group weight loss program are more successful if they are less experienced with weight management and if the program meets in a church. ... more

Zinc has long been known to play a vital part in human health. However, the mechanisms for delivering zinc into cells are not well understood. New research has identified one switch which allows zinc to flow. This has implications for a number of diseases, including aggressive types of breast cancer. ... more

A new scoring method can help doctors quickly decide which stroke patients will respond well to the clot-busting drug alteplase, according to a new study. ... more

It ��s a scenario played out all too frequently: Adult children, worried about the safety of their aging parents, foist devices on them to monitor their safety. And their parents, resentful of having their privacy invaded and losing their independence, resist fiercely. A tiny new devise should overcome these problems. ... more

An endocrine hormone used in clinical trials as an anti-obesity and anti-diabetes drug causes significant and rapid bone loss in mice, raising concerns about its safe use, researchers have shown. ... more

Biologists have found new evidence for why mice, people and other vertebrate animals carry thousands of varieties of genes to make immune-system proteins named MHCs -- even though some of those genes make us sick. ... more

Parkinson ��s disease researchers have discovered how mutations in the parkin gene cause the disease, which afflicts at least 500,000 Americans and for which there is no cure. ... more

As we age, our skin undergoes a number of changes affecting its texture, volume and appearance. Fortunately, dermatologists can use fillers or lasers to correct the most notable signs of aging and can recommend skin care products with added ingredients that can further repair damaged skin. ... more

On the surface, it would seem as though the skin condition melasma and tattoos would have little in common. However, they both affect a person ��s skin, can be quite difficult to treat or remove and, now, dermatologists are discovering new laser therapies which enhance treatment for both conditions. ... more

Dermatologists are finding that the introduction of non-invasive fat removal technologies is opening the door for more people who are not candidates for liposuction to remove stubborn fat, safely and effectively. ... more

A revolutionary new limb lengthening system developed by orthopedic surgeons represents a major advancement in the treatment of limb deformities. ... more

People who have been unlucky in love are said to suffer from a "broken heart." A broken heart is an actual medical condition. Broken heart syndrome occurs during highly stressful or emotional times, such as a painful breakup, the death of a spouse or the loss of a job. ... more

In the US, there are nearly three million youth soccer players, and half of them are female. New research has found that despite reporting appropriate body perception and attitudes toward eating, elite youth soccer athletes face an increased risk for delayed or irregular menstruation. ... more

New research highlights the benefits of total knee replacement. ... more

New research has found that 77 percent of trauma patients had deficient or insufficient levels of vitamin D. ... more

In a study of nearly 200 clinically obese, non-diabetic adults, a researcher found that a 600-calorie breakfast that includes dessert as well as proteins and carbohydrates can help dieters lose weight and keep it off over the long term. Her research indicates that such a morning meal staves off cravings and defuses psychological addictions to sweet foods. ... more

Genes that are known to be involved in inflammation were found to be related to risk of ovarian cancer. ... more

Kevin Grogan Drugmakers realise they need to demonstrate the value of their new treatments to payers, but many are concerned about their ability to do so. That is one of the key findings from a new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by Quintiles. The analysis, called 'The Value Challenge', is based on findings of a survey of 399 senior executives from the life sciences industry, and it states that the situation is "further complicated by a shift in the balanc ... more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. The one-time vice president of a health care company has pleaded guilty to charges of misbranding and altering drugs and to committing health care fraud. via wchstv.com A statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office says 62-year-old Johnny Perry of Mount Washington entered the plea Monday in U.S. District Court in Louisville. Perry served as an executive with National Respiratory Services. A grand jury charged Perry in August with altering medications that were not FDA approv ... more

via chronicle.com Posted via email from Jack's posterous ... more

TRENTON - An experimental anti-clotting drug that Merck Co. is developing was found to increase risk of dangerous internal bleeding in a second study, meaning it's unlikely to achieve the blockbuster status once expected, if it's even approved. Vorapaxar is part of a new generation of anti-clotting drugs meant to prevent the death and disability strokes and heart attacks cause in th ... more

Kevin Grogan Drugmakers realise they need to demonstrate the value of their new treatments to payers, but many are concerned about their ability to do so. That is one of the key findings from a new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by Quintiles. The analysis, called 'The Value Challenge', is based on findings of a survey of 399 senior executives from the life sciences industry, and it states that the situation is "further complicated by a shift in the balanc ... more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. The one-time vice president of a health care company has pleaded guilty to charges of misbranding and altering drugs and to committing health care fraud. via wchstv.com A statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office says 62-year-old Johnny Perry of Mount Washington entered the plea Monday in U.S. District Court in Louisville. Perry served as an executive with National Respiratory Services. A grand jury charged Perry in August with altering medications that were not FDA approv ... more

via chronicle.com Posted via email from Jack's posterous ... more

TRENTON - An experimental anti-clotting drug that Merck Co. is developing was found to increase risk of dangerous internal bleeding in a second study, meaning it's unlikely to achieve the blockbuster status once expected, if it's even approved. Vorapaxar is part of a new generation of anti-clotting drugs meant to prevent the death and disability strokes and heart attacks cause in th ... more

America's rising rates of obesity in virtually all age groups is partly due to biological factors, researchers from the Cincinnati Diabetes and Obesity Center reported in the journal Cell Metabolism. Approximately one third of all American adults are obese today, and the percentage continues to rise, says the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)... ... more

A new study shows tPA was safe for patients who woke up with stroke symptoms, a population not normally treated since they could exceed the 4.5-hour window. Medscape Medical News ... more

AX200, a novel neuroprotectant, was no better than placebo in improving functional outcomes in phase 2 testing. Medscape Medical News ... more

A new study finds that the parasagittal approach combines the safety of a midline approach and the efficacy of transforaminal techniques. Medscape Medical News ... more

More than three quarters of orthopaedic trauma patients had vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency in a study presented at AAOS. Medscape Medical News ... more

The US government today announced a commitment of $156 million over the course of the next 2 years to fight Alzheimer's disease. Medscape Medical News ... more

The 1 million-person Gallup poll suggests excess weight makes Americans prone to higher rates of pain. Medscape Medical News ... more

For hospitals that lack ready access to MRI, using CT/CT angiography to assess intra- and extracranial vasculature is a good way to predict risk of recurrent stroke. Medscape Medical News ... more

The higher the unemployment rate, the lower the number of orthopaedic trauma cases presenting at the emergency department. Medscape Medical News ... more

The 4CMenB vaccine provides broad protection against serogroup B when given in 2 different schedules, either with or separately from routine vaccinations. Medscape Medical News ... more

A new model to predict mortality rates among very low birth weight infants takes into account not only gestational age but also sex, sex-specific birth-weight percentile, and lack of prenatal steroid therapy. Medscape Medical News ... more

Activated protein C, taken off the market a few months ago because it failed to significantly reduce 28-day mortality in patients with septic shock, showed the opposite result in this new study. Medscape Medical News ... more

A unique study trying to drill down into why cardiologists seem to gain better outcomes than generalists when treating heart failure has identified a number of reasons that this is the case. But generalists--who treat the majority of HF--have to deal with older and sicker patients, confounding the issue. The authors hope the work will act as a catalyst to improve HF care. Heartwire ... more

Swedish researchers examined SCAAR to determine the prognostic significance of a chronic total occlusion in an artery other than the infarct-related one of non-ST-elevation-MI patients. Heartwire ... more

A Brazilian group says they're encouraged by the early results with their transapical transcatheter aortic valve. Heartwire ... more

Recent studies have shown that ACS patients on fondaparinux prior to PCI should switch to another anticoagulant prior to the procedure to avoid thrombus. The SWITCH III trial compares bivalirudin and unfractionated heparin in a small group of these patients. Heartwire ... more

In its second phase 3 trial, Merck's novel antiplatelet agent reduced ischemic events but increased bleeding, including ICH. Results looked more promising in patients without a history of stroke. Heartwire ... more

I don ��t like selecting colleagues through the Match. The process was established to allow students to get the best opportunity available and I feel that our program (and our patients who rely on our trainees to provide care) is in jeopardy every year. It always turns out better than I anticipate, so I shouldn ��t complain. However, we have to interview 60 prospective residents to fill our six slots so I have a lot of conversations with prospective applicants. Our interviews are about 20 minute ... more

In email just received from Anthem:"Lipitor will no longer be covered, effective April 1"Since atorvastatin, the new generic version of this venerable cholesterol fighter, is now up and running, Anthem's dropping Lipitor from its covered med list. And according to the email, this means both group and individual business.Something to consider if you have an HSA-compliant high deductible plan: as we've pointed out here at IB, non-covered items are ineligible for network re-pricing (ie "discounting ... more

In two previous posts (here and here), I've pointed out the Obama administration's 'dodgy data,' 'phony Baloney' jobless rate, and flat-out packaging the data in a way to mislead the public, with the full cooperation of the cheerleading mouthpieces of the corporate mainstream media. Today, James Quinn goes deeper into the facts on the MSM's laughable storyline of Obama's economic recovery: The last week has offered an amusing display of the difference between the cheerleading corporate mainst ... more

Asthma, COPD more likely for those who regularly consume soda, flavored mineral water, researchers say ... more

Inundating friends with negative life details makes 'poster' less likeable, study finds ... more

Research focused on estrogen-sensitive tumors; undertreatment might play a role, expert says ... more

Babies who are spoon-fed purees more likely to prefer sweets, become overweight, study says ... more

"Economy Class Syndrome" is a myth, your risk of developing a blood clot during a long-distance economy trip by plane is not higher than in first class, researchers report in an article published in Chest. The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) has issued new evidence-based guidelines which address some of the risk factors linked to DVT (deep vein thrombosis) - it says that there is no compelling evidence linking economy class air travel to the development of DVT... ... more

President, Founder and CEO of Black AIDS Institute, Phill Wilson, released a letter in light of the 12th annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, stating that the Institute will be releasing their 8th annual State of AIDS in Black America Report. He comments that "It will highlight a reality that would have been unthinkable not long ago. Wilson continues: "We are at a deciding moment in the trajectory of the AIDS epidemic; we now possesses the tools we need to the the AIDS epidemic... ... more

Spanking children may harm their long-term development, making them more aggressive towards their peers, siblings, parents, as well as spouses later in life, researchers from the University of Manitoba and Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, report in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Their study tracked children for two decades. Physical punishment refers to any type, regardless of its motive, be it out of frustration, desperation or love, the researchers explained... ... more

A statement released by The Obama Administration claims there are going to be new measures taken against battling Alzheimer's disease. One of these efforts includes a $50 million increase in the amount of money that will be used towards new, advanced research. Also, the administration says their Fiscal Year 2013 budget will increase by $80 million for Alzheimer's exploration. The announcement adds that a $26 million increase will be made in terms of provider education, public awareness, advances ... more

America's rising rates of obesity in virtually all age groups is partly due to biological factors, researchers from the Cincinnati Diabetes and Obesity Center reported in the journal Cell Metabolism. Approximately one third of all American adults are obese today, and the percentage continues to rise, says the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Co-author, Randy Seeley, PhD, said: "While we don't usually think of it this way, body weight is regulated... ... more

previously I have posted some elementary images from this case.Now I upload the complete clip including:bicuspid aortic valve (with mild eccentric aortic regurgitatio),aneurysm of the ascending aorta,type A dissection,atrial septal aneurysm and coarctation of the aorta. Added by: magehana47 Tags: bicuspid aorta valve dissection atrial septal aneurysm coarctation Date: 2012-02-07 ... more

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Virtual Town Hall Meeting - February 27 Join FasterCures and the leadership team of the newly created National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the NIH for a virtual town hall meeting on February 27, 2012, 1:00 �� 2:00 p.m. Eastern. Moderated by FasterCures executive director Margaret Anderson, this web event ��NCATS: What it is and what it isn ��t ��will address the Center ��s priorities and program areas, including its efforts to reduce, remove, or bypass translational ... more

Background: Laparoscopic colectomy for colon cancer has been compared with open colectomy in randomized controlled trials, but these studies may not be generalizable because of strict enrollment and exclusion criteria which may explicitly or inadvertently exclude older individuals due to associated comorbidities. Previous studies of older patients undergoing laparoscopic colectomy have generally focused on short-term outcomes. The goals of this cohort study were to identify predictors of laparo ... more

A new economic report commissioned by the Sleep Health Foundation released on Feb 2 reveals sleep disorders cost the Australian economy more than $5.1 billion a year in health care and indirect costs. ... more

Children at risk for dyslexia show differences in brain activity on MRI scans even before they begin learning to read, finds a study at Children's Hospital Boston. Since developmental dyslexia respond ... more

The first day of school is always an anxious time for children and their parents. For the parents of the 1 in 10 Australian children with severe food allergies, the transition to school can be a sourc ... more

Each part of the body has its own nerve cell area in the brain -- we therefore have a map of our bodies in our heads. The functional significance of these maps is largely unclear. What effects they can have is now shown by neuroscientists through reaction time measurements combined with learning experiments and "computational modeling." They have been able to demonstrate that inhibitory influences of neighboring "finger nerve cells" affect the reaction time of a finger. ... more

Good morning, everyone, and nice to see you today. A clear, crisp day is emerging over the Pharmalot corporate campus, where we are engaging in our regular ritual of hustling assorted short people to their school houses. This marathon calls, of course, for a nice cup of stimulation and a bottle of water. We are two-fisted drinkers today. Meanwhile, there is much to be done. So let us begin. Here are some tidbits to start the day. Hope yours goes well and stay in touch #8230; Pfizer And Ranbaxy S ... more

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what about value? The same concept, of course, holds true. Take medicines. Drugmakers are scrambling to justify the worth of their medications to a variety of different groups, but not everyone agrees on value. As with so much else, perception depends on your station in life. For instance, a new survey finds drastically different notions of value when decision makers at big pharma, health insurers, regulators, government payers, generic ma ... more

As the US Supreme Court gets ready to review the contentious debate about overtime pay for sales reps, the US Solicitor General has filed an amicus curiae, or friend of the court brief, and sided with pharma reps. The move is not surprising, given that the US Department of Labor has, several times, taken a similar step in federal courts around the country where cases were heard. The review is expected to have far-reaching implications for the pharmaceutical industry, which has been fighting a gr ... more

Fifteen years after the FDA greatly expanded direct-to-consumer advertising, the agency is proposing new rules that would require drugmakers to limit the happy-go-lucky images that - sometimes, incongruously - are used to promote meds for extremely serious and sobering illnesses. And, not surprisingly, the agency may revise current rules so side effect info is easier to digest. The FDA proposed the change two years ago and then conducted a #8216;Distraction Study, #8217; in which 75-second ads ... more

The 11 Most Expensive Medicines in America Posted on February 6, 2012 Think you pay way too much for your monthly prescriptions? These amazingly expensive drugs may put things into perspective. Paying $10,000 or even $30,000 in annual prescriptions might be busting many peoples �� budgets, but those price tags pale in comparison to some that come in at over $400,000 for an annual treatment. So why isn ��t someone doing something about this obvious highway robbery? How ... more

via nih.gov Posted via email from Jack's posterous ... more

The 11 Most Expensive Medicines in America Posted on February 6, 2012 Think you pay way too much for your monthly prescriptions? These amazingly expensive drugs may put things into perspective. Paying $10,000 or even $30,000 in annual prescriptions might be busting many peoples �� budgets, but those price tags pale in comparison to some that come in at over $400,000 for an annual treatment. So why isn ��t someone doing something about this obvious highway robbery? How ... more

via nih.gov Posted via email from Jack's posterous ... more

TONIX Pharmaceuticals, a New York-based specialty pharmaceutical company (TNXP.OB),  focused on developing therapies to treat central nervous system conditions such as fibromyalgia (FM) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), just completed a $4.3 private placement offering to institutional and accredited investors. The company received net proceeds of approximately $1.9 million in the offering and converted an additional $1.9 million in previously convertible debentures as part of the offer ... more

Wound Management Technologies, Inc., (OTCQB: WNDM | WNDM.PK), an emerging innovator in advanced wound care solutions, has sold its wholly-owned subsidiary, Secure eHealth, LLC ( ��Secure eHealth ��), to two entities that previously financed the acquisition of Secure eHealth by WNDM in January 2010. In consideration thereof, the two entities agreed to cancel approximately $213,000 principal of, and accrued but unpaid interest on, promissory notes owed by Wound Management to such entities. In addi ... more

Taste receptors on the tongue help us distinguish between safe food and food that's spoiled or toxic. But taste receptors are now being found in other organs, too... ... more

It's well known that exercising reduces body weight because it draws on fat stores that muscle can burn as fuel. But a new study at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) suggests that the heart also plays a role in breaking down fat. In their study, published February 6 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Sheila Collins, Ph.D... ... more

The American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends that clinicians add metformin as the initial drug treatment for most patients with type 2 diabetes when lifestyle modifications such as diet, exercise, and weight loss have failed to adequately improve high blood sugar... ... more

Programs that support parents during their child's early years hold promise for obesity prevention, according to a new study in the online issue of Pediatrics. Today, one out of five American children is obese. Young children who are overweight are five times more likely than their peers of normal weight to be obese by adolescence... ... more

An ASCO provisional clinical opinion recommends that all patients with metastatic nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) be offered palliative care concurrent with standard therapy, starting at diagnosis. Medscape Medical News ... more

Devise a home safety checklistSource: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Pages: Injuries, Seniors' Health ... more

They're just a step backward in the learning process, experts saySource: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Page: Toilet Training ... more

Infants, poor children most vulnerable, study suggestsSource: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Pages: Child Abuse, Health Statistics ... more

But researchers add that too many are still breathing in secondhand smoke while in vehiclesSource: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Page: Secondhand Smoke ... more

Punishment linked to more aggression in children, two decades of research showsSource: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Pages: Child Development, Child Mental Health, Parenting ... more

Study found it could pressure bladder, lower capacity to hold urine Source: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Pages: Bedwetting, Constipation ... more

It suggests that genes might make some people safer in bioterrorism attack Source: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Page: Anthrax ... more

Study reveals quick way to identify those who will respond well to clot-buster alteplase Source: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Page: Stroke ... more

Regulation needed to reduce students' access to junk food, researchers say Source: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Pages: Child Nutrition, School Health ... more

Risk is very small, but doctors, patients should be made aware, investigators saySource: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Pages: Cancer Chemotherapy, Drug Safety ... more

Men who smoke suffer a more rapid decline in brain function as they age than their non-smoking counterparts, with their cognitive decline as rapid as someone 10 years older but who shuns tobacco, scientists said on Monday.Source: Reuters Health Related MedlinePlus Pages: Men's Health, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Smoking ... more

Losing fitness or packing on fat with age each can be bad for the heart -- but avoiding either one of those fates may protect the ticker, a study published Monday suggests.Source: Reuters Health Related MedlinePlus Pages: Exercise and Physical Fitness, Heart Diseases--Prevention, Weight Control ... more

High-fructose corn syrup is ubiquitous in Western diet, and study suggests it could play unique role Source: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Pages: Carbohydrates, Diabetes Type 2 ... more

But, American College of Physicians states diet and exercise changes should start before medicationSource: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Pages: Diabetes Medicines, Diabetes Type 2 ... more

Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - Related MedlinePlus Pages: Critical Care, Lung Diseases ... more

Despite expert guidelines and scientific evidence to the contrary, a third of U.S. primary care physicians believe ovarian cancer screening is effective and many would offer it to patients, according to a new survey.Source: Reuters Health Related MedlinePlus Pages: Health Screening, Ovarian Cancer ... more

Source: National Institute of Mental Health - Related MedlinePlus Page: Genes and Gene Therapy ... more

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Related MedlinePlus Pages: African-American Health, HIV/AIDS ... more

Source: HealthDay - Related MedlinePlus Pages: Back Pain, Obesity ... more

This series is brought to you by MedPage Today.1. Spanking No Help in Child-Rearing. Physical punishment of children, such as spanking, is increasingly linked with long-term adverse consequences.2. Physical Child Abuse Sends Thousands to Hospitals. Nearly 4,600 children were admitted to a U.S. hospital in 2006 as a result of physical abuse and 300 died because of the abuse.3. Hubbies React to Stroke Symptoms Before Wives. After noticing stroke symptoms, married men called for emergency attention ... more

As a third year medical student, I spent one afternoon each week at a health clinic at a community hospital affiliated with my medical school. This health clinic was focused on primary care for patients with HIV, and many of our patients were poor, homeless, immigrants, or uninsured. Many were also living with their diagnosis in secrecy and had to hide their medications and medical bills from family members.Read the rest of Treating heart failure on a budget on KevinMD.com.Category: Conditions | ... more

Ovarian cancer screening clearly touches a nerve.No one doubts that ovarian cancer is a devastating diagnosis, often found when the disease is at an advanced stage. Tests to look for the disease, such as the transvaginal ultrasound or the CA-125 blood test, are not specific enough. That leads to false positive tests that necessitate more studies that may not be beneficial to patients.A recent anecdote on this blog talked about how the CA-125 blood test turned into a $50,000 ordeal.Read the rest ... more

Over the last four weeks I have written about new technologies and their coming impact on medical care. We generally think of new technologies (and new, branded drugs) as pushing up the cost of healthcare. There is truth to this contention, of course, but often the real problem from a cost perspective is inappropriate use. And this happens all to often in medical practice today because the physician does not have (or perceives he or she does not have ) the required time for a more complete histo ... more

Maine, the same state that supported Romney for the GOP ticket, hates poor people. Governor LePage has made it known he wants to eliminate Medicaid coverage for 65,000 poor and another 2,000 seniors in group homes.Trying to close a $220 million deficit in the budget, Gov. LePage has proposed cuts in Medicaid.But Maine isn't the only state having problems.The size of Maine ��s Medicaid shortfall is substantial, but it pales in comparison to gaps in many other states. In fact, health experts in Ma ... more

Pres. Obama, complaining: "People are frustrated I can't force my will on Congress ... Our Founders designed a system that makes it more difficult to bring about change than I would like sometimes." No, Mr. President. People are frustrated, and angry, that you ignore the will of our Founding Fathers by violating the Constitution and illegally act without the consent of Congress. As Brian aptly notes at Freedom's Lighthouse: Uh, that's because the Founders were trying to prevent exactly what ... more

Via Charlie Spierling, the Washington Free Beacon is now live, promoting the type of "combat journalism" practiced by the left online. Matthew Continetti, editor in chief describes his mission below: The Washington Free Beacon is here to enter the arena of combat journalism. Our talented staff will add to the chorus of enterprising conservative reporters, publishing original stories, seeking out scoops, and focusing on the myriad connections between money and power in the progressive move ... more

George Neumayr, at The American Spectator: God has no rights in a culture dominated by fashionable bigots: The secularists of the French Revolution regarded the Roman Catholic Church as the last obstacle to atheism's final triumph. Blurting this out, the French dilettante Denis Diderot proposed to his fellow revolutionaries that they strangle the last priest with the "guts of the last king." , the forces of secularism picked up speed in the 18th and 19th century, went into overdrive in the 20th ... more

Via Infowars.com, there's news of the UN's latest attempt to fleece western taxpayers under the utopian rhetoric of global socialism. For those of us living in the U.S., it all sounds uncomfortably familiar - it's essentially our current president's campaign platform: The United Nations wants a world tax imposed on all financial transactions to fund a global model of social services that will provide â ��œneedy peopleâ �� with a basic income, free healthcare, education and housing. of the ... more

In 26-year study, procedure cut seizures and boosted quality of life long-term ... more

Experts say DVTs can strike any immobilized passenger, not just those in economy class ... more

Key mutation in certain DNA is tied to a minority of cases of the illness, study says ... more

Frequently uprooted kids were more likely to drink heavily, smoke as adults, study says ... more

U.S. Funding for Alzheimer's Research Increased Fructose Boosts Visceral Fat: Study Diabetes Increases Risk of Birth Defects /div ... more

Study finds changes in physical fitness affect disease risk at any weight ... more

How family and friends can help ... more

Follow these safety guidelines ... more

Ten food types, including bread, account for higher risk of heart disease, stroke, report says ... more

Smokers four times more likely to develop oral conditions, such as mouth cancers, gum disease, study finds ... more

Breastfeeding is associated with improved lung function at school age, particularly in children of asthmatic mothers, according to a new study from researchers in Switzerland and the UK. "In our cohort of school age children, breastfeeding was associated with modest improvement in forced mid-expiratory flow (FEF50) in our whole group and with improvements in forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume at 1 second (FEV1) only in the children of asthmatic mothers," said Claudia E... ... more

American scientists believe a new procedure to repair severed nerves could result in patients recovering in days or weeks, rather than months or years. The team used a cellular mechanism similar to that used by many invertebrates to repair damage to nerve axons. Their results are published in the Journal of Neuroscience Research. "We have developed a procedure which can repair severed nerves within minutes so that the behavior they control can be partially restored within days and often largely ... more

Johns Hopkins neurologists report success with a new means of getting rid of potentially lethal blood clots in the brain safely without cutting through easily damaged brain tissue or removing large pieces of skull. The minimally invasive treatment, they report, increased the number of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) who could function independently by 10 to 15 percent six months following the procedure... ... more

Lost in the euphoria of the 2003 announcement that the human genome had been sequenced was a fundamental question: how can we be sure that an individual's genome has been read correctly? While the first full, individual genome was sequenced a decade ago, given the vast genetic variation across the world's seven billion people, not to mention the differences in makeup even among close relatives, the question of accurate sequencing for individuals has continued to vex researchers... ... more

Many living organisms suffer from parasites, which use the hosts' resources for their own purposes. The problem of parasitism occurs at all levels right down to the DNA scale. Genomes may contain up to 80% "foreign" DNA but details of the mechanisms by which this enters the host genome and how hosts attempt to combat its spread are still the subject of conjecture. Important new information comes from the group of Christian Schlotterer at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna. The find ... more

Soy isoflavone supplements did not decrease breast cancer cell proliferation in a randomized clinical trial, according to a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Lead researcher Seema A. Khan, M.D., professor of surgery at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, said the results of this study are consistent with the findings of previous studies that were designed to test cancer prevention bene ... more

Growth in early life may predict adult bone health. Our data showed that greater height and body mass index (BMI) gain in utero and infancy are associated with higher peak bone mass, and greater BMI gain in childhood/adolescence with higher peak bone density. These associations are mediated by attained adult height and BMI. To study the relationship of height and BMI during childhood with adult bone mineral content (BMC), areal density (aBMD) and apparent density (BMAD, estimated volumetric dens ... more

A newly available DNA-based prenatal blood test that can identify a pregnancy with Down syndrome can also identify two additional chromosome abnormalities: trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome) and trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome).The test for all three defects can be offered as early as 10 weeks of pregnancy to women who have been identified as being at high risk for these abnormalities. These are the results of an international, multicenter study published on-line today in the journal Genetics in Medicine. ... more

One of the most distinctive signs of the development of Alzheimer's disease is a change in the behavior of a protein that neuroscientists call tau. In normal brains, tau is present in individual units essential to neuron health. In the cells of Alzheimer's brains, by contrast, tau proteins aggregate into twisted structures known as "neurofibrillary tangles." These tangles are considered a hallmark of the disease, but their precise role in Alzheimer's pathology has long been a point of contention ... more

The drug oxaliplatin is a major reason the prognosis for metastatic colon cancer has gone from an expected survival of several months to a couple years. Unfortunately, the drug can also carry with it debilitating neurological side effects, which generally start as the sensation of pins and needles in fingers and toes and can leave patients unable to walk or dress independently... ... more

In a surprising finding with significant implications for older women, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and NYU School of Medicine have found that high levels of triglycerides (blood fats) are the strongest risk factor for the most common type of stroke in older women - more of a risk factor than elevated levels of total cholesterol or of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (known as "bad" cholesterol). The study appears online in Stroke. Strokes inv ... more

Different kinds of lung cancer behave in different ways, suggesting they are fundamentally different diseases. According to a University of Colorado Cancer Center study published in Cancer, the official journal of the American Cancer Society, different subgroups of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) show distinct patterns of spread in the body... ... more

A new study by food safety researchers at Drexel University demonstrates that plasma can be an effective method for killing pathogens on uncooked poultry. The proof-of-concept study was published in the Journal of Food Protection. Although recent high-profile outbreaks of foodborne illness have involved contaminated fresh produce, the most common source of harmful bacteria in food is uncooked poultry and other meat products. The bacteria responsible for most foodborne illnesses, Campylobacter an ... more

Rates of diabetes vary widely across developing countries worldwide, according to a new analysis led by Dr. Longjian Liu of Drexel University's School of Public Health. Worldwide, four in five people with diabetes now live in developing countries. Liu's study found that access to healthcare support for diabetes varied widely in developing countries, and that one in 10 diagnosed cases remain untreated. The study is available online and will appear in a future issue of the journal Diabetic Medicin ... more

A new study by researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus and Pace University is critical of the widespread use of computerized neuropsychological tests (CNT) in decisions regarding when athletes can return to play after suffering a concussion. "Our knowledge of the effects of concussions continues to evolve," said Thomas Redick, assistant professor of psychology at IUPUC. "We should continue to ask ourselves what the best practices are when dealing with a brain injury, which i ... more

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute, Scripps Health, and collaborating cancer physicians have successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of an advanced blood test for detecting and analyzing circulating tumor cells (CTCs) - breakaway cells from patients' solid tumors - from cancer patients. The findings, reported in five new papers, show that the highly sensitive blood analysis provides information that may soon be comparable to that from some types of surgical biopsies... ... more

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates that as many as one in 51 men and women will be diagnosed with melanoma - the deadliest form of skin cancer - at some point during their lifetimes. A research team led by Ze'ev Ronai, Ph.D. at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) is working to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying the development and progression of this disease in hopes of improving prevention and treatment strategies... ... more

The internet is awash with stories of how silver can be used to treat cancer. Now, lab tests have shown that it is as effective as the leading chemotherapy drug - and may have fewer side-effects. Results from the study at the University of Leeds, published in Dalton Transactions, show that particular silver compounds are as toxic to cancer cells as the platinum-based drug Cisplatin, which is widely used to treat a range of cancers. But the crucial difference is that silver is thought to be much ... more

Join SMi at their 8th annual Imaging in Cancer Drug Development conference to be held on the 14th 15th March 2012 in London, that promises to be interactive and informative. With an increasing verity of imaging modalities available and each of them offering benefits at different stages and in different ways, there is a great deal of benefit that can be gained from their implementation... ... more

Taste receptors on the tongue help us distinguish between safe food and food that's spoiled or toxic. But taste receptors are now being found in other organs, too. In a study published online the week of February 6 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) discovered that beta cells in the pancreas use taste receptors to sense fructose, a type of sugar. According to the study, the beta cells resp ... more

Treatment with three relatively new "targeted" cancer drugs has been linked to a slightly elevated chance of fatal side effects, according to a new analysis led by scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. They added that the risk remains low, but should be taken into account by physicians and patients. The incidence of fatal complications was 1.5 percent in patients who received any of the three drugs, which block the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) tyrosine kinase receptors in canc ... more

Closing elementary and secondary schools can help slow the spread of infectious disease and should be considered as a control measure during pandemic outbreaks, according to a McMaster University led study. Using high-quality data about the incidence of influenza infections in Alberta during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, the researchers show that when schools closed for the summer, the transmission of infection from person to person was sharply reduced... ... more

It's well known that exercising reduces body weight because it draws on fat stores that muscle can burn as fuel. But a new study at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) suggests that the heart also plays a role in breaking down fat. In their study, published February 6 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Sheila Collins, Ph.D. and colleagues detail how hormones released by the heart stimulate fat cell metabolism. These hormones turn on a molecular mechanism similar t ... more

Research led by Wanguo Liu, PhD, Associate Professor of Genetics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has identified a new protein critical to the development and growth of prostate cancer. The findings are published online in the Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, available the week of February 6, 2012. Dr. Liu and his team discovered a protein called ARD1 which is involved with the male hormone, androgen, and its receptor. Prostate cancer is a hormone-regul ... more