The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) today awarded over $6.8 million to fund twelve new cancer prevention programs through local clinics, health districts, community-based organizations, and academic institutions across the state of Texas. This is the very first round of prevention grants awarded in CPRIT's 10-year, $3 billion mission. "It all starts with prevention and until we find the cure for all cancers, these efforts are critical," said James Mansour, CPRIT Oversight Committee Chairman...
Scientists using advanced genomic analysis technologies from Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) have sequenced an individual's genome and identified the specific causative mutation associated with Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease (CMT), one of the most common inherited neurological disorders currently affecting 1 in 2,500 individuals in the United States. In a paper published today by The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), , Baylor College of Medicine doctors Richard Gibbs and James R...
The Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) has analyzed the first whole genome sequences of a human family of four. The findings of a project funded through a partnership between ISB and the University of Luxembourg was published online today by Science on its Science Express website. It demonstrates the benefit of sequencing entire families, including lowering error rates, identifying rare genetic variants and identifying disease-linked genes. "We were very pleased and a little surprised at how much additional information can come from examining the full genomes of the same family...
The Swedish biotech company Karo Bio (Reuters: KARO.ST) announced the publication of results from a clinical phase II trial evaluating the company's liver selective thyroid hormone receptor agonist eprotirome and its ability to further reduce serum LDL cholesterol levels in statin-treated patients. The results are published in the March 11, 2010 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The study was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind multi-center trial of three months duration, performed between November 2007 and June 2008...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today terminated its contract with Fox Insurance Company. After an onsite review of the plan and its services, CMS determined that the plan's significant deficiencies - not meeting Medicare's requirements to provide enrollees with prescription drugs according to recognized standards of care - jeopardized the health and safety of Fox enrollees. CMS found that Fox committed a series of violations, including improperly denying its enrollees coverage of critical HIV, cancer, and seizure medications...
A new firearms research database launched by the Harvard School of Public Health makes scholarly articles more accessible to reporters, law enforcement, public health officials, policymakers, and the general public. The Firearms Research Digest provides summaries of articles gathered from social science, criminology, medical and public health journals and is written in clear, accessible language for use by those outside academia. The website currently covers six years of research published between 2003 and 2008...
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is developing advice for the NHS on how to treat and look after children who wet the bed. The draft clinical guideline is available from today (11 March) for public consultation. Dr Fergus Macbeth, Director of the Centre for Clinical Practice at NICE said: "Most children will experience some form of bedwetting as they grow up; however often only those aged seven and above are considered for treatment - before this age, it is generally perceived as a normal habit which the child will grow out of...
A study of over 80,000 American live kidney donors found they were likely to live just as long as people who have two healthy kidneys and that the procedure carries very little medical risk. You can read about the landmark study by lead author and transplant surgeon Dr Dorry L Segev, from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues, online in the 10 March issue of JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association...
Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) was honored last night by the American Psychological Association for his advocacy work and legislative accomplishments on mental health issues. The APA presented Kennedy with the 2010 Outstanding Leadership Award, given annually to a member of Congress who has prominently championed the goals of professional psychology. "Congressman Kennedy has been a tireless crusader of mental health rights," says Katherine C. Nordal, PhD, APA executive director for professional practice...
Dental patient charges in Wales have been frozen for the fourth year running to help maintain wider access to NHS dentistry, Health Minister Edwina Hart announced today [Thursday, 11 March]...
