Todays-Healthy-Living

PPD Establishes Network Of Sites For Conducting Phase I Trials In Patients

Brian K — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

PPD, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPDI) announced it has established preferred provider relationships with a network of sites across North America for conducting Phase I trials in patients to meet growing client demand for these services. PPD has established relationships with Commonwealth Biomedical Research in Madisonville, Ky., CNS Network in Los Angeles and Lovelace Scientific Resources, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lovelace Respiratory Research, in Albuquerque, N.M., Austin, Texas, and Sarasota, Fla...

60% Rise In Deaths From Liver Disease In Last Decade: Hepatitis C Is An Increasing Contributor

Brian K — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Huge variations in hepatitis C services in hospitals across the country are revealed in a new report by the All-Party Parliamentary Hepatology Group and The Hepatitis C Trust. In The Dark found widely differing policies on who should receive treatment and the level of specialist support and care available. Hepatitis C is a preventable and treatable blood-borne virus. It is estimated that between 250,000 and 466,000 people in the UK are infected but most do not realise they carry the virus...

Promising New Lymphoma Treatment Effective In Dogs

Brian K — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Researchers have identified a new target for the treatment of lymphoma and are testing a potential new drug in pet dogs afflicted with the disease. At low doses, the compound, called S-PAC-1, arrested the growth of tumors in three of six dogs tested and induced partial remission in a fourth. The results of the study, conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois, appear this month in the journal Cancer Research...

The Benefits Of Hormone Replacement Therapy Overstated And Harms Downplayed By Ghostwritten Articles

Brian K — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

The first academic analysis of the 1500 documents unsealed in recent litigation against the pharmaceutical giant Wyeth (now part of Pfizer) reveals unprecedented insights into how pharmaceutical companies use ghostwriters to insert marketing messages into articles published in medical journals. Dr...

The Risk Of Childhood Cancer Following Fetal Exposure To Radiation

Brian K — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Fetal exposure to radiation and the risk of childhood cancer: what is the likelihood of a risk? A new study published in this week's PLoS Medicine aims to evaluate the possibility that exposure of a fetus to computed tomography or radionuclide imaging performed during pregnancy might increase subsequent risk of childhood cancer...

New Research Confirms Skin Cancer Prevention One Of The Nation’s Best Health Investments

Brian K — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

The Australian Government should act on comprehensive new research and run an intensive SunSmart campaign to reduce Australia's unacceptable skin cancer burden, Cancer Council Australia said today. Commenting on today's release of the joint ACE-Prevention report - the most complex evaluation of health prevention measures conducted in Australia - the chair of Cancer Council Australia's Public Health Committee, Craig Sinclair, said the research showed skin cancer awareness campaigns were among the best five public health investments available to government in terms of cost-effectiveness...

Associatiion Between Regular Statin Use And A Reduced Risk Of Developing Rheumatoid Arthritis

Brian K — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

There is an association between taking statins (lipid lowering drugs), and reduced risk of developing the chronic inflammatory disease, rheumatoid arthritis. These are the findings of a study by Gabriel Chodick and colleagues, published in this week's PLoS Medicine. The researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study among the 1.8-million members of Maccabi Healthcare Services (a health maintenance organization [HMO]) in Israel to identify adults who regularly took statins and did not have rheumatoid arthritis...

Junior Doctors Spend More Time On Admin Than In Formal Training, Says BMA Study, UK

Brian K — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

The fourth report of the BMA's Cohort Study, which traces the career progression of 430 medical graduates who qualified in 2006, shows that junior doctors now spend more time carrying out administrative tasks than they do in formal training. The study asked junior doctors in their first year of specialist training to indicate how much time they spent undertaking different activities at work...

State Roundup: Some Premiums Soar In Washington State; Building Boom For Denver Hospitals; Looking For Uninsured Kids

Brian K — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

The Seattle Times: "Whopping rate increases are coming soon for many people with individual health-insurance policies. Most insurers offering individual policies in the state have asked for and been granted rate increases, effective Oct. 1, according to the state's insurance commissioner. Regence BlueShield's rate increase - an average 16.5 percent - was one of the highest. It was topped by Asuris Northwest Health, a Regence subsidiary, with an increase of 23.7 percent. Group Health Cooperative, the fifth-largest insurer of individuals, was considerably lower, with an 8...

PTSD And Traumatic Brain Injury Common Among Returning Troops

Brian K — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

NPR reports on post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury in troops returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Though thousands of soldiers are diagnosed with PTSD, many more suffer without treatment. Among those who do seek treatment, doctors are finding another, distinctly different problem called traumatic brain injury, or TBI. The two conditions have similar symptoms, but the causes are quite different...