UMN: Bio-Med Library - Public Health

Nathan Seppa

Even as scientist Stanley B. Prusiner was accepting a Nobel prize in 1997 for linking misfolded proteins to certain brain diseases, doubters were pointing out that no one had ever actually shown that these proteins—which Prusiner dubbed prions—could cause infection.

Prusiner, a neurologist and biochemist at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and his colleagues now report results that could silence many of his critics. The study, published in the July 30 Science, shows that purified prions can cause disease when injected into the brains of genetically engineered mice.

Science News - Article Link: http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20040731/fob1.asp

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 10:05 PM | Permalink

Violence-Related Behaviors Among High School Students --- United States, 1991--2003 (July 30, 2004). MMWR 53(29); 651-655.

Homicide and suicide are responsible for approximately one fourth of deaths among persons aged 10--24 years in the United States. Two of the national health objectives for 2010 are to reduce the prevalence of physical fighting among adolescents to <32% and to reduce the prevalence of carrying a weapon by adolescents on school property to <4.9% (objective nos. 15-38 and 15-39). To examine changes in violence-related behaviors among high school students in the United States during 1991--2003, CDC analyzed data from the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated that most violence-related behaviors decreased during 1991--2003; however, students increasingly were likely to miss school because they felt too unsafe to attend. In addition, in 2003, nearly one in 10 high school students reported being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property during the preceding 12 months. Schools and communities should continue efforts to establish physical and social environments that prevent violence and promote actual and perceived safety in schools.

Link to MMWR

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 01:36 PM | Permalink

FDA today approved the drug Campral (acamprosate), for treating alcohol dependent individuals seeking to continue to remain alcohol-free after they have stopped drinking. Campral may not be effective in patients who are actively drinking at the start of treatment, or in patients who abuse other substances in addition to alcohol.

Link

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 01:32 PM | Permalink

By RICHARD MACKIE
From Friday's Globe and Mail

Niagara-on-the Lake, Ont. — Canada's premiers are expected to unveil a proposal today to change and enrich health care in Canada with national goals, while ensuring that provinces can deliver services in different ways, unencumbered by federal conditions.

The premiers emerged from a day-long meeting yesterday with a plan to take to their three-day televised meeting in September with Prime Minister Paul Martin, whom they see as having little choice but to accept their program for change.

Article

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 01:30 PM | Permalink

By Julie Appleby, USA TODAY

The Medicare drug discount card program does save consumers money but is confusing, and similar savings may be had outside the program, a report out this week says.

Two months in, about 4 million people have cards, but about 3 million of them were enrolled automatically by their HMOs or through state assistance programs.

Article

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 01:28 PM | Permalink

By Craig Welch
Seattle Times staff reporter

University of Washington scientists will receive $30 million from the Environmental Protection Agency for a 10-year study that will examine the links between ambient air pollution and heart disease among older adults of various ethnic groups.

The EPA awarded its largest research grant ever yesterday to Dr. Joel Kaufman, an associate professor in the department of environmental and occupational health sciences. Kaufman will try to pinpoint more precisely the relationship between small particles of air pollution that can lodge in the lungs, and the nation's leading cause of death.

Article:

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 01:27 PM | Permalink

CDC: Child vaccinations at record high
'Million vulnerable children' remain despite high rate

WASHINGTON (AP) -- About 79 percent of the nation's toddlers are getting vaccinated on time, a record level but not yet good enough, especially in pockets of the country where inoculations lag, federal health officials reported Thursday.

Connecticut was "the superstar," getting 94 percent of toddlers their main series of vaccinations on time last year, said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Worst in the nation was Colorado, at 67.5 percent. Four other states had fewer than 75 percent on-time shots: Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia.

But even with immunization rates steadily rising, there are "a million vulnerable children" today, toddlers who haven't gotten their full series of shots, Gerberding cautioned.

"You can be lulled into a false sense of security" because so many vaccine-preventable diseases have been virtually eliminated in the United States, she said. But many are just a plane ride away, so "we cannot afford to lose our vigilance."

In 2002, almost 75 percent of the nation's 19- to 35-month-olds had received a full series of inoculations against nine diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, meningitis-causing Haemophilus influenza or Hib, measles, mumps, rubella and hepatitis B.

Article

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 01:25 PM | Permalink

The Cancer Mortality Maps & Graph Web Site provides interactive maps, graphs (which are accessible to the blind and visually-impaired), text, tables and figures showing geographic patterns and time trends of cancer death rates for the time period 1950-1994 for more than 40 cancers.

Link: http://www3.cancer.gov/atlasplus/

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 03:13 PM | Permalink

Welcome!!! PDHealth.mil has been developed by the Deployment Health Clinical Center as a resource for clinicians, veterans, and their families. Our goal is to create a trusting partnership between military men and women, veterans, their families, and their providers to ensure the highest quality care for those who make sacrifices in the most hazardous workplaces of them all.

Link: http://www.pdhealth.mil/

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 03:10 PM | Permalink

Strategic Report Outlines Steps to Implement Widespread Adoption of Electronic Health Records and New Nationwide Interoperable Health Information Network

On July 21, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson released the first outline of a 10-year plan to transform the delivery of health care by building a new health information infrastructure, including electronic health records and a new network to link health records nationwide. At the same time, he announced a number of new action steps to help advance health information technology immediately.

Press Release

Report

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 01:31 PM | Permalink

From American Cancer Society News:

The Food and Drug Administration plans to create an oncology office to review drugs and imaging devices used in cancer diagnosis and treatment. The new Office of Oncology Drug Products will combine 3 existing areas within the FDA. The center is expected to open in 2005.

It is hoped the change will make the approval of cancer treatments more efficient and consistent.

Article

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 01:29 PM | Permalink

For a small number of women with a genetic predisposition to developing breast cancer, regular screening with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be better than mammography at detecting tumors early, HealthDay reports.

Breast MRIs conducted annually were nearly 80 percent effective in picking up invasive cancers in these high-risk women, compared to the 33 percent effectiveness rating of annual mammographies, Dutch researchers reported in the July 29 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Link

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 01:25 PM | Permalink

By ROBERT PEAR

Published: July 28, 2004

As a result of incremental changes in the last few years, Medicare now covers a wide variety of preventive services.

The latest changes, authorized by the new Medicare law, take effect on Jan. 1, a year before outpatient drug benefits will become available.

Time Sensitive: New York Times

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 01:24 PM | Permalink

LOUISBURG, Kansas (Reuters) -- The brown-and-white spotted calves appear happy and healthy as they amble through the tall grass of a northeastern Kansas field, never straying far from their mothers.

But back at the barn -- and in countless barns, feedlots, slaughterhouses and packing plants around the United States -- the health of cattle like these has become a hot-button issue.

Calls for widespread testing of the nation's beef supply have stretched from Tokyo to Arkansas City, Kansas, after the United States detected its first-ever case of "mad cow disease" in December.

The news sent shock waves through domestic markets and triggered an immediate halt to important international trade, including deals with Japan, which typically buys about $1.4 billion of U.S. beef annually.

Article

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 01:21 PM | Permalink

28 Jul 2004

Helping community pharmacists to fully understand the importance of understanding and active involvement in public health, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), along with PharmacyHealthLink, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the National Pharmaceutical Association has launched a new resource ‘Public Health: A Practical Guide for Community Pharmacists’.

The Guide also provides a handy information source on approaching Primary Care Organisations, how public health is funded and how community pharmacists can enhance their contributions.

Medical News Today

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 11:28 AM | Permalink

A Peer Reviewed Journal Tracking and Analyzing Disease Trends

August 2004

Link: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol10no8/pdfs/Vol10No8.pdf

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 11:47 AM | Permalink

A Progress Report on State Legislative Activity to Reduce Cancer Incidence and Mortality - July 2004

Report available at: http://www.cancer.org/downloads/GI/Mid-Year%20Report%20Single%20Page.pdf

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 11:45 AM | Permalink

Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods: Approaches to Assessing Unintended Health Effects, a new report released by the Institute of Medicine, assists policymakers in evaluating the appropriate scientific methods for detecting unintended changes in food and assessing the potential for adverse health effects from genetically modified products. In this report, the committee recommended that greater scrutiny should be given to foods containing new compounds or unusual amounts of naturally occurring substances, regardless of the method used to create them.

The report offers a framework to guide federal agencies in selecting the route of safety assessment. The report identifies and recommends several pre- and post-market approaches to guide the assessment of unintended compositional changes that could result from genetically modified foods and research avenues to fill the knowledge gaps

Report: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309092094/html/

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 11:42 AM | Permalink

Medicare will offer for the first time a comprehensive set of screening tests and a full medical work-up for new recipients under changes proposed yesterday.

News article: http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=37484

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 11:39 AM | Permalink

Report doubles earlier Institute of Medicine estimate
Wednesday, July 28, 2004 Posted: 10:08 AM EDT (1408 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- As many as 195,000 people a year could be dying in U.S. hospitals because of easily prevented errors, a company said Tuesday in an estimate that doubles previous figures.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/07/28/health.mistakes.reut/index.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 11:32 AM | Permalink

Pay cuts could alter cancer care
By Globe Wire Services | July 28, 2004

WASHINGTON -- Cancer doctors and patients' advocates said a Bush administration proposal to cut Medicare payments to cancer doctors could force a dramatic change in care, with patients forced to get treatment in hospitals, sometimes far from their homes, rather than in physicians' offices.

Article: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2004/07/28/fears_voiced_on_bush_medicare_plan/

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 11:25 AM | Permalink

By ANDREW C. REVKIN

Published: July 27, 2004

After the World Trade Center collapsed, air samples collected nearby showed that levels of some cancer-causing chemicals had soared but had fallen so quickly that the pollution spike was unlikely to increase cancer risks in nearby communities, researchers reported yesterday.

The chemicals, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are often found in sooty particles generated when fire consumes anything from tobacco to jet fuel. They have been linked to lung, skin and bladder cancers as well as other health problems.

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/27/nyregion/27cancer.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 11:07 PM | Permalink

By ANDREW C. REVKIN

Published: July 27, 2004

After the World Trade Center collapsed, air samples collected nearby showed that levels of some cancer-causing chemicals had soared but had fallen so quickly that the pollution spike was unlikely to increase cancer risks in nearby communities, researchers reported yesterday.

The chemicals, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are often found in sooty particles generated when fire consumes anything from tobacco to jet fuel. They have been linked to lung, skin and bladder cancers as well as other health problems.

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/27/nyregion/27cancer.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 11:07 PM | Permalink

Robert Pear, New York Times
July 27, 2004 MEDI0727



WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Bush administration proposed rules on Monday to carry out the sweeping new Medicare law, and it said that nearly 11 million of the 41 million beneficiaries would receive comprehensive drug benefits at virtually no cost.

In issuing the proposals, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson took a swipe at Democrats who have opposed the Medicare law. After years of unfulfilled promises by Democrats, Thompson said, "it took George Bush and a Republican-led Congress to act."

Article: http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4895963.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 11:04 PM | Permalink

Mon Jul 26, 2004 10:50 AM ET

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - The European Union Monday launched a research center in South Africa to help Africa fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The diseases kill millions of people on the continent annually, with an estimated 3,000 children dying of malaria -- a preventable and curable illness -- every day.

European Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) executive director Piero Olliaro told reporters in Cape Town the group would fund 18 clinical trials in Africa and nine in Europe over the next three years.

"These are the immediate priorities for the first semester of operations of the EDCTP," he said at the opening of the EU-funded organization's Africa office in Cape Town.

Article: http://www.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5774272

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 03:54 PM | Permalink

NLM has reformatted and enhanced the HSR & PH Information Programs page.
There are numerous links to a variety of web sites within NLM. Take a look when you get a chance.

Link: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hsrph.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 03:50 PM | Permalink

Posted on Friday, July 23, 2004 @ 1:42 PM PDT by bjs

President Bush today signed into law Project BioShield, which provides new tools to improve medical countermeasures protecting Americans against a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) attack. The President first proposed Project BioShield in his 2003 State of the Union address and Congress approved it last week. Project BioShield is a comprehensive effort overseen jointly by Secretary Thompson and Secretary Ridge, and involving other Federal agencies as appropriate, to develop and make available modern, effective drugs and vaccines to protect against attack by CBRN weapons.

Article: http://www.scienceblog.com/community/article3395.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 11:44 AM | Permalink

Posted on Monday, July 26, 2004 @ 8:16 AM PDT by bjs

Physical symptoms that impact quality of life, such as nausea and shortness of breath, may predict shorter survival for patients with terminal cancer. A new study finds a patient's symptoms and results of quality of life assessments may provide important clues to an individual patient's prognosis. Psychosocial factors, such as anxiety or spiritual distress, did not predict shorter survival.

Article: http://www.scienceblog.com/community/article3397.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 11:42 AM | Permalink

Israeli blood key to experiment

Kerry Fehr-Snyder
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 26, 2004 12:00 AM

An experimental treatment using human plasma from Israeli blood donors will be tested at two Valley hospitals for patients with the most severe cases of West Nile virus.

A hospital in Tucson also is expected to participate in the expanded clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

Article: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0726trials26.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 11:41 AM | Permalink

The Full Report (7 MB, 585 pages) has been made available in its entirety, as a single PDF file. The report is also available as a collection of smaller PDFs arranged in a browse table based on the Final Report's table of contents. An Executive Summary (344 KB, 35 pages) of the Final Report is also available.

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/index.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 10:03 AM | Permalink

Friday, July 23, 2004 Posted: 11:53 AM EDT (1553 GMT)

SANTA ANA, California (AP) -- A 57-year-old man died from the mosquito-borne West Nile virus, becoming California's first human fatality from the illness since it arrived in the state last year, officials said.

The man died June 24 and is believed to have contracted the virus in Orange County where he lived, Robert Miller, a spokesman for the California Department of Health Services, said Thursday.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/conditions/07/23/west.nile.ap/index.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 10:00 AM | Permalink

In court papers, the Bush administration argues that federal standards pre-empt requirements established by state judges and legislators.

BY ROBERT PEAR

New York Times

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has been going to court to block lawsuits by consumers who say they have been injured by prescription drugs and medical devices.

The administration contends that consumers cannot recover damages for such injuries if the products have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. In court papers, the Justice Department acknowledges that this position reflects a "change in governmental policy," and it has persuaded some judges to accept its arguments, most recently scoring a victory in the federal appeals court in Philadelphia.

Article: http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/news/nation/9236812.htm

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 09:58 AM | Permalink

Back after a few days off! A lot of news to catch up on.

Please note the following:

A new webpage (http://www.biomed.lib.umn.edu/ref/iaidsc.html) has been
created that lists all the International AIDS Conferences, and where
abstracts presented at them can be found. This webpage is linked from
both the Reference Quick Links page (aka the Reference Desk homepage)
in the "Meetings and Events" section, and on the Meeting Abstracts page
which is available via Health & Medicine in the News. This latter page
(http://www.biomed.lib.umn.edu/hmed/list.html) is an alphabetic lists
of professional organizations and meetings, and where abstracts from
those groups may be found.

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 09:54 AM | Permalink

Angola Press Agency (Luanda)
NEWS
July 21, 2004
Posted to the web July 21, 2004
Sumbe

About 284.000 children from zero to five years old will be vaccinated in Kwanza-Sul province, during the first phase of the campaign against infantile paralysis to be carried out from Friday to Sunday, an official of the local Public Health Management said on Monday.

Speaking to ANGOP, Henriques Silvestre, underlined that for the first phase there will be used about 447.230 doses of vaccine to be distributed in all municipalities of the coastal province.

Article: http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200407210720.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 09:54 AM | Permalink

By Karen Pallarito
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, July 21 (HealthDayNews) -- America's seniors would have better access to medicines if U.S. drug prices were slashed to the level paid in other industrialized nations, a new analysis suggests.

A 45 percent price cut would let Congress eliminate a gap in coverage that will occur when Medicare's outpatient prescription drug benefit takes effect in 2006, the authors conclude. Lower prices, they add, would make it possible to enhance drug coverage for seniors at no additional cost to the federal government.

Article: http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout/2004/07/21/hscout520198.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 12:04 PM | Permalink

Wednesday, July 21, 2004 Posted: 10:15 AM EDT (1415 GMT)

President Bush on Wednesday signs Project BioShield into law during a Rose Garden ceremony.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush on Wednesday signed a bill to develop and stockpile vaccines and other antidotes to biological and chemical weapons.

The legislation provides the drug industry with incentives to research and develop bioterrorism countermeasures, speeds up the approval process of antidotes and, in an emergency, allows the government to distribute certain treatments before the Food and Drug Administration has approved them.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/21/bush.vaccine.ap/index.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 12:01 PM | Permalink

Last Updated: 2004-07-20 14:28:02 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By David Douglas

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Most prostate cancers at first are driven by male hormones -- androgens -- but they then become androgen independent, often spreading to other areas of the body. At this stage, treatment is difficult, but a new "smart drug" holds promise.

Researchers have developed an antibody, J591, that homes in on a specific molecule on prostate cancer cells. With a radioactive isotope attached, the antibody produced an anti-tumor effect in an early-stage (phase I) trial involving men with androgen-independent prostate cancer.

Article: http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2004/07/20/eline/links/20040720elin023.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 08:33 AM | Permalink

by David Boaz

David Boaz is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of Libertarianism: A Primer.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson says, "Obesity is a critical public health problem in our country."

Wrong. Obesity is a problem for many people, but it is not a public health problem. By calling it one, however, Thompson can promise that we, the taxpayers, will pay for everyone's diet programs, stomach surgery, and behavioral counseling. Get out your wallet.

The meaning of "public health" has sprawled out lazily over the decades. Once, it referred to the project of securing health benefits that were public: clean water, improved sanitation, and the control of epidemics through treatment, quarantine, and immunization. Public health officials worked to drain swamps that might breed mosquitoes and thus spread malaria. They strove to ensure that water supplies were not contaminated with cholera, typhoid, or other diseases. The U.S. Public Health Service began as the Marine Hospital Service, and one of its primary functions was ensuring that sailors didn't expose domestic populations to new and virulent illnesses from overseas.

Article: http://www.cato.org/dailys/07-20-04.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 08:29 AM | Permalink

Antibiotic treatments did nothing, researchers say

Tuesday, July 20, 2004 Posted: 9:29 AM EDT (1329 GMT)

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A year on powerful antibiotics did nothing to relieve the chronic health problems reported by Gulf War veterans, demolishing the theory that so-called Gulf War syndrome is caused by a bacterial infection, researchers say.

The bacterial-infection theory "is off the table at this point," said Joseph F. Collins, a VA Maryland Healthcare System researcher and one of the study's authors. "It's disappointing, but the results are definitive: This is not the smoking gun."

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/conditions/07/20/sickvets.ap/index.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 08:27 AM | Permalink

Medicare reviewers missed two-thirds of safety issues, GAO says

Tuesday, July 20, 2004 Posted: 1:05 PM EDT (1705 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The private organization that clears hospitals to receive Medicare payments missed most problems later identified by state inspectors, potentially compromising patient safety, congressional investigators said Tuesday.

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, made up mainly of health professionals, failed to find 167 of 241 "serious deficiencies" in a survey of 500 hospitals that were reviewed between 2000 and 2002, the Government Accountability Office said. The agency, Congress' investigative arm, was formerly called the General Accounting Office.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/07/20/hospital.inspections.ap/index.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 08:25 AM | Permalink

Activate America to increase country's awareness of health, diet
By ROBIN BROWN
Staff reporter
07/17/2004

The YMCA of Delaware announced that it has been chosen to collaborate on a nationwide effort to fight Americans' declining health, increasing obesity and chronic disease.

The effort, called Activate America, comes on the heels of testimony to Congress by the national YMCA director about the need for healthier communities. The local organization noted statistics from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that:

• 30 percent of Delaware high school students are overweight.

• About 40 percent of them fail to get regular exercise.

• 80 percent of all Delawareans eat too few fruits and vegetables on a daily basis.

• Annual medical costs related to obesity are estimated at $207 million for Delaware alone.

Article: http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/07/17delymcachosenfo.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 08:22 AM | Permalink

7/19/2004 11:58:00 AM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor, Healthcare Reporter

Contact: Jeanne Galatzer-Levy of the American Medical Association, 312-464-5890 or 312-953-6655 (cell), or CDC Media Relations, 404-639-3286

News Advisory:

WHO: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in partnership with the American Medical Association (AMA)

WHAT: First National Congress on Public Health Readiness

WHEN: July 20-22, 2004

WHERE: Grand Hyatt Hotel, Washington, D.C.

Agenda: Available at http://www.CDC-AMA-ReadinessConference.org
CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding and AMA President Dr. John Nelson are among the featured speakers at the conference. Dr. Gerberding will talk about the continuum of readiness needs in a community spanning from clinical to public health and that training should not be standardized for those needs. This conference will bring together, for the first time, medical and public health leaders to discuss community readiness strategies for terrorism and naturally-occurring health threats, and interventions addressing critical healthcare and public-health challenges.

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 02:51 PM | Permalink

By Tim Parsons
School of Public Health

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is one of 12 sites testing a new vaccine to prevent anthrax. The phase II trial will evaluate the safety and immunogenic response of a new recombinant anthrax vaccine, known as rPA102. The vaccine candidate consists of recombinant protective antigen, a synthetic protein that induces antibodies designed to prevent illness by neutralizing anthrax toxins, and aluminum hydroxide to enhance the immune response. Different formulations of rPA102 will be given to 480 healthy volunteers. Each formulation will contain varying concentrations of rPA.

Article: http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/2004/19jul04/19anthra.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 02:49 PM | Permalink

From Yahoo News:

Enough new-generation anthrax vaccine to dose 25 million people: That's first on the government's shopping list under a massive new program to develop and stockpile antidotes to biological and chemical weapons.

Article: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=534&e=4&u=/ap/20040715/ap_on_go_co/terror_vaccines

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 09:10 AM | Permalink

Last Updated: 2004-07-16 12:49:30 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Todd Zwillich

WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - The nation's largest hospital accrediting body launched a Web site Wednesday designed to let doctors and the public compare the quality of medical care at thousands of facilities.

The site lets consumers search out hospitals and directly compare their performance in treating a handful of health conditions, a move supporters said would deliver badly needed objective information to patients while driving health providers to improve their quality.

Patients and doctors visiting the site, called Quality Check, can search hospitals in any state or zip code. The site grades facilities based on how consistently they deliver care proven to improve health outcomes.

Article: http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2004/07/16/eline/links/20040716elin021.html

Quality Check: http://www.jcaho.org/qualitycheck/directry/SearchConsumerByType.aspx

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 09:07 AM | Permalink

President Fidel Castro attends the document’s signing

BY REYNOLD RASSÍ -Granma daily staff writer-

ON July 15, and for the first time in 40 years, a cooperation agreement was signed by Cuban and U.S. companies for the transfer of biotechnological technology directed at developing vaccines against cancer. The agreement was signed between the CancerVax Corporation and the Center for Molecular Immunology at the International Conference Center in Havana.

Article: http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2004/julio/vier16/30cancer.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 09:03 AM | Permalink

In the last two weeks, avian influenza appears to have re-emerged in poultry in several countries in Asia. These outbreaks could either be new outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) virus or a continuation of the outbreaks first reported earlier in the year. These events, in addition to two new research reports -- about the virus becoming increasingly pathogenic and becoming more widespread in birds in the region -- fuel the World Health Organization's concern about the threat the virus poses to human health.

WHO has been concerned about this virus, influenza A(H5N1), because of its threat to humans both in farm settings in Asia and its greater, potentially global risk. Several countries in Asia have witnessed this virus crossing the species barrier, moving from infected chickens or ducks directly into humans in three documented outbreaks since 1997. These direct human infections have produced severe and sometimes fatal outcomes. Moreover, the virus has the potential to acquire the ability to spread easily from human to human, and thus, trigger a global influenza pandemic.

Article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=10932#

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 09:02 AM | Permalink

Patients' choices in medical care take a hit after high court rules in favor of insurers

By Henry Gilgoff
Staff Writer

July 18, 2004

The country's highest court delivered a major setback last month to patients trying to sue health insurers for negligence or malpractice, leaving a widow to wonder: What now?

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision gave added ammunition to health plans to argue that federal law precludes patients and their families from suing health plans for damages in state courts. The Employment Retirement Security Act of 1974 allows suits in federal court for benefits denied -- small amounts compared with the high awards possible for malpractice or negligence.

Article: http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-biz-bzcov0718,0,4096463.story?coll=ny-business-headlines

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 08:57 AM | Permalink

18 Jul 2004

It is one of the least edifying facts of recent American medical history that the profession's leadership so long rejected as quackish the idea that nutrition affects health (JAMA 1946 1949, 1977; Shimkin, 1976). Ignoring both the empirical dietary wisdom that pervaded western medicine from the pre-Christian Hippocratic era until the late nineteenth century and a persuasive body of modern research in nutritional biochemistry, the politically minded spokesmen of organized medicine in the U.S. remained long committed to surgery and radiation as the sole acceptable treatments for cancer. This commitment persisted, even after sound epidemiological data showed that early detection and removal of malignant tumors did not "cure" most kinds of cancer (Crile, 1956; updated by Cairns, 1985).

Source: http://gerson-research.org

Article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=10906

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 08:55 AM | Permalink

BANGKOK, July 18 (Xinhuanet) --The Agriculture Ministry of Thailand has approved an experiment on bird flu vaccine amid re-emergence of the avian influenza in 13 provinces of the country.

The experiment on the H5N1 virus strain of bird flu will be conducted by a team of specialists working in infectious diseases,the Bangkok Post quoted Agriculture Minister Somsak Thepsuthin as saying on Sunday.

Article: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-07/18/content_1611163.htm

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 12:10 AM | Permalink

Fri Jul 16, 2004 04:18 PM ET

By Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to speed up government approval of new cancer therapies by creating an office dedicated to medicines, the agency announced on Friday....

Article: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5695126

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 12:06 AM | Permalink

Sat Jul 17, 2004 07:34 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Outbreaks of a deadly bird flu in Asia require tough precautions against the emergence of a new virus strain that could sweep through the human population, the World Health Organization said.
Thailand, the world's fourth largest chicken exporter last year, has seen avian flu hit 15 of 76 provinces over the last two weeks. Since late last year, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia also have reported cases.

"While these outbreaks, thus far, remain restricted to poultry populations, they nevertheless increase the chances of virus transmission and human infection," WHO said in a statement issued late Friday.

Article: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5697598

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 12:03 AM | Permalink

Friday, July 16, 2004 Posted: 11:09 AM EDT (1509 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Medicare now recognizes obesity as an illness, a change in policy that may allow millions of overweight Americans to make medical claims for treatments such as stomach surgery and diet programs.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said, "Obesity is a critical public health problem in our country that causes millions of Americans to suffer unnecessary health problems and to die prematurely."

Treating obesity-related illnesses results in billions of dollars in health care costs, Thompson said.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/07/16/medicare.obesity.ap/index.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 03:43 PM | Permalink

7/16/2004 8:51:00 AM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: National Desk

Contact: David Fouse of the American Public Health Association, 202-777-2501 or david.fouse@apha.org

WASHINGTON, July 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The American Public Health Association applauds the U.S. Senate for passing an important amendment late yesterday that provides the Food and Drug Administration with the authority it needs to regulate tobacco, and at the same time, provides a responsible buyout of tobacco farmers that is paid for by tobacco companies, not the taxpayers. The amendment, offered by Senators Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Richard Durbin (D- Ill.), was adopted as part of the Foreign Sales Corporation tax legislation.

Article: http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=103-07162004

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 03:38 PM | Permalink

DAILY BRIEFING
July 15, 2004

As the Bush administration prepares for next week's unveiling of its strategy for updating the nation's information technology infrastructure for health care, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., told a House subcommittee Wednesday that the effort needs to come much faster than many anticipate.
"Paper kills," Gingrich told the House Government Reform Technology Subcommittee. "Paper prescriptions kill. Paper records kill. And if there's a public health emergency, paper will kill a lot of people," he said.

Gingrich said the nation needs to create "a virtual public health service" that ties together literally every health facility. In the case of a major nuclear event, he said, officials would need to mobilize every nursing home and long-term care facility as well as every veterinarian's office, "because all the downtown hospitals will be gone."

Article: As the Bush administration prepares for next week's unveiling of its strategy for updating the nation's information technology infrastructure for health care, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., told a House subcommittee Wednesday that the effort needs to come much faster than many anticipate.
"Paper kills," Gingrich told the House Government Reform Technology Subcommittee. "Paper prescriptions kill. Paper records kill. And if there's a public health emergency, paper will kill a lot of people," he said.

Gingrich said the nation needs to create "a virtual public health service" that ties together literally every health facility. In the case of a major nuclear event, he said, officials would need to mobilize every nursing home and long-term care facility as well as every veterinarian's office, "because all the downtown hospitals will be gone."

Article: As the Bush administration prepares for next week's unveiling of its strategy for updating the nation's information technology infrastructure for health care, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., told a House subcommittee Wednesday that the effort needs to come much faster than many anticipate.
"Paper kills," Gingrich told the House Government Reform Technology Subcommittee. "Paper prescriptions kill. Paper records kill. And if there's a public health emergency, paper will kill a lot of people," he said.

Gingrich said the nation needs to create "a virtual public health service" that ties together literally every health facility. In the case of a major nuclear event, he said, officials would need to mobilize every nursing home and long-term care facility as well as every veterinarian's office, "because all the downtown hospitals will be gone."

Article: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0704/071504cdam1.htm

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 12:58 PM | Permalink

Last Updated: 2004-07-13 16:24:37 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The bird flu virus called H5N1, which has proved fatal to humans in Thailand and Vietnam, has the potential to spread globally, new research suggests.

The H5N1 virus has become widespread in southern China and is not easily eradicated, the authors note in the science journal Nature. The virus spreads like wildfire among chickens, ducks and other birds, and as experience has shown, it can infect humans.

So far, the virus cannot be passed from person to person, but that may change if the virus gets a chance to swap genes with other flu viruses -- a process called genetic reassortment -- in humans or other mammals.

Article: http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2004/07/13/eline/links/20040713elin021.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 07:46 AM | Permalink

Last Updated: 2004-07-13 15:35:37 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Megan Rauscher

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Ovarian cancer is often referred to as a "silent" disease, only becoming apparent at advanced stages. A new finding, however, may make it easier to detect the disease at early stages when it is more curable.

Investigators have found that lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is present at elevated levels in the blood of women with ovarian cancer, including those with early stage disease. LPA thus might be of use as a biomarker.

"In healthy women, LPA is typically present only at very low levels," Dr. Rebecca Sutphen from the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida told Reuters Health. ...

Articel: http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2004/07/13/eline/links/20040713elin014.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 07:45 AM | Permalink

By Glenn Harlan Reynolds Published 07/14/2004


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TCS

This month's Harper's Magazine includes a cover story on the decline of the public health system, by Dr. Ronald J. Glasser. Glasser lays out a number of ways in which the global public health system isn't up to the threats posed by diseases like SARS. Dr. Glasser's diagnosis seems on target, but his article leaves a lot to be desired in terms of treatment -- he concludes (in a fashion that seems somehow emblematic for Harper's) that we are probably too foolish to survive these new epidemics, and that we probably deserve to die.

I don't agree, and I think that we should be doing something about the problem. The public health infrastructure built up in the last century was an enormous achievement. It was also, as Robert Fogel notes in his new book, Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, a gigantic undertaking. Fogel writes about...

Article: http://www.techcentralstation.com/071404C.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 02:30 PM | Permalink

A goal of strengthening intellectual and academic networks and promoting best practice in public health has been set for nine new collaborating centres, launched across England and Wales by the Health Development Agency.

Based mainly in the university sector, the centres will each have their own focus on gathering evidence on what works to improve health and reduce health inequalities and building on practice development in areas such as smoking cessation and drug prevention. They will help strengthen public health infrastructure by creating a network of organisations and institutions working together to further develop HDA evidence and promote good practice.

Article: http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1385

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 02:28 PM | Permalink

VCU's new school of public health will address issues ranging from bioterrorism to obesity.

Polly Roberts
Richmond.com
Wednesday July 14, 2004

Virginia Commonwealth University will soon be home to the only school of public health in Virginia.

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia recently approved the school, which will address public health issues ranging from bioterrorism and the risk of biological and chemical weapons to obesity and cancer prevention.

Article: http://www.richmond.com/health/output.cfm?ID=3130911&vertical=Health

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 02:26 PM | Permalink

Newswise — One of the biggest questions facing Americans as the 2004 elections approach involves a tradeoff: Will those who currently have health insurance be willing to sacrifice in order to insure the 44 million people who don’t?

The answer may turn out to be yes, according to the results of a new research study published in the August issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, especially if citizens have a chance to get together and talk about how coverage for the uninsured might affect them personally and society as a whole.

To explore whether the insured would help cover the uninsured, the research team based at the University of Michigan didn’t turn to an opinion survey. Instead, they asked 322 insured people to play a board game that’s a cross between Monopoly and the Game of Life, but with a focus on health and insurance.

Article: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/506006/

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 02:24 PM | Permalink

Wed Jul 14, 2004 03:39 PM ET

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A drug-resistant "superbug" found in hospitals has a close cousin that is affecting athletes, prisoners and small children in growing numbers across the United States, disease experts said on Wednesday.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA can become fatal if not treated with the right antibiotics, said Dr. Daniel Jernigan of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Article: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5671334

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 02:58 PM | Permalink

-- Scott Roberts

WEDNESDAY, July 14 (HealthDayNews) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved new software designed to help radiologists detect solid lung nodules from computed tomography (CT) scans.

The ImageChecker CT CAD software highlights areas of the image that appear to be solid nodules, which can be cancerous. The software, the first of its kind for use with CT chest exams, is manufactured by R2 Technology Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif.

Article: http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout/2004/07/14/hscout520094.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 02:55 PM | Permalink

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 Posted: 9:43 AM EDT (1343 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government plans to open a "national bank" to better grow the only embryonic stem cells eligible for government-funded research, holding firm against critics who want Bush administration restrictions on the controversial cells lifted.

In addition, the National Institutes of Health plans to spend $18 million over four years to establish three "centers of excellence" to speed research on the currently available cell lines.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/07/14/stemcells.ap/index.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 02:54 PM | Permalink

Coordinator says U.S. spends more than rest of world
Wednesday, July 14, 2004 Posted: 1:56 PM EDT (1756 GMT)

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- The United States on Wednesday rejected a call at the International AIDS Conference for a $1 billion contribution next year to the global fund that has become the centerpiece of U.N. efforts against the disease.

"It's not going to happen," U.S. AIDS coordinator Randall Tobias said in an interview, noting that Washington already is by far the world's largest donor to the cause.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/conditions/07/14/us.aids.ap/index.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 02:52 PM | Permalink

People infected with the Sars virus can be treated by taking antibodies from others who have recovered from the disease, research shows.
The Swiss researchers who have developed the technique believe it could be adapted for use against other infections too.

It may provide a fast method to combat emerging diseases, and, perhaps, biological attacks.

The research is published in the journal Nature Medicine.

Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3889111.stm

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 04:01 PM | Permalink

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
NEWS
July 13, 2004
Posted to the web July 13, 2004
Bangkok

WHO has called for three million on AIDS treament by 2005

Innovative community-based public health initiatives are needed to enable the rapid rollout of HIV/AIDS treatment in Africa, the World Health Organisation (WHO) director of HIV/AIDS, Jim Yong Kim, told PlusNews on Tuesday.

To reach WHO's '3 by 5' goal (three million people on treatment by 2005) "simplified, high- quality public health initiatives are needed", Kim said at the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. "There needs to be an attitude of learning by doing."

The 3 by 5 initiative, launched by WHO in 2003, was a strategy to "energise" what has been a painfully slow rollout of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, said Kim. Over 4 million people are in need of life-prolonging drugs in Africa, but less than 5 percent are receiving it in a continent

Article: http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200407130694.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 03:52 PM | Permalink

Last Updated: 2004-07-12 15:11:29 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A microbe similar to a virus that causes mammary tumors in mice appears to be implicated in human breast cancer -- particularly in Tunisian women -- researchers report in the medical journal of Cancer.

Dr. Paul H. Levine of The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in Washington, DC, and colleagues note that since the discovery of the mouse mammary tumor virus, or MMTV, there has been an ongoing search for a human virus.

Article: http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2004/07/12/eline/links/20040712elin025.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 03:49 PM | Permalink

Last Updated: 2004-07-12 8:00:30 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Merritt McKinney

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Hispanic women who care for older relatives with dementia may delay placing their relatives in nursing homes longer than white caregivers, new research suggests.

Cultural values and attitudes toward caregiving may help explain some of the differences, researchers say.

Taking care of a relative with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia can put a heavy burden on caregivers. Eventually, most people with dementia are placed in a nursing home or other long-term-care institution.

But most studies on the institutionalization of people with dementia have focused on non-Hispanic whites. There is some evidence that Latino caregivers wait longer before placing their loved ones in an institution.

To look at the relationship between ethnicity and care of people with dementia, a team led by Dr. Dolores Gallagher-Thompson at Stanford University School of Medicine and VA Palo Alto Health Care System in California studied 264 women who were caring for a loved one with dementia. Of the women, 154 were Caucasian and 110 were Latinas.

Article: http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2004/07/12/eline/links/20040712elin003.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 03:45 PM | Permalink

People infected with the Sars virus can be treated by taking antibodies from others who have recovered from the disease, research shows.
The Swiss researchers who have developed the technique believe it could be adapted for use against other infections too.

It may provide a fast method to combat emerging diseases, and, perhaps, biological attacks.

The research is published in the journal Nature Medicine.

BBC Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3889111.stm
Nature Medicine Article

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 11:37 AM | Permalink

Monday, July 12, 2004 Posted: 7:37 AM EDT (1137 GMT)

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Scientists have played down hopes that an AIDS vaccine could be developed within the next few years.

Researchers even said they could be forced to go back to the drawing board if the current batch of drugs, all focused on one approach, fails.

Seth Berkley, President and Chief Executive of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, said the number of potential vaccines in clinical trials had doubled since the millennium but that more research was needed

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/07/12/aids.conference/index.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 03:34 PM | Permalink

A Public Health article highlights how a lack of access to health information for health workers in resource-poor settings is a major obstacle to achieving the 2015 millennium goals for global health.

Article: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/505979/

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 03:26 PM | Permalink

Last Updated: 2004-07-09 9:18:33 -0400 (Reuters Health)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fewer U.S. adults are showing up with dangerously high lead levels, but lead remains a health threat, especially in the workplace, government researchers said on Thursday.

The CDC found 10,658 adults with high lead levels in 2002, 37 percent fewer than in 2001.

"Despite improvements in control of lead exposures, this hazard remains an occupational health problem in the United States," the CDC said in its weekly report on death and disease.

Article: http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2004/07/09/eline/links/20040709elin006.html

Posted by Cindy Gruwell at 01:56 PM | Permalink

Saturday July 10, 9:30 am ET
Tobacco, Obesity, HIV/AIDS and Immigrant Health Addressed

MIAMI, July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of Congress, public health experts, community leaders and citizens of South Florida convened today to address racial and ethnic health disparities in the areas of tobacco, obesity, immigrant health and HIV/AIDS. The American Legacy Foundation, Pfizer and the Kellogg Men's Health Initiative sponsored the one-day summit held at Miami- Dade College.

Article: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040710/nysa004_1.html