Medscape Today News

• House Backs Children's Health Bill The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to expand a children's health program and increase cigarette taxes to pay for it, giving President-elect Barack Obama a jump start on a campaign promise to insure more Americans.
  Reuters Health Information, January 2009
• Metabolic Syndrome Raises Liver Cirrhosis Risk The results of a study published in the January issue of the journal Gut suggest that metabolic syndrome is an independent risk factor for liver cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B.
  Reuters Health Information, January 2009
• Folate With Other Nutrients Lower Stroke Risk Low folate intake is associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke, Taiwanese and US researchers report in the December issue of Stroke. However, a wider approach than simply boosting folate intake appears to harvest the greatest benefits.
  Reuters Health Information, January 2009
• Genistein Safely Improves Bone Formation in Osteopenic, Postmenopausal Women Genistein aglycone improves bone formation without adversely affecting the breast in postmenopausal women with osteopenia, according to a report in the December issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
  Reuters Health Information, January 2009
• Dramatic Reduction in Cancer Risk After Salpingo-Oophorectomy in Women with BRCA Mutations The surgical removal of the ovaries and fallopian tubes dramatically reduces the risk for breast cancer and ovarian and fallopian tube cancer in women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations.
  Medscape Medical News, January 2009
• Urologic Complications After Hysterectomy Multifactorial Disease stage and obesity are among the factors that may influence the risk of urinary tract complications in women who undergo radical hysterectomy for invasive cancer of the cervix uteri, according to researchers in Serbia.
  Reuters Health Information, January 2009
• Pneumatic Compression Devices Help With Restless Legs Syndrome The results of a sham-controlled trial suggest that pneumatic compression devices (PCDs) can produce clinically significant improvements in patients with restless legs syndrome.
  Reuters Health Information, January 2009
• Interleukin-4-Conjugated Exotoxin Active Against Biliary Tract Carcinoma An interleukin-4 (IL-4)-conjugated Pseudomonas exotoxin (IL-4-PE) is active against human biliary tract carcinoma, according to a report in the December 15th issue of the International Journal of Cancer.
  Reuters Health Information, January 2009
• Havel "Serious but Stable" in Hospital Former Czech President Vaclav Havel is in a serious but stable condition in a Prague hospital with respiratory problems, doctors said on Wednesday.
  Reuters Health Information, January 2009
• FDA Panel Backs Vigabatrin for Refractory Seizures but Urges Caution The advisory committee has given vigabatrin the green light for approval, but says doctors should be careful because treatment can lead to irreversible vision loss.
  Medscape Medical News, January 2009
• Weight Loss Does Not Prevent Progression of Pelvic Organ Prolapse Weight loss does not prevent the progression of or reverse pelvic organ prolapse (POP), according to a report in the January issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
  Reuters Health Information, January 2009
• Infant Mortality Peak at 2-3 Months Related to HIV/AIDS in South Africa Researchers in Cape Town, South Africa, "interpret the peak in mortality at two-three months as an indicator for pediatric AIDS in a South African population with high HIV prevalence and where other causes of death are not sufficiently high to mask HIV effects."
  Reuters Health Information, January 2009
• US Declines to Clear Schering Schizophrenia Drug U.S. health regulators have declined to approve Schering-Plough Corp's experimental drug for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, requesting more data, the drugmaker said on Wednesday.
  Reuters Health Information, January 2009
• A Bridge Too Far? Posttransplant Mortality Seen Higher With Pretransplant VAD Support The finding comes from UNOS data going back more than a decade. While the data don't necessarily support VAD bridge therapy, there are some caveats, so they shouldn't discourage it either, according to expert observers.
  Heartwire, January 2009
• WSJ Report Highlights GlaxoSmithKline Concerns With Rosiglitazone A report by the Wall Street Journal reveals that GlaxoSmithKline had similar concerns about rosiglitazone as the researchers who first raised alarms about the diabetes drug.
  Heartwire, January 2009
• Jobs Announces Medical Leave From Apple On January 14, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced in an email to employees that he is taking a medical leave of absence from the company until the end of June.
  Medscape Medical News, January 2009
• New ALL Subtype Identified, Associated With Poor Prognosis A new subtype of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has been identified, and it appears to be the most common childhood ALL with a poor prognosis.
  Medscape Medical News, January 2009
• Pneumoccocal Meningitis Rates Have Decreased in US A population-based study shows that pneumoccocal meningitis rates have decreased among US children and adults since the introduction of the pneumoccocal conjugate vaccine.
  Medscape Medical News, January 2009
• First Simple Febrile Seizure in Some Young Children Not Likely Bacterial Meningitis A retrospective cohort review suggests that lumbar puncture may not be necessary for a first simple febrile seizure at ages 6 to 18 months because the risk for bacterial meningitis is very low.
  Medscape Medical News, January 2009
• Newly Identified Genetic Variant for Alzheimer's Disease Risk is Sex-Specific Late-onset Alzheimer's disease has been associated with the allele of a gene on the X chromosome that mediates cell-cell adhesion.
  Medscape Medical News, January 2009