| HEALTH NEWS |
| Cancer |
| Most Women with Cancer Want a Role in Decisions |
| About two-thirds of women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer want to take part in making decisions about their treatment, according to a new survey of patients from five different countries. |
| For Pregnant Women with Cancer, Chemo Possible |
| Researchers have encouraging news for women who find themselves in a very frightening situation: having cancer while pregnant. Studies suggest that these women can be treated almost the same as other cancer patients are, with minimal risk to the fetus. |
| Cardiovascular Disease |
| Gauging Hype During Heart Month: 5 Tests You Might Not Need |
| February is American Heart Month and consumers will be bombarded with advice to keep their ticker healthy — whether it’s from the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women or the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s The Heart Truth. |
| Obesity |
| Pentagon Attacks Obesity with New Food Choices |
| Obese Americans in the military are a national security hazard and U.S. first lady Michelle Obama wants to see that change. |
| Doctors Telling More Adults: Get Out and Exercise |
| More and more U.S. adults are being told by their doctor to get out and exercise, according to government survey released Thursday. |
| Neurologic Conditions |
| New Attack on Alzheimer’s |
| A cancer drug quickly and dramatically improved brain function and social ability and restored the sense of smell in mice bred with a form of Alzheimer’s disease, suggesting a new way to tackle the illness in people. |
| Cancer Drug Reverses Alzheimer’s in Mice: Study |
| A widely available cancer drug has shown remarkable success in reversing Alzheimer’s disease in mice, raising hope of a breakthrough against incurable dementia in humans, US researchers said Thursday. |
| Rehabilitation Technology |
| Nearly 1 in 20 US Adults Over 50 have Fake Knees |
| Nearly 1 in 20 Americans older than 50 have artificial knees, or more than 4 million people, according to the first national estimate showing how common these replacement joints have become in an aging population. |
| Baby Boomers’ Demand, Expectations for New Knees Soar |
| A soaring demand for new knees from aging Baby Boomers wanting to dance through Zumba workouts or zip down ski slopes is likely to lead to additional, more costly surgeries, according to a new report. |
| A Learning Curve For Surgeons Doing ACL Repairs |
| Think back to the first time you performed a complex task. It probably didn’t go as well as the 50th or 100th time you did it, right? |
| Other News |
| C-Sections Might Put Preemies at Risk for Breathing Problems |
| Small, premature infants born by cesarean section are at 30 percent higher risk for serious breathing problems than those delivered vaginally, a new study finds. |
| California Sets Trends in Health Regulation |
| Beyond skateboards, Silicon Valley and hippies, California has a trendsetting streak of a different kind. The state has been first to pass major public health initiatives that have spread throughout the country. California was first to require smog checks for clean air, pass anti-tobacco initiatives and bike helmets laws. |
| Teen Pregnancy Rates Hit 40 Year Low |
| Researchers at the Guttmacher Institute, a sexual and reproductive health think tank, say the pregnancy rate among teens is down 42%, from 116.9 pregnancies per 1,000 women in 1990, to 67.8 pregnancies per 1,000 women in 2008. This means about 7% of young women between the ages of 15 to 19 became pregnant in the United States in 2008. |
| The Science of Physical Attraction |
| For Valentine’s Day, the thoughts and hearts of many turn to love. If “true” love begins with the first glance, many women use makeup as a key attraction. |
| INDUSTRY NEWS |
| FDA Issues Plan to Avoid Heparin Contamination |
| U.S. health regulators issued recommendations to manufacturers to ensure the safe production of the blood-clot prevention drug heparin, four years after a contamination involving the widely used product set off concerns about the global pharmaceutical supply chain. |
| FDA Sets Draft Rules for Biotech Drug Copies |
| The Food and Drug Administration’s long-awaited guidelines for the sale of lower-cost versions of biotechnology drugs leave open the possibility that some products might not need to be tested in humans. |
| India’s Global Pharmacy Role Threatened by EU Pact |
| Efforts by India and the European Union to strengthen trade are threatening India’s ability to deliver lifesaving medicines to the world’s poorest, analysts say as the two sides push through protracted negotiations on a free-trade pact. |
| The Score on Scoring: Mylan 1, Warner Chilcott 0 |
| Score one for Mylan, but they’ll still have to score twice.The generic drug maker announced today that the FDA has approved its sale of a copycat version of a medicine called Doryx for severe acne. |
| Stopping Bone Drug Cuts Risk of Second Thigh Fracture: Study |
| People who suffer a rare type of fracture of the thigh bone while taking bone-building drugs known as bisphosphonates can cut the risk of a second fracture by discontinuing the medication, a new study says. |
| Insmed to Start Enrolling on Lung Drug Trial in Mid-2012 |
| Insmed Inc said it expects to begin enrolling patients in a mid-stage trial of its lung drug Arikace in mid-2012, after the U.S. health regulator lifted a clinical hold on the drug last month. |
| MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY NEWS |
| More Patients Seek Plastic Surgery Advice From Facebook, Twitter |
| A growing number of Americans are getting advice and information about facial plastic surgery from social networking sites rather than friends, a new survey indicates. |
| What is Google’s ‘Entertainment Device’? |
| Paperwork may not always be exciting, but a December Google filing with the Federal Communications Commission made a splash recently when it revealed that the Internet search giant had applied to test an “entertainment device.” |
| Don’t Look Now: A Car That Tweets |
| Undaunted by fear of safety regulations, auto makers are piling new technologies into their vehicles: everything from 17-inch dashboard screens to services that check Facebook and buy movie tickets. |
| 4 Ways to Boost Your SEO With Google+ |
| If you use Google regularly — and who doesn’t? — you’ve probably noticed that the company has been using various ways to coerce you to join Google+, its incipient social network. The plugs have been pretty overt and include a call-to-action on Google’s homepage and automatic G+ registration for new Gmail accounts. |
| Is ‘Like’ Any Measure of Success? |
| Earlier this week, USA Today proclaimed that Average Joe and Jill America’s favorite Super Bowl ad was the grandma who slingshot a baby across the yard to snatch a bag of Doritos from his annoying older brother. This was based on a USA Today/Facebook poll that collected online votes until Tuesday night. Apparently, the flying junk-food-loving tyke beat out the other 55 ads that cost collective advertisers upwards of $230 million in media time alone. The story also noted that “the purpose of most of the spots was to drive consumers to share the spots with friends, buzz about them and the brand and then try to find out more about the product.” |
