Mia Verco
May 25, 2011
Some pharma companies have a policy of waiting six months before advertising new drugs directly to consumers (in part to get physicians up to snuff on the products first).
Should that period be extended to two years, as some have suggested, to save some health-care dollars and allow for a shakeout period of possible harmful effects?
A new issue brief from the Congressional Budget Office looks at the potential effects of that sort of moratorium and concludes it wouldnt likely shake the health-care world to its foundations.
As CBO director Douglas Elmendorf says in an accompanying blog post, newly approved drugs make up a relatively small slice of the overall pharma marketplace.
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Abby Fadden
May 22, 2011
Artist’s concept showing free-floating planet that has roughly the mass of Jupiter. Sumi et al. show that these lone worlds, perhaps ejected from the planetary systems of their birth, are probably more common in our galaxy than stars.
The bitterly fought Pluto wars of a few years back showed that even the experts disagree on what is and what isn’t a planet. One thing there’s no quarrel about, of course: a planet is, by definition, something that orbits a star.
Except, it turns out, when it isn’t. Writing in the latest issue of Nature, a team of astronomers is reporting the discovery of ten objects roughly the size of Jupiter that seem to be on the loose, roaming the galaxy untethered to any star.
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David Coneybeer
May 19, 2011
The Associated PressChoose nectarines with smooth, unblemished skin and that have a slight give to the touch.
Think of them as fuzz-free peaches. Nectarines are small fruits that offer up sweet flavor from April to August. Originating in China, they were introduced to the U.S. by Spanish explorers. California produces 95 percent of nectarines grown in the country.
NUTRITION: A half-cup serving of nectarine is fat free and has 30 calories and a dose of vitamin C.
HOW TO CHOOSE: Pick nectarines with smooth, unblemished skin and ones that have a slight give to the touch.
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David Coneybeer
May 17, 2011
Mia Verco
Goodbye, donuts.
Capital Health, Nova Scotia’s largest health district, announced on Friday that as of this fall foods that fail to meet its healthy food guidelines will no longer be served at Tim Hortons outlets found in the district’s institutions.
“Capital Health has a duty to be a leader in our community on health and health issues,” Amanda Whitewood, vice-president of sustainability, said in a release. “One way we are working to improve the health of our community is by making healthier choices the easier ones in the food we sell to the staff, patients, families and visitors that use the restaurants in our facilities day in and day out.”
This is not the first time a hospital in Canada has cracked down on fast food. In March, t
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Abby Fadden
Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that a compound derived from curcumin helps cells overcome the treatment failure of head and neck cancer.
Curcumin is the principal curcuminoid of the popular Indian spice turmeric.
When researchers added a curcumin-based compound, called FLLL32, to head and neck cancer cell lines, they were able to cut the dose of the chemotherapy drug cisplatin by four while still killing tumor cells equally as well as the higher dose of cisplatin without FLLL32.
“This work opens the possibility of using lower, less toxic doses of cisplatin to achieve an equivalent or enhanced tumor kill. Typically, when cells become resistant to cisplatin, we have to give increasingly higher doses. B
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David Coneybeer
May 14, 2011
PAUL CHAPLIN, The Patriot-NewsTruck driver Steve Stouffer, 53, of West Pennsboro Twp., has lost 90 pounds since he started eating healthier and doing laps around the warehouses while his trailer is unloaded. The efforts have helped him eliminate his sleep apnea and reduce his blood pressure medicine.
A truck driver all his life, Steve Stouffer loves his job, but the trucker lifestyle caught up to him last year and threatened to end his career.
I failed my physical and I was pulled off the road, said the 53-year-old West Pennsboro Twp. resident. I had diabetes, and I had no clue I had it.
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