Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

5-to-3 Majority Supports The Idea Of A Public Or Government Health Plan To Compete With Private Insurance
One of the hotly contested issues in the debate about health care reform is whether or not there should be a new government health plan to compete with the plans offered by the insurance industry to employers and individuals. This idea is strongly supported by President Obama and most Democratic members of Congress but Republican members of Congress unanimously oppose it.
generic viagra online
Centrist Dems Say Abortion Issues Must Not Delay Health Reform; Conservatives Step Up Criticism
Five centrist House Democrats, led by antiabortion-rights Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio), on Tuesday issued a proposal that would neither require nor ban private insurers from covering abortion services as long as federal dollars are not used, the Washington Post"s "Capitol Briefing" reports. In a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Ryan and Reps. Dale Kildee (Mich.), James Langevin (R.I.), Artur Davis (Ala.) and Kendrick Meek (Fla.) said that their proposal "maintains the current status quo in the private market" and would not "preempt constitutionally permissible" state restrictions related to abortion, such as parental notification laws. The representatives called their proposal a "common ground solution." Current federal law prohibits the use of federal Medicaid funds for abortion services in nearly all circumstances. The lawmakers said that they are "increasingly concerned about potential roadblocks around the issue of abortion" in the health reform debate in Congress. According to "Capitol Briefing," antiabortion-rights Democrats are concerned that health reform legislation could lead to indirect federal funding of abortion services through private insurers participating in a proposed health insurance exchange (Eggen, "Capitol Briefing," Washington Post, 7/21). In the letter, the representatives said that they would like to include language in the final health reform bill "that makes clear that no insurance company will be required to pay for an abortion except in extraordinary circumstances." In addition, insurance providers would not be prohibited from paying for abortion services "so long as health insurance plans offered in the exchange that choose to provide abortion coverage pay for those services with funds that are separate and distinct from any federal subsidies," the letter said. Ryan said he hopes the proposal will be introduced in committee on Wednesday as an amendment (Smith, Politico, 7/21).House Members Step Up Efforts To Exclude Abortion CoverageMeanwhile, antiabortion-rights House members are intensifying their efforts to exclude abortion coverage from the chamber"s health reform bill (HR 3200), which they said includes a "hidden mandate" that would allow federal money to cover the procedure, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said that he plans to join other antiabortion-rights House members at a news conference on Wednesday to criticize the legislation. Stupak helped draft a June 25 letter to Pelosi saying that he and 19 other Democrats would not support any health reform bill "unless it explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan." The bill does not mention abortion, which supporters say means that the legislation is neutral on the issue (Alonso-Zaldivar, AP/Houston Chronicle, 7/22).Antiabortion-Rights Coalition Launches CampaignA coalition of antiabortion-rights groups this week is launching a three-week campaign aimed at excluding abortion coverage from health reform legislation, Politico reports. The coalition includes James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention; David Bereit of 40 Days for Life; and Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life. Yoest said AUL intends to send a letter to President Obama on Thursday citing its "belief that the bills are intended to include abortion."Laurie Rubiner, vice president for public policy and advocacy at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said that abortion is "not mandated any more than any other service or procedure in health reform." She added that excluding abortion coverage could result in women losing the coverage they currently have under private plans. The abortion-rights opponents" demand to exclude abortion coverage "violates the first principle of health care reform, which is: Don"t make people worse off under health care reform than they are today," Rubiner said (Smith, Politico, 7/22).
News of the day
Heart Transplant Recipients Can Improve Fitness And Perform High Intensity Workouts
Heart transplant recipients" cardio-respiratory fitness is around 30 to 50 per cent lower than age-matched healthy sedentary individuals. As a result, exercise rehabilitation should be very important to these patients, and a University of Alberta study shows they can improve their overall physical fitness.
Mental Health

Lack Of Happiness Hormone Serotonin In The Brain Causes Impaired Maternal Behavior In Mice

A lack of serotonin, commonly known as the "happiness hormone", in the brain slows the growth of mice after birth and is responsible for impaired maternal behavior later in life. This was the result of research conducted by Dr. Natalia Alenina, Dana Kikic, and Professor Michael Bader of the Max DelbrÃøck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany. At the same time, the researchers discovered that the presence of serotonin in the brain is not crucial for the survival of the animals. Furthermore, they were able to confirm that there are two strictly separate pathways of serotonin production: One gene is responsible for the formation of serotonin in the brain, another gene for the production of the hormone in the body (PNAS, June 23, 2009, Vol. 106, No. 25, pp 10332-10337)*. The researchers "switched off" the gene Tph2 in mice to elucidate the function of the gene in the brain. Tph2 produces the enzyme tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH), which is responsible for the formation of serotonin. After the researchers switched off Tph2, the animals produced almost no serotonin in the brain. Nevertheless, the animals were viable and half of them survived until adulthood. However, they needed more sleep during the day and the regulation of their respiration, body temperature, and blood pressure was altered. The female mice were able to give birth and produced enough milk to feed their pups, but their impaired maternal behavior led to poor survival of the offspring. The Tph2 gene was discovered by MDC researchers several years ago together with researchers of the Free University (FU) Berlin and Humboldt University Berlin (HUB). *Growth retardation and altered autonomic control in mice lacking brain serotonin Natalia Alenina1*, Dana Kikic1*, Mihail Todiras1, Valentina Mosienko1, Fatimunnisa Qadri1, Ralph Plehm1, Philipp Boye1, Larissa Vilianovitch1, Reinhard Sohr2, Katja Tenner1, Heide Hörtnagl2, Michael Bader1 1Max-DelbrÃøck-Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, D-13125 Berlin; 2Institute of Pharmacology, Charité-University Medicine, Berlin, Germany *N.A. and D.K. contributed equally to this study. Barbara Bachtler Max DelbrÃøck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch Robert-Rössle-StraÃÿe 10 13125 Berlin, Germany Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009