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

Study Explains Potential Failure Of Oral Contraceptives With Obese Women
Researchers have identified a potential biological mechanism that could explain why oral contraceptives may be less effective at preventing pregnancy in obese women, as some epidemiological studies have indicated.
generic viagra online
Federal Advisory Committee Issues Guidelines For H1N1 Vaccine Campaign
During a meeting in Atlanta on Wednesday, a "federal advisory committee issued sweeping guidelines ò€¦ for a vaccination campaign against the pandemic swine flu strain, identifying more than half the U.S. population as targets for the first round of vaccinations," CNN reports (Hellerman, 7/29).
News of the day
Advocates Eager To Learn More About Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor's Abortion-Rights Views
Abortion-rights groups on Wednesday offered their support for Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor but said that they were eager to learn more about her views on abortion rights, an issue on which she has made few major rulings in her time as a judge, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, groups on both sides of the abortion-rights debate tend to believe that Sotomayor would uphold Roe v. Wade because she was nominated by President Obama, who supports abortion rights. However, when asked on Tuesday if Obama questioned Sotomayor about her views on abortion rights before the nomination, White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said that the president "did not ask that specifically." In addition, none of her rulings has directly dealt with the underlying issues of constitutional privacy that are the foundation for the Roe decision, according to the Times. The abortion-related cases Sotomayor has handled in the past have "turned on other legal issues," rather than privacy, and they have resulted in rulings in favor of abortion-right opponents, the Times reports. For example, in 2002, she wrote an opinion upholding the Bush administration"s "global gag rule" policy banning federal funding of international groups that offer abortion information or services. "The Supreme Court has made clear that the government is free to favor the antiabortion position over the pro-choice position and can do so with public funds," Sotomayor wrote in the opinion. In 2004, she said that antiabortion-rights protesters were permitted to sue police who they claimed used excessive force in stopping a demonstration at a clinic. Sotomayor also has ruled on several immigration cases related to people fighting deportation orders to China over its family planning policies, the Times reports. Because of the limited information on Sotomayor"s abortion-rights views, advocates have stressed that senators ask questions about her views during her confirmation hearing. NARAL Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan in a letter to supporters urged them to press senators to ask Sotomayor about privacy rights. Keenan wrote, "Discussion about [Roe] will -- and must -- be part of this nomination process. As you know, choice hangs in the balance on the Supreme Court as the last two major choice-related cases were decided by a 5-to-4 margin" (Savage, New York Times, 5/28). Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said that she would be surprised if an Obama nominee did not support abortion rights but added that "other presidents have been surprised before" when their nominees" views did not align with their assumptions. Northup said that "no one has been able to give us an assurance" of Sotomayor"s views on abortion rights, adding that she would be "very concerned if the question is not asked and answered during the Senate hearings." Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal said, "What we know about [Sotomayor] we like, but I don"t know that answer on abortion rights" (Savage/Nicholas, Los Angeles Times, 5/28). The New York Times reports that more about Sotomayor"s views on abortion rights could come to light if a past writing on the subject surfaces, as was the case during Justice Samuel Alito"s confirmation process. Steven Waldman, editor in chief of beliefnet.com, said, "Everyone is just assuming that because Obama appointed her, she must be a die-hard pro-choice activist, but it"s really quite amazing how little we know about her views on abortion" (Savage, New York Times, 5/28). Thomas Goldstein, a leading appellate attorney and founder of scotusblog.com, said that the "fact that she hasn"t gone off on these sorts of questions" on contentious topics like abortion rights and gay marriage, "I think shows that honestly she"s not a dyed in the wool liberal." He added that there are issues on which Sotomayor could prove to be more conservative than retiring Justice David Souter (Lerer, Politico, 5/27).According to the Washington Post, many antiabortion-rights supporters are critic
Oncology

Potential Shown In Breast Cancer Biomarker

SCIENTISTS have found a new biomarker that can predict the outcome of breast cancers that have spread to the lymph nodes, reveal findings published in the British Journal of Cancer . Scientists from the Renç© Gauducheau Cancer Centre in France took samples from 92 women who had surgery for lymph node positive breast cancer - where cancer cells had spread to the armpit area - and compared the amount of a protein called UBE2C with the outcome of the patients over a five year period. They found that high levels of the protein were linked to a more aggressive tumour. It is hoped that the protein UBE2C could be developed into a test to help doctors predict what treatment works best for women with this form of breast cancer and enable scientists to identify drugs to target the protein. Dr Pascal Jç©zç©quel, who led the study from the Renç© Gauducheau Cancer Centre said: "Previous studies have alerted us to the presence of UBE2C in certain particularly aggressive cancers, so we wanted to understand how reliable an indication high levels of the UBE2C protein was in predicting the likelihood of the cancer returning after treatment. "This study shows that the protein gives us a very reliable indication of the aggressiveness of disease." Dr Jç©zç©quel continued: "The UBE2C protein appears to be linked to a process called the proteasome system, which when it goes wrong, can drive this type of cancer. So, we believe that the chemotherapy drug bortezomib (Velcade), which is designed to block proteasome activity, could work against this form of the disease. "If this is shown to work in clinical trials, it could open the door to more effective treatments for a group of patients who are served less well by existing therapies." Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK, said: "We no longer see people with breast cancer as belonging to a single group because we now know there are many different forms of the disease. Personalising treatments in this way enables doctors to decide what treatment is likely to have the best effect to improve survival and avoid unnecessary treatment. "The next stage will be to see if this protein can be used as a predictive biomarker by doctors to decide how best to treat this group of patients and to see how useful it will be." References Validation of UBE2C protein as a prognostic marker in node-positive breast cancer Loussouarn, D., Campion, L., Leclair, F., Campone, M., Charbonnel, C., Ricolleau, G., Gouraud, W., Bataille, R., & Jç©zç©quel, P. (2009). British Journal of Cancer DOI: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6605122 Cancer Research UK


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

© Copyright 2009