Scientists Decode The DNA Of A Woolly Mammoth

The woolly mammoth is the first extinct mammal to have its DNA sequence deciphered. Scientists used hair that was found frozen in the Siberian permafrost, some for tens of thousands of years. Read more…

Genetic Screening May ID Diabetes Risk

Genetic screening can help identify people at risk for type 2 diabetes, but it adds little to traditional methods for determining risk, two new studies show. Read more…

Indian Law Criminalizing Homosexuality Remains ‘Major Obstacle’ In Fight Against HIV/AIDS, Piot Says

UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot on Sunday said that an Indian law criminalizing sex between men is a “major obstacle” to the country’s efforts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS, News Track India reports. Piot called the law a “violation of human rights” and said that it should have been abolished a long time ago. Read more…

Sen. Edward Kennedy Plans To Introduce Universal Health Care Bill

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) on Monday returned to the Senate for the first time since July and reaffirmed his intentions to introduce universal health care legislation next year, the New York Times’ “The Caucus” reports. Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer in May (Hulse/Stout, “The Caucus,” New York Times, 11/18). Read more…

No human mad cow case in Texas panhandle: officials

CHICAGO (Reuters) - There has been no human case of mad cow disease in the Texas panhandle area in the past month, the Texas Department of State Health Services said on Wednesday in response to rumors in Chicago markets of a woman patient there with the disease.

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Global HIV Testing Campaign Launched In Cambodia, Uganda

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Cambodia last week launched the first phase of a program that aims to test 10,000 people in the country for HIV, the Phnom Penh Post reports. The campaign is part of an AHF program to test one million people worldwide for HIV by World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. Read more…

Diabetes Cost U.S. $218B In 2007, Report Finds

Diabetes in 2007 cost the U.S. $218 billion in direct medical care and indirect costs, such as lost productivity, according to a report released on Tuesday, the AP/Raleigh News & Observer reports. Read more…

PAION Announces Successful Completion Of Phase I Study With The Sedative/Anaesthetic CNS 7056

The biopharmaceutical company PAION AG (ISIN DE000A0B65S3; Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Prime Standard: PA8; London AIM: PAI) today announces that it has successfully completed a Phase I study with its intravenous sedative/anaesthetic CNS 7056. Read more…

New U.S. Army Mosquito Control Technology Licensed For Deployment Against Dengue

A novel, patented mosquito-killing technology developed by U.S. Army researchers under a long-term, joint-development agreement between the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research , the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, and the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine , and targeted at Dengue fever is headed for the field. Read more…

Health Highlights: Nov. 19, 2008

Plastic in Lean Cuisine chicken meals; primary-care docs dissatisfied; more Read more…

Stem Cells Used In Woman’s Windpipe Transplant

The pioneering operation used a section of windpipe engineered in a laboratory with adult human stem cells. Engineering new tissues and organs from stem cells has long been sought as a solution to overcome a chronic shortage of donor organs. Read more…

UnitedHealth Group To Provide Immediate Resources For Those Affected By The Southern California Wildfires

Due to the recent event of ongoing wildfires in Southern California, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) and its family of companies, including UnitedHealthcare, Ovations, OptumHealth and Prescription Solutions, are taking the following immediate actions to help those affected by the fires. Effective Nov. 16, 2008, through Nov. Read more…

First Retinal Prosthesis Study Of Its Kind Seeks To Partially Restore Vision To The Blind

Second Sight® Medical Products, Inc., the leading developer of retinal prostheses for the blind, announced that it will increase patient enrollment for the ArgusTM II Retinal Implant study throughout clinical trials sites within Europe. Read more…

Oregon - Central And Southern Oregon Hardest Hit By Economic Downturn

Tough economic times are when Oregonians count on the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) the most, and new figures for October show marked increases in applications for assistance. Requests for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and food stamps have increased statewide. Read more…

Spending On Direct-To-Consumer Prescription Drug Ads Decreases, Study Finds

Spending on direct-to-consumer advertisements for medications has decreased for the second consecutive year, according to a study recently released by TNS Media Intelligence, the AP/Albany Times Union reports. According to the study, spending on such ads reached a high of $5.43 billion in 2006 and decreased by 3% to $5.26 billion in 2007. Read more…