Month: May 2013

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration on Wednesday announced a $1 billion initiative to fund innovations in federal healthcare programs aimed at cutting costs while improving the health results. The Department of Health and Human Services said the money will be used to award and evaluate projects that test new payment and delivery models for federal programs including Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Music, art and dance therapy may relieve anxiety and similar symptoms among people with cancer, according to a new analysis of past studies. Researchers who analyzed results from trials conducted between 1989 and 2011 said the benefits tied to creative arts therapies were small, but similar to those of other complementary techniques such as yoga and acupuncture. “People with cancer very often feel like their body has been taken over by the cancer. They feel overwhelmed,” said Joke Bradt, a music therapist from Drexel University in Philadelphia. …

By Jeanine Prezioso NEW YORK (Reuters) – Enbridge Energy Partners said it may be forced to shut down an 80,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) oil-loading rail terminal in North Dakota unless the amount of potentially deadly hydrogen sulfide in crude oil delivered to the facility can be reduced. Last week, Enbridge asked for a ruling in one day from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to restrict the amount of hydrogen sulfide in the delivered crude. That request came after a very large concentration of the gas was discovered in a tank at Berthold, North Dakota, on May 5. …

By Dr. Sowmya Srinivasan for ABC News: Many of us incorrectly assume that the vaccines we received as children will protect us for a lifetime. But immunity can fade with time. Keeping your vaccines up to date can help protect you and  your kids, and…        

The new technology could lead to medical treatments.        

CHICAGO (AP) — In the new psychiatric manual of mental disorders, grief soon after a loved one's death can be considered major depression. Extreme childhood temper tantrums get a fancy name. And certain "senior moments" are called "mild neurocognitive disorder."

By Kerry Grens NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Children with even slightly elevated blood lead levels are less likely to be ready to read when starting kindergarten, according to a new study. Lead has been shown to affect school performance, but what’s important in this study is “looking at even fairly low levels of lead exposure and still finding significant impacts on kindergarten reading readiness,” said Marie Lynn Miranda, a professor at Michigan State University, who was not part of the research. …

By Dave Warner and Daniel Kelley PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – A Philadelphia doctor was sent to prison on Wednesday to serve three life terms without parole for murdering babies during late-term abortions and other crimes at his squalid clinic. In a deal that spared him from the death penalty, Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, faced a judge in a two-day sentencing at Philadelphia Common Pleas Court after waiving his right to appeal his conviction on three counts of first-degree murder. …

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is planning a mental health conference next month in response to gun violence.

By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Ovarian cancer rates in the U.S. began to decline faster in 2002 around the time many older women went off hormone replacement therapy, according to a new study. That year, the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) found that estrogen or estrogen plus progestin hormone therapy, prescribed for the symptoms of menopause, was linked to an increased risk of breast cancer, stroke and heart attack. …

NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists have finally recovered stem cells from cloned human embryos, a longstanding goal that could lead to new treatments for such illnesses as Parkinson's disease and diabetes.