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NIST guides genetic genealogy labs toward improved accuracy

Anyone who has watched crime dramas on TV knows that forensic scientists can use DNA “profiling” to identify people from evidence gathered at a crime scene, establish a paternity link or help free an innocent person who has been wrongly jailed. A lesser known but rapidly growing application of DNA profiling is tracing a person’s paternal ancestry—a process known as genetic genealogy. The laboratories performing this testing often differ in their results, making data comparison between labs difficult and casting doubt on reported genetic matches.

Treating gum disease linked to lower medical costs for patients with diabetes

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---A new report suggests that treating gum disease in patients who have diabetes with procedures such as cleanings and periodontal scaling is linked to 10 to 12 percent lower medical costs per month.

Older adults at high risk for drug interactions

At least one in 25 older adults, about 2.2 million people in the United States, take multiple drugs in combinations that can produce a harmful drug-drug interaction, and half of these interactions involve a non-prescription medication, researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center report in the Dec. 24/31, 2008, issue of JAMA.

With mental health insurance, price matters

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — More people who need mental health services will seek follow-up care if the price is right, Brown University researchers have found.

Longer sleep duration associated with lower incidence of calcification in coronary arteries

Participants in a study who slept on average an hour longer per night than other participants had an associated lower incidence of coronary artery calcification, which is thought to be a predictor of future heart disease, according to a study in the December 24/31 issue of JAMA.

Among older adults, prescription and over-the-counter medications are commonly used together

A survey suggests that nearly half of older adults in the U.S. use prescription and over-the-counter medications together, and that about 4 percent of older adults are potentially at risk of an adverse drug reaction because of an interaction between medications, according to a study in the December 24/31 issue of JAMA. The researchers also found that nearly 30 percent use at least 5 prescription medications.

Psychiatric patients have greater usage of mental health services in insurance parity health plans

Following a psychiatric discharge, Medicare patients in insurance plans that provide equal cost sharing for mental health services have higher use of those services compared to patients in plans that require greater cost sharing, according to a study in the December 24/31 issue of JAMA.

Clinical pharmacists can reduce drug costs

Clinical pharmacy services can significantly reduce the cost of prescription drugs and save money elsewhere in the health care system, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

For every dollar spent by hospitals or health systems to provide clinical pharmacy services, $4.81 was saved through lower drug costs, reductions in adverse drug events and medication errors and other savings, says Glen Schumock, associate professor and director of UIC's Center for Pharmacoeconomic Research and senior researcher on the study.

UT Public Health researchers find link to severe Staph infections

Researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health recently described studies that support the link between the severity of community-acquired antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA MRSA) infections and the Panton Valentine leukocidin (PVL).

UC Davis discovery offers hope for treating kidney cancer

Kidney cancer is typically without symptoms until it has spread to other organs, when it is also the most difficult to treat. Newer chemotherapies show great promise for extending survival during later disease stages, but they can also be highly toxic.

In one of the first discoveries of its kind, UC Davis Cancer Center researchers have identified ways to block a cancer gene's own repair mechanism and, in so doing, help make chemotherapy for kidney cancer more effective and better tolerated. The outcome is published in the current issue of Cancer Biology and Therapy.

Vitamin D deficiency associated with greater rates of Cesarean sections

(Boston) — Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) found that pregnant women who are vitamin D deficient are also at an increased risk for delivering a baby by caesarean section as compared to pregnant women who are not vitamin D deficient. These findings currently appear on-line in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Vitamin D deficiency associated with greater rates of cesarean sections

(Boston) — Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) found that pregnant women who are vitamin D deficient are also at an increased risk for delivering a baby by caesarean section as compared to pregnant women who are not vitamin D deficient. These findings currently appear on-line in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Maternal health problems in Myanmar widespread

The maternal health care issues facing women in eastern Burma (also known as Myanmar) are widespread and underreported, according to surveys by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The researchers report that more than 88 percent of women had a home delivery during their last pregnancy and displaced women were more than 5 time as likely to receive no antenatal care. Human rights violations, like displacement and forced labor, were are also widespread and found to affect access to maternal health care.

Reduction in antibody gene rearrangement in B cells related to type 1 diabetes, lupus

PHILADELPHIA – More drafts usually mean a better product and so it also seems to go with the human immune system. As B cells develop, genes rearrange to allow antibodies to recognize different foreign invaders or pathogens. But sometimes antibodies are created that recognize and attack the body's own cells. These self-reactive antibodies, like early drafts of a manuscript, must be edited into versions that won't attack self. This process is called receptor editing and is important for central or early B cell tolerance, which occurs while B cells are still developing in the bone marrow.

UCSB scientists show how certain vegetables combat cancer

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– Women should go for the broccoli when the relish tray comes around during holiday celebrations this season.

While it has been known for some time that eating cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage, can help prevent breast cancer, the mechanism by which the active substances in these vegetables inhibit cell proliferation was unknown — until now.