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Parents of children with special health needs in California often are not aware that there is a paid family leave insurance program available for their use, with only 5 percent of those surveyed having used the program, according to a study in the September 3 issue of JAMA.

Use of sodium bicarbonate for hydration during coronary angiography for patients with kidney disease did not reduce the risk of developing serious kidney problems related to the use of contrast agents, compared to use of sodium chloride, according to a study in the September 3 issue of JAMA.

California's pioneering paid family leave program has largely failed to reach one of its major target groups, according to a new study by RAND Corporation researchers.

Few parents of children with serious chronic illnesses have used the program, despite having paid into the program through payroll withholdings, and the vast majority of these parents aren't even aware that the program exists, according to researchers.

New Rochelle, NY, September 2, 2008—The many recent reports documenting the therapeutic efficacy of short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) in animal models of human disease may actually be describing non-specific therapeutic effects related to the ability of siRNA to activate an immune response, according to a paper in the September 2008 issue (Volume 19, Number 9) of Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

The Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center recently opened a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-sponsored, phase II clinical study for certain sub-types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The study is based on research from VCU Massey Cancer Center as well as other centers suggesting that combining two novel, recently approved drugs that have shown effectiveness in certain blood cancers may be active in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, or mantle cell lymphoma. The study is intended for patients whose disease has progressed following treatment with other regimens.

Bethesda, MD (Sept. 1, 2008) – Colorectal adenomas, the precursor polyps in virtually all colorectal cancers, occur infrequently in younger adults, but the rate sharply increases after age 50. Additionally, African Americans have a higher rate of proximal, or right-sided, polyps, and may have a worse prognosis for survival if the polyps become cancerous. Therefore, the results of this study further emphasize the importance of colonoscopies, which view the entire colon, for the prevention of colorectal cancer beginning at age 50.

Munich, Germany, 1 September 2008 – Biosensors International Group, Ltd ("Biosensors", "Company", BIG:SP) today announced that a next-generation drug-eluting stent, developed by Biosensors, has demonstrated equal safety and efficacy as compared to Johnson & Johnson's industry leading drug-eluting stent, CYPHER SELECT™ ("Cypher"), based upon nine-month clinical and angiographic follow-up data.

Two foetuses found in the tomb of Tutankhamen may have been twins and were very likely to have been the children of the teenage Pharaoh, according to the anatomist who first studied the mummified remains of the young King in the 1960s.

Professor Robert Connolly, who is working with the Egyptian authorities to analyse the mummified remains of Tutankhamen and the two stillborn children, will discuss the new findings at the Pharmacy and Medicine in Ancient Egypt Conference at the University of Manchester today (Monday 1 September 2008).

Munich , Germany , Tuesday 2 September 2008:

The very early phase of STEMI is the most critical one, because patients can die before the medical system can reach them and because the best treatment for STEMI is reperfusion therapy given as soon as possible, either by pharmacological fibrinolysis or primary PCI (coronary angiography and angioplasty, with stent placement in the coronaries). As a matter of fact, "time is muscle" for STEMI patients and the later the culprit occluded coronary artery is opened; the worse the outcome for patients.

The management of acute coronary syndromes (with or without ST segment elevation) requires the use of anticoagulants, antiplatelet agents (aspirin, clopidogrel and/or glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitors), beta-blockers, thrombolytics in some cases, and revascularization / reperfusion.

Because it is sometimes (in about 1/3 of patients presenting with signs of STEMI) difficult to determine exactly the time of onset of infarction, reperfusion therapy should be considered when there are clinical or electrocardiographic signs of ongoing ischaemia even if, according to the individual patient, symptoms started over 12 hours ago. Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) is the recommended therapy of choice if performed by an experienced team as soon as possible after first medical contact.

Almost half of all U.S. adults and nearly two-thirds of obese adults will develop painful osteoarthritis of the knee by age 85, a study based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests.

The study also found that a person's lifetime risk rose as their body mass index or BMI increased, with the greatest risk found in those whose weight was normal at age 18 but were overweight or obese at 45 or older.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers have demonstrated that a drug called ondansetron helps reduce vomiting, the need for intravenous fluids and hospital admissions in children with acute gastroenteritis.

Gastroenteritis is an infection, often caused by a virus, that causes vomiting and diarrhea. It is often popularly called "stomach flu" and is a very common ailment in children during the winter months.

A team of orthopaedic researchers has found definitive, genetic proof of how the most common form of arthritis destroys joint cartilage in nearly 21 million aging Americans, according to a study published online Sept. 2 in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. The findings serve as an important foundation for the design of new treatments for osteoarthritis (OA), researchers said.

Scientists in the USA have established a way to predict outbreaks of cholera, making it easier to control. This finding could provide a model to predict and potentially control outbreaks of other important infectious diseases.

Cholera is a serious, ancient water-borne infectious disease, which is an unpredictable and severe problem for developing countries.