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Public reporting of how physicians and hospitals perform in quality of care measures leads to improved care for patients. A collaborative team of researchers led by Geoffrey C. Lamb, M.D., professor of internal medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin, published their findings in the March 2013 edition of Health Affairs.

Oxidative stress turns a protein that normally protects healthy cells into their executioner, according to a study released today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

Alvaro Estevez, an associate professor at the University of Central Florida's College of Medicine, led the multi-university team that made the discovery, which could eventually help scientists develop new therapies to combat a host of conditions from stroke to Lou Gehrig's disease

Three antiretroviral-based strategies intended to prevent HIV infection among women did not prove effective in a major clinical trial in Africa. For reasons that are unclear, a majority of study participants—particularly young, single women—were unable to use their assigned approaches daily as directed, according to findings presented today by one of the study's co-leaders at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Atlanta.

(Boston) – An international group of researchers has discovered seven new regions of the human genome—called loci—that are associated with increased risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness. The AMD Gene Consortium, a network of international investigators representing 18 research groups, also confirmed 12 loci identified in previous studies.

The uplift of the Isthmus of Panama 2.6 million years ago formed a land-bridge that has long thought to be the crucial step in the interchange of animals between the Americas, including armadillos and giant sloths moving up into North America and relatives of modern horses, rabbits, foxes, pigs, cats, dogs, and elephants down into South America.

(Baltimore, MD) – A new study by Kennedy Krieger Institute's International Center for Spinal Cord Injury (Epub ahead of print) finds that long-term lower extremity functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycling, as part of a rehabilitation regimen, is associated with substantial improvements in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). Improvements include neurological and functional gains, as well as enhanced physical health demonstrated by decreased fat, increased muscle mass and improved lipid profile.

Philadelphia, Pa. (March 04, 2013) - A contact lens technique called overnight orthokeratology (OK) brings rapid improvement in vision for nearsighted patients.

People who smoke low-cost contraband cigarettes in Canada are less likely to stop smoking in the short term compared with people who smoke more expensive premium or discount cigarettes, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

"We posit that the substantial price gap between premium/discount and contraband cigarettes is the reason for this correlation," writes Graham Mecredy, Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, Toronto, Ontario, with coauthors.

Despite declining fertility, women over age 40 still require effective contraception if they wish to avoid pregnancy. A review article outlines the risks and benefits of various contraceptive options for these women. The article, based on current evidence and published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal), is aimed at helping physicians find the best methods for their patients.

Canada needs to reform its patchwork system of prison health care that does not adequately care for prisoners' complex health care needs, argues an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)

ATLANTA, March 4, 2013 – Results of a major HIV prevention trial suggest that daily use of a product – whether a vaginal gel or an oral tablet – does not appear to be the right approach for preventing HIV in young, unmarried African women.

Philadelphia, Pa. (March 4, 2013) – Patients undergoing cerebral angiography and neurointerventional procedures on the brain are at very low risk of infection—even without preventive antibiotics, reports a study in the March issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA (12:15 EST MARCH 4, 2013) — Researchers with the Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) today announced results of the Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic (VOICE) study at the Conference for Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Atlanta, Georgia. The VOICE study tested oral and vaginal antiretroviral-based approaches as HIV prevention methods in 5,029 women in South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Funded by the U.S.

A two-year-old child born with HIV infection and treated with antiretroviral drugs beginning in the first days of life no longer has detectable levels of virus using conventional testing despite not taking HIV medication for 10 months, according to findings presented today at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Atlanta.

If the word's nations are going to prevent tobacco smoking from causing one projected billion deaths by the end of this century, they must:Make tobacco control part of the agendas of United Nation's and other development agencies worldwide;Assure every sector of a nation including health, trade and finance officials work collectively to protect not only health but the harm tobacco places on their economy by passing laws to reduce use;Place health as the centerpiece of any decision on a trade treaty that includes tobacco;Diligently work toward a goal of reducing the prevalence rate of smokin