Comptroller General David Walker on Tuesday at a Senate Budget Committee hearing said that increased health care costs and an aging population have placed the federal budget on one “imprudent and unsustainable path” and that “passage of time only serves to worsen this situation,” CongressDaily reports.
According to Walker, provided that “future promised and funded Social Security and Medicare benefits, veterans’ health care, and a range of other commitments and contingencies” are met, the structural liability at the current rate of growth and spending totals $53 trillion. (Read the full post about ‘Increased Health Care Costs, Aging Population Pose Long-Term Financial Concerns, Comptroller General Says’…)
Font Size A A A
Pharmacy Author: Omudhome Ogbru, PharmD
Medical and Pharmacy Editor: Jay W. Marks, MD
DRUG CLASS AND MECHANISM: Hydroxyzine is some antihistamine with anticholinergic (drying) and sedative properties that is used to treat allergic reactions. The body releases histamine during several types of allergic reactions and––to a lesser extent––during some viral infections, such as the common cold.
Surgery for early-stage lung cancer is known to have a substantial impact on health-related quality of life (HRQOL), but there are few published studies on the what the long-term affects are, Dr. Patricia Kenny, of the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, and colleagues condition out.
The researchers examined the short- and long-term HRQOL and survival 2 years after surgery in 173 patients with stage I or II non-small cell lung cancer, the most common type of lung cancer.
(Read the full post about ‘Lung cancer surgery improves quality of life (Reuters)’…)
Font Size A A A
Pharmacy Author: Omudhome Ogbru, PharmD
Medical and Pharmacy Editor: Jay W. Marks, MD
DRUG CLASS AND MECHANISM: Alprazolam is an anti-anxiety medication in the benzodiazepine family, the same family that includes diazepam (Valium), clonazepam (Klonopin), lorazepam (Ativan), flurazepam (Dalmane), and others.
(Read the full post about ‘alprazolam, Xanax, Kanax XR, Niravam’…)
University of Pennsylvania researchers used functional MRI to monitor brain activity in cocaine-addicted patients while drug-related photos, such as crack pipes and chunks of cocaine, were flashed in front of them for just 33 milliseconds — so quickly that the patients weren't consciously aware that they were seeing the photos.
The images triggered activity in the limbic system, a brain network involved in emotion and reward that's been implicated in drug seeking and craving.
(Read the full post about ‘Drug-Related Images Trigger Brain’s Reward Center (HealthDay)’…)
In 1996, researchers at The Netherlands Cancer Institute identified a fragile association between development of breast cancer and anti-emotionality, a lack of emotional behavior or trust in one's own feelings.
(Read the full post about ‘Personality Traits Don’t Affect Breast Cancer Risk (HealthDay)’…)
While antioxidants have been touted for cancer prevention, different antioxidants have different effects, and their effects may also vary depending on the part of the body involved, Dr.
(Read the full post about ‘Antioxidants more likely to raise cancer risk (Reuters)’…)
Health officials in Bexar County, Texas, are taking into account if they should launch the state’s first needle-exchange program in an effort to reduce the spread of HIV and other bloodborne diseases, but Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed has said that she will not stop to consider to prosecute anyone who distributes needles before the program is approved, the Los Angeles Times reports (Bustillo, Los Angeles Times, 1/28).
The Bexar County Commissioners Court in August 2007 unanimously voted to agitate forward with a pilot initiative to establish the program. The court voted to approve spending $60,000 for a staff position and planning costs for the program. (Read the full post about ‘Texas Officials Studying Needle-Exchange Program; District Attorney Says People Distributing Needles Do Not Have Immunity’…)