Silver Spring, Maryland–(ENEWSPF)–April 6, 2011.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved vandetanib to treat adult patients with late-stage (metastatic) medullary thyroid cancer who are ineligible for surgery and who have disease that is growing or causing symptoms. Thyroid cancer is a cancerous growth of the thyroid gland, which[Read More…]

  Silver Spring, Maryland—(ENEWSPF)—April 6, 2011.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a new device that provides neurointerventional surgeons with another tool to treat brain aneurysms without performing open surgery. An aneurysm is a weak, enlarged area in an artery (blood vessel). Over time, the force of normal[Read More…]

Bethesda, Maryland–(ENEWSPF)–April 6, 2011.  An analysis of national prescribing patterns shows that more than half of patients who received an opioid prescription in 2009 had filled another opioid prescription within the previous 30 days. This report also suggested potential opportunities for intervention aimed at reducing abuse of prescription opioids. Researchers[Read More…]

Atlanta, GA–(ENEWSPF)–April 5, 2011.  Teen birth rates have decreased by 37 percent in the last two decades, though U.S. rates are up to nine times higher than in other developed countries, according to the latest CDC Vital Signs report. About 46 percent of teens have had sexual intercourse. About 14[Read More…]

Bethesda, Maryland–(ENEWSPF)–April 5, 2011.  What is long-term care and will I need it? If I do need long-term care services, where can I find them? Are there things I should be doing now to plan ahead? Older adults and their loved ones can find easy-to-understand answers to these and other[Read More…]

Bethesda, Maryland–(ENEWSPF)–April 5, 2011.  Scientists have confirmed one gene variant and have identified several others that may be risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of the disorder. In the largest genome-wide association study, or GWAS, ever conducted in Alzheimer’s research, investigators studied DNA samples from more[Read More…]

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.–(ENEWSPF)–April 5, 2011.  Injury in among the top 10 causes of death and is the most expensive medical problem in the United States. In a single year, $80 billion will be spent on medical care; another $326 billion on lost productivity according to the Centers for Disease Control and[Read More…]

Bethesda, Maryland–(ENEWSPF)–April 4, 2011.  For the first time, researchers have found five regions in the human genome that increase susceptibility to immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy, a major cause of kidney failure worldwide — systematically identifying those that point to a tendency for IgA nephropathy, or a protection against it. “The[Read More…]

Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–April 1, 2011.   With autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) affecting nearly one percent of children in the United States, autism is an urgent public health issue with a profound impact on millions of Americans.  World Autism Awareness Day is an opportunity to recognize the contributions of individuals with ASDs and rededicate ourselves to[Read More…]

Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–April 1, 2011.  The following statement is attributed to the Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. Every April we recognize National Autism Awareness Month and the special challenges faced by those with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). CDC estimates that an average of 1 in 110 children in[Read More…]