OB GYN News articles from February 2009

OB GYN News archives from February 2009

Lower breast density flags drug response.(NEWS)
February 1, 2009... SAN ANTONIO--A reduction in mammographic breast density after 12-18 months of tamoxifen use--prescribed for primary prevention of breast cancer--is an excellent early predictor of subsequent treatment efficacy, according to a new report from...

Major STD rates highest in women and minorities; decade's trend continues, CDC reports.(NEWS)
February 1, 2009... The rates of three major sexually transmitted diseases in the United States in 2007 continued to follow a nearly decade-long climb that has disproportionately affected minorities and women, according to a report from the Centers for Disease...

HT may protect against colorectal cancer.(NEWS)
February 1, 2009... A 15-year observational study of almost 57,000 women has added more fuel to the hormone therapy fire, suggesting that postmenopausal hormone regimens can confer a significant and lasting reduction in the risk of colorectal cancer. Although...

Adjuvant zoledronic acid may aid breast ca survival.(NEWS)
February 1, 2009... SAN ANTONIO--The number of premenopausal women with hormone-responsive early breast cancer who need to be treated with zoledronic acid for 3 years to prevent one cancer-related major event in 4 years is 31, according to a large Austrian study....

Who funds clinical trials?(VITAL SIGNS)
February 1, 2009... Universities/organizations 16,488 Industry 8,298 NIH/other federal agency 5,881 Other 830 Notes: Based on 26,193 open international studies as of Nov. 4, 2008. Many studies have more...

President Obama reverses global "gag rule".(NEWS)
February 1, 2009... In one of his first moves in office, President Barack Obama last month overturned the Mexico City Policy, or "global gag rule," which prohibits nongovernmental organizations that work overseas from offering abortion services, or counseling and...

Funding by big pharma does bias research.(POINT/COUNTERPOINT)
February 1, 2009... Does pharmaceutical industry funding bias research? Over the last few years, concern about industry-funded bias in research has been growing. The pharmaceutical industry funds slightly more than half of the research being done today....

Non-industry-funded research can be biased, too.(POINT/COUNTERPOINT)
February 1, 2009... For almost 100 years, industry has been a powerful motivating force in the creation of new technology and the underwriting of scientific research. But in the last 2 decades, there has been a campaign to decry industry funding, claiming that...

E-Prescription for trouble.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2009... I have been trying to use an e-prescription program, but there are several problems ("Feds Push E-Prescribing With Medicare Bonuses," Nov. 15, 2008, p. 14): * Controlled medications cannot be issued through an electronic prescription. ...

Seeking Rx for e-prescribing.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2009... My practice has implemented SureScripts in preparation for the 2009 Medicare bonus for e-prescribing ("Feds Push E-Prescribing With Medicare Bonuses," Nov. 15, 2008, p. 14). However, I have not been able to find out how to communicate with...

Editor's note.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2009... A summary of Medicare's e-prescribing program, available at www.ama-assn.org/amal/pub/upload/mm/472/faq-cms-incentive-program.pdf, states: "Although eligible professionals do not have to start reporting on Jan. 1, 2009, to receive incentive...

Birth weight's tie to diabetes risk may change.(OBSTETRICS)
February 1, 2009... In most present-day middle-aged populations, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes is inversely related to birth weight, according to a report in JAMA. In other words, adults at highest risk for type 2 diabetes had the lowest birth...

Study on genes Vs. environment recruiting now.(OBSTETRICS)
February 1, 2009... Researchers in North Carolina and New York are beginning to recruit the first volunteers as part of a huge federal study that will examine the relative effects of genes and environment on development. The researchers plan to track 100,000...

Acupuncture tied to long-term hot flash relief.(GYNECOLOGY)
February 1, 2009... SAN ANTONIO--A course of acupuncture reduced hot flashes in women with a history of breast cancer by more than half while improving sleep and quality-of-life measures to a similar extent as hormone therapy in a Swedish randomized trial. ...

Topical tamoxifen benefits cyclic mastalgia.(GYNECOLOGY)
February 1, 2009... SAN ANTONIO--Afimoxifene, a novel tamoxifen gel applied directly to the breasts, performed favorably as topical therapy for moderate to severe cyclic mastalgia in premenopausal women in a phase II clinical trial. Although the topical...

Checklist slashes surgical mortality, morbidity.(GYNECOLOGIC SURGERY)
February 1, 2009... The use of a simple safety checklist dramatically reduced mortality and morbidity in a study of more than 7,600 consecutive surgery patients in diverse clinical settings around the world, according to a published report. The 19-item checklist,...

Synthetic mesh.(MASTER CLASS)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... In the United States from 2005 to 2007, a reported total of 994,890 surgeries--363,000 procedures for pelvic floor prolapse and 631,890 procedures for stress urinary incontinence--utilized synthetic mesh. The impetus for mesh usage was based on...

Pelvic organ prolapse repair with Prolift.(GYNECOLOGIC SURGERY)
February 1, 2009... About one of every nine women in the United States will have surgery for a vaginal support defect (pelvic organ prolapse). Our armamentarium of surgical options for helping these patients now includes improved mesh designs and new synthetic...

Many adults try CAM for chronic pain relief.(CLINICAL ROUNDS)
February 1, 2009... About 38% of adults and nearly 12% of children in the United States used some type of complementary or alternative medicine therapy in 2007, according to survey data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National...

Policy & practice.(PRACTICE TRENDS)
February 1, 2009... Proposals Aim to Reduce Abortion Democrats are taking on the abortion issue in the new Congress first by advocating prevention of unwanted pregnancies. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has reintroduced the Prevention First Act (S....