Health Glance
U.S. government researchers are expanding use of gene therapy to fight cancer, turning the human immune system against a deadly tumor found in young adults.
The approach may shrink tumors in many patients with common cancers, said Steven Rosenberg, chief of surgery at the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Cancer Research in Bethesda, Maryland. In a study, 9 of 17 patients with advanced cancer that had withstood other treatments saw tumors shrink after gene therapy, according to results published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Gene Therapy Transforms Immune System Into Cancer Killer in U.S. Study
Mexico’s Universal Health Care Is Work in Progress
A decade ago, half of all Mexicans had no health insurance at all. Then the country’s Congress passed a bill to ensure health care for every Mexican without access to it. The goal was explicit: universal coverage.
By September, the government expects to have enrolled about 51 million people in the insurance plan it created six years ago — effectively reaching the target, at least on paper. The big question, critics contend, is whether all those people actually get the health care the government has promised.
More Korean War Vets Can Make Agent Orange Claims
The Department of Veterans Affairs has expanded the pool of Korean War vets who can make claims related to exposure to Agent Orange. This toxic defoliant has been linked to more than a dozen serious, often fatal health problems, including various types of cancer.
Korean vets do not have to prove Agent Orange exposure
Until now, only those Korean War vets who served in certain units along the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) between April 1968 and July 1969 could make claims regarding Agent Orange exposure.
Scientists fear MMR link to autism
New American research shows that there could be a link between the controversial MMR triple vaccine and autism and bowel disease in children.
The study appears to confirm the findings of British doctor Andrew Wakefield, who caused a storm in 1998 by suggesting a possible link.
U.S. government launches pharmaceutical division
The U.S. government has decided to enter the pharmaceutical business. Apparently, the drug companies aren't coming out with new "breakthrough" drugs quickly enough, and now the U.S. government plans to spend taxpayer dollars conducting research on drugs which will be turned over to Big Pharma. Those drug companies, in turn, will sell them for a profit. It's yet another clear case where the government is taking over the health care (sick care) industry and funneling profits into the hands of pharmaceutical corporations.
Heart Disease Treatment Costs May Triple in Next 20 Years
The costs of treating heart disease are expected to triple by the year 2030, creating an “enormous financial burden” for millions of Americans, the American Heart Association says in a new policy statement.
The tab for treating heart disease will rise to $545 billion over the next 20 years, in large part because of the aging of the baby boom population, the oldest of which will be in their mid-80s by then. The policy statement is published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Blocking "rogue gene" may stop cancer spread-study
British scientists have discovered a "rogue gene" which helps cancer spread around the body and say blocking it with the right kind of drugs could stop many types of the disease in their tracks.
Researchers from the University of East Anglia said their findings could lead within a decade to the development of new medicines to halt a critical late stage of the disease known as metastasis, when cancer cells spread to other parts of the body.
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