NIH celebrates ten years of research into health disparities

The tenth anniversary of the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) will be observed on Sept. 23-24 in Jackson, Mississippi. The JHS is the largest study in history to investigate genetic factors that affect high blood pressure, heart and lung disease, stroke, diabetes, and other important diseases in African-Americans.

First NIDA Avant-Garde Awards for Medications Development Research

A potential immunotherapy, a new gene therapy, an enzyme inhibitor, and a compound originally isolated from a Chinese herb are among the latest approaches scientists are proposing to treat addiction. The recipients of the first-ever Avant-Garde Awards for Innovative Medication Development Research by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes … Read more

MedicareCard.com | NIH awards grants to support biomedical research in space

The National Institutes of Health announced today that it has awarded the first new grants under the Biomedical Research on the International Space Station (BioMed-ISS) initiative, a collaborative effort between NIH and NASA. Using a special microgravity environment that Earth-based laboratories cannot replicate, researchers will explore fundamental questions about important health issues, such as how … Read more

Possible alternate therapy for adults with poorly controlled asthma

A drug commonly used for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) successfully treats adults whose asthma is not well-controlled on low doses of inhaled corticosteroids, reported researchers supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

MedicareCared.com, NIH Statement on National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day From Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., NIAID Director, on September 27, 2010

The third annual National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on Sept. 27, 2010, marks an occasion to reflect on how profoundly HIV/AIDS has affected gay and bisexual men. It also is a fitting time to recognize how much this group has influenced the development and implementation of strategies to prevent and treat the virus and … Read more

Rate this Recipe: Grilled Shrimp | MedicareCard.com

We’re trying something new here at GovGab – once a month, I’ll review a recipe from the government. Think Julie and Julia. Our first recipe is from FDA’s Office of Women’s Health: Diabetes Recipe Cards (also available in Spanish). You can order this free recipe and other recipes online from the Federal Citizen Information Center. … Read more

NIH-sponsored research yields promising malaria drug candidate

A chemical that rid mice of malaria-causing parasites after a single oral dose may eventually become a new malaria drug if further tests in animals and people uphold the promise of early findings. The compound, NITD609, was developed by an international team of researchers including Elizabeth A. Winzeler, Ph.D., a grantee of the National Institute … Read more

Third generation map of human genetic variation published

An international consortium today published a third-generation map of human genetic variation, called the HapMap, which includes data from an additional seven global populations, increasing the total number to 11 populations. The improved resolution will help researchers interpret current genome studies aimed at finding common and rarer genetic variants associated with complex diseases. Find good … Read more

Lower blood pressure goal benefits African-Americans with chronic kidney disease, protein in the urine

On average, a lower blood pressure goal was no better than the standard blood pressure goal at slowing progression of kidney disease among African-Americans who had chronic kidney disease resulting from high blood pressure, according to results of the African-American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK), the largest and longest study of chronic kidney … Read more

New TB Diagnostic Proves Effective, Expedient, Study Finds

A molecular test designed to easily diagnose tuberculosis (TB) and detect a drug-resistant form of the bacterium that causes TB can provide much more specific, sensitive and rapid results than currently available TB diagnostics, according to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine. In a test involving 1,730 patients with suspected drug-sensitive … Read more

Effort to define markers of human immune responses to infection and vaccination

A new nationwide research initiative has been launched to define changes in the human immune system, using human and not animal studies, in response to infection or to vaccination. Six U. S.-based Human Immune Phenotyping Centers will receive a total of $100 million over five years to conduct this research.