Western Medicine

Flip open any biology textbook and you're bound to see a complicated diagram of the inner workings of a cell, with its internal scaffolding, the cytoskeleton, and how it maintains a cell’s shape. Yet the fundamental question remains, which came first: the shape, or the skeleton?

Now a research team led by Phong Tran, PhD, Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has the answer: Both.

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The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) has released the nation’s first statewide population-based look at health disparities based on sexual orientation. The report revealed significant disparities among people who identified as homosexual or bisexual in the areas of access to care, self-reported health status, anxiety, depression, suicide ideation, smoking, binge drinking, illicit drug use, sexual assault victimization, intimate partner violence, disability, obesity, asthma and heart disease.

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A 10-year-old Chicago girl born with an abnormally small bladder that made her incontinent has become the first patient to benefit from a new robotic-assisted bladder-reconstruction method developed by surgeons at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

The surgeons describe their innovative technique in the December 2008 issue of the journal Urology. They have now performed the operation, using the DaVinci robotic surgical system, six times, with good results and no significant complications.

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In 430 B.C., a new and deadly disease—its cause remains a mystery—swept into Athens. The walled Greek city-state was teeming with citizens, soldiers and refugees of the war then raging between Athens and Sparta. As streets filled with corpses, social order broke down. Over the next three years, the illness returned twice and Athens lost a third of its population. It lost the war too. The Plague of Athens marked the beginning of the end of the Golden Age of Greece.

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GeorgiaCares is educating and counseling Medicare beneficiaries on an array of preventive services offered by Medicare at no cost or at minimal out of pocket costs. GeorgiaCares is the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) under the Georgia Department of Human Resources Division of Aging Services.

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Americans gain an average of five pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, usually due to a host of holiday feasts, parties and gatherings that offer an abundance of tasty, but not always healthy, foods and snacks. While some consider unwanted weight gain during the holiday season to be a fact of life, experts at Northwestern Memorial Physician’s Group emphasize that enjoying holiday favorites doesn’t mean having to suspend healthy eating habits.

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New research at West Virginia University is examining whether a smokeless, spitless tobacco product aimed at young adults is catching on. And the researchers have found that RJ Reynolds' Camel Snus - touted as a socially acceptable way to satisfy addiction - contains surprisingly high levels of nicotine.

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Kroger is asking customers in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, east Texas, and Shreveport and Alexandria, La., to check the pet food they have at home for specific packages of Pet Pride pet food. These products were included in a September recall due to potential contamination with Salmonella Schwarzengrund.

The three products listed below were included in the Mars Petcare US recall on Sept. 12, 2008. Customers should look for these items:

Pet Pride Indoor Cat Food, 3.5-lb. - Best by JUL 29 09 or earlier dates

Pet Pride Indoor Cat Food, 18-lb. - Best by JUL 29 09 or earlier dates

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Does your pet misbehave when you leave the house? Whether you're entertaining or traveling for the holidays, the change in schedule can negatively affect your pet's behavior. Recent research shows that upwards of 10.7 million pets in the United States suffer from separation anxiety, resulting in inappropriate, unwanted behaviors.

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Indulging with less guilt is easy this holiday season. Simply substitute canola oil for other oils or solid fat in recipes to replace "naughty" saturated fat with "nice" unsaturated fat. This especially applies to baking, which results in many holiday treats.

Use canola oil in recipes that call for oil or solid fat in baked goods like breads, loaves and muffins, says Shirley Corriher, author of the new BakeWise cookbook and winner of the James Beard Award for Excellence. Canola oil has the least amount of saturated fat of any common cooking oil and is free of trans fat and cholesterol.

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Families looking for an easy, fun and inexpensive way to stay fit have a new, award-winning gift option this holiday season. Kideosyncrasy Vol.2 is a fun tool for teaching kids to dance and get fit.

This DVD is jam-packed with live-action; kids-teaching-kids how to easily step into fun dance moves to popular hits. With kids sharing important tips on nutrition and exercise, Kideosyncrasy promotes health and fitness in a fun, learning atmosphere.

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Celsis International plc (LSE: CEL.L), the global leader in rapid microbial detection solutions for industry, today announced the launch of RapiScreen Beverage, a new assay for use on the Celsis Innovate -- the company's proven rapid microbial screening instrument for dairy products. This new rapid screening test kit extends the Celsis Innovate platform to efficiently and rapidly screen Ultra Heat Treated (UHT) and Extended Shelf Life (ESL) beverage products for microbial contamination.

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More than 2,000 medicines for older Americans are currently being tested in clinical trials or are waiting for Food and Drug Administration approval, according to a new report released today by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

This latest PhRMA report on new, cutting-edge medicines in the research pipeline comes as a growing number of older Americans face severe health challenges and greater life expectancy.

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Smith & Nephew's (NYSE: SNN; LSE: SN) Endoscopy Division today announced the launch of the CROSSTRAC Hip Guide System, which enables surgeons to accurately establish pathways to diagnose and repair the hip joint using arthroscopy, or minimally invasive, repair procedures.

The announcement came at the Arthroscopy Association of North America Fall Course, which opened today and runs through Saturday in Phoenix, Ariz.

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What does overeating have to do with the economic crisis? Clinical Psychologist and Emotional Eating Expert, Dr. Denise Lamothe says a lot.

As our economy declines, we become more anxious. As our stress increases, our bodies flood with the hormone cortisol and our appetites rage. As we continue to worry, we may have trouble sleeping which exacerbates the problem. Two more hormones become involved. We excrete excess ghrelin (which increases hunger) and produce less leptin (which signals satiation).

"So when stressed," says Dr. Lamothe, "appetites increase and so does weight."

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For women, chronic pelvic pain resulting from endometriosis represents a lifelong challenge to obtain and maintain pain relief. Long-term management of endometriosis: A case study and review of the literature, a supplement to OBG Management, presents practical strategies that clinicians can use to help them achieve best outcomes for these patients.

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Want to lower your risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease? All it takes is 10 minutes of physical activity three times a day. Ten times three -- it's really that simple. And it's what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend to help you lower your blood pressure, manage your cholesterol and lose weight.

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Milk. It does a body good. And now it's doing it even better than originally thought. After years of research, scientists at OncoNutrition have discovered peptides found in cow's milk that stimulate the body's own production of antioxidants.

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Nearly a dozen state-wide and local organizations have joined the Pennsylvania Assisted Living Consumer Alliance (PALCA) since the July announcement of the Alliance's formation. Dozens of individuals have likewise joined the Alliance's efforts to ensure that proposed licensing rules safeguard the care of elderly and disabled residents.

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