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Statins Can Protect Against Alzheimer's Disease, According To New Study
High cholesterol levels are considered to be a risk factor not only for cardiovascular disease including stroke, but also for the development of Alzheimer"s disease. Therefore, many cholesterol lowering drugs, including statins, have been developed in recent years. In addition to the cholesterol reducing effect of statins Amalia Dolga, PhD, of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, and her co-investigators have demonstrated that statins can protect nerve cells against damage which we know to occur in the brain of Alzheimer"s disease patients. The results are published in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer"s Disease.

Editorials, Opinion Pieces React To Kansas Abortion Provider Tiller's Murder
Several newspapers on Wednesday published editorials and opinion pieces responding to the shooting death of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller, who was one of the few physicians in the country providing care for women in need of the procedure later in pregnancy. Summaries appear below.Editorials~ Boston Globe: Although officials are calling Tiller"s murder ""the act of an isolated individual," ... the generalized culture of violence and hate in the antiabortion movement that feeds the fanaticism of disturbed individuals with guns is not so easily explained away," a Globe editorial states. The editorial notes, "Many responsible abortion opponents, including Americans United for Life, condemn the killing," but "other so-called pro-life leaders insist on finding a moral equivalence between Tiller"s murder and abortion." The editorial continues, "Also victimized by Tiller"s murder are the anguished women who have sought late-term abortions because their pregnancies have gone horribly wrong." According to the editorial, the "sad irony" is that these procedures "are not a matter of "choice,"" as the "overwhelming majority of these women desperately wanted their children to be born." It adds, "Tiller"s brave and compassionate care saved the lives of these women and their futures as mothers." In his speech last month at the University of Notre Dame"s commencement ceremony, President Obama "called for people of good will on both sides of the abortion issue to bridge the divide," the editorial states, concluding, "An end to the hateful rhetoric over issues of faith that lead unhinged individuals to murder would be a good place to start" (Boston Globe, 6/2).~ USA Today: Tiller"s "insistence" on continuing to practice, despite protests and threats of violence, "was remarkably courageous," but, "[r]egrettably, threats by antiabortion activists have worked all too well," a USA Today editorial states. According to the Guttmacher Institute, the number of abortion providers has decreased by 40% since a peak in 1982, and 87% of U.S. counties have no provider, forcing many women to travel long distances to obtain care, the editorial says. "Mainstream pro-life groups should not be blamed for the actions of a suspected killer who appears to have lurked in the violent and twisted fringe of the movement," the editorial continues. However, the "braying of cable TV hosts," such as Fox News" Bill O"Reilly, "and activists such as Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry contributes to a climate of intolerance that can encourage deranged individuals," the editorial says. According to USA Today, "Thwarted in legislatures and courts, some antiabortion activists are achieving with intimidation and harassment what they can"t through the political process," but "[r]egardless of personal beliefs about abortion, authorities have an obligation to protect those providing and receiving abortion services, and to prosecute those who harass or threaten them." The editorial concludes that "Tiller"s death will only be compounded if it frightens away more doctors and makes a legal procedure even harder to come by" (USA Today, 6/3).~ Washington Post: Tiller"s death "is a tragedy for his family, his patients and his profession," and "[i]t should serve as a wake-up call that more must be done to ensure that women have access to this legal procedure," a Post editorial states. "It is unclear how this violence has affected decisions by health care providers," according to the editorial. However, it is clear that "the number of places where women can go for abortions has been declining since 1982," and "[v]ery few are performed in hospitals -- a sign that mainline medicine is not living up to its responsibility," the editorial says. The editorial notes that Attorney General Eric Holder "is offering U.S. Marshals Service protection for abortion clinics and the doctors who staff them," concluding, "It"s the right call, but one that underscores the urgency of coming up with better solutions for the delive
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E-health Enables More Personalized Medicine; Group Fights For Digital Patient Rights
Tonia Odom, a 35-year-old patient with rheumatoid arthritis, a sick father and a young son, each of whom has multiple health problems, has found some relief to the problems of managing her families" array of illnesses in at a Duke University clinic that"s a model of the "medical home" approach to medicine, the New York Times reports. "As President Obama and Congress try to create a national system that provides better care for more people at lower cost, you are likely to hear a lot more about this idea. The term, coined by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 1967, is admittedly confusing. It does not mean a return to house calls. Nor need it apply only to people with complex health problems like those of the Odom family."
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Lou Gehrig's Disease Drug Tested In Melanoma

Following evidence of tumor shrinkage in a recent clinical trial at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ), new research has just begun to further measure the effects of a drug commonly used for Lou Gehrig"s disease (ALS) in the treatment of melanoma. CINJ is a center of excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Melanoma is the most serious of skin cancers, and unlike other types, often spreads to other parts of the body. When that happens, patients have a five-year survival rate of less than ten percent. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 62,000 cases of melanoma were diagnosed nationwide in 2008 with nearly 2,300 cases in New Jersey. No effective treatments are available for advanced disease and that is why investigators at CINJ are further focusing their efforts on the drug riluzole. Melanoma cells often produce a protein called Grm1, which aids in the growth of the disease. Riluzole, which is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of ALS (a disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord), has been shown to block Grm1"s action. In the CINJ clinical trial, investigators are looking to see if the drug slows the growth of melanoma in patients. The work is based on that of the laboratory of Suzie Chen, CINJ member and professor of chemical biology at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University. James S. Goydos, MD, who is the director of the Melanoma and Soft Tissue Oncology Program at CINJ and lead investigator of both trials, says the initial findings provide a promising base for expanded research, "In one patient, a lesion completely disappeared. In another, tumors shrunk by 90 percent, and stiff and enlarged lymph nodes completely went away in another." Dr. Goydos, who also is an associate professor of surgery at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, notes the future goal is to look at combining riluzole with other drugs that have been shown to decrease growth in cancer tumors. Prior to the study, selected patients will undergo certain x-ray type scans and will have a small sampling of tissue removed from the tumor, if possible. Patients will then take riluzole by mouth daily for one year or until the tumor becomes larger. Other scans as well as blood tests and physical exams will be performed throughout the duration of the study. Adult patients with the diagnosis of stage III or IV melanoma who cannot undergo an operation to remove their tumor, are potentially eligible to take part in the trial, although other criteria must be met. For more information on how to take part, individuals should call CINJ"s Office of Human Research Services at 732-235-8675. Clinical trials, often called cancer research studies, test new treatments and new ways of using existing treatments for cancer. At CINJ, researchers use these studies to answer questions about how a treatment affects the human body and to make sure it is safe and effective. There are several types of clinical trials that are currently underway at CINJ, including those that diagnose, treat, prevent, and manage symptoms of cancer. Many treatments used today -- whether drugs or vaccines; ways to do surgery or give radiation therapy; or combinations of treatments -- are the results of past clinical trials. As New Jersey"s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, CINJ provides patients with access to treatment options not available at other institutions within the state. CINJ currently enrolls more than 1,000 patients on clinical trials, including approximately 15 percent of all new adult cancer patients and approximately 70 percent of all pediatric cancer patients. Enrollment in clinical trials nationwide is fewer than five percent of all adult cancer patients. The Cancer Institute of New Jersey


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