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Increase In Contraception Sales, Vasectomies Linked To Recession, Slate Column Says
The "hard truth of our economic turmoil is almost at term," as hospitals are beginning to report a decrease in the number of births, about nine months after "American banks first admitted their collective crisis," author Lauren Sandler writes in Slate"s "The Big Money" column. Sandler writes that the trend is "hardly unprecedented," noting that the contraception business "was just about the only one booming" during the Great Depression. She asks, "Are market forces the great contraceptive?" Sandler continues that in the first few months of 2009, Nielsen reported a 10% increase in U.S. sales of condoms and emergency contraceptive pills. Additionally, sales of the permanent female contraceptive Essure have increased 28% over the past year, and clicks on physician profiles on Vasectomy.com have risen 40%. According to Sandler, Vasectomy.com"s chief operating officer, Maya Wank, reports that many urologists say that vasectomies are increasing because patients" salaries are down, with many men seeking vasectomies out of fear of job or health insurance loss.Sandler writes that the "tanking economy has delivered an awakening" that the "choice to have a child is probably the most serious, not to mention one of the most costly, that you"ll ever make." According to Sandler, a Gallup poll found that 12% of women say they know someone who has delayed a planned pregnancy because of the recession. The poll also found that one in five women reports that she is more concerned about unintended pregnancy than she was one year ago, and the same number reports being more "conscientious" about using birth control. Additionally, the poll found that, compared with one year ago, 13% more women who use hormonal contraception are concerned that they will be unable to afford their birth control. Since 2008, there has been an increase of 15% in the number of U.S. residents who say they had to cut back on medications due to cost.Sandler writes that it is "not surprising" that the National Network of Abortion Funds reports a fourfold increase in the number of calls from women who need assistance paying for abortion procedures. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recently announced that teen birth rates are up after a 14-year decline. "In other words, the recession could result in a drop in birth rates for women with easy access to contraception and abortion," Sandler writes, adding that experts believe that women with "more limited access ... may see the rate climb." Sandler concludes that "it"s not unreasonable to consider what things will look like if the middle class reduces its reproduction, while men and women who are struggling to even afford condoms expand their numbers despite their personal choice" (Sandler, "The Big Money," Slate, 5/17).

Contur Software Adds Further Chemistry Tools To Web-Based ELN
Contur Software, a leading provider of electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) systems, announced added chemistry functionality in iLabber, the company"s recently launched high-end ELN system available as an online service. Using a software as a service (SaaS) model, Contur Software is making iLabber available to individual researchers and smaller R&D organizations that previously have not been able to utilize the advantages of high-end ELN systems due to investments in hardware, licenses and maintenance.
News of the day
Declaration Of H1N1 Pandemic To Accelerate H1N1 Vaccine Production
The WHO"s decision Thursday to declare H1N1 (swine) flu a pandemic will "speed the production of a vaccine against the new virus," however scientists continue to caution that "it will be fall at the earliest before the first doses are available," the Los Angeles Times reports.
Public Health

On The Horizon: Effective Over-The-Counter Prostate Cancer Test Kit

An over-the-counter prostate cancer test kit could be coming to a pharmacy near you, thanks to the collaborative work of a University of Central Florida chemist and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando researchers. UCF"s Qun "Treen" Huo and M.D. Anderson-Orlando"s Dr. Cheryl Baker and Jimmie Colon teamed up about 18 months ago with a very ambitious plan. Huo wanted to develop an effective, inexpensive test to screen for prostate cancer that would be easy enough to use at home or a local pharmacy. "Now cancer tests are so inconvenient and expensive, and a lot of people don"t have insurance, so they are not likely to test if they have no symptoms," Huo said. "Cancer is really scary because there aren"t a lot of symptoms in the early stages. So I said, "Why not create a test that is easy and inexpensive? Then more people can test and catch cancer early so it can be treated early."" Prostate cancer affects one of every six men and is the second-most common cancer among men in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. It is estimated that more than 2 million American men are currently living with prostate cancer and that one new case occurs every 2.7 minutes. More than 27,000 men die from the disease each year, according to the American Cancer Society. Huo and her team at the UCF lab developed the new technique involving gold nanoparticles, which she first mixes in a solution. The nanoparticles are engineered to attach themselves to cancer-producing proteins related to the type of cancer she is targeting. When she places a drop of blood in the solution, the gold nanoparticles seek out the protein. If the protein is present, the gold nanoparticles cluster around it. Using a dynamic light-scattering instrument, she looks for the clusters. If there are no clusters, there is no cancer-causing protein. During a test, if cancer-producing proteins are detected at a significant level, the consumer would be directed to see a doctor. "Think of it like a pregnancy test," Huo said. "It"s the same principle. Women use it to find out if they are pregnant, but once they see the results at home, they go to the doctor to be sure." The cancer-related protein marker that the gold nanoparticles seek out in Huo"s research is the same one screened for by the FDA-approved Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) test. The PSA has a good track record as a protein marker for detecting prostate cancer and has been used by physicians for years. Huo said her new technique is much more sensitive and accurate than the PSA and all current techniques used in diagnostic labs. "What"s different is the technology," Huo said. "It"s very simple. The dynamic light-scattering technique is highly sensitive and can pick up even the smallest trace amount of protein markers." That"s why the technique also can help doctors track any resurgence of cancer once a surgery is performed to remove it. Dr. Baker, director of M.D. Anderson-Orlando"s Cancer Research Institute, collaborates with Huo by offering her expertise in cancer research and by providing human blood and serum samples to test Huo"s technique. "The excitement for us here at M. D. Anderson-Orlando is that we can easily test the validity of the technique in our cancer research program and then on our own patients in a clinical trial," Baker said. "We are optimistic that we can begin clinical trials with this test within the next two years." Huo said that the technique is still years from commercialization, but that in three to five years an over-the-counter test kit for prostate cancer is likely. The technique also can be easily adapted to test for many different types of cancer - Huo plans to focus first on ovarian and breast cancer. Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala University of Central Florida


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