Women with a history of abuse by intimate partners have significantly higher health care costs and utilization than women with no history of such abuse, according to a study conducted at Group Health, a Seattle-based health plan. The higher costs and utilization continued long after the abuse ended, the research team from Group Health, the University of Washington (UW), and the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center (HIPRC) found. [click link for full article]

Imagine having a decayed tooth repaired, painlessly, without drilling or shots of anesthesia to numb the area.Wishful thinking? Not if two studies being conducted at the University at Buffalo’s School of Dental Medicine show positive results.In one study, funded by a $100,000 grant by Apollonia, LLC, researchers in the school’s Center for Dental Studies are testing a nasal spray that numbs the upper teeth. [click link for full article]

Despite a longer-than-expected federal approval process, Tennessee officials expect benefits to begin by March 31 for the state’s CoverKids health insurance program for children and pregnant women, state spokesperson Lola Potter said on Friday, the Tennessean reports (Pinto, Tennessean, 1/20). [click link for full article]

A team of medical ethics and public health experts say tough isolation measures, involuntary if need be, are justified to contain a deadly, contagious, drug-resistant strain of TB in South Africa and to prevent “a potentially explosive international health crisis. [click link for full article]

The first large-scale computer screenings of Chinese herbs — commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine — has revealed a wide variety of compounds with potential for use in treating HIV/AIDS, cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease, arthritis and other diseases, according to scientists in London.In an article scheduled for the March 26 issue of the ACS’ Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, a bi-monthly publication, David J. [click link for full article]

A new study concludes that low birthweight babies born with low sodium (salt) in their blood serum will likely consume large quantities of dietary sodium later in life.  In the study, researchers also found that newborns with the most severe cases of low sodium blood serum consumed ~1700 mg more sodium per day and weighed some 30 percent more than their peers. [click link for full article]

Many people may not be aware that when drinking their favorite glass of wine, they may also be drinking trace amounts of milk, egg and fish proteins. But soon, if…

A new study raises questions about the safety of the growing trend toward equipping carbon canister protective breathing devices with a blower device to enable personnel to breathe easier. Marco J. G. Linders and colleagues in The Netherlands point out that such respiratory protective devices (RPDs) traditionally are operated by human lungs. The inhale-exhale cycle results in a pulsating pattern of air flow over the activated carbon filter material. [click link for full article]

Some high-level athletes who take part in endurance sports can develop a rare but life-threatening condition called ventricular arrhythmia (VA) in which the heart beats at an abnormal rate and rhythm. Now, a new study has shown that most of the athletes with VA have dysfunctional right ventricles. [click link for full article]

An impressive lineup of medical researchers and clinicians, including Nobel Laureate Louis Ignarro, PhD, gathered at a December 19 symposium in New York City to discuss the new and important scientific discipline of Electroceuticals. [click link for full article]