Dr. John McConnell, professor of urology and executive vice president for health system affairs at UT Southwestern Medical Center, has received the American Urological Association’s 2007 Eugene Fuller Triennial Prostate Award, becoming only the 11th recipient in the award’s 30-year history.Presented once every three years since 1977, the award recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the study of the prostate gland and its associated diseases. Dr. [click link for full article]

Teenagers who forego a healthy and balanced diet may have a harder time catching their breath. A new study, published in the July issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), shows that a low dietary intake of certain nutrients increases the likelihood of respiratory symptoms such as asthma, especially in teens who smoke. Furthermore, a lack of these nutrients may also lead to lower lung function. [click link for full article]

Lung Cancer Survival Better in Nonsmokers Never-smokers with early stage lung cancer have significantly better survival than smokers with the disease. Researchers from the University of Alabama compared survival rates among 562 smokers and 168 never-smokers, all of whom had non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The overall 5-year survival rate was greater in never-smokers (64%) compared with smokers (56%). [click link for full article]

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, leader of Scotland’s Roman Catholics, in an open letter published in the Scotsman called on British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to review the efficacy of the United Kingdom’s abortion law, the Scotsman reports. [click link for full article]

Congressional efforts to reauthorize SCHIP, which expires on Sept. 30, are “intensifying,” but the Bush administration “has taken several steps to slow momentum for expansion of the program,” the New York Times reports (Pear, New York Times, 7/9). Members of the [click link for full article]

Delegates on Saturday at the close of the first International Women’s Summit on Women’s Leadership and HIV and AIDS in Nairobi, Kenya, released a 10-point action plan that aims to foster leadership roles of women and girls in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the Nation/AllAfrica.com reports (Wafula, Nation/AllAfrica. [click link for full article]

The link between eating uncooked fish and liver cancer in South East Asia An age old preference for eating uncooked fish dishes like “koi-pla” puts people in SE Asia at risk of ingesting trematodes that can cause a type of liver cancer called cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile ducts), say researchers in this week’s PLoS Medicine. [click link for full article]

A new study identifies a combination therapy that may sensitize human cancer cells to a promising treatment currently being used in clinical trials. The research, published in the July issue of the journal Cancer Cell, published by Cell Press, provides a pharmacological method for enhancing the potency and effectiveness of a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) death receptor ligand against a variety of human cancers. [click link for full article]

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri CEO Peter Brownlie on Thursday confirmed that the group’s Overland Park, Kan., clinic Comprehensive Health on June 6 filed a petition with the state Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus against former state Attorney General Phill Kline (R), the [click link for full article]

Although “little research” has been conducted on the effects of high-deductible health plans on women, “several studies point to potentially higher costs, … especially where maternity care is concerned,” MarketWatch reports. [click link for full article]