ADAO Praises U.S. Senate for Passing Senator Patty Murray’s Ban Asbestos in America Act The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), an organization dedicated to serving as the voice of asbestos victims, praised the passage of Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)’s Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007 by the U.S. Senate. [click link for full article]

Mr Jimmy Devins, T.D., Minister for State at the Department of Health and Children was speaking today following a meeting with Minister Harney and Minister McGimpsey, Minister for Health in Northern Ireland. The Minister said he “acknowledged the importance and value of adopting an all island approach in creating awareness of suicide and collaborating in the area of suicide prevention”. He added “A concerted approach is needed if we are to prevent the further tragic loss of life”. [click link for full article]

The European Commission participated in discussions about a series of recommendations for promoting mental health and reducing the burden of mental illness at the ‘Future for Mental Health in Europe’ workshop at the European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG), Austria. [click link for full article]

Interventional cardiologists at Rush University Medical Centerare investigating whether a heart procedure may be the key to relieving migraines in patients with severe headaches. Earlier studies have indicated that there may be a link between a particular congenital heart anomaly, a patent foramen ovale (PFO), and migraine. [click link for full article]

Aclasta® (zoledronic acid 5 mg) has gained European Union approval as the first and only once-yearly treatment for women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. The announcement closely follows the recent approval in the US, where the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Aclasta under the brand name Reclast® in August 2007. The European Commission decision applies to all 27 member states, Norway and Iceland. [click link for full article]

A Valparaiso University nursing professor will collaborate with East Chicago-based HealthVisions Midwest in evaluating a new initiative to reduce the number of infants in Lake County’s Hispanic community who die or are born suffering from disease. [click link for full article]

A CMS audit of Humana, one of the nation’s largest Medicare insurers, raises concerns that the company has not done enough to curb misleading sales practices to the elderly and people with disabilities, AP/Long Island Newsday reports. [click link for full article]

About two-thirds of HIV-positive people in the U.S. might be overweight or obese, “mirroring” the total U.S. population, according to a study released Thursday at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America in San Diego, the [click link for full article]

Nicaragua’s abortion ban is endangering women’s lives because it has failed to ensure medical care is offered to women, including those with obstetric emergencies, according to a Human Rights Watch report released Tuesday, the AP/International Herald Tribune reports (AP/International Herald Tribune, 10/2). [click link for full article]

Heart attacks (myocardial infarctions) can occur in adolescents without heart abnormalities, according to a new study. In “Myocardial Infarction in Healthy Adolescents,” researchers reviewed the health information of nine, healthy adolescents, ages 12 to 20 (eight boys and one girl), who had severe chest pains and myocardial infarctions between June 1995 and May 2006. One patient reported taking amphetamines; however, the other eight were drug free. [click link for full article]