Bycombining one type of chemotherapy with another radiothermal therapy,medical scientists were able to improve the survival time for patientswith advanced liver cancer in comparison to each therapy alone,according to a study published on April 9, 2008 in JAMA.Livercancer is characterized by tumors or growth on the liver, and itsincidence is increasing worldwide.

The preliminary results of a three-year pilot project that sought to reduce costs for Medicare indicate “how difficult it can be, politically and practically, to make fundamental changes in the sprawling $400 billion” program, the New York Times reports.

A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday introduced legislation that would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to adapt in an attempt to improve care for female veterans, the Anchorage Daily News reports. Since 2001, 90,000 women have served in the military.

There is wide variation among the U.S.’s top academic medical centers in spending on care for Medicare beneficiaries with chronic conditions during the last two years of their lives, according to the 2008 edition of The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, the New York Times reports (Pear, New York Times, 4/7).

One out of every 15 hospitalized children, or about 540,000 annually, are harmed by a drug mistake or adverse reaction while receiving care, according to a study published on Monday in the April issue of the journal Pediatrics, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. For the study, lead author Paul Sharek, medical director of quality at Stanford University’s

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America on Thursday announced that Planned Parenthood of Greater Miami, Palm Beach and Treasure Coast will buy two of five clinics that were previously operated by Planned Parenthood of South Palm Beach and Broward Counties, the

Green tea is high in the antioxidant EGCG (epigallocatechin-3- gallate) which helps prevent the body’s cells from becoming damaged and prematurely aged. Studies have suggested that the combination of green tea and EGCG may also be beneficial by providing protection against certain types of cancers, including breast cancer. A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Mississippi researchers now finds that consuming EGCG significantly inhibits breast tumor growth in female mice.

Testsindicate that a father diagnosed with bird flu in China probably caughtthe disease from his son, only increasing concern about transmission ofthe virus between humans. This was published early online and in theApril 2008 issue of The Lancet. As of April 2, 2008,there have been 376 cases of infection with the highly pathogenic avianinfluenza A (H5N1) virus with 238 deaths reported in 14 differentcountries since November 2003.

Infants and toddlers who sleep less than 12 hours a day are twice as likely to become overweight by age 3 than children who sleep longer. In addition, high levels of television viewing combined with less sleep elevates the risk, so that children who sleep less than 12 hours and who view two or more hours of television per day have a 16 percent chance of becoming overweight by age 3.

Studies have shown that exercise has a positive effect on mothers-to-be, and no detrimental impact on their developing offspring. A new study further extends the knowledge of research in this area and has found that not only do women benefit from exercise in pregnancy, but their fetuses do too.These findings are contained in a new study entitled, Effects of Maternal Exercise on the Fetal Heart. It was conducted by Linda E.