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Obama Highlights Health Care Reform Progress In Weekly Address
In his weekly radio and Internet address, President Obama discussed efforts by congressional leaders and health care industry groups on health care reform legislation, The Hill reports. He said that "while there remains a great deal of difficult work ahead, I am heartened by what we have seen these past few days: a willingness of those with different points of view and disparate interests to come together around common goals -- to embrace a shared sense of responsibility and make historic progress" (Youngman, The Hill, 5/16). He said, "I have always believed that it is better to talk than not to talk, that it is far more productive to reach over a divide than to shake your fist across it," which has "been an alien notion in Washington for far too long, but we are seeing that the ways of Washington are beginning to change."In the Republican radio and Internet address. Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.), a cardiovascular surgeon, said that a "government takeover of health care will put bureaucrats in charge of health care decisions that should be made by families and doctors." He added, "It will limit treatment options and lead to rationed care," and "to pay for government health care, your taxes will be raised." Boustany, a member of the House Republican Health Care Solutions Group, said, "That is something we cannot support, and frankly, it would clearly violate some of the principles the president himself has endorsed" (Superville, AP/Washington Post, 5/16). In related news, Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag on Sunday said on CNN"s "State of the Union" that the administration might support taxing health care benefits to health pay for health care reform (Barr, Politico, 5/17). Timeline
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House Of Delegates Elects Directors, Officers, And Committee Member Prior To PT '09 In Baltimore
The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) House of Delegates elected officers, directors, and a member of the Nominating Committee during its annual meeting prior to PT 2009, June 10-13, in Baltimore.
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Civilian Doctors, Not Just Those In Combat Settings, Urgently Need Training On Blast Injuries
The increasing incidence of terrorist attacks means that doctors in civilian settings, as well as those in combat operations, need training on blast injuries. The issues surrounding these frequently devastating injuries are discussed in a Seminar published Online First and in an upcoming edition of The Lancet, written by Dr Stephen Wolf, Department of Emergency Medicine, Denver Health Medical Center, Denver, CO, USA, and colleagues.
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Men Hit By 'Inexplicable' Greater Cancer Death Risk

Men are almost 40 per cent more likely than women to die from cancer, reveals a report published today (Monday) by the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) and Cancer Research UK together with the Men"s Health Forum to mark Men"s Health Week. And they are 16 per cent more likely to develop the disease in the first place. After excluding breast cancer and cancers specific to one or other sex from the analysis*, the difference is even greater - with men being almost 70 per cent more likely to die from cancer and over 60 per cent more likely to develop the disease. The researchers then looked at the figures, excluding lung cancer as well, because the disease and its main risk factor, smoking, is known to be more common in men. They expected to see that, across the broad range of remaining cancer types, men and women were just as likely as each other to die from and get the disease. But they found that for all of these cancers combined, men were still 70 per cent more likely than women to die from cancer and 60 per cent more likely to get cancer. Experts suggest that a possible explanation for the differences seen for some types of cancer could be down to stereotypical male behaviour - like down playing important early symptoms and having an unhealthy lifestyle. Professor David Forman, information lead for the NCIN, said: "For many of the types of cancer we looked at that affect both sexes, there"s no known biological reason why men should be at a greater risk than women, so we were surprised to see such consistent differences. "After taking out the effect of age, men were significantly more likely than women to die from every one of the specific types of cancer considered and, apart from melanoma, they were also significantly more likely to develop the disease. "Men have a reputation for having a "stiff upper lip" and not being as health-conscious as women. "What we see from this report could be a reflection of this attitude, meaning men are less likely to make lifestyle changes that could reduce their risk of the disease and less likely to go to their doctor with cancer symptoms. Late diagnosis makes most forms of the disease harder to treat." The report looked at the number of cancer deaths in the UK in 2007 and the number of new cases of cancer in 2006, broken down by cancer type. The cancers that were not sex-specific were grouped together and the researchers then looked at the ratio of men to women in each category. Professor Alan White, Professor of Men"s Health at Leeds Metropolitan University and Chair of the Men"s Health Forum, said: "The evidence shows that men are generally not aware that, as well as smoking, carrying excess weight around the waist, having a high alcohol intake and a poor diet and their family history all contribute to their increased risk of developing and dying prematurely from cancer, but more research needs to be done before we can be sure exactly why this gender gap exists. "This report clearly demonstrates that a concerted effort needs to be made into getting the public, the health professionals and the policy makers aware of the risks men are facing. Many of these deaths could be avoided by changes in lifestyle and earlier diagnosis." Sara Hiom, director of health information at Cancer Research UK, said: "We know that around half of all cancers could be prevented by changes to lifestyle and it"s worrying that this message could be falling on deaf ears for men. "Importantly, for many cancers, the disease is more likely to be treated successfully if caught early. Delays in reporting symptoms to a doctor could be helping to fuel this gender gap in cancer mortality. "Cancer Research UK and the Department of Health are key players in the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative (NAEDI), part of which aims to understand the reasons why people put off telling their GP about cancer symptoms and how to overcome them. "This report tells us that NAEDI could make a real difference to understanding why cancer outcomes for men are so different." Professor Mike Richards, National Cancer Director said: "As part of NAEDI, the Department and the Football Foundation are joint funding an "Ahead of the Game" programme to promote early presentation. This one-year pilot programme, will use the appeal of football to raise awareness of lung, bowel and prostate cancers in men aged 55 and over, and selected football clubs across the country will receive funding to target local men over 55 and raise cancer awareness. "Recently the Department of Health and the NHS Cancer Screening Programme agreed to provide funding for the Bobby Moore Fund "There"s Moore to Know" campaign on bowel cancer. "Through these new approaches we hope to raise awareness about the signs and symptoms of cancer, and encourage men with symptoms to seek help earlier." Notes * The remaining cancers were oesophagus, stomach, colorectal, liver, pancreas, malignant melanoma, kidney, bladder, brain and CNS, non-Hodgkin"s lymphoma, multiple myeloma and leukaemia. Breast cancer was also excluded from this analysis as it is very rare in men. Cancer Research UK


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