Outlet: chinapost.com.tw
Title/Program: Taiwanese consume too much sodium
Media Type: Online Print Version
Publication Date: 07/08/2010
Extract:
Taiwanese male and female adults are consuming 1.9 times and 1.5 times, respectively, the upper limit (UL) of daily sodium intake as recommended by the Department of Health (DOH), according to a survey result released by the DOH yesterday. A 2009 study, conducted by the University of California, Davis, and Washington University in St. Louis, found strong evidence pointing to the possible fact that salt intake is a physiologic parameter, making it hard for government policy to limit sodium consumption.
Outlet: Examiner
Title/Program: Missouri race will test Obama’s midterm strategy
Media Type: Online Print Version
Publication Date: 07/09/2010
Extract: Campaigning in Missouri for a Democratic Senate hopeful, President Obama fine-tuned the economic theme he hopes will carry the party through the fall: Yes, things are bad — but Republicans are worse. Steven S. Smith, a political scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, noted that Obama’s standing in Missouri is about the same as it is nationally, saying “he’s no worse off, no better-off” than elsewhere.” This is a dead heat [Senate] race, and anything that could make difference now could be beneficial to her,” Smith said. “One thing that could make a difference is if Obama’s supporters turned out like they did in 2008.” Smith added, “In the end, I think Carnahan believes that she, just like Obama, has to prove to middle-of-the-road voters that sticking with Obama is better than returning Republicans to Congress.”
Outlet: Drugtopics.com
Title/Program: FDA approves first device for severe, persistent asthma
Media Type: Online Print Version
Publication Date: 07/08/2010
Extract: The first non-drug treatment for severe asthma that is not well controlled by anti-inflammatory medicines has won FDA approval. Mario Castro, MD, principal trial investigator and professor of medicine and pediatrics at the Washington University School of Medicine, said that during the yearlong study, BT brought about substantial improvements in his patients’ quality of life. Patients treated with the Alair device experienced a 32% reduction in asthma attacks; an 84% reduction in ER visits; a 73% reduction in hospitalizations; and a 66% reduction in days lost from work, school, or other daily activities as a result of respiratory distress.
Outlet: CNN.com
Title/Program: Avandia and diabetes: Was revolution worth the risks?
Media Type: Online Broadcast Version
Publication Date: 07/08/2010
Extract:
A decade after critics first accused the Food and Drug Administration of downplaying side effects from Avandia, the agency says it will reveal on Friday the data it is reviewing ahead of an advisory panel meeting about the safety of the popular diabetes drug. The meeting, scheduled for July 13 and 14, comes on the heels of two new studies suggesting that Avandia may cause serious or even life-threatening heart problems. Doctors who support Avandia got ammunition from a third study presented by Dr. Michael Bach of Washington University; he said data from the BARI-2D study shows patients on Avandia actually have a lower risk of heart attack or stroke.
Outlet: HeraldTribune.com
Title/Program: With criminal charges unlikely, only Wall Street punishes BP
Media Type: Online Print Version
Publication Date: 07/08/2010
Extract: If you’re looking for justice in the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, you’re likely to be disappointed. Public outrage at BP is at a fever pitch, but don’t expect to see executives in chains, camera-ready perp walks oar high-profile trial. Some critics say government prosecutors lack the tools to change corporate behavior, a situation seen in 2001 when the SEC pursued the accounting firm Arthur Anderson for its role in the Enron scandal. “It can be difficult to get the attention of firms the size of BP,” said Sam Buell, who led the Andersen prosecution and who’s now a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis.” You’re not going to put these guys’ business on the line with environmental law.”
Outlet: USATODAY.com
Title/Program: The human genome: Big advances, many questions
Media Type: Online Print Version
Publication Date: 07/07/2010
Extract:
Ten years after President Clinton hailed the completion of the first draft of the human genome, on June 25, 2000, doctors are grappling with the many challenges posed by a dawning era of genomic medicine. The race to sequence the genome has been overtaken by a new goal: to sequence genomes by the thousands to parse the linkages between genes and disease. ‘We’re starting to get a picture not only of what goes wrong, but the timing of events and how those events interact to cause disease. That’s pretty cool. That’s where you want to be with this,’ says Richard Wilson of the Genome Center at Washington University in St.Louis.