Gale Scott

Waiting lists for donor organs are shorter in some parts of the US, creating a geographic disparity that The US Department of Health and Human Services would like to eliminate. There are currently 58 Donor Service Areas in 11 US regions and donor organs go first to patients within each one. That has created a system where transplant patients often travel to regions where the waits are shorter, a hardship for them and a barrier to poor patients.

The Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) will hear arguments in the King v. Burwell case on March 4, according to information posted today on its calendar. The viability of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) hangs in the balance. The case focuses on language in the ACA that plaintiffs charge makes it illegal for people to get federal subsidies for health insurance purchased on state exchanges if they live in states where the federal government runs those exchanges.

Patients with mild hypertension may not be getting the care they need, according to 2 studies and an editorial due to be published Dec. 23 in Annals of Internal Medicine. In the second of the 2 studies in the journal, done for the US Preventive Service Task Force, researchers find office-based blood pressure readings are often less accurate than ambulatory blood pressure screening.

The Journal of the American College of Cardiology named its biggest hits in 2014, based on papers most frequently accessed from its site. A blood test to rule out heart attack, an advisory about guidelines for preventing high blood pressure, cutting edge research on a new class of cholesterol drugs, and a study that found benefits in early surgery for mitral regurgitation were among the winners.

Obese and overweight patients survive longer after a diagnosis of heart failure than do their lower-weight counterparts. But does that mean fat is protective? Not necessarily, according to a new study by Anita Deswal, MD and colleagues published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. But it is one of several possibilities suggested in the study.

It's been a good year for heart disease and stroke research. An expert panel chosen by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recently named 2014's most significant research news events.

Tracking patients' eye movements as they watched videos including Shakira's "Waka-Waka" 2010 FIFA World Cup tribute proved to be a good way to detect certain cranial nerve palsies, a team from New York University School of Medicine reports.

Congress's new 2015 budget bill effectively lifts the federal ban on medical marijuana. A little-noticed section of the bill bars the federal government from using federal funds to prevent the "distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana" in states where medical marijuana is legal.

For smokers and other users of nicotine, the rewarding effects of the substance had been associated with activation of nicotine receptors. But studies have found evidence that the endogenous opioid system is also involved in creating this sense of pleasure.

Capitalizing on the infatuation many parents-to-be have with their babies-to-be, commercial enterprises are making and selling "keepsake " ultrasound images. In a related trend, some consumers are purchasing Doppler ultrasound heartbeat monitors over the counter and without the required prescription for their use.

In a rat study, Brazilian researchers looked at the connections between exercise, opioid receptors (OR) and myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injuries.

Diabetics often experience peripheral neuropathy. In an estimated 30% to 50% of patients, this condition results in pain. The most common painful neuropathy is distal symmetric sensorimotor polyneuropathy.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. A new study published online in the Nournal of the International Neuropsychological Society shows that MetS also plays a role in cognitive performance.

Despite promising results in preclinical data and single-center trials, a multinational Phase III trial of progesterone administered to patients with traumatic brain injury showed no clinical benefit, according to a research published Dec. 10 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Officials at a Swiss hospital today announced they are temporarily halting trials of VSV-ZEBOV, the Ebola vaccine from Merck and NewLink. The trial is being conducted at Hopitaux Universitaires de Geneve. The trials will resume on Jan. 5, 2015. The decision was made after 4 volunteers developed mild joint pain in their hands and feet from 10 to 15 days after being vaccinated. There are 59 volunteers participating in the trial at the Swiss site.

The US Food and Drug Administration today approved Merck's Gardasil 9, a vaccine that offers protection against 5 more types of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) than original Gardasil. In addition to preventing cervical, vulvar, vaginal and anal cancers caused by HPV types 16 and 18 (those prevented by the older version of Gardasil) Gardasil 9 also prevents those cancers caused by HPV strains 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58.

Binge-drinking is a national problem, but it is a bigger concern for some states than others. The national rate dropped slightly in the US this year with 16.8% of US adults reporting they had such episodes in the past 30 days. That's down from 16.9% in 2013, according to America's Health Rankings, an annual survey that assesses the nation's health. But in some states the rate is far higher.

Teens who smoke tobacco through hookahs or use a trendy Swedish form of snuff called snus (rhymes with loose) are at higher risk of taking up smoking, according to a new study in JAMA Pediatrics. Hookahs have already been shown to deliver toxic substances like benzene, posing a direct threat to the health of users. But the new study by researchers at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Lebanon, NH shows using the devices is associated with a greater likelihood the user will switch to cigarettes.

US airport screenings of international passengers arriving in the US have yet to turn up a single person infected with the Ebola virus, according to the US Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC). But from a public health standpoint, they have been worthwhile, the CDC said today in a special report in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Review

In an effort to speed development of promising Ebola vaccines, US Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell today invoked the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act. The law protects drug developers from legal claims related to the manufacture, testing, development, distribution and administration of 3 vaccine candidates.

The potential uses of cannabis in treating epilepsy have gotten a lot of press but so far little scientific research. Three studies presented today at the American Epilepsy Society's meeting in Seattle represent an attempt to fill that gap. Their authors report on the use of marijuana and its derivative cannabidiol (CBD) in treating some forms of epilepsy.

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a growing concern for patients and physicians. The National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke today announced it will fund a $5.9 million research project on SUDEP. The Center for SUDEP Research, a virtual "center without walls" will enable 9 groups of scientists to shared findings and data with a goal of fostering collaborations, the NIH said in announcing the program. The news was released in conjunction with several SUDEP studies presented today at the American Epilepsy Society's annual meeting in Seattle, WA.

The medical problems faced by children with epilepsy are much studied, but in 3 studies presented at the American Epilepsy Society's annual meeting in Seattle, researchers report on these kids' behavioral and intellectual development problems.

Changing kids' diets has been shown to help control epileptic seizures. But until recently there was little data on whether strict dietary regimens are beneficial for adults with epilepsy. Reporting at the American Epilepsy Society's annual meeting in Seattle, WA today, two research teams said they have had some success with diet modification as a way to reduce seizures in adults with drug-resistant epilepsy.

Ron Klain, who was appointed "Ebola czar" on Oct. 17, will head back to his private sector work as president of Case Holdings and general counsel for Case's Revolution LLC no later than March 1.

US health care workers' concern over protecting themselves from Ebola infection may have compromised the care of some patients who turned out not to have Ebola, but whose care was delayed until Ebola test results were done. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Dec. 5 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, at least 2 patients who tested negative for Ebola died from other causes.

A study with rats appears to show promise for a drug that could help axons crushed in spinal cord injuries regenerate. Reporting in Nature Bradley Lang PhD, lead author of the study and a graduate student in the Lab of Jerry Silver, PhD, a professor of neurosciences at Case Western Reserve University School Medicine, say they found a way to design a drug that would help axons grow without having to touch the healing spinal cord.

Could multiple sclerosis be caused by a "rogue protein" that attacks the central nervous system? That's the hypothesis of a research team from the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK and researchers at the University of Texas Houston Medical School's Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders.

Genetic mutations likely case more cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) than previously thought, according to a new study in Annals of Neurology.

Chikungunya (CHIKV) virus infection can be hard to distinguish from dengue. Both of these mosquito-borne, acute febrile illnesses have become endemic in the Caribbean and the Americas, with locally acquired cases also starting to turn up in Florida. A new proactive household CHIKV surveillance program begun in January 2014 in Puerto Rico found that cross-testing for dengue and CHIKV found that the actual incidence of CHIKV is higher than thought. By visiting households in addition to getting reports from public health agencies, the CDC found 282 cases per 100,000 residents.