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Patients With Bipolar Disorder At Increased Risk For Wide Range Of Health Problems, Thomson Reuters Study Finds
A new study from Thomson Reuters found that patients with bipolar disorder were at greater risk for a wide range of medical conditions than a control group of patients with no mental health diagnoses.

National Organization for Women Establishes Kansas Abortion-Rights PAC To Fill Void After Death Of Abortion Provider Tiller
The Kansas chapter of the National Organization for Women has formed its own political action committee to replace ProKanDo, a PAC founded in 2002 by abortion provider George Tiller that was closed after his murder in May, the AP/Hays Daily News reports. ProKanDo spent more than $1 million over the last four years to advocate for abortion rights, assist candidates who support abortion rights and oppose antiabortion-rights candidates. The organization had more than 6,400 contributors but received between one-third and one-half of its annual funding from Tiller, according to former Director Julie Burkhart.NOW has scheduled a conference in Wichita on July 25 to discuss legislative strategy and Kansas elections. Marla Patrick, coordinator of NOW"s Kansas chapter,÷ said that although the new PAC will not have the same financial support from Tiller that ProKanDo received, his death has invigorated grassroots support. She added, "I think that can be every bit as effective, if not more so, especially in light of all the recent events" (Hegeman, AP/Hays Daily News, 7/18).
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Gallup Poll Reflects Cultural, Political Changes In Abortion Views, Opinion Piece Says
"There were all kinds of ways to misunderstand" the meaning of a recent Gallup poll that found for the first time that more U.S. residents identify themselves as "pro-life" than as "pro-choice," Time columnist Nancy Gibbs writes in an opinion piece. Gibbs writes that although Gallup "attributes the new numbers to Republicans purifying their views," that trend is "to be expected" because "when fewer people call themselves Republican, the party condenses into a pool of true believers." According to Gibbs, the real drivers of the shift are "the people in the middle who are constantly weighing which restrictions are reasonable." Gibbs notes a recent Pew poll that found that while "a majority of independents said abortion should be legal in most cases as recently as October, just 44% do so now." This finding "may inspire some introspection on the part of the political operatives in both parties who attribute the Republicans" present frailty to its orthodoxy on social issues," Gibbs says, adding that the GOP"s "message, on abortion at least, may be closer to mainstream than Democrats care to acknowledge."Gibbs continues, "I think the numbers, inadequate and simplified though they may be, reflect deeper changes -- some generational, some legal, some technological." She writes that people younger than age 30 "are more opposed to abortion than those older" and that she "wonder[s] if younger women are now sure enough of their sexual autonomy and their choices generally, that they don"t view limits on abortion as attacks on their overall freedom." At the same time, "the political context" has changed, Gibbs says. She adds, "The very meaning of the labels adjusts; calling yourself pro-choice at a time when a liberal Democratic President and allies in Congress are lifting abortion restraints may imply no qualms at all, and that"s not where most people are." She continues, "People always want to apply the brakes to whichever side has the momentum" because the "stakes are too high, the pain too private ... to see the issue treated as an ideological toy or fundraising tool." Gibbs concludes, "President Obama got in trouble in his talk last August with Rick Warren for saying that the question of when life begins was "above my pay grade." But just because he was glib doesn"t mean he was wrong" (Gibbs, Time, 5/18).
Public Health

Eating Meat Does Not Raise Breast Cancer Risk In Older Women

Eating red or white meat, including meat cooked at high temperatures, does not increase the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, according to a large study conducted by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The study was published this month in the International Journal of Cancer. A number of previous studies have found that eating red meat or meat cooked at high temperatures increases the risk of breast cancer. (High temperatures caused by grilling, barbecuing or pan-frying produce high amounts of heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in meat; HCAs and PAHs are mutagens (chemicals capable of causing mutations in DNA) that can cause breast tumors in laboratory animals.) But a link between meat in the diet and breast cancer in women hasn"t been established. "Previous epidemiologic studies in humans looking at the amount of meat in the diet and estimated intakes of HCAs and PAHs in relation to breast cancer risk have yielded inconsistent results," says lead author Geoffrey C. Kabat, Ph.D., M.S., senior epidemiologist in the department of epidemiology and population health at Einstein. To clarify this issue, Dr. Kabat and his colleagues analyzed data on 120,755 postmenopausal women who participated in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, a collaboration between the National Institutes of Health and American Association of Retired Persons. When the women enrolled in the study (between 1995 and 1996), they gave detailed information on what types of food they ate and how often they ate certain foods. In addition, they provided information on meat-preparation methods. Over the next eight years, approximately three percent, or 3,818, of the women developed breast cancer. The researchers found no evidence that the amount of meat consumed, meat-cooking methods used, or meat-mutagen intake was associated with an increased risk for breast cancer. Reported meat intake included steak, hamburger, chicken, pork, processed meat and meat cooked at high temperatures. The study also found that consumption of meat or meat cooked at high temperatures, through grilling and oven-broiling, did not increase breast cancer rates in subgroups including obese women, those who did not have children, who were consumers of alcohol, who were smokers, who used menopausal hormone therapy, who had low levels of physical activity, or had a low intake of fruits or vegetables. Neither the current study nor earlier studies assessed the diets of younger women. "So we haven"t ruled out the possibility that eating meat and exposure to meat mutagens at a younger age particularly during adolescence when the breasts are developing may increase one"s risk of breast cancer," says Dr. Kabat. The study, "Meat intake and meat preparation in relation to risk of postmenopausal breast cancer in the NIH-AARP diet and health study," appeared in the May 15, 2009 issue of the International Journal of Cancer. Study co-authors include Amanda J. Cross, Yikyung Park, Arthur Schatzkin, and Rashmi Sinha of the National Cancer Institute; Albert R. Hollenbeck, of AARP; and Thomas E. Rohan, Chairman, Department of Epidemiology & Population Health at Einstein. About Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University is one of the nation"s premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. It is the home to some 2,000 faculty members, 750 M.D. students, 350 Ph.D. students (including 125 in combined M.D./Ph.D. programs) and 380 postdoctoral investigators. Last year, Einstein received more than $130 million in support from the NIH. This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in diabetes, cancer, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Through its extensive affiliation network involving five hospital centers in the Bronx, Manhattan and Long Island which includes Montefiore Medical Center, The University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for Einstein the College runs one of the largest post-graduate medical training program in the United States, offering approximately 150 residency programs to more than 2,500 physicians in training. Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva


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