A new placebo-controlled study in 410 patients suffering from mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia has demonstrated the efficacy of EGb 761. Like the majority of dementia patients encountered in everyday clinical practice, the patients in the study suffered from both cognitive impairment and neuropsychiatric symptoms such as depressed mood, anxiety, irritability or aggression. During the observation period of 24 weeks, EGb 761 improved both cognitive functioning and neuropsychiatric symptoms of the patients significantly.

Under current law, spending on Medicaid is expected to substantially outpace the rate of growth in the U.S. economy over the next decade, according to a new annual report released today by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

For the more than 8.5 million individuals relying on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or awaiting a decision on their application for benefits, the 5.8 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) increase in Social Security payments for 2009 will certainly ease concerns, according to Allsup, a provider of Social Security disability, financial and healthcare-related services to people with disabilities. While the COLA has not been this high in more than 25 years, Allsup believes beneficiaries will not be overly optimistic about the increase.

Angioblast Systems announced this week a successful initial safety results following commencement of the world’s first clinical trial to use allogeneic adult stem cells obtained from an unrelated, universal donor to treat patients with congestive heart failure.

The nervous system and the immune system have something in common. Each has evolved to react quickly to environmental cues. Because the nervous system is able to detect some of these cues—say, a characteristic odor signaling a pathogen’s presence—at a distance, it sometimes can sense trouble earlier than the immune system, which has to wait until the pathogen invades the organism.

More than half of Americans (51%) believe there are good things about the current health care system, but major changes are needed, according to the 2008 EBRI Health Confidence Survey. The survey was released today by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Mathew Greenwald and Associates Inc., and was underwritten by the Principal Financial Group.

This week, StatCom announced the findings of the 2008 National Survey on Patient Flow Challenges and Technologies, an independent, nationwide survey of more than 200 healthcare executives. According to the findings, the overwhelming majority of U.S. healthcare executives (89%) reveal their facility has poor patient flow.

Lorry I. Lokey, the Business Wire founder and philanthropist, is giving $75 million to the Stanford University School of Medicine to help build what is expected to be the nation’s largest center for stem cell research, the medical school announced Oct. 6.

According to a study conducted by Aetna and Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, women who received dental care before or during their pregnancy had a lower risk of giving birth to a preterm or low birth weight baby than pregnant women who didn’t seek dental care at all. The study, conducted between January 1, 2003 and September 30, 2006, reviewed medical and dental insurance data for 29,000 pregnant women who each had medical and dental coverage with Aetna to determine if there was an association between dental treatment and the likelihood of experiencing either birth outcome.