Daily non-political popular news in brief.

RAND study shows little public money spent on health care to undocumented immigrants

A small fraction of health care spending is used to provide publicly supported care to America's undocumented immigrants, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today.The report, which appears in the November edition of the journal Health Affairs, estimates that about $1.1 billion in federal, state and local government funds are spent annually on health care for undocumented immigrants aged 18 to 64 -- amounting to an average of $11 in taxes per US household.

Read more »

Keywords: rand, study, shows, little, public, money, spent, health, care, undocumented, immigrants, show, immigrant

« Previous | Next »

Similar news on "RAND study shows little public money spent on health care to undocumented immigrants":

1. RAND study finds evidence disease management programs
   12-10-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Disease management programs that help guide the care of patients with chronic health problems appear to improve the quality of health care, but there is little evidence that such efforts actually save money, according to a study issued today by the RAND Corporation.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
2. Lower mortality rates associated with hospitals that rank highest on quality of care indicators
   07-16-2007 · EurekAlert!
   A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health shows that patients who go to hospitals ranked higher according to specific quality measures, have a lower chance of dying than patients treated at lower-ranked hospitals.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
3. Kids more active when playground has balls, jump ropes, UNC study shows
   12-11-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Children play harder and longer when their child care centers provide portable play equipment (like balls, hoola hoops, jump ropes and riding toys), more opportunities for active play and physical activity training and education for staff and students, according to a study published in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health examined environmental factors that encourage children to be active with greater intensity and for longer periods of time.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
4. Advance in understanding of blood pressure gene could lead to new treatments
   02-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Research by scientists at UCL (University College London) has clearly demonstrated for the first time the structure and function of a gene crucial to the regulation of blood pressure. The discovery could be important in the search for new treatments for illnesses such as heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. In a paper published online today in Nature Medicine, the team, led by Professor Patrick Vallance and Dr James Leiper, UCL Department of Medicine, reveal the role of the human gene dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), showing that loss of DDAH activity disrupts nitric oxide (NO) production. NO is critical in the regulation of blood pressure, nervous system functions and the immune system. The role of DDAH is to break down modified amino acids (Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA)) that are produced by the body and have been shown to inhibit NO synthase. These molecules accumulate in various disease states including diabetes, renal failure and pulmonary and systemic hypertension, and their concentration in plasma (the fluid component of blood) is strongly predicative of cardiovascular disease and death. In a healthy human body, the majority of ADMA is eliminated through active metabolism by DDAH. Scientists have hypothesised that if DDAH function is impaired, NO production is reduced, and that this could be an important feature of increased cardiovascular risk. To examine this pathway in more detail, the researchers deleted the DDAH gene in mice. These mice went on to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure. They also designed specific inhibitors (small molecules) which bind to the active site of human DDAH. These small molecule inhibitors also induced hypertension in mice, confirming the importance of DDAH in the regulation of blood pressure. Dr Leiper, UCL Medicine, said: “These genetic and chemical approaches to disrupt DDAH showed remarkably consistent results, and provide compelling evidence that loss of DDAH function increases the concentration of ADMA and thereby disrupts vascular NO signalling. “There has been considerable scientific interest in this pathway and the role of ADMA as a novel risk factor, but so far there's been little evidence to support the idea that it's a cause of disease, rather than just a marker. Genes and their pathways are crucial to our understanding of cardiovascular disease and a better understanding of DDAH-1 could lead to important new treatments. “It could help us to establish if genetic variation predisposes certain people to these diseases, or whether environmental factors exert some of their effects through modulation of DDAH activity. “Our research also shows that this pathway could be harnessed therapeutically to limit production of NO in certain situations where too much nitric oxide is a bad thing; for example, hypotension and septic shock. These are some of the biggest problems in intensive care medicine and there is a huge unmet need for drug treatments.” The study, which was carried out at UCL's Rayne Institute, was funded by grants from the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The unexpected finding in the 1980s that a simple gas, nitric oxide (NO), is made by cells in the blood vessel wall and is a powerful control of blood vessel relaxation led to the award of the Nobel Prize in 1998 to its discoverers. "More recently, there has been increasing evidence that impairment of NO production is likely to be an important factor in the development of heart and circulatory disease, but the mechanisms responsible are not fully understood. "This study suggests for the first time that the loss of the activity of the enzyme DDAH-1 leads to reduced NO production and may cause heart and circulatory disease. These findings are likely to be important in the search for new ways to optimise the health of our blood vessels." ### Notes for Editors 1. For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence. UCL is the fourth-ranked UK university in the 2006 league table of the top 500 world universities produced by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. UCL alumni include Mahatma Gandhi (Laws 1889, Indian political and spiritual leader); Jonathan Dimbleby (Philosophy 1969, writer and television presenter); Junichiro Koizumi (Economics 1969, Prime Minister of Japan); Lord Woolf (Laws 1954, Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales); Alexander Graham Bell (Phonetics 1860s, inventor of the telephone), and members of the band Coldplay.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
5. Racial disparities high in Medicare plans
   10-24-2006 · EurekAlert!
   Numerous studies show the African-Americans receive worse quality of care relative to white Americans across a broad array of medical conditions -- disparities that can significantly harm patients or reduce quality of life. A new study from Harvard Medical School and Brown Medical School shows that such disparities in care cannot simply be attributed to low-performing health plans.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
6. Study shows interruption of antiretroviral therapy increases risk of disease and death
   11-30-2006 · EurekAlert!
   Findings from one of the largest HIV/AIDS therapy studies show that a specific strategy of interrupting antiretroviral therapy more than doubles the risk of AIDS or death from any cause. Researchers affiliated with the Mailman School of Public Health led a large multi-center international study, known as Strategies for Management of Anti-Retroviral Therapies, or SMART, comparing two treatment strategies for people with human immunodeficiency virus. Findings demonstrate the value of continuous antiretroviral therapy.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
7. Adverse reactions of natural health products/drugs under-reported, study shows
   07-20-2007 · EurekAlert!
   The adverse effects of using prescription drugs side by side with natural health products (NHP) are being under-reported, so the potential risks may be underestimated by health-care professionals and the public.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
8. Neighborhood ethnic density associated with risk of psychosis among immigrants in the Netherlands
   02-04-2008 · EurekAlert!
   Researchers from the Mailman School of Public Health and The Hague, Netherlands report that immigrants who live in neighborhoods where their own ethnic group comprise a small proportion of the population are at increased risk for certain psychotic disorders. The study underscores the necessity for public health clinicians to pay attention to the mental health needs of immigrants, and highlights the importance of cultural sensitivity when treating immigrant and minority patients.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
9. RAND researchers offer options to improve immigrant health care quality, access
   09-11-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Expanding opportunities for immigrants to obtain legal residency and citizenship may be the best option to offer them better access to health care, according to an article published today by the RAND Corp. in the journal Health Affairs.The article from RAND Health, "Immigrants and Health Care: Sources of Vulnerability," appears in a special issue of Health Affairs that looks at a how to improve health care for vulnerable populations.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
10. Individuals with high fear of crime twice as likely to suffer from depression
    09-27-2007 · EurekAlert!
    A new UCL study has shown that people with a strong fear of crime are almost twice as likely to show symptoms of depression. The research, based on data taken from the Whitehall II study, also shows that fear of crime is associated with decreased physical functioning and lower quality of life. The findings are published today in the American Journal of Public Health.
    Similar news · Read more »