Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC performed the nation’s first pediatric paired kidney donation on July 8, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Paired donations occur when an individual wants to donate an organ to a sick family member but cannot because their organ types do not match. So the potential organ donor registers with the national Paired Donation Network and agrees to donate an organ to a different person in exchange for a matching organ from that person’s family member. UPMC’s chapter of the Paired Donation Network has 40 potential donors registered.

The bankrupt Brownsville Tri-County Hospital is seeking federal funds to help reopen the hospital, reports the Uniontown Herald-Standard. A recent review of the hospital’s financial records for the eight months Brownsville Tri-County Hospital was open show that if the hospital had been paid for all of the services provided, it would have been profitable. The hospital, however, didn’t have provider numbers for some of the insurances it accepted until months after opening, and those insurance companies have not paid for services provided prior to entering into agreements with the hospital.

The free forum is being hosted by the Schuylkill County National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Sovereign Majestic Theater, Pottsville.

The Republican Herald reports:

“She [Richman] especially wants to hear what family members have to say about their experiences in getting services for their loved ones who may have a mental health diagnosis or problem, and provide an opportunity for communication where questions can be asked,” said Marty Galvin, NAMI Schuylkill chapter president.Galvin said the public stigma of mental illness, numerous barriers to obtaining adequate and effective treatment and disparities in public policy need to be addressed.”

The public hearing  is set for 9:30 a.m. Sept. 18 in room 205 of the Ryan Office Building at the Capitol.  Public comment can be submitted on the issue until September 15th.

Dr.  William Klunk and Dr. Chester Mathis developed the compound, Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB), four years ago to help diagnose Alzheimer’s.  Tests have since shown that PIB, a radioactive dye, could not only diagnose the disease but it could predict it at least 10 years before any symptoms.

Dr. Mathis believes this early diagnosis will allow patients to make financial and living arrangements before symptoms appear.

“You can decide ahead of time, when you’re not in the fog of the disease and you can’t make the decisions for yourself,” Dr. Mathis said.

Nearly 5.2 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s.  There is no cure for the disease but researchers hope to find a drug to combat the disease within 5 to 10 years.

People around here “were brought up on meat and potatoes and butter, they drink their beer,” said Steve Garfunkel, who owns the Coliseum Gym in Allentown and has lived in the area 14 years.  “But they don’t know how to mix in and moderate that with exercise.”

Lehigh Valley, which for the purpose of the study includes Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon and Warren Counties, had a local obesity rate of 28.7% compared to the national level of 26.3%.  As for binge drinking, 17.1% of residents interviewed for the study reported binge drinking recently.  This number was 15.8% nationwide.

Lehigh Valley still ranks well below the most obese metropolitan area in the country, though.  Memphis, where 34.8% of residents were reported obese, ranked #1 in that category.

Check out The Morning Call to see the full story on the study.

Researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health have found that “individuals with elevated levels of periodontal disease were nearly twice as likely to become diabetic within 20 years, even after adjusting for age, smoking, obesity and diet.”

The Times reports that nearly 35 percent of adults have some form of gum disease.  While genetics plays a role in gum disease, tobacco and medication side effects, such as dry mouth, also contribute to oral health problems.

The Erie Times-News  reports the project, which broke ground this week, includes improvements to the registration area, added waiting areas and a new entrance.  The project also includes more convenient pre- and post-operative areas as well as consultation rooms.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

His work, and others like it, highlights the intense search for treatments that target cancer cells without causing debilitating side effects such as weight and hair loss, excessive bleeding and fatigue that are common with radiation and chemotherapy.

Salmonella, a type of bacteria, naturally accumulate around tumors because bacteria like to eat, and tumors are a great source of food. Dr. Forbes, using a $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, has found a way to drive the salmonella, which swim like sperm, into a section of tumors where chemotherapy is generally ineffective.

Studies in mice show the treatment has potential. All mice with tumors who received saline solution were dead after 30 days, while those receiving salmonella and zaps of radiation were alive after 30 days. And none got sick from the toxin.

Click here  to check out the full story.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

AIDS is a big dragon,” Mr. Clinton said Monday, but unlike the mythical dragon slain by St. George, “this dragon must be slain by millions and millions of foot soldiers.”

Basking in applause, Mr. Clinton recited some of his foundation’s accomplishments, such as reducing the price of certain AIDS treatments for poor children to $60 a year from the $600 they cost three years ago.

But he also said much work still remains to counteract the high rates of babies born with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in many parts of the developing world. In the most desperate locales, the rates of mother-to-child transmission are as high as 15 times the rate in countries where pregnant women with HIV receive proper treatment.

Click here to check out the full story.

The hospice center, which is being opened by Excela Health, is intended to provide short-term care to patients facing death so they can go home if possible.  The main purpose of the center would be to help patients with pain management.

“Sometimes a patient stays for a few days, a week or more, and sometimes the patient will end life peacefully in our center, said Gretchen Peske, hospice center manager.”  “It all depends on the patient’s individual condition.”

In addition to the care offered to the patients, the center will also offer emotional support to families.