Beyond Herbals: The Toxicology of Plants
Chicago, IL, July 26, 2006— Plant ingestion accounts for 5% of US pediatric poisonings. Children are not the only victims of plant poisonings – adults and household pets also suffer from exposure.

New Drugs to Treat Diabetes
Chicago, IL, July 25, 2006—Insulin that is inhaled before each meal and an injectable drug that causes weight loss and is derived from the saliva of a Gila monster are just two of several new drugs to treat diabetes. More than 20.8 million children and adults in the US, or 7% of the population, have diabetes. While an estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed, 6.2 million people (or nearly one-third) are unaware that they have the disease, according to the American Diabetes Association.

Tackling Chilhood Obesity: One Company Attacks the Epidemic Among Children of Employees
Chicago, IL, July 25, 2006—Concerned that 34% of employees children ages 5-18 were found to be either obese or at risk for obesity when they were weighed at Well Child visits in the company's clinics, Quad/Graphics (West Allis, WI) created QFIT, a multidisciplinary obesity intervention program for children and adolescents who are overweight or at risk for becoming overweight. QFIT is part of Quad/Graphics's Quad/Med, a fully-self insured health care program that provides primary and some specialty care – including pediatrics – on site at company facilities. Quad/Med has slashed health care costs while improving wellness.

Reinventing Company Provided Health Care:In-House Primary Care Clinics Improve Employee Health
Chicago, IL, July 25, 2006 —While other companies are struggling to contain health care costs, one of America's biggest printing companies, Quad/Graphics, has created a new model for health care: a fully self-insured health care system for employees that has slashed the company's health care costs, reduced morbidity and absenteeism and demonstrably increased employee wellness. The total cost of care for Quad/Graphics employees is 20% below the benchmark for Midwestern companies. Quad/Graphics spends about $6,500 per employee on health care, compared with its mid-Western peers, who spend over $9,000 per employee on average.

From Reproduction to Menopause: How Can Women Know When it is time to stop Birth Control?
Chicago, IL, July 25, 2006—Women wondering whether their reproductive years are over should ask their doctors to order hormone tests to help assess their fertility. Hormone testing can also help to determine whether a woman will benefit from hormone replacement or other treatment to offset the symptoms and effects of various stages of menopause. Menopause can begin anytime after age 35, although it usually starts sometime in a woman's 40s. The menopausal change is slow and usually takes two to five years to complete. During peri-menopause, a woman's menstrual cycle may become irregular, leading her to believe that her fertility is over, but it is often still possible to become pregnant during peri-menopause.

Lab Tests Online At 5 Years: A Global Standard
Chicago, IL, July 24, 2006—AACC's Lab Tests Online closes out its fifth year this week as the emerging global standard for patient information on laboratory testing.

Media Invited to Cover
July 23, 2006—Members of the press are invited to attend and cover the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), which attracts 20,000 physicians, scientists and others interested in laboratory science and medicine. The meeting includes more than 200 educational sessions in which leading physicians and scientists will present the latest information on a wide range of topics, including: genomics, cancer diagnostics, hormone replacement therapy, patient safety, evidence based medicine, personalized medicine and proteomics.

Newt Gingrich to Give Address about Global Health in Chicago on July 24 Speech to be given at AACC Meeting; News Conference Opportunity to Follow
Washington, D.C., July 18, 2006—Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has made a name for himself as a tireless advocate for substantive change in the way health care is delivered in the U.S. On Monday, July 24, Mr. Gingrich will address the issue of “Global Health and the Importance of Medical Research and Scientific Discovery” in a presentation at Chicago's McCormick Place exposition center. A brief media-only press conference will follow the speech, which begins at 1:30.

Doctor In Your House – High Tech Health Care Via Telehealth Systems; Electronic Monitoring At Home Reduces Doctor & Hospital Visits, Costs
Chicago, IL, June 24, 2006—A recent study of patients with congestive heart failure who were monitored at home via an innovative new technology called telehealth demonstrated that patients using the system reduced their use of health care resources by 41%. Physician office visits were reduced 43%, emergency room visits decreased 33% and hospitalizations were down 29%. Telehealth uses electronic information and telecommunication technologies to support “long distance health care”. This study and others demonstrate that telehealth monitoring may provide patients and the medical community with a successful, cost-reducing method of managing health problems among the burgeoning number of elderly patients in America, including those with diabetes, congestive heart failure and other chronic conditions. (Congestive heart failure is the “first-listed” diagnosis among hospitalized patients in America and approximately 5 million cases of congestive heart failure account for related costs of about $25.8 billion. Reducing hospital and doctor visits among those patients could save billions.)