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African-Americans more likely to die of colon cancer

African-Americans with colon cancer are more than 50 percent more likely to die of their cancer within five and ten years after surgery than Caucasians. According to a new study published May 24, 2004 in the online edition of CANCER.

24 May 2004

WHO to tackle heart disease, diabetes, cancers, road safety as well as diseases

The World Health Assembly, the supreme decision-making body of the World Health Organization, has raised global public health to a new level, by resolving to take more action to prevent death and illness resulting from heart disease, diabetes, cancers, road safety, and lack of access to health services as well as from diseases spread by viruses, bacteria and other dangerous microbes.

22 May 2004

WHO reports likely Ebola case in Sudan

As of 10 May, WHO reported cases of Ebola haemorrhagic fever syndrome in Hai-Cuba, Yambio, Western Equatoria Region, south Sudan. A rapid assessment team is in the field to investigate the situation. Clinical samples have been collected and preliminary results are expected soon.

21 May 2004

Zinc may help to accelerate recovery from pneumonia

The addition of zinc to standard antimicrobial treatment may accelerate recovery from pneumonia, say researchers in this week's issue of The Lancet.

20 May 2004

No justification for claims that cleaning and hygiene contribute to an increase in allergies

A landmark report by the London-based International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene (IFH) on the so-called hygiene hypothesis finds "no justification" for claims that cleaning and hygiene contribute to an increase in allergies.

20 May 2004

Studies identify risk factors for colon cancer in women

In new studies presented today at Digestive Disease Week in New Orleans, scientists report that women’s preferences for a female physician may delay or prevent proper colorectal screenings due to a lack of females in the field and diabetes may be a significant risk factor for development of colon cancer.

19 May 2004

CRT implantable defibrillators significantly reduce hospitalization rates and extend lives

Researchers at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center have announced the findings of a large-scale clinical trial for patients with late-stage heart failure. Results showed that cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) from implantable pacemaker-like devices or CRT combined with an implantable defibrillator (CRT-D), when used in addition to optimal drug therapy, reduced significantly the mortality and first hospitalization rate when compared to drug therapy alone. CRT-D also substantially lowered mortality.

19 May 2004

Financially burdened patients more likely to die after coronary revascularization

Heart patients who had angioplasty or bypass surgery and felt burdened by medical costs were more than twice as likely to die within a year of their procedure as patients who didn’t have trouble paying for healthcare, according to a study presented today at the American Heart Association’s 5th annual Scientific Forum on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke.

19 May 2004

Higher volume may not guarantee higher quality angioplasty and stenting

"Practice makes perfect" seems logical, but how much practice remains uncertain, and current health care quality guidelines may be set too high. It may be time to reexamine the standard recommending hospitals perform at least 400 angioplasty and stent procedures per year, according to a new study in the May 19, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

19 May 2004

Canadian Statement to the World Health Assembly focuses on AIDS

The WHO's leadership is particularly important in the fight to combat HIV/AIDS. Last week, Canada bolstered its financial commitment to this effort with contributions of $100 million for WHO's '3 by 5 initiative', and $70 million to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Canada and Canadians are proud to take these actions against HIV/AIDS.

19 May 2004

Dark chocolate and cocoa may help arterial stiffness

“This is the first study to investigate whether chocolate has any favorable effects on cardiovascular function in healthy subjects,” says Charalambos Vlachopoulos, MD, of the Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece. “We found dark chocolate improves endothelial function and decreases arterial stiffness in healthy young adults.”

19 May 2004

Regional review boards improve liver transplant allocation

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) currently utilizes scores based on the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) or Pediatric End-Stage Liver Disease (PELD) to prioritize patients waiting for liver transplants.

17 May 2004

The federal government should expand its role in the financing of HIV/AIDS treatment for low-income Americans

The federal government should expand its role in the financing of HIV/AIDS treatment for low-income Americans to ensure that the thousands of HIV-infected people currently not receiving care through existing programs gain access to the services they need, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

16 May 2004

Largest annual rise of birth rates in Britain since 1979

There were 621,469 live births in England and Wales in 2003 - an increase of 4.3 per cent on 2002, when there were 596,122.

14 May 2004

Screening for liver diseases benefits outweigh costs for some, but not all, conditions

Screening programs for liver diseases can detect asymptomatic conditions which might have better outcomes if diagnosed and treated earlier.

14 May 2004

Should drug users and their families be trained in basic resuscitation methods?

Should drug users and their families be trained in basic resuscitation methods, and be allowed to administer interim emergency naloxone to prevent overdose deaths whilst awaiting emergency medical help? If so why are the drug regulators so resistant to implementing these obvious harm reduction measures?

14 May 2004

Americans spend more on health care but feel worse

Americans spend twice as much on health care as their European and Canadian counterparts, yet are more likely to rate their own quality of health as poor, says a new report, “Spending more, feeling worse: medical care expenditures and self-rated health,” forthcoming in the June 2004 edition of the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

14 May 2004