Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Call for action following Healthcare Commission report

Cancer information charity CancerBACUP is calling for action following today's Healthcare Commission report, which highlights particular concerns about patient information and the lack of patient involvement in their treatment and care.

5 Aug 2004

ATS receives US $10.7 million in orders from one of the world's largest medical device companies

ATS Automation Tooling Systems has announced it has recently received a total of US $10.7 million (CDN $14.2 million) in orders from one of the world's largest manufacturers of self-use medical diagnostic systems.

5 Aug 2004

25% of young men tested positive for a sexually transmitted infection (STI)

25% of young men attending a new community sexual health clinic, run by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in the heart of Brixton, have tested positive for a sexually transmitted infection (STI).

5 Aug 2004

As medicine targets personal DNA profiles, researchers examine ethics and patient experiences

Researchers at the University of York are beginning a major study into the ethical and personal issues raised by a potential revolution in healthcare, which could incorporate individualised medical care – pharmacogenetics - into clinical practice.

5 Aug 2004

ASTRO and ACS join to promote cancer survivorship

As part of an initiative to give back to the cancer communities in the cities visited during its annual scientific meetings, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology is partnering with the Atlanta chapter of the American Cancer Society to raise awareness of cancer survivorship.

5 Aug 2004

Physicians treating blacks more often reported that they lacked sufficient access to major health care resources

If you are a black Medicare patient in the United States, you are more likely than a white Medicare patient to be treated by a primary care physician who reports being unable to provide consistently high-quality medical care to all patients.

5 Aug 2004

Coping programs for adolescent children of HIV-infected parents help teens develop into productive young adults

UCLA AIDS Institute scientists have found that coping programs for adolescent children of HIV-infected parents help teens develop into productive young adults while saving taxpayers significant expenses in government services.

3 Aug 2004

How to avoid MRSA infection

Staph bacteria are not uncommon in health care settings. In fact, they account for a large number of hospital-related infections each year.

3 Aug 2004

Half of women over 55 don't discuss osteoporosis with their doctors

A recent survey of 376 women age 55 and over found fewer than half of them discuss osteoporosis prevention therapies with their healthcare providers, yet this bone crippling disease is one of the major reasons women eventually lose their independence and enter nursing homes.

3 Aug 2004

The NHS is effectively being privatised

The NHS is effectively being privatised – broken up into hundreds of competing companies with an independent regulator overseeing the system according to Professor Allyson Pollock of UCL's School of Public Policy.

3 Aug 2004

FDA approval for mint flavor nicotine gum

Watson Pharmaceuticals announced today that it has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration on its Abbreviated New Drug Application for nicotine polacrilex gum, mint flavor, in the 2 and 4 mg strengths.

3 Aug 2004

Higher levels of certain hormones may be associated with stress

Higher levels of certain hormones may be associated with stress, and can influence a person's ability to cope with the negative effects of stress, according to an article in the August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

2 Aug 2004

Computer-aided detection (CAD) can help physicians locate and analyze images from computed tomography (CT) scans

The diagnostic imaging modality of computed tomography (CT) scan is very helpful in lung cancer assessment as it spots even small lung tumors that might go undetected in conventional chest X-ray and other tests.

2 Aug 2004

Guidance on providing advice on sex education to young people under the age of sixteen

British doctors and health professionals will be sent new, clearer guidance on providing advice on contraception, sexual and reproductive health and treatments to young people under the age of sixteen.

2 Aug 2004

Continuous glucose sensor technology has the potential to revolutionize diabetes management

Findings published in the August 2004 issue of Diabetes Care indicate that a new analytical tool -- the Continuous Glucose Error-Grid Analysis (CG-EGA) -- which was created to evaluate the clinical accuracy of continuous glucose monitoring in people with diabetes, shows that continuous monitoring can provide highly accurate test results.

2 Aug 2004

Unethical to deny failed asylum seekers access to the NHS

It is unethical to deny failed asylum seekers access to the NHS, argues a doctor in this week's BMJ.

29 Jul 2004

Tablets which help recovering alcoholics stay off the drink

The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved Campral (acamprosate calcium) tablets which help recovering alcoholics to stay of the drink. Campral is manufactured by Forest Laboratories and Merck of Darmstadt, Germany.

29 Jul 2004

Philadelphia diet drug trial completed

Wyeth has announced that the jury in the case of Rhonda Istnick and Henry Clepper v. Wyeth, et al. rendered its decision, finding in favor of the Company in the case brought by Ms. Istnick, while awarding Mr. Clepper compensatory damages in the amount of $48,000.

29 Jul 2004

How gender affects living with traumatic spinal cord injuries

Although men and women who have suffered traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCIs) report comparable levels of psychological well-being, recent studies have found that older female SCI survivors experience aging differently from their male counterparts.

29 Jul 2004

15 new NHS hospital developments worth more than £4 billion

The announcement will bring investment in new NHS hospitals to more than £16 billion since 1997. The NHS is already well on course to meet the NHS Plan target of 100 new hospital schemes open to patients by 2010. More than 40 are already built and operational.

29 Jul 2004