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Plasma torch kills surface bacteria in seconds

According to scientists a simple hand-held torch-like device can swiftly kill dangerous bacteria, offering a potential boon for emergency workers battling infection risks in wars or disaster zones. The device was created by an international team of researchers from China's Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Australia's CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering, the University of Sydney and the City University of Hong Kong.

5 Apr 2012

Hypertensive dialysis patient survives 17 years on the waiting list for a new kidney

Jimmie Jones of Calumet Park, Ill., has beaten all odds to survive 17 years on the waiting list for a new kidney.

5 Apr 2012

Vaccine injections given directly into pancreatic cancer tumors associated with stable disease

Research from The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) shows that a series of vaccine injections given directly into a pancreatic cancer tumor is shown to be associated with stable disease in patients who are not candidates for surgery.

5 Apr 2012

HSP27 protein can indicate lung damage during early stages of COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a widespread disease. In Austria alone, there are between 500,000 and 600,000 sufferers; around ninety per cent of cases are the result of smoking. Now, under the leadership of Hendrik Jan Ankersmit, a research team from the University Department of Surgery at MedUni Vienna and the Christian Doppler Laboratory for the Diagnosis and Regeneration of Heart and Thorax Diseases has discovered a protein marker in the blood that can already indicate lung damage during the early stages of COPD, before a decrease in lung volume is detected by a pulmonary function test.

5 Apr 2012

Physician groups identify unnecessary procedures

The list of 45 tests and procedures was pulled together by nine medical speciality groups to help reduce spending and improve patients' health.

5 Apr 2012

Simbionix sponsors first fellowship at USF Health CAMLS

Simbionix, a leading global provider of medical education and simulation training, has sponsored the first fellowship at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS).

5 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Obama's 'diatribe' on Ryan budget; President 'recovers' on statements about the court; Other health care mandates

If there's a Laffer Curve for Presidential invective - some point at which dishonest political abuse yields diminishing returns - the White House political team must not think their boss has hit it. Even in this hyperpartisan age, President Obama's speech to the Associated Press yesterday was a parody of the form. This was a diatribe that managed to invoke "Social Darwinism" and "a Trojan Horse" in the same paragraph, amid the other high crimes that Mr. Obama says Paul Ryan wants to commit.

5 Apr 2012

Uterine cancer deaths rise 20% in the last decade

Deaths from womb (uterine) cancer have risen by nearly twenty per cent in the last decade, according to new figures from Cancer Research UK today.

5 Apr 2012

FDA clears additional indications for Anulex’s fiXate Tissue Band product

Anulex Technologies, Inc., a privately held medical device manufacturer, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared additional indications for use of its fiXate Tissue Band product.

5 Apr 2012

More than 4 in 10 people at high risk for hereditary pancreatic cancer have small lesions

A team of scientists led by Johns Hopkins researchers have found that more than four in 10 people considered at high risk for hereditary pancreatic cancer have small pancreatic lesions long before they have any symptoms of the deadly disease.

5 Apr 2012

No cancer risk with metal on metal hip replacements: Study

Cancer risk was just one of the fears linked to the implants. Regulators have already called for them to be monitored closely following reports of high failure rates. Tiny metal ions made up of cobalt and chromium are thought to break off from the implants and leak into the blood, with fears that this leads to muscle and bone damage, and neurological issues.

4 Apr 2012

Bare platinum coils vs. newer gel-coated coils for aneurysm treatment

Approximately 6 million Americans have brain aneurysms, a condition that occurs when a weak or thin spot develops on a blood vessel in the brain causing it to balloon. Often, these do not cause symptoms and go undetected, but every year an estimated 30,000 Americans experience a ruptured aneurysm that bleeds into the brain causing a life threatening injury.

4 Apr 2012

Relapse-free survival now easier to predict for several tumor stages

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have carried out a study to validate the utility of new tumor classification systems for staging and predicting relapse-free survival for patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and who may be candidates for surgery.

4 Apr 2012

Post-operative complications after oesophageal cancer surgery may cause other health problems

Oesophageal cancer is a very serious form of cancer that, if not fatal, requires extensive surgery. A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that when serious complications arise after surgery for oesophageal cancer, many patients suffer other health problems, such as breathlessness, fatigue, insomnia and eating problems, for five years afterwards.

4 Apr 2012

Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute performs most adult heart transplants of any U.S. medical center

For the second year in a row, the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and Comprehensive Transplant Center performed the most adult heart transplants of any U.S. medical center, according to government statistics.

4 Apr 2012

Oral fluoroquinolones increase risk of retinal detachment

In an analysis of a cohort that included nearly one million patients who had visited an ophthalmologist, patients who were taking oral fluoroquinolones had a higher risk of developing a retinal detachment, a serious eye condition, compared with nonusers, although the absolute risk was small, according to a study in the April 4 issue of JAMA.

4 Apr 2012

Loyola’s hand surgeons see more patients with thumb arthritis

As baby boomers age, orthopedic surgeons are seeing more and more patients, especially women, who suffer from debilitating arthritis of the thumb.

4 Apr 2012

Nine physician organizations identify specific tests or procedures that may be unnecessary

Nine leading physician specialty societies have identified specific tests or procedures that they say are commonly used but not always necessary in their respective fields. Patient advocates are calling the move a significant step toward improving the quality and safety of health care.

4 Apr 2012

Stress-induced tolerance can prevent glaucoma

Working in mice, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have devised a treatment that prevents the optic nerve injury that occurs in glaucoma, a neurodegenerative disease that is a leading cause of blindness.

4 Apr 2012

Many RA patients more likely to develop lower GI disease

Add lower gastrointestinal (GI) problems such as ulcers, bleeding and perforations to the list of serious complications facing many rheumatoid arthritis patients. They are at greater risk for GI problems and gastrointestinal-related death than people without the disease, a Mayo Clinic study shows.

4 Apr 2012