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Intraoperative RLN monitoring prior to thyroid surgery improves surgical outcomes

Intraoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) monitoring has gained popularity with approximately 53 percent of general surgeons and 65 percent of otolaryngologists using intraoperative nerve monitoring in select or all cases.

19 Nov 2013

Mass. Eye and Ear's OGSH launches new collaboration to care for people ENT diseases

Rates of death and disability stemming from ear, nose and throat conditions continue to rise in developing countries like Uganda, but despite the need, fewer than 15 operating ear, nose and throat surgeons serve Uganda's 33.4 million and growing population. Only two ENT residency programs exist in this country, but many trainees do not remain in the country after graduation. Mass. Eye and Ear's Office of Global Surgery and Health is launching a new collaboration with Mbarara University Science and Technology School of Medicine and Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital to help address the need for more trained physicians to care for the ENT diseases and conditions of this population and to help encourage those who are ENT trained to stay in the country to care for those who need them.

16 Nov 2013

Peripheral prism glasses provide simple mobility rehabilitation intervention for hemianopia

More than a million Americans suffer from hemianopia, or blindness in one half of the visual field in both eyes as the result of strokes, tumors or trauma. People with hemianopia frequently bump into walls, trip over objects, or walk into people on the side where the visual field is missing.

12 Nov 2013

Parent's use of digital photography shown as effective tool in diagnosis of retinoblastoma

Can parents use digital cameras and smart phones to potentially screen their children for the most common form of pediatric eye cancer? Baylor University and Harvard Medical School researchers believe so.

7 Nov 2013

Sound Pharmaceuticals completes enrollment for SPI-1005 Phase 2 clinical trial

Sound Pharmaceuticals has successfully completed enrollment of its Phase 2 clinical trial with SPI-1005 at the University of Florida. This study enrolled 80 healthy subjects with normal or slight hearing loss and exposed the volunteer to calibrated music using an iPod and insert earphones.

5 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: House Republicans help themselves, and the country, with smart, tough questions to Tavenner; Kentucky senators out of step with eager constituents; replace health law with single payer system

When House Republicans direct their opposition to Obamacare toward aggressive oversight rather than apocalyptic budget shenanigans, they can do themselves and the country a lot of good. That was obvious when the House Ways and Means Committee posed some smart, tough questions about HealthCare.gov to Marilyn Tavenner, who, as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is perhaps the person most directly responsible for the fiasco. Yes, there were a few "gotcha" questions meant to showcase individual representatives' hatred of the health-care law. But for the most part, the queries seemed designed to find a path toward more competent management of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (10/29).

31 Oct 2013

NEI-funded study explores methods to improve diagnosis, treatment of common eye diseases

If you've ever been sleep-deprived, you've probably had a firsthand glimpse of the blood vessels in your eyes. But what you haven't seen—and what many eye care professionals cannot see as well as they would like—are the vessels closest to the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.

29 Oct 2013

Smartphone-enabled otoscope provides clear images of ear tympanic membrane

A new, smartphone-enabled otoscope provides clear, transmittable images of the ear drum, or tympanic membrane, which someday may allow for ear infection diagnosis without a visit to the doctor's office, according to an abstract presented Monday, Oct. 28, at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition in Orlando.

28 Oct 2013

Arthritis Society launches campaign to urge Canadians to speak up, "Share The Pain"

The Arthritis Society today launched a nationwide campaign to urge Canadians to speak up and "Share The Pain" they experience in living with arthritis. The Society is aiming to change the conversation about arthritis and trigger a candid, national discussion on the reality of a disease that affects millions of Canadians of every age.

21 Oct 2013

5.2M won't get coverage in states rejecting Medicaid expansion; Wis. governor race heats up over expansion plans

A new report projects that 5.2 million adults will not get health coverage next year because their states aren't expanding Medicaid under the health law. In Wisconsin, expanding the program becomes an issue in the gubernatorial race, while in North Carolina, county commissioners ask state officials to reconsider their decision not to expand and in Virginia, supporters of expansion outnumber opponents in a hearing.

17 Oct 2013

IRCM researchers identify new proteins crucial for hearing

A team of researchers led by Dr. Michel Cayouette at the IRCM made an important discovery, published online yesterday by the scientific journal Developmental Cell, that could better explain some inherited forms of hearing loss in humans. The Montr-al scientists identified a group of proteins crucial for shaping the cellular organ responsible for detecting sounds.

16 Oct 2013

ADAGES III study receives NIH grant to elucidate genetics of glaucoma in African descents

A study led by Robert N. Weinreb, chairman and Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has received a $6.4 million, 5-year grant from the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, to elucidate the genetics of glaucoma in persons of African descent.

12 Oct 2013

Research finding may offer targets for treating feelings of unsteadiness

Johns Hopkins researchers say they have pinpointed a site in a highly developed area of the human brain that plays an important role in the subconscious recognition of which way is straight up and which way is down.

11 Oct 2013

Researchers develop coding strategy in cochlear implants to help users hear music better

For many, music is a universal language that unites people when words cannot. But for those who use cochlear implants -- technology that allows deaf and hard of hearing people to comprehend speech -- hearing music remains extremely challenging.

10 Oct 2013

Scientists identify new drug for inherited form of cancer with no known cure

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have identified a new drug candidate for an inherited form of cancer with no known cure.

3 Oct 2013

Short-term hearing loss during childhood may lead to persistent hearing deficits

Short-term hearing loss during childhood may lead to persistent hearing deficits, long after basic auditory sensitivity has returned to normal. The processing of sound in the brain is shaped by early experience.

1 Oct 2013

MD Anderson-developed aerosol triggers innate immunity to squelch infections

Research on an aerosol that jump-starts a rapid immune response to stifle viral respiratory infections before they can provoke asthma attacks has earned major funding from the National Institutes of Health.

1 Oct 2013

Research findings could help improve treatment for patients with chronic dizziness

Scientists have discovered differences in the brain structure of ballet dancers that may help them avoid feeling dizzy when they perform pirouettes.

27 Sep 2013

'Jekyll-and-Hyde' protein could be potent target for developing new cancer drugs

The mood changes of a 'Jekyll-and-Hyde' protein, which sometimes boosts tumour cell growth and at other times suppresses it, have been explained in a new study led by Oxford University researchers.