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Stem cell therapy to prevent heart attacks

The use of stem cell therapy to prevent heart attacks is explored in a Comment published in this week's edition of The Lancet.

29 Jun 2007

Lowering cardiac risk later in life

In a study published in the July 2007 issue of The American Journal of Medicine, researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston found that people 45 to 64 years of age who added healthy lifestyle behaviors could substantially reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and reduce their death rate.

29 Jun 2007

Breast cancer survival runs in the family

The chances of developing breast cancer are to some extent inherited, but important new findings suggest survival also runs in the family.

29 Jun 2007

Hib vaccine could save hundreds of thousands of children in Asia

A new study from Bangladesh published online in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal shows that routinely vaccinating infants against H. influenzae type b (Hib), a bacterium that causes deadly Hib pneumonia and meningitis, could save hundreds of thousands of children in Asia.

28 Jun 2007

How will global warming affect human health?

Global warming will cause more deaths in summer because of higher temperatures but these will not be offset by fewer deaths in milder winters finds an analysis published online ahead of print in Occupational and Environment Medicine.

28 Jun 2007

Tularemia-specific antibodies protect mice from developing respiratory tularemia

The respiratory form of tularemia, a potentially serious bacterial disease, is a significant public health concern because it is highly infectious, it has a high mortality rate if untreated, and it could be introduced into a population in an intentional act of bioterror.

28 Jun 2007

Women's mortality rates for cardiovascular disease differ widely among hospitals

Women treated for cardiovascular disease at the nation's best- performing hospitals have a 39 percent lower risk-adjusted mortality rate when compared with women at the nation's poorest-performing hospitals, according to the fourth annual HealthGrades Women's Health Outcomes in U.S. Hospitals study.

26 Jun 2007

More fat may have some advantages for type 1 diabetes and heart disease

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences studying links between an early sign of heart disease called coronary artery calcification and body fat have found that, paradoxically, more fat may have some advantages, at least for people particularly women who have type 1 diabetes.

26 Jun 2007

Smoking may interfere with alcoholics neurocognitive recovery from abstinence

Alcoholics frequently smoke. Anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of individuals in North America who seek alcoholism treatment are also chronic smokers.

26 Jun 2007

Portion-control dishes may help obese diabetics lose weight

A plate and cereal bowl with markers for proper portion sizes appear to help obese patients with diabetes lose weight and decrease their use of glucose-controlling medications, according to a report in the June 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

26 Jun 2007

Patients with an alcohol-use disorder are more likely to require mechanical ventilation

More than 300,000 patients receive mechanical ventilation during intensive care per year in the United States, even though the hospital mortality rate for ventilated patients can approach 50 percent.

26 Jun 2007

Does air pollution have a bigger effect on the immune system of females than males?

Does air pollution have a bigger effect on the immune system of females than males? It did among mice exposed to ozone -- a major component in air pollution that is known to negatively affect lung function -- and then infected with pneumonia, as significantly more females died from the infection than males.

26 Jun 2007

Worldwide clinical trial of cardiac resynchronization therapy

The University of Zurich has announced an investigator initiated large-scale prospective randomized controlled clinical trial to assess the clinical impact of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) in heart failure patients.

23 Jun 2007

Ovarian cancer is not a symptom free disease

Ovarian cancer is not the symptom free disease that many medical textbooks have been claiming for years, says an Editorial in this week’s edition of The Lancet.

23 Jun 2007

Extra vitamin A does not help mothers and children in developing countries

Giving mothers and children in developing countries twice the WHO recommended doses of vitamin A, as suggested by an international vitamin group, does not have a beneficial effect.

23 Jun 2007

Smoking declines in New York City

smoking rate has plummeted since a comprehensive program against smoking was launched in 2002, according to findings issued today in the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

23 Jun 2007

Tamiflu could halve the pandemic influenza death toll versus no intervention

Treatment with the oral antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and prophylaxis for people exposed to infected patients could be one of the most cost-effective strategies for reducing illness and death during an influenza pandemic.

23 Jun 2007

EPA ozone pollution standards unhealthy for America

David H. Ingbar MD, president of the American Thoracic Society, today called the proposed standards issued by the Environmental Protection Agency for ozone pollution, commonly known as smog-unhealthy for America's kids, unhealthy for America's seniors, and unhealthy for America."

23 Jun 2007

Arpida receives FDA approval to initiate Phase II trial with intravenous iclaprim

Arpida Ltd. has announced that it has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for a Phase II trial with intravenous iclaprim in the treatment of patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) or healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP) suspected or confirmed to be due to Gram-positive pathogens.

23 Jun 2007

Kidney specialists review plans for disaster response

Hurricane Katrina and other recent disasters have focused attention on the urgent need for planning to provide health services after natural disasters.

23 Jun 2007