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New system accurately predicts mortality of older Americans

Researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center have created an index that is 81 percent accurate in predicting the likelihood of death within four years for people 50 and older.

20 Feb 2006

Certain chemicals in the blood may indicate brain injury

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh have found that increased levels of certain proteins in the blood or spinal fluid may signal brain injury in infants with vomiting, fussiness and several other common symptoms.

20 Feb 2006

Demographic and economic consequences of anti-aging therapies

In the 21st century, state-of-the-art anti-aging technologies may extend human lifespans at an unprecedented rate, bringing with them a host of social and economic challenges, says biologist Shripad Tuljapurkar of Stanford University.

20 Feb 2006

Drug abuse linked to brain hemmorhage in young adults

A fifth of young adults whose blood vessels ruptured inside their brain abused drugs and more than 40 percent had malformed blood vessels, according to a study reported Feb. 17 at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2006 in Kissimmee, FL.

20 Feb 2006

Lower doses of clot-busting drug safer for stroke patients

A Johns Hopkins study has shown that patients treated for a type of stroke caused by bleeding in the brain, or intracerebral hemorrhage, survived more often if given 1 milligram instead of the previously studied 3 milligram dose of the clot-busting drug tissue plasminogen activator (tPA).

19 Feb 2006

Metabolic acidosis increases mortality rate

Critically ill patients with metabolic acidosis are twice as likely to die as patients who do not have metabolic acidosis.

19 Feb 2006

Socioeconomic factors predominantly explain racial and ethnic disparities in prostate cancer outcomes

Socioeconomic factors predominantly explain racial and ethnic disparities in prostate cancer outcomes, according to a new study.

19 Feb 2006

Healthy preterm infants younger than 12 weeks show reduced lung function

Tests of healthy preterm infants younger than 12 weeks of age show prematurity to be independently associated with reduced lung function. Predictors of this reduced expiratory flow during the first months of life include male sex, low gestational age and increased weight gain.

19 Feb 2006

Poor physical fitness associated with lower socioeconomic status and higher rate of death

Individuals who have abnormal findings on exercise stress testing are more likely to have lower than higher socioeconomic status, and these physiologic characteristics may help account for the correlation between low SES and a higher rate of death

17 Feb 2006

Hospitalization of a spouse can harm the wellbeing of his or her partner

In the largest study ever to quantify caregiver burden and the widower effect, researchers found that for people aged 65 and older, hospitalization of a spouse can harm the wellbeing of his or her partner and significantly contribute to that partner's death.

17 Feb 2006

Cooking on wood stoves affects women in developing countries

Women in developing countries who cook over a wood stove for years and inhale the smoke can develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and experience the same clinical characteristics, diminished quality of life and increased mortality rates as tobacco smokers.

17 Feb 2006

Cutting angioplasty risks

Significant gains made through multi-hospital cooperative effort led by U-M Cardiovascular Center and funded by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

16 Feb 2006

Diuretics improve exercise capacity in patients with congestive heart failure

Diuretics reduce the risk of death, delay heart deterioration and improve exercise capacity in patients with congestive heart failure, a new review of studies shows.

16 Feb 2006

Link between glucose levels and death in patients with cardiovascular disease

Men with cardiovascular disease may be at considerably increased risk for death even when their blood sugar level remains in the "normal" range, suggests a new study by a team of scientists at UCLA and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

16 Feb 2006

Adverse drug events believed to be among the leading causes of mortality in the United States

Less than 1 percent of outpatients who received medication in 2002 were prescribed a medication that violated a prescription drug's black box warning, according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

16 Feb 2006

Low-carb diets effective, but may raise cholesterol levels

A synthesis of data from five previous clinical trials suggests that both low-fat and low-carbohydrate diets appear to be effective for weight loss up to one year, but low-carbohydrate diets may be linked to higher overall and LDL or "bad" cholesterol levels, according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

14 Feb 2006

Drop in total number of cancer deaths

The American Cancer Society's annual estimate of cancer deaths says 2006 will see a slight decline in the projected number of cancer deaths compared to estimates made for 2005.

13 Feb 2006

Lupus responds to stem cell transplant therapy

Transplanting patients with blood stem cells that originate from their own bone marrow can induce the remission of life-threatening, treatment-resistant lupus, according to a study that took place at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

13 Feb 2006

First solid data on health effects of a low-fat diet

Adopting a low-fat diet in later life and following such a regimen for nearly a decade does not appear to have a significant impact on reducing the overall risk of breast cancer, colorectal cancer or heart disease, according to a Women's Health Initiative study that involved nearly 50,000 postmenopausal women across the United States.

9 Feb 2006

Advocacy groups unite to make lung cancer in women a top priority

Women's health and lung cancer advocacy groups, led by the Society for Women's Health Research, vowed today to make lung cancer education and advocacy, especially among women, a top priority for their organizations in 2006 and beyond.

7 Feb 2006