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Cost-effectiveness of potentially life-saving implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) is an important public health issue

The use of implanted defibrillators that keep the heart beating in proper electrical rhythm to prevent cardiac arrest appears to be cost-effective for those patients who receive a significant mortality reduction, according to researchers from Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), Stanford University and the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Calif. They analyzed eight clinical trials of the devices to arrive at their conclusion.

5 Oct 2005

Many people continue to smoke after life threatening event

An international survey published today (Thursday 6 October) in Europe's leading cardiology journal, European Heart Journal, reveals that fewer than half of the heart patients in the study who smoked quit after suffering their first coronary event, with one out of five continuing to smoke despite advice to stop.

5 Oct 2005

PACs should not be used routinely in patients in intensive care units with severe heart failure

The use of a pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) -- a device used for more than 30 years to assess cardiovascular health and to help guide the treatment of critically ill patients -- does not appear to improve outcomes nor confer added risks to patients.

4 Oct 2005

Americans' risk of dying from cancer continues to decline

The nation's leading cancer organizations report that Americans' risk of dying from cancer continues to decline and that the rate of new cancers is holding steady. The "Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2002," published in the Oct. 5, 2005, issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, shows observed cancer death rates from all cancers combined dropped 1.1 percent per year from 1993 to 2002.

4 Oct 2005

Hospitalized patients with severe congestive heart failure did not experience a benefit from use of pulmonary artery catheterization

Advances in medical therapy have improved outcomes for many ambulatory patients with heart failure and low ejection fraction (EF; a measure of how much blood the left ventricle of the heart pumps out with each contraction), according to background information in the article.

4 Oct 2005

Study paves the way for new therapeutic targets which can potentially improve heart disease in patients with end-stage kidney failure

Night-time hemodialysis patients may have a greater capacity to repair their hearts and blood vessels compared to those on conventional dialysis three times a week, according to a study in the October issue of the American Journal of Physiology - Renal Physiology, published by the American Physiological Society.

4 Oct 2005

Discovery of mechanisms causing portal hypertension

A physician-scientist at UT Southwestern Medical Center and his research team have identified mechanisms causing a potentially deadly type of hypertension that results from liver damage – findings that could lead to its prevention.

3 Oct 2005

Elimination of charges for health care at the point of use could have an immediate and substantial impact on child mortality

Abolishing user fees (charges for health care at the point of use) could prevent approximately 233,000 child deaths annually in 20 African countries, say researchers in this week's British Medical Journal.

3 Oct 2005

Healthy 3 and 4-year-olds drive flu epidemics

Current immunization policies recommend universal flu vaccination for children aged 6-23 months, but shots are advised for older children only if they have high-risk medical conditions.

3 Oct 2005

Survey highlights the need to increase folic acid fortification of the grain supply

Only one-third of childbearing age women are taking a multivitamin containing the B vitamin folic acid daily to prevent serious birth defects of the brain and spine in their future babies, according to a decade of March of Dimes surveys.

3 Oct 2005

Misoprostol could play an important part in reducing complications of delivery in developing countries

A relatively cheap and easy to use drug could save the lives of thousands of women in the developing world, according to a study in this week's British Medical Journal.

3 Oct 2005

Fever of unknown origin might be a marker of occult cancer

Fever of unknown origin is characterised by a fever of more than 3 weeks’ duration, temperatures of more than 38.3°C and a failure to identify the origin of the fever. Underlying causes of these fevers are difficult to diagnose, but proposed causes are infections, cancers and collagen-vascular diseases.

28 Sep 2005

Quality-improvement improves mortality in hospital

Heart attack death rates dropped significantly at hospitals that participated in a quality-improvement process that increased the use of evidence-based therapies, according to a new study in the Oct. 4, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

28 Sep 2005

People who receive a kidney transplant are nearly four times more likely to develop melanoma

...a rare but deadly form of skin cancer, according to a study led by Christopher Hollenbeak, Ph.D., associate professor, Departments of Surgery and Health Evaluation Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

28 Sep 2005

Survival of heart attack patients placed on beta-blocker therapy corresponds to specific variations in their genes

Survival of heart attack and unstable angina patients placed on beta-blocker therapy corresponds to specific variations in their genes, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City.

27 Sep 2005

Equine flu virus jumps to dogs

A Cornell University virologist has isolated a highly contagious equine flu virus that is spreading a sometimes-fatal respiratory flu among dogs, and is responsible for a major dog-flu outbreak in New York state. There is no evidence that the virus could infect people.

27 Sep 2005

Gene variants and beta-blockers associated with increased risk of death

Patients with certain gene variants who were prescribed beta-blocker drugs after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) had an increased risk of death over the next three years, according to a study in the September 28 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

27 Sep 2005

Veggies reduce the risk of developing lung cancer in smokers

Eating vegetables and other foods that have weak estrogen-like activity appears to reduce the risk of developing lung cancer in smokers - as well as in non-smokers, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

27 Sep 2005

Benefits of statin therapy identified

The greater the reduction in LDL (lower-density lipoprotein) cholesterol achieved by statin therapy the greater the reduction in incidence of major coronary events, coronary revascularisation and stroke, concludes a meta-analysis published online today by The Lancet.

27 Sep 2005

Pneumonia doesn't appear to harm HIV-positive patients any more than those without HIV

In a two-year study that documented cases in 26 hospitals in 11 countries including the United States, Canada, South Africa, Chile and Spain, outcomes for 58 HIV-positive patients with CAP, or community-acquired pneumonia (pneumonia contracted outside of hospitals) were compared with outcomes for 174 HIV-negative patients suffering a similar severity of CAP.

27 Sep 2005

Mortality News and Research

Cost-effectiveness of potentially life-saving implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) is an important public health issue

Many people continue to smoke after life threatening event

PACs should not be used routinely in patients in intensive care units with severe heart failure

Americans' risk of dying from cancer continues to decline

Hospitalized patients with severe congestive heart failure did not experience a benefit from use of pulmonary artery catheterization

Study paves the way for new therapeutic targets which can potentially improve heart disease in patients with end-stage kidney failure

Discovery of mechanisms causing portal hypertension

Elimination of charges for health care at the point of use could have an immediate and substantial impact on child mortality

Healthy 3 and 4-year-olds drive flu epidemics

Survey highlights the need to increase folic acid fortification of the grain supply

Misoprostol could play an important part in reducing complications of delivery in developing countries

Fever of unknown origin might be a marker of occult cancer

Quality-improvement improves mortality in hospital

People who receive a kidney transplant are nearly four times more likely to develop melanoma

Survival of heart attack patients placed on beta-blocker therapy corresponds to specific variations in their genes

Equine flu virus jumps to dogs

Gene variants and beta-blockers associated with increased risk of death

Veggies reduce the risk of developing lung cancer in smokers

Benefits of statin therapy identified

Pneumonia doesn't appear to harm HIV-positive patients any more than those without HIV

Industry Focus eBook - Neurology/Neuroscience - 2nd edition eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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