Mortality News and Research

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Reasons for complications with kidney failure patients

Mayo Clinic researchers searching for explanations of high mortality rates among kidney failure patients undergoing hemodialysis are focusing their attention on the use of heparin, a drug used to reduce clotting of the blood.

18 Aug 2005

Slower care for heart attack patients treated after hours and on weekends

Heart attack patients treated with primary percutaneous intervention (PCI) at hospitals after hours and on weekends wait longer to receive clot busters and other treatments and have a higher risk of death than those treated during regular hospital hours

18 Aug 2005

Separate studies produce conflicting results on race and gender disparities in U.S. health system

Two newly released studies in the U.S. have to some extent come to conflicting results. According to one study, by researchers at Emory University, attempts over the last decade to address race and gender disparities in the treatment of U.S. patients hospitalized for heart attacks, still in some respects raise cause for concern.

18 Aug 2005

Treatment of U.S. patients hospitalized for heart attacks continues to vary according to sex and race

Despite a decade of initiatives to remedy health disparities in cardiovascular medicine, at least some aspects of the treatment of U.S. patients hospitalized for heart attacks continues to vary according to sex and race, according to a study by researchers at Emory University in collaboration with Yale University and other centers.

17 Aug 2005

Low hemoglobin levels are a predictor of increased risk of death among heart failure patients

Hemoglobin (Hgb) is the major substance in red blood cells, and its level indicates the blood's ability to carry oxygen throughout the body. Studies have shown that low hemoglobin, which may result in anemia, is more common among patients with heart failure than it is among people in the general population.

17 Aug 2005

Tobacco control and healthier diets are key to cutting heart deaths

Encouraging everyone to stop smoking and eat healthier is four times more effective at reducing heart deaths than current government initiatives that target patients who already have heart problems, finds a study published online by the BMJ today

16 Aug 2005

Complications from angioplasty much lower among patients whose doctors perform a large number of those procedures each year

Before patients get their clogged heart arteries re-opened, they may want to ask their doctor just how many such procedures he or she has done, a new study finds. The answer may make a big difference in each patient's risk of suffering a major setback before leaving the hospital.

15 Aug 2005

Canary Database - animal diseases as early warning system for emerging human diseases

Yale School of Medicine has launched a state-of-the-art database funded in part by the National Library of Medicine, called the Canary Database, containing scientific evidence about how animal disease events can be an early warning system for emerging human diseases.

15 Aug 2005

Effects of estrogen on heart disease prevention

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine and seven other national institutions are recruiting patients to participate in the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS) to look at the effects of estrogen on heart disease prevention.

15 Aug 2005

Genomes of Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi sequenced

Oxford scientists have contributed to the genome sequencing of two parasites which cause major health problems in the developing world.

15 Aug 2005

$Diabetics who require surgery for ankle fractures fare worse than non-diabetics after surgery$

Diabetics who require surgery for ankle fractures fare worse than non-diabetics after surgery

In the largest analysis of its kind, Duke University Medical Center researchers have found that patients with diabetes who require surgery for ankle fractures have significantly higher rates of complications and higher hospital costs compared to non-diabetic patients.

15 Aug 2005

Half of gay men who have HIV don't know it

A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study on HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men (MSM), found that a staggering 48% of gay and bi-sexual men who were found to be HIV positive during the study were previously unaware of their HIV infection, according to a report on the study published in the Journal of American Medical Association.

14 Aug 2005

Lifestyle changes may affect the progression of any type of cancer

Men with early stage prostate cancer who make intensive changes in diet and lifestyle may stop or perhaps even reverse the progression of their illness, according to a new study.

11 Aug 2005

New prostate cancer test could save thousands from unnecessary surgery

Doctors at present lack a test that can distinguish fast-developing tumours that need urgent attention from slow-growing ones that are not a threat and need only watching, and as a result many men have operations that can leave them impotent and incontinent for prostate tumours that would never have killed them.

10 Aug 2005

Study estimates Staphylococcus aureus infections cause 12,000 deaths, cost hospitals $9.5 billion

Staphylococcus aureus infections (S. aureus) create an enormous burden to hospitals by significantly increasing costs, length of patient stays and mortality rates, a Northwestern Memorial Hospital researcher found in the most comprehensive study to date, published today's Archives of Internal Medicine.

10 Aug 2005

High intakes of dairy foods and lactose may increase the risk of ovarian cancer

An analysis of 21 studies that have investigated the link between ovarian cancer and the consumption of milk products and lactose has found some support for the hypothesis that high intake is associated with increased cancer risk.

7 Aug 2005

Scientists have a plan to prevent bird flu pandemic

According to scientists the H5N1 strain of bird flu circulating in Asia which could mutate into a lethal strain and cause a pandemic, could be contained.

4 Aug 2005

Researchers have developed a nomogram specifically for women to predict their expected exercise capacity at any given age

Researchers have developed a nomogram (alignment chart) specifically for women that can be used to predict their expected exercise capacity at any given age, as well as demonstrated that the resulting measure is a predictor of the risk of death.

4 Aug 2005

Melanoma is being overdiagnosed

New research published online by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) today (Thursday 4 August 2005) suggests that melanoma is being overdiagnosed in the United States.

3 Aug 2005

Obesity's effects on mortality may have been over-estimated

New research shows that obese adults who reach the age of 70 are at no greater risk of dying than their non-obese counterparts, but they do have a much greater probability of spending their remaining years disabled. The data supporting this is reported in the August 2005 issue of The Gerontologist (Vol. 45, No. 4).

3 Aug 2005

Mortality News and Research

Reasons for complications with kidney failure patients

Slower care for heart attack patients treated after hours and on weekends

Separate studies produce conflicting results on race and gender disparities in U.S. health system

Treatment of U.S. patients hospitalized for heart attacks continues to vary according to sex and race

Low hemoglobin levels are a predictor of increased risk of death among heart failure patients

Tobacco control and healthier diets are key to cutting heart deaths

Complications from angioplasty much lower among patients whose doctors perform a large number of those procedures each year

Canary Database - animal diseases as early warning system for emerging human diseases

Effects of estrogen on heart disease prevention

Genomes of Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi sequenced

Diabetics who require surgery for ankle fractures fare worse than non-diabetics after surgery

Half of gay men who have HIV don't know it

Lifestyle changes may affect the progression of any type of cancer

New prostate cancer test could save thousands from unnecessary surgery

Study estimates Staphylococcus aureus infections cause 12,000 deaths, cost hospitals $9.5 billion

High intakes of dairy foods and lactose may increase the risk of ovarian cancer

Scientists have a plan to prevent bird flu pandemic

Researchers have developed a nomogram specifically for women to predict their expected exercise capacity at any given age

Melanoma is being overdiagnosed

Obesity's effects on mortality may have been over-estimated

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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