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Study finds no significant link between religiosity and low blood pressure

Contrary to some earlier studies, a Loyola University Health System study has found that religious activity does not help protect against high blood pressure.

2 May 2011

Abnormal connections created by central nervous system linked to persistence of chronic pain

Chronic pain is an epidemic. One in four Americans suffers from chronic pain due to disease—including cancer and HIV—and the medications used to treat those diseases. One reason for the persistence of chronic pain may be that the patient's central nervous system creates abnormal connections or improves connections that shouldn't be strengthened, explains Susan G. Dorsey, PhD, RN, co-director of the School of Nursing's Center of Excellence in Disorders of Neuroregulatory Function.

30 Apr 2011

Most nurses are chronically sleep deprived

Sleep has become a hot button topic in health care, at least when it comes to physicians. The fact that doctors-in-training don't get enough of it has resulted in regulations governing duty hours in resident training programs across the nation. In 2002, the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) reduced the number of hours that resident physicians can work to 80 hours per week.

30 Apr 2011

Ontario Lung Association to launch new asthma education book to mark World Asthma Day

In Ontario, an astounding 1.7 million people have asthma, making it one of the most widespread chronic diseases. Nearly half of them don't have it under control and yet asthma is a disease that must be well managed because there is no cure.

30 Apr 2011

Harvard Medical School and BIDMC professor delivered Solomon A. Berson Distinguished Lectureship

Christos Mantzoros, MD, DSc, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, delivered the Solomon A. Berson Distinguished Lectureship at the annual meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology held earlier this month in Washington, DC.

30 Apr 2011

Mediaplanet releases Kidney Health report to targeted markets in USA

On April 29, 2011, Mediaplanet Publishing released a Kidney Health report to targeted markets in USA Today. The report will be distributed to 1 million readers with contributions from Kidney Cancer Association, National Kidney Foundation, Fresenius Medical Care North America, UKidney, Medical Education Institute, and National Kidney Registry.

30 Apr 2011

Merck first quarter sales increase 1% to $11.6 billion for 2011

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2011.

30 Apr 2011

White youths less likely to be tested for STI in pediatric emergency department

When adolescent females visit a pediatric emergency department with complaints that may signal a sexually transmitted infection, white youths are less likely to be tested than blacks, according to a study to be presented Saturday, April 30, at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Denver.

30 Apr 2011

Frequently hospitalized patients may need a specialist focused on their care: Hospital care expert

Declining rates of hospitalization have discouraged primary care doctors from seeing their patients in the hospital and encouraged the growing use of "hospitalists," a new physician specialty focused on the care of hospitalized patients.

30 Apr 2011

ED providers need to assess STI risks in adolescents: Instructor of pediatrics

All adolescent females who show up in the emergency department complaining primarily of lower abdominal pain and/or urinary or genital symptoms should be tested for sexually transmitted infections, according to the authors of a study to be presented Saturday, April 30, at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Denver.

30 Apr 2011

Video games can serve as respiratory therapy for children with cystic fibrosis

Video games controlled by the player's breath can encourage youths with cystic fibrosis to use techniques that can help keep their airways clearer, according to a study to be presented Saturday, April 30, at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Denver.

30 Apr 2011

UofL nursing professor receives Outstanding Faculty Practice award

Providing healthcare to the backside workers at Churchill Downs has been the passion of Whitney Nash, PhD, MSN, APRN-BC, assistant professor, University of Louisville School of Nursing, since 2005.

30 Apr 2011

Brain function variations may increase person's risk of drug abuse

One can look at drug addiction as a moral issue, a social ill, or a criminal problem. But Lynn Oswald's experience studying the neuroscience of addiction tells her that it is something else entirely: a disease of the brain.

30 Apr 2011

Dual-energy CT has potential to allow non-invasive diagnosis of gout, say radiologists

The incidence of gout is on the rise and duel energy CT has the potential to allow non-invasive diagnosis of the disease, according to radiologists at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver General Hospital, in Vancouver, BC.

30 Apr 2011

Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care acknowledges importance of fine-tuning Medicare payment system

Expressing alarm about a proposed rule issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that could result in funding reductions as high as $4 billion to seniors' Medicare-funded skilled nursing care, the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care today acknowledged the importance of fine-tuning the complex and evolving Medicare payment system in a manner that "gets it right" while also protecting seniors' care quality, preserving caregivers' jobs, and ensuring accountability to U.S. taxpayers.

30 Apr 2011

ATRN experts to improve health in Appalachian region

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, residents of many Appalachian counties are three times more likely to die from diabetes than someone living in other counties in the same state, or in most other parts of the United States. Now, a group of seven regional academic centers and community organizations have joined forces to change those health disparities and improve health through the creation of the Appalachian Translational Research Network.

30 Apr 2011

Neither vitamin E nor metformin reduces liver enzymes in children with fatty liver disease: Study

The largest study of its type has found that neither vitamin E, which is an antioxidant, nor the diabetes drug metformin, successfully reduced liver enzymes in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children or teens, according to a paper published in the April 27, 2011 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.

30 Apr 2011

Health Canada approves Eli Lilly's Cymbalta for chronic low back pain treatment

Eli Lilly Canada announced today that Health Canada has approved Cymbalta for the management of chronic low back pain.

30 Apr 2011

Study explores link between primary healthcare provider and patient activation

People with a chronic condition such as diabetes or arthritis may find themselves taking on a more active role in maintaining or improving their own health if there is an ongoing relationship with a primary healthcare provider, according to University of British Columbia research.

30 Apr 2011

DVA is now DaVita Labs

Operating as a division of DaVita Inc., a leading provider of kidney care services for those diagnosed with end stage renal disease and chronic kidney disease, DVA Laboratory Services announced its new company name, DaVita Labs.

30 Apr 2011