Surgery News and Research

RSS

Harmless bacteria may provide natural protection against deadly MRSA

Can it be that the stress on the use of antiseptics and antibiotics in hospitals is actually putting patients at a greater risk of suffering fatal bacterial infection?

3 Nov 2005

Women show a better response to lung cancer therapy, resulting in better survival rates

However, in untreated patients, women also had a 21 percent decreased risk of death as compared with men, leading researchers to believe lung cancer in women has a different biologic behavior and natural history than in men.

3 Nov 2005

Study suggests that sinusitis is more common than previously thought in people with chronic cough

In a new Mayo Clinic study, researchers found that more than one-third of chronic cough patients given a CT scan had sinusitis, inflammation of the sinuses. Findings will be presented at the American College of Chest Physicians CHEST 2005 meeting in Montreal.

3 Nov 2005

New therapies for prostate cancer

A Dutch study suggested treating prostate cancer patients with higher doses of radiotherapy significantly improved patient outcome and treatment over a five-year period.

3 Nov 2005

Shortness of breath can be a serious cardiac symptom

Now, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have found that patients with shortness of breath can have a higher risk of dying from cardiac disease than patients without symptoms, and even than patients with typical cardiac pain.

3 Nov 2005

First steps taken to treat human hereditary blindness

A team led by Krzysztof Palczewski, Ph.D., chair of pharmacology at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has taken the first steps in treating an eye disease causing irreversible congenital blindness in millions of people worldwide by successfully testing two new treatments in mice.

3 Nov 2005

Space ultrasound training program for non-physicians

An ultrasound training program for non-physicians gives astronauts and sports trainers the tools to assess injuries using real-time remote assistance from medical experts.

3 Nov 2005

Combination of radiotherapy and a drug named S247 as a cure for cancer

Does a combination of radiation therapy and the inhibition of integrins (key molecules in angiogenesis) improve the chance of cure in cancer?

3 Nov 2005

Feeling puffed? could be a sign of serious heart problem

Most people know that chest pain can indicate the presence of heart disease, but less well known apparently is that shortness of breath can also be a symptom of serious cardiac problems

3 Nov 2005

Stereotactic body radiation therapy safe and effective way to treat early stage lung cancer in medically inoperable patients

Lung cancer patients with extenuating health problems may have an alternative to traditional radiation therapy through a lung-sparing procedure pioneered at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

1 Nov 2005

Alternative health protection measures against MRSA

Doctors might be better off washing their hands with yoghurt instead of relying on antiseptic soap-scrubbing, according to a new discussion paper by a UCL (University College London) researcher.

1 Nov 2005

INTERACT trial to look at effects of early intensive blood pressure lowering on death and disability in stroke patients

A large clinical trial called INTERACT, launched in China this month, will determine the effects of early intensive blood pressure lowering on death and disability in stroke patients.

1 Nov 2005

Unique approach to enhance the immune system in patients with breast or colorectal cancer

The study uses a potent immune-enhancing gene delivered directly into the cancer cells to make them look foreign to the body's immune system, which will then attack and destroy the cancer.

1 Nov 2005

Treatment for Leber Congenital Amaurosis

U.S. researchers have taken the first steps in treating an eye disease that causes irreversible blindness in humans by successfully testing two novel treatments in mice.

1 Nov 2005

Dead human tissue illegally used in surgery

London Health Sciences Centre is investigating if its surgeons used human tissue products that were recalled because they might have been taken illegally from corpses at funeral homes in the United States.

31 Oct 2005

Increased physical activity may strenghten adult joint cartilage

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the leading cause of disability among adults. As the population ages, increased intervention efforts are vital to controlling the individual and public health toll of this chronic, crippling joint disease.

30 Oct 2005

Head injury patients not treated in specialist brain surgery centres are at significantly greater risk

In a study published in The Lancet which analysed 1989 – 2003 data from the national Trauma Audit and Research Network database, the team compared the death-rates of patients with head injuries with those of other types of emergency patients and assessed the impact of neurosurgical care on these rates.

From The University of Manchester 30 Oct 2005

Doctors adopt new checklist to ensure patients are asleep during surgery

At a meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in Atlanta, new standards were approved on preventing a rare but terrifying situation in which patients wake up during surgery and sometimes feel excruciating pain without being able to cry out.

27 Oct 2005

Mammograms a big factor in the fight against breast cancer

A new study has come down solidly on the side of routine screening mammograms as a preventative measure in the fight against cancer.

27 Oct 2005

Pravastatin is highly effective in lowering the risk of heart attack

The cholesterol-lowering drug pravastatin is highly effective in lowering the risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD), reports a study in the December Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

27 Oct 2005