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Narcotic medications can safely and effectively ease severe, chronic pain in older people

Narcotic medications can safely and effectively ease severe, chronic pain in older people with little risk that these patients will seek ever-increasing doses, UCSF medical scientists have found. Younger patients, however, are likely to want to rapidly increase their medication dose, the researchers found, posing serious potential health consequences.

23 May 2005

Guyana Health Minister outlines progress at World Health Assembly

Guyana Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has outlined health progress being made in his country despite high levels of poverty and major floods that affected hundreds of thousands of people earlier this year.

23 May 2005

New product for advanced treatment of chronic wounds

Insense Ltd, a UK biotechnology company, announced successful clinical trial results for "Oxyzyme", a new product for advanced treatment of chronic wounds.

23 May 2005

Investigational device-based therapies will lead to entirely new treatment options for chronic depression sufferers

Researchers said that developing brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), vagal nerve stimulation and deep brain stimulation are emerging as significant treatment options for the millions of patients "poorly served" by existing therapies.

23 May 2005

Australian Medical Association indigenous health report card focuses on low birth weight babies

Australian Medical Association (AMA) President, Dr Bill Glasson, has launched Lifting the Weight, the AMA's fourth report card on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

22 May 2005

Russian team tests new polymeric coating for vascular stents

A group of researchers of the Institute of Biophysics (Russian Academy of Sciences), Krasnoyarsk regional clinical hospital and Krasnoyarsk regional department of morbid anatomy under the guidance of .I. Gitelzon, Academician of Russian Academy of Sciences, have tested characteristics of a new polymeric coating for vascular stents.

22 May 2005

People with chronic cough are often depressed

More than half of people with chronic cough-a nagging cough that can last for months or even years-suffer from depressive symptoms, according to a study to be presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 23.

22 May 2005

Surgery for chronic low back pain is no better than intensive rehabilitation

Surgery for chronic low back pain is no better than intensive rehabilitation and is unlikely to be a cost-effective use of scarce healthcare resources, show two studies published online by the BMJ.

22 May 2005

Researchers have isolated two biomarkers for interstitial cystitis (IC)

The discovery of these biomarkers could lead to a definitive test for IC and have the potential to lead to new therapies. Results of two studies are being presented today at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) in San Antonio, and are published in abstracts 69 and 80 of the AUA proceedings.

22 May 2005

Proof that chiropractic treatment helps migraine sufferers

Seventy-two per cent of migraine sufferers in a clinical trial experienced either 'substantial' or 'noticeable' improvement after a period of chiropractic treatment, defying historical skepticism of chiropractics by some medical practitioners.

22 May 2005

Exercise programme is as beneficial as spinal surgery in treating lower back pain

The largest ever clinical trial of surgery versus exercise treatments for chronic low back pain has found that patients may obtain as much benefit from an intense physical exercise programme as from spinal surgery.

22 May 2005

Dextromethorphan temporarily reduces the intensity of fibromyalgia

Dextromethorphan, an over-the-counter medication that silences coughs, may help fibromyalgia patients quiet over-reacting nerves that amplify ordinary touches into agony.

20 May 2005

Physiotherapy is effective in treating stress incontinence

Physiotherapy is effective in treating stress incontinence in about 80 per cent of cases, according to the first national study undertaken in clinical practice by researchers at the University of South Australia.

20 May 2005

Narcotic medications can safely and effectively ease severe, chronic pain in older people

Narcotic medications can safely and effectively ease severe, chronic pain in older people with little risk that these patients will seek ever-increasing doses, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) medical scientists have found. Younger patients, however, are likely to want to rapidly increase their medication dose, the researchers found, posing serious potential health consequences.

20 May 2005

Lack of funds hampering important child health study

US Congress should boost funding for an important study to identify the risk factors for childhood chronic disease, states an editorial in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

19 May 2005

New drug fluticasone was just as effective as beclomethasone and budesonide at opening up constricted breathing passages

A new inhaled drug for chronic asthma may improve lung function as much as two older inhaled asthma drugs but at half the dose, a review of recent studies concludes.

19 May 2005

Older adults with insomnia report falling asleep faster with Ramelteon

Results from a Phase 3 clinical study presented at the 2005 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Geriatrics Society showed that bedtime administration of ramelteon, an investigational compound currently under review for the treatment of insomnia, significantly reduced time to fall asleep in older adults with chronic insomnia. Additionally, no rebound insomnia or withdrawal effects were observed.

18 May 2005

Global project to combat parasites that cause cancer and infection in millions

Many cancers are associated with infections (for example cervical cancer is linked to the human papilloma virus) but there is no stronger link between a human malignancy and a parasitic infection than that between cancer of the bile ducts and a liver fluke called Opisthorchis viverrini.

18 May 2005

Artificial disc offers new option for back pain

Until recently San Diego residents with severe back pain from degenerative disc disease have had few options. But Oceanside resident Joan Steggell decided the traditional treatment, spinal fusion, was not the right choice for her. Instead she opted for an innovative new surgery at UCSD’s Thornton Hospital.

18 May 2005

Prescription drug affordability woes grow for Americans

More Americans—especially those with chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma and depression-are going without prescription drugs because of cost concerns, according to a new national study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).

18 May 2005