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Increased screening may better predict those at higher risk for heart disease

Adding noninvasive imaging to current risk-assessment protocols may identify more people who are at risk of developing heart disease, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.

26 May 2008

Iraq war and risk of developing bronchiolitis

A large group of soldiers returning from Iraq have been diagnosed with bronchiolitis, a disease affecting the small airways of the lung, according to Vanderbilt University Medical Center physicians who will present their findings at the American Thoracic Society's 2008 International Conference in Toronto on Wednesday, May 21.

21 May 2008

Research targets diabetes-related eye conditions

New research projects commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research's Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme will evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different screening tests used in diabetic eye care.

15 May 2008

Physician Gainsharing programs reduce hospital spending

Giving physicians cash payments for reduced hospital spending can help control costs without sacrificing quality or access to care, researchers report in a study released today in the May/June 2008 issue of the journal Health Affairs. The issue is a thematic volume on health reform supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

13 May 2008

Researchers find link between altered dopamine activity and social anxiety disorder

Using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), researchers in The Netherlands were able to detect biochemical differences in the brains of individuals with generalized social anxiety disorder (also known as social phobia), providing evidence of a long-suspected biological cause for the dysfunction.

12 May 2008

New MRI technique detects subtle but serious brain injury

A new technique for analyzing magnetic resonance imaging data, developed by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center, can reveal serious brain injury missed by current tests and help predict a patient's degree of recovery.

12 May 2008

Big differences in depressed brains

Depressed people may have far fewer of the receptors for some of the brain's "feel good" stress-response chemicals than non-depressed people, new University of Michigan Depression Center research shows.

8 May 2008

New concept sends medical images via cellular phones

A process to transmit medical images via cellular phones that has been developed by a Hebrew University of Jerusalem researcher has the potential to provide sophisticated radiological diagnoses and treatment to the majority of the world's population lacking access to such technology.

29 Apr 2008

Effectiveness of decompression surgery in patients with cervical spinal cord injuries

Every year, nearly 12,000 individuals in the United States and Canada, mostly young adults, sustain a spinal cord injury (SCI). According to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), SCI costs an estimated $9.7 billion each year in the United States alone.

29 Apr 2008

Scientists explore brain's reaction to potent hallucinogen

Brain-imaging studies performed in animals at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory provide researchers with clues about why an increasingly popular recreational drug that causes hallucinations and motor-function impairment in humans is abused.

28 Apr 2008

Exposure to organic solvents linked to disturbances in brain circuitry

Chronic occupational exposure to organic solvents, found in materials such as paints, printing and dry cleaning agents, is widespread all over the world, and is thought to damage the central nervous system.

16 Apr 2008

Potential blood test for chronic sinusitis identified

A protein profile has been identified in the blood of chronic sinusitis sufferers that may enable physicians to objectively diagnosis and treat the disease, researchers say.

15 Apr 2008

Best use for popular CAD assessment procedure is misunderstood

What is the best way to determine if you are developing the nation's most deadly condition, coronary artery disease (CAD)?

15 Apr 2008

Biomarkers allow doctors to match therapy to patient

Genetic variations ensure that no two people are exactly alike, nor are their cancers.

13 Apr 2008

Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography to help determine whether cognitive impairment will lead to Alzheimer's

With nearly 10 million baby boomers at risk for developing Alzheimer's disease, researchers are taking a closer look at a condition known as mild cognitive impairment.

3 Apr 2008

New type of imaging system illuminates tumors to nearly one-trillionth of a meter

Doctors' quest to see what is happening inside a living body has been hampered by the limits on detecting tiny components of internal structures and events.

1 Apr 2008

Groundbreaking study validates Pittsburgh Compound-B in identifying Alzheimer's disease brain toxins

A groundbreaking study conducted by University of Pittsburgh Alzheimer's disease researchers reported in the journal Brain (currently online) confirms that Pittsburgh Compound-B (PiB) binds to the telltale beta-amyloid deposits found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

28 Mar 2008

PET confirmed as valuable cancer diagnostic and disease-staging tool

The recent release of data by the National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) showing that positron emission tomography (PET) produced scans revealing disease at a molecular level, which then caused physicians to change treatment plans for more than one-third of participating patients, has corroborated decades of nuclear medicine research.

28 Mar 2008

Scans spot hidden tumors in Li-Fraumeni syndrome

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report that full-body PET/CT scanning detected unsuspected, treatable tumors in 3 of 15 patients with Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS), a rare genetic cancer syndrome for which no screening tests have been recommended.

19 Mar 2008

New technique improves outcome for living donor liver transplants

The University of Alberta Hospital (UAH) is one of only a few centers in Canada that perform living donor liver transplantation, a surgical procedure developed in the late 1980s that expands the organ donor pool. About 80 liver transplants are done a year in Alberta, 10 of those being living-donor.

19 Mar 2008