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Faster screening test for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

A new screening technique for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) cuts by 75% the time taken to identify patients carrying MRSA and could be used to help prevent transmission of the bacteria in hospitals.

7 Feb 2006

Two-drug treatment could help asthma and chronic bronchitis sufferers

Current treatments for asthma and chronic bronchitis aren't able to address the ultimate source of the problem--they can only alleviate symptoms.

7 Feb 2006

Hormone hydrocortisone (cortisol) supplementation improves ventilator weaning

Intensive care unit physicians can increase the success of mechanical ventilation weaning and shorten the weaning period by identifying critically ill patients who have adrenal insufficiency and treating them with the hormone hydrocortisone (cortisol).

2 Feb 2006

How to be an "expert patient" and save your hospital money

British health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, in an attempt to resolve the financial quagmire the National Health service has got itself into, is demanding that in future financial management be put ahead of clinical objectives.

23 Jan 2006

Faculty of 1000 Medicine launched by BioMed Central

Faculty of 1000 Medicine, a major new online service designed to help medics keep abreast of the most important new research, is now live.

23 Jan 2006

Acetazolamide improves central sleep apnea in heart failure

Since sleep apnea is associated with heart failure, patients who take a single dose of acetazolamide - a mild diuretic and respiratory stimulant - before going to bed exhibit less sleep apnea, improved blood oxygen levels and fewer daytime symptoms of sleepiness.

16 Jan 2006

Children more likely to survive in-hospital cardiac arrests than adults

Children are more likely to survive in-hospital cardiac arrests than adults and with appropriate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), the survival rates for both children and adults are higher than previously thought.

5 Jan 2006

Smokers with a family history of lung cancer encouraged to undergo screening

To detect invasive lung cancer in its early stages, researchers urge current and former smokers who have a strong family history of the disease to take a lung function test and undergo screening with spiral computed tomography. The test is especially important should the previously diagnosed relative be young (around 50).

2 Jan 2006

Reduced rates of lung function decline in cystic fibrosis clinical study patients

Although cystic fibrosis patients in clinical trials had more severe illness, worse lung function, a lower weight level and more respiratory infection than non-participants, their involvement in research studies resulted in less lung function decline over a 7-year period.

2 Jan 2006

Kids with specific gene variant more at risk from passive smoking

When U.S. children who possess a variant gene are exposed to second-hand smoke in their homes, they are at a substantially greater risk for developing respiratory illnesses that lead to school absences.

15 Dec 2005

Fish oil supplements prevent declines in heart rate variability

A two-gram fish oil supplement given daily to elderly persons prevented a decline in heart rate variability caused by tiny, dangerous airborne pollutant particles. Heart rate variability, a measure of the autonomic nervous system's regulation of the heart, is an independent risk factor for cardiac arrhythmias, heart attack or sudden death.

15 Dec 2005

Heart drug designed for U.S. blacks a cheaper option

According to researchers a new heart-failure drug designed especially for blacks could reduce the amount it costs to treat the disease by as much as 34 percent.

14 Dec 2005

Vitamin D keeps lungs healthy - CHEST study

Vitamin D may play a role in keeping our lungs healthy, with greater concentrations of vitamin D resulting in greater lung health benefits. A study in the December issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), shows that patients with higher concentrations of vitamin D had significantly better lung function, compared with patients with lower concentrations of vitamin D.

13 Dec 2005