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Tattooing poses HCV risk

Hepatitis C virus infection is more common in people who have had a tattoo, research shows.

21 Jan 2013

NICE recommends BP monitor for atrial fibrillation detection

The UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has issued recommendations for the use of a new blood pressure device that could detect atrial fibrillation.

21 Jan 2013

Novel infertility mechanism suggested in men with metabolic syndrome

Men diagnosed with the metabolic syndrome appear to have reduced fertility potential despite the absence of leucocytospermia, report researchers.

21 Jan 2013

Albumin may prove a predictor for pneumonia outcomes

Researchers say that assessing serum albumin levels within 24 hours of admission could be a good prognostic marker of community-acquired pneumonia.

21 Jan 2013

Acupuncture ‘promising’ way to boost exercise response, recovery

Results from a systematic review suggest that acupuncture may improve exercise performance and postexercise recovery.

21 Jan 2013

Early treatment during primary HIV infection shows promise

Two papers in The New England Journal of Medicine suggest that starting antiretroviral treatment early after HIV infection is diagnosed may improve patients’ immune response, boosting the initial recovery of the immune system and delaying progression of the disease.

21 Jan 2013

GORE EXCLUDER AAA Endoprosthesis’ lower profile components receive CE Mark

W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. (Gore) has received CE Mark for the new lower profile 31 mm diameter trunk-ipsilateral leg and 32 mm aortic extender components of the GORE EXCLUDER AAA Endoprosthesis for treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs).

21 Jan 2013

Scientists identify new mechanism that turns CD4 helper T lymphocytes into killer cells

A research team led by the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology has discovered the mechanism that enables CD4 helper T cells to assume the more aggressive role of killer T cells in mounting an immune attack against viruses, cancerous tumors and other damaged or infected cells.

21 Jan 2013

Scientists identify a possible lead in treatment of two childhood leukemia subtypes

Research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has identified a possible lead in treatment of two childhood leukemia subtypes known for their dramatic loss of chromosomes and poor treatment outcomes.

21 Jan 2013

Researchers identify clear role for tags in mediating genetic risk for rheumatoid arthritis

In one of the first genome-wide studies to hunt for both genes and their regulatory "tags" in patients suffering from a common disease, researchers have found a clear role for the tags in mediating genetic risk for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an immune disorder that afflicts an estimated 1.5 million American adults.

21 Jan 2013

Researchers identify and test first blood-based circulating miRNA biomarkers for Parkinson's

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological condition. At present, it is usually diagnosed only when motor features are present. Hence, there is a need to develop objective and measurable biomarkers to improve PD diagnostics during its earlier stage, prior to its motor onset. In this pilot study, researchers identified and tested the first blood-based circulating microRNA (miRNA) biomarkers for PD.

21 Jan 2013

New study: Loneliness can harm overall health

New research links loneliness to a number of dysfunctional immune responses, suggesting that being lonely has the potential to harm overall health.

20 Jan 2013

Low blood flow to the premature brain disrupts cells' ability to fully mature

Physician-scientists at Oregon Health & Science University Doernbecher Children's Hospital are challenging the way pediatric neurologists think about brain injury in the pre-term infant. In a study published online in the Jan. 16 issue of Science Translational Medicine, the OHSU Doernbecher researchers report for the first time that low blood and oxygen flow to the developing brain does not, as previously thought, cause an irreversible loss of brain cells, but rather disrupts the cells' ability to fully mature.

19 Jan 2013

Having 2 attending physicians during spinal surgeries can benefit patients in multiple ways

Two heads are better than one, as the saying goes - and a new study by a duo at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) demonstrates how having two attending surgeons in the operating room during spinal surgeries can benefit patients in multiple ways.

19 Jan 2013

Checklists can help surgical teams perform better during emergencies

When doctors, nurses and other hospital operating room staff follow a written safety checklist to respond when a patient experiences cardiac arrest, severe allergic reaction, bleeding followed by an irregular heart beat or other crisis during surgery, they are nearly 75 percent less likely to miss a critical clinical step, according to a new study funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

19 Jan 2013

St. Jude Medical’s AMPLATZER Amulet device receives European CE Mark approval

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced European CE Mark approval of its AMPLATZER Amulet Left Atrial Appendage Occluder.

19 Jan 2013

UC Davis professor receives supplemental funds from Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy

Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) has awarded Dr. Craig McDonald of the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) $175,000 in supplemental funds to expand his ongoing study through the 20 CINRG (Cooperative International Neuromuscular Research Group) centers to better understand the progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne) and determine the impact of the Duchenne standards of care established by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

19 Jan 2013

Calcium receptor – potential drug target for sleeping sickness

While its common name may make it sound almost whimsical, sleeping sickness, or African trypanosomiasis, is in reality a potentially fatal parasitic infection that has ravaged populations in sub-Saharan Africa for decades, and it continues to infect thousands of people every year.

19 Jan 2013

ECLS system supports flu patients in their recovery from severe respiratory problems

In recent weeks the intensive critical care units at University Health Network's Toronto General Hospital have used Extra Corporeal Lung Support (ECLS) to support five influenza (flu) patients in their recovery from severe respiratory problems.

19 Jan 2013

SPARC protein acts much like ibuprofen to heal tissues inflamed by tumors

Cancer researchers are increasingly aware that in addition to genetic mutations in a cancer itself, characteristics of the surrounding tissue can promote or suppress tumor growth. One of these important tissue characteristics is inflammation - most cancers prosper in and attach to inflamed tissue and so many cancers have developed ways to create it.

19 Jan 2013