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Delays and lack of communication to primary care physicians common after hospital discharge

Primary care physicians often do not receive adequate patient information from the hospital-based physician following discharge, according to a review article in the February 28 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

28 Feb 2007

Tangerine tomatoes boost disease-fighting antioxidants in blood

Deep red tomatoes get their rich color from lycopene, a disease-fighting antioxidant. A new study, however, suggests that a special variety of orange-colored tomatoes provide a different form of lycopene, one that our bodies may more readily use.

28 Feb 2007

Researchers conducting clinical trials of diaphragm as HIV prevention method

Researchers at the Women's Global Health Imperative program at the University of California-San Francisco's Medical Center are conducting a large-scale clinical trial among 4,500 women in Zimbabwe and South Africa to test the effectiveness of diaphragms in preventing the spread of HIV, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

28 Feb 2007

Microsoft to acquire Medstory

Microsoft on Monday announced plans to acquire California-based Medstory, a start-up company that has developed a specialized online search engine to provide health and medical information to consumers, the New York Times reports.

28 Feb 2007

Task force recommends greater use of exercise testing in chronic disease

Exercise testing can be a powerful tool for diagnosing chronic heart and lung conditions and measuring responses to treatment, according to new research published in the European Respiratory Journal.

27 Feb 2007

New toy helps teach words to autistic childre

Helma van Rijn has developed a toy that uses a new method for teaching words to autistic children. She developed this toy as part of her graduation project at Delft University of Technology's Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering.

27 Feb 2007

Cancer Research UK secures fenretinide orphan drug licence

A previously shelved drug could prove effective for treating a group of rare childhood cancers, and Cancer Research UK today announced it has been granted exclusive marketing rights for the drug in these indications by the European Commission and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

27 Feb 2007

Neurological disorders a global problem

A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that neurological disorders, ranging from epilepsy to Alzheimer disease, from stroke to headache, affect up to one billion people worldwide. Neurological disorders also include brain injuries, neuroinfections, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson disease.

27 Feb 2007

NASA undersea mission to test space medicine concepts

NASA will send a flight surgeon, two astronauts and a Cincinnati doctor under the ocean off the Florida coast May 7-18 to test space medicine concepts and moon-walking techniques. It is the first undersea mission to include a NASA flight surgeon.

26 Feb 2007

DNA 'cages' to deliver drugs

By combining DNA macromolecules with polymers containing iron, molecular 'cages' can be made: porous structures capable of carrying and delivering drugs or DNA-fragments.

26 Feb 2007

Irregular heartbeat linked to genetic mutation

Every day for 10 years, a seemingly heart-healthy 53-year-old woman experienced rapid and irregular heartbeats. She had no personal or family history of hypertension or hyperthyroidism. She did not suffer from myocardial or coronary artery disease, or any abnormalities of the heart as best doctors and medical science could determine.

25 Feb 2007

Health care IT adviser resigns over lack of progress on privacy

Paul Feldman, chair of the privacy and security workgroup of the American Health Information Community, on Wednesday announced his resignation because the workgroup "has not made substantial progress towards the development of comprehensive privacy and security policies that must be at the core of a nationwide health information network," CQ HealthBeat reports.

25 Feb 2007

microRNA directly regulates a gene implicated in human cancers

MicroRNAs are tiny snippets of RNA that can repress activity of a gene by targeting the gene's messenger RNA (which copies DNA information and starts the process of protein production).

22 Feb 2007

Apolipoprotein C1 protein linked to elevated BMI in people of American Indian and Mexican ancestry

University of Minnesota researchers have discovered a variant of a common blood protein, apolipoprotein C1, in people of American Indian and Mexican ancestry that is linked to elevated body mass index (BMI), obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

22 Feb 2007

Increased demand, compensation for egg donors in U.S.

The AP/Boston Globe on Monday examined how increased demand for egg donations and compensation for donors in the U.S. has prompted more young women to donate their eggs. According CDC data, about 10,000 women donated eggs to federally monitored programs in 2004, compared with 3,800 women in 1996.

22 Feb 2007

Women in the UK to trade eggs for IVF treatment

According to the fertility regulator in the UK women there will soon be able to donate their eggs for medical research.

21 Feb 2007

Bush Administration has no overall strategy to protect patient privacy in electronic health records

The Bush administration has no overall strategy to ensure patient privacy as it promotes expanded use of electronic health records among insurers, doctors, hospitals and other health care providers, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report, the New York Times reports.

21 Feb 2007

Intel, Motion Computing develop tablet computer to reduce medical errors

California-based Intel and Texas-based Motion Computing on Tuesday unveiled a jointly developed tablet computer designed to help health care workers update medical records as they care for patients, Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times reports.

21 Feb 2007

Swedish brain researchers gain access to unique IBM supercomputer

Approximately 127 million people in Europe are suffering from some kind of brain disease or injury. With the long term goal to improve diagnostics and find new therapies in their sights, the Stockholm Brain Institute (SBI) and IBM have embarked on a partnership that gives Swedish brain researchers access to a unique supercomputer.

21 Feb 2007

Scientists find new genes linked to Lou Gehrig's disease

In the first genome-wide search for the genetic roots of the most common form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Johns Hopkins scientists have newly identified 34 unique variations in the human genetic code among 276 unrelated subjects with ALS.

21 Feb 2007