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Deep brain stimulation has important role in treating severe Tourette’s

Ten out of 11 patients with severe Tourette’s Syndrome have reported improvement after receiving deep brain stimulation surgery, according to University of New South Wales research published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

15 Aug 2012

Therapeutic breaks for prostate cancer patients

Men with advanced prostate cancer receiving androgen-deprivation therapy may be better off being treated intermittently rather than on a continuous basis, show study findings.

15 Aug 2012

Cortisol levels increased in youth at high risk for psychosis

Untreated young people at clinical high risk for psychosis have increased salivary cortisol levels compared with treated high-risk patients and mentally healthy individuals, study results show.

15 Aug 2012

Palliative care on Scottish surgical wards needs improving

More than half of individuals with terminal gastrointestinal cancer on general surgical wards in Scotland do not undergo operative intervention on their final admission, show study results published in The Surgeon.

15 Aug 2012

Couple therapy decreases PTSD symptoms and improves relationship

A North American study led by a researcher at Ryerson University has discovered that treating a person with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and their partner using a specific couple therapy greatly decreases the severity of their symptoms -- and improves their relationship.

15 Aug 2012

Market for EHR replacements is on the rise

Use of electronic health records is snowballing, and so is the number of unhappy users. Half of EHR systems sold to physician practices are now replacements, up from 30% last year, according to a recent study by research firm KLAS. The leading reason for switching systems, cited by 44% of practices, is product issues.

15 Aug 2012

GSA selects Penn professor as 2012 recipient of Maxwell A. Pollack Award for Productive Aging

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) - the nation's largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging - has chosen Mary Naylor, PhD, RN, FAAN, of the University of Pennsylvania as the 2012 recipient of the Maxwell A. Pollack Award for Productive Aging.

15 Aug 2012

Novel device provides retina's neural code to restore normal vision

Two researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have deciphered a mouse's retina's neural code and coupled this information to a novel prosthetic device to restore sight to blind mice.

15 Aug 2012

PPMC earns Gold Seal of Approval for hip and knee joint replacement services

Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (PPMC) has earned the Gold Seal of Approval- from The Joint Commission for its hip and knee joint replacement services. PPMC's certification is the first of its kind for Penn Medicine, and demonstrates the hospital's high level of compliance with The Joint Commission's national standards for health care quality and safety.

15 Aug 2012

Early stage breast cancer in older women: an interview with Dr. Benjamin Smith

Early stage breast cancer in older women is a common problem. In the United States nearly half of women diagnosed with breast cancer are aged 65 or older. A sizeable proportion of those patients have early stage breast cancer.

15 Aug 2012

Study to test how osteopathic treatment helps patients with COPD

Researchers at Michigan State University are working to show how a noninvasive, drug-free form of hands-on medical care can help patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease improve their breathing.

15 Aug 2012

Trial to test efficacy of NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System in people with Lou Gehrig's disease

The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and The ALS Association today announced a joint commitment to provide funding for a phase 2 clinical trial that will test efficacy of the NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System (DPS) in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

15 Aug 2012

Roundup: Abortion-rights groups mostly silent on fetal pain laws; Conn. advocates worry over Medicaid cuts; Examining readmission penalties

When new limits on abortions are proposed, abortion-rights groups usually go all out to stop them. So why haven't they gone all out against state fetal-pain laws, enacted in nine states since early 2010? These laws ban abortion after 20 weeks, based on the controversial assertion that the fetus can then experience pain. They're handing victories to anti-abortion groups, and so far there's only one major challenge from an abortion-rights group: in Arizona, where the 9th Circuit Court early this month temporarily blocked the state law.

15 Aug 2012

Two papers may help identify gene variants that contribute to OCD or Tourette syndrome

Two papers that will appear in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, both receiving advance online release, may help identify gene variants that contribute to the risks of developing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or Tourette syndrome (TS). Both multi-institutional studies were led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators, and both are the first genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in the largest groups of individuals affected by the conditions.

15 Aug 2012

VCU Medical Center selected to participate in Independence at Home Demonstration

The Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center has been selected as one of 19 sites nationwide to participate in the Independence at Home Demonstration to test the advantages of house calls for elderly patients too ill or disabled to visit their physicians.

15 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 15, 2012

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey reports: "GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's choice of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., as his running mate has brought renewed focus on Ryan's proposal to overhaul Medicare. But how would Ryan's plan to reduce federal spending, which has been approved twice by the GOP-controlled House, change Medicaid?"

15 Aug 2012

U-M Survival Flight helicopters can save lives of all the Great Lakes states

Three new maize-and-blue helicopters will soon be saving lives in the air above the Great Lakes states, and speeding patients toward advanced care at the University of Michigan Health System's hospitals.

15 Aug 2012

Medicine brand choices: an interview with Dr Lynn Weekes

In Australia, people will only be offered a choice when the brands are bioequivalent, meaning they contain the same active ingredient (i.e. the chemical in the medicine that makes it work) and have been proven to work the same in the body.

15 Aug 2012

These are the challenges in creating the health workforce of 2025

New technologies and tests, an ageing population, greater community expectations around healthcare – including those based on the easy availability of medical information and personal health records – are just some of the factors which will make the health workforce of 2025 look very different to the health workforce of today.

14 Aug 2012

Be alert for arrhythmias in new bronchodilator patients, researchers say

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients should be monitored for the onset of arrhythmia when they begin bronchodilator therapy, say the authors of a Canadian study.

14 Aug 2012