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Chocolate for weight loss: Study

The US survey of a population of more than 1000 adults, published as a research letter in the Archives on Internal Medicine, reinforces the idea that chocolate packs heart healthy benefits, despite its high calorie and sugar content. For the study the participants reported eating chocolate an average of twice a week and exercising an average of 3.6 times a week. Their average age was 57.

27 Mar 2012

Telenurses provide effective advice

Seven out of eight people who sought advice from a telephone helpline staffed by nurses followed the self-care advice they received, ranging from providing treatment at home to calling an ambulance, according to a study in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

27 Mar 2012

New CMS requirement increases ICD placement costs

The cost to place an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) increased by $844 per case after a new requirement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) went into effect in February 2010, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session.

27 Mar 2012

First Edition: March 27, 2012

In today's headlines, the Supreme Court chronicles continue, with reports detailing what happened during yesterday's opening-day oral arguments and previewing what's on tap for today.

27 Mar 2012

High-risk, high-cost PCI patients can be identified through pre-procedure bleeding risk score

A pre-procedure bleeding risk score can accurately identify high-risk, high-cost patients and may provide an opportunity to employ bleeding avoidance strategies to improve patient outcomes and reduce total costs related to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures, according to a retrospective study being presented March 26 at the 61st annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific session.

27 Mar 2012

Improved clinical quality leads to decline in quality of patients' experiences

Hospitals that adopt strategies to reduce errors and meet government requirements face an initial tradeoff between improved clinical quality and a decline in the quality of individual patients' experiences, according to new research.

27 Mar 2012

Detailed CT scan can safely and quickly rule out possibility of heart attack

A highly detailed CT scan of the heart can safely and quickly rule out the possibility of a heart attack among many patients who come to hospital emergency rooms with chest pain, according to the results of a study that will be presented by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania today at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session and published concurrently in the New England Journal of Medicine.

27 Mar 2012

Study shows safe and effective protocol for chest pain patients

Rhode Island Hospital physicians report that managing chest pain patients within an emergency department chest pain unit by both emergency medicine staff and cardiologists is safe and effective and may lower the use of stress testing.

27 Mar 2012

CRT-D appropriate for patients with left ventricular dysfunction

Cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillators (CRT-D) is appropriate for patients who have left ventricular dysfunction and require chronic ventricular pacing, based on the findings of an observational study that being presented March 26 that the 61st annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific session.

27 Mar 2012

Catheter-based heart valve procedures effective for patients with aortic stenosis

Patients diagnosed with aortic stenosis who are too sick for open-heart surgery have better survival rates and an improved quality of life after undergoing catheter-based heart valve replacement than if the patients had been treated with standard medical therapy, according to a study authored by a Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute physician based on results from a multicenter clinical trial.

27 Mar 2012

CBIM effective in discouraging adolescent dating violence

Male high school athletes' ability to recognize and intervene to stop dating violence -- the physical, sexual and emotional aggression prevalent in adolescent romantic relationships -- is improved with the intervention of some of the most important role models in young men's lives: their coaches.

27 Mar 2012

New analytical method predicts maturity in premature infants

Late gestation is a busy time for babies getting ready for life outside the womb, particularly for functions critical to life such as breathing and maintaining an adequate heartbeat. These two functions are connected in mature infants and healthy people throughout life, so measuring their level of connectedness can give doctors a cue about whether an infant is ready to head home or needs to remain in the care of the neonatal intensive care unit.

27 Mar 2012

Hospital happenings: Arizona nurse shortage complication, other news

Many hospitals in downtrodden areas of New York City and across the state are faltering, raising concerns that a wave of closings will deprive poor people of badly needed care. A three-month investigation by The New York Times into Wyckoff, based on dozens of interviews and an examination of internal documents, offers a sobering portrait of how one such hospital has been undermined by the very people entrusted to run it.

27 Mar 2012

AIUM to honor four individuals in the field of medical ultrasound

During the opening session of the 2012 American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) Annual Convention at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 30, 2012, Alfred Z. Abuhamad, MD, president of the AIUM, will present awards to individuals who have significantly contributed to the growth of medical ultrasound.

27 Mar 2012

Chronically ill Central American immigrants struggle to pay for health care

The national recession didn't just hit people living in the U.S. - it's made it more difficult for people to pay for medical bills in poor countries like Honduras, according to a new University of Michigan study.

27 Mar 2012

First study to explore differential gender effects of secondhand smoke exposure

The negative health effects of early-life exposure to secondhand smoke appear to impact girls more than boys-particularly those with early-life allergic sensitization, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine.

27 Mar 2012

UK researcher receives IOF-Servier Young Investigator Research Grant

The IOF-Servier Young Investigator Research Grant has been awarded to Dr Mark Edwards, clinical research fellow at the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit at Southhampton General Hospital in the UK.

27 Mar 2012

AGS selects Regenstrief Institute pharmacoepidemiologist for New Investigator Award

Regenstrief Institute investigator Noll Campbell, PharmD, has been chosen by the American Geriatrics Society to receive a Merck/American Geriatrics Society 2012 New Investigator Award. He is the first doctor of pharmacy to receive this award, which is designed to recognize individuals who are committed to a career in aging research.

27 Mar 2012

Rivaroxaban safer, effective than standard therapy in treating PE

A novel oral anti-coagulant outperformed the injected standard therapy on important safety measures for initial and long-term treatment of pulmonary embolism - a blockage of lung blood vessels usually caused by a clot - and showed comparable efficacy, according to data from the EINSTEIN-PE trial presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session.

27 Mar 2012

Bariatric surgery effectively controls diabetes

Overweight, diabetic patients who underwent bariatric surgery achieved significant improvement or remission of their diabetes, according to new research from Cleveland Clinic.

27 Mar 2012