Hospital News and Research

RSS

Health professionals should routinely recommend chemo websites for cancer patients

Doctors and nurses may be underestimating the value placed on internet chemotherapy information by cancer patients and missing out on opportunities to discuss this information with them, new research finds today.

15 Feb 2012

UCSD opens lidocaine and amiodarone clinical trial to prevent SCA

Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is the leading cause of death in the United States. This form of heart attack kills 325,000 people every year, representing one death every two minutes. Almost all SCA victims die before they even reach a hospital. To identify a drug that paramedics can use in the field, UC San Diego Health System has opened a clinical trial to evaluate two medications to help restore the heart beat.

15 Feb 2012

Critics find much to fault in Obama budget

Republicans say the budget doesn't do enough to restrain entitlement spending. Health care industry groups, meanwhile, call proposed payment cuts unfair and unworkable.

15 Feb 2012

Obama 2013 budget would cut $360 billion from Medicaid and Medicare

The budget released Monday would trim spending on federal health-care programs by about $360 billion over the next decade, primarily by reducing payments to drug companies and other providers. Starting in 2017, Obama also proposes to raise Medicare premiums for new retirees and seniors with higher incomes, start charging co-payments for home health-care services, and penalize patients who buy Medigap policies to take care of Medicare co-payments and deductibles.

15 Feb 2012

U-M competes with 16 other colleges in 9th annual Gift of Life Campus Challenge

The University of Michigan is aiming to take down its instate rivals and save lives at the same time. U-M and 16 of the state's other colleges and universities are competing in the ninth annual Gift of Life Campus Challenge, a competition to see which school can sign up the most people to the Michigan Organ Donor Registry by Feb. 23. When signing up online, new donors can select which school to credit.

15 Feb 2012

Patient satisfaction not linked with health status

Newly released research has linked higher patient satisfaction scores with greater healthcare costs and increased risk of mortality. Despite the growing reliance on satisfaction scores as a tool for evaluating physician performance, "research suggests a tenuous link between patient satisfaction and healthcare quality and outcomes," according to the study published online Feb. 13 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

15 Feb 2012

Paricalcitol does not improve clinical outcomes for patients with CKD

Patients with chronic kidney disease who received the vitamin D compound paricalcitol for up to 48 weeks did not show improvement on measures of cardiac structure, function, or left ventricular mass, compared to patients who received placebo, according to a study in the February 15 issue of JAMA.

15 Feb 2012

Study finds BRCA1 mutations in nearly one in five TN breast cancer patients

Leading breast cancer experts are calling for women under 50 who are diagnosed with triple-negative (TN) breast cancer to be offered testing for faults in the BRCA1 gene, according to a report published in the British Journal of Cancer.

15 Feb 2012

Tissues in SIV-infected monkeys can ramp up production of Tregs

Tissue in monkeys infected with a close relative of HIV can ramp up production of a type of T cell that actually weakens the body's attack against the invading virus. The discovery, in lymph nodes draining the intestinal tract, could help explain how the HIV virus evades the body's immune defenses.

15 Feb 2012

Viewpoints: Obama's budget, birth control choices; Planning hospital readmissions to save

In poll after poll, the public has made clear that it prefers the president's approach of rebuilding the economy now and tackling the deficit when the fundamentals are stronger. While Republicans have counted on voters blaming Mr. Obama for the hard times, some are beginning to worry that they will be blamed for their obstructionism.

15 Feb 2012

Tetrahydrobiopterin plays a key role in arterial health of women

Researchers studying why arteries stiffen in postmenopausal women have found a specific chemical cofactor that dramatically improves vascular function.

15 Feb 2012

Incidence of TBI likely greater than previously estimated

Though researchers are becoming increasingly aware of the long-term effects of head injury, few studies have looked at the prevalence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in all age groups, including males and females, taking into account both mild and serious events. In a recent study published in Epidemiology, Mayo Clinic researchers applied a new, refined system for classifying injuries caused by force to the head and found that the incidence of traumatic brain injury is likely greater than has been estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

15 Feb 2012

Researchers investigate role of a MYC family gene in ovarian cancer

The role of a known cancer-causing gene in the development of the most lethal type of ovarian cancer is being investigated by researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute after they were awarded a Cure Cancer Australia Foundation (CCAF) grant.

15 Feb 2012

Top four reasons why many dieters fail to lose weight

It's been more than one month since the new year and swimsuit season is lurking on the horizon - how are those weight-loss resolutions working out? "Losing weight is one of the top resolutions made every year, yet only 20 percent of people achieve successful weight-loss and maintenance," says Jessica Bartfield,MD, internal medicine who specializes in nutrition and weight management at Loyola University Health System's Gottlieb Memorial Hospital.

15 Feb 2012

Mental health can also interfere with the heart

Mental state can play a crucial role in physical health - medical professionals have long known about the connection between anxiety and the immune system, for example. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University have found that mental health can also interfere with the heart.

15 Feb 2012

Social influences can fuel weight loss

Is weight loss "contagious"? According to a new study published online in the journal Obesity, teammates in a team-based weight loss competition significantly influenced each other's weight loss, suggesting that shedding pounds can have a ripple effect.

15 Feb 2012

Study: Short-term exposure to major air pollutants may increase risk of MI

Short-term exposure (for up to 7 days) to all major air pollutants, with the exception of ozone, is significantly associated with an increased risk of heart attack, according to a review and meta-analysis of previous studies appearing in the February 15 issue of JAMA.

15 Feb 2012

CMR highly effective in diagnosing life-threatening arrhythmias

New research from Western University, Canada, has demonstrated the benefits of performing Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) in cases where patients have been resuscitated after Sudden Cardiac Death or enter hospital suffering from ventricular arrhythmias.

15 Feb 2012

UPV/EHU biologist analyzes genetic and environmental causes of obesity in Romani families

Esther Rebato is a well-known figure in the field of Physical Anthropology. She not only holds the prestigious Alex Hrdli-ka academic medal of the Czech Republic, but she is also the Chair of the Spanish Association of Physical Anthropology. This lecturer at the Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) has carried out numerous pieces of work into nutritional habits, life quality and other associated aspects.

15 Feb 2012

State roundup: Mass. small biz co-ops start, Miss. Medicaid changes, R.I. hospital overbilling Medicare

Thousands of small businesses will be offered discounts of at least 20 percent on health insurance rates under a new group purchasing cooperative, formed by the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, that will begin enrolling members this week. The co-op is the first permitted to do business under a 2010 Massachusetts law that allows small employers to band together in large groups and negotiate for better-priced health coverage.

14 Feb 2012