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Patient knowledge of health information influences cancer treatment

A new analysis finds that when colorectal cancer patients seek out health information from the internet and news media, they are more likely to be aware of and receive the latest treatments for their disease.

23 Feb 2009

AIDS Healthcare Foundation launches "Stay Negative" HIV testing campaign

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) , which operates the largest community-based alternative HIV and sexually transmitted disease (STD) testing program in California, has launched an innovative and eye-catching Los Angeles-area HIV prevention and testing campaign urging the public to "Stay Negative" and to visit www.freehivtest.net to find out where to get tested quickly, conveniently and at no cost.

23 Feb 2009

PSA testing may be unnecessary for some older men

Certain men age 75 to 80 are unlikely to benefit from routine prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing, according to a Johns Hopkins study published in the April 2009 issue of The Journal of Urology.

22 Feb 2009

Stenting not necessary in late treatment of heart attacks

Two years ago, a major study found that many patients who receive delayed treatment for a heart attack do just as well with drugs alone as they do with drugs plus stents to prop open their blocked arteries.

20 Feb 2009

$New ultrasound device provides bone disorder diagnosis, fracture healing$

New ultrasound device provides bone disorder diagnosis, fracture healing

The fight against bone disorders that affect millions of Americans will soon receive a boost from an ultrasound device being developed by space biomedical researchers.

20 Feb 2009

FDA issues warning on psoriasis drug Raptiva (efalizumab)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a public health advisory concerning three confirmed, and one possible report of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare brain infection, in patients using the psoriasis drug Raptiva (efalizumab).

20 Feb 2009

Cancer death rates fall among African Americans - survival rates still low

While death rates from cancer continue to drop among African Americans, the group continues to be diagnosed at more advanced stages and have lower survival rates at each stage of diagnosis compared to whites for most cancer sites.

20 Feb 2009

MRSA infections in ICU patients have been decreasing in recent years

In contrast to the perception that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections associated with use of a catheter is an increasing problem in intensive care unit (ICU) patients, the incidence of this type of infection decreased by nearly 50 percent from 1997 - 2007, according to a study in the February 18 issue of JAMA.

18 Feb 2009

Ondansetron shown to be a viable treatment option for opioid addiction

Scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered that a commonly available non-addictive drug can prevent symptoms of withdrawal from opioids with little likelihood of serious side effects.

18 Feb 2009

New technology could save vision of millions

In the blink of an eye, people at risk of becoming blind can now be screened for eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration.

18 Feb 2009

Opportunities for the health system in a sick economy

With the interim report of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission published yesterday the time for implementing reform could hardly be better.

18 Feb 2009

Weight loss improves nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

In a recent study, Saint Louis University researchers found that weight loss of at least 9 percent helped patients reverse a type of liver disease known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a finding that will allow doctors to give patients specific weight-loss goals that are likely to improve their livers.

17 Feb 2009

Traffic-related air pollution linked to repeated hospital encounters for asthma

Air pollution caused by traffic near the home affects asthma severity in children, resulting in repeated hospital encounters according to a study published this month in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology , the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).

17 Feb 2009

New insight into ways organ systems outside the brain may affect Alzheimer's

In Alzheimer's disease the brain accumulates a molecule called A-beta that can be quite toxic to brain cells.

17 Feb 2009

New study debunks misconceptions about barriers to the CDC's HIV testing recommendations

Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released revised recommendations for opt-out HIV testing in 2006, there has been significant debate around the barriers to widespread implementation of the recommendations.

17 Feb 2009

New guidelines emphasize use of breast MRI to supplement standard imaging

Updated guidelines for physicians that represent best practices for using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to newly diagnose breast cancer and to make treatment decisions for breast cancer were published today in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

17 Feb 2009