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Brains respond differently to thirst depending upon age

Twelve healthy subjects in their 60s and 70s showed a different pattern of brain activations during thirst and satiation than did 10 healthy subjects in their 20s who drank the same amounts and underwent imaging with positron-emission tomography (PET).

20 Dec 2007

Massage relieves pain after surgery and complements the use of drugs

Researchers in the U.S. have found that pain after surgery was eased by massage and they suggest it may complement the use of drugs.

19 Dec 2007

Where vets served affects frequency of ER visits but not hospital stays

Five years post-conflict, individuals who served in the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War were 25 percent more likely to visit an emergency department than veterans of the same era who were not deployed, but were no more likely to have a hospital stay or an outpatient visit, according to a study appearing in the December 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

18 Dec 2007

New study looks at airway bypass treatment for emphysema

Researchers at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System have announced the start of the EASE (Exhale Airway Stents for Emphysema) Trial, an international, multi-center clinical trial to explore an investigational treatment that may offer a significant new, minimally-invasive option for those suffering with advanced widespread emphysema.

18 Dec 2007

Oral diabetes medication - new guidelines

A pair of plain-language guides that outline the latest scientific evidence on the effectiveness and safety of oral medications for adults with type 2 diabetes are now available from HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

18 Dec 2007

Massage eases pain and anxiety after surgery

A 20-minute evening back massage may help relieve pain and reduce anxiety following major surgery when given in addition to pain medications, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

18 Dec 2007

Effectiveness and risks of six bisphosphonates for osteoporosis

Many medications reduce the risk of bone fractures in people with osteoporosis, but the most commonly used drugs - bisphosphonates - have not been proven more effective than alternatives, according to a new report funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

18 Dec 2007

Identifying indoor tanning behavior patterns can help physicians tailor prevention messages

Nearly 2 million Americans tan indoors each day, with the number of individual users in the United States having doubled to nearly 30 million in the past decade, according to background information in the article.

18 Dec 2007

Commonly available antibiotic targets difficult asthma

Hunter researchers have shown that a commonly available antibiotic can improve the quality of life of patients with difficult asthma, and may also generate significant health care savings.

18 Dec 2007

NCPA applauds pharmacy tricare provisions in the congressional passage of the defense authorization bill

The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) thanks Congress for including key pharmacy provisions in the Defense Authorization Act Conference Report for fiscal year 2008 it passed last week.

17 Dec 2007

A common language for health care IT needed

I may say soda and you may say pop, but what if the hospital lab you go to today says BMP and the one you visit next week calls the same test SMA7? Your physician knows that these are the same tests, but the computer systems they use don't automatically know.

17 Dec 2007

HHS releases new tools with aim to make health care safer

An array of toolkits designed to help doctors, nurses, hospital managers, patients and others reduce medical errors was released by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

17 Dec 2007

Highly promising Alzheimer's and Parkinson's research

The TI Pharma project is a large-scale study into the brain material of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients, who gave permission to the Netherlands Brain Bank for their tissue to be used for scientific research.

17 Dec 2007

Children require more health care when their mothers are victims of domestic violence

Children whose mothers have a history of abuse by intimate partners have higher health care needs than children whose mothers have no history of abuse, according to a study conducted at Group Health, a Seattle-based health plan.

17 Dec 2007

Sunitinib may be associated with cardiac toxicity

Another FDA-approved targeted cancer drug, sunitinib (SutentTM, Pfizer), may be associated with cardiac toxicity, report researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston), and Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia).

17 Dec 2007

Addressing care gap in underserved women not easy

In an effort to fill a significant gap in the breast care of underserved women, physicians and nurses at Mayo Clinic's campus in Jacksonville, Fla., developed a program, still ongoing, to help overcome barriers that prevent women from receiving timely care after an abnormal mammogram.

17 Dec 2007

Only half of all Americans age 50 and over have had a colonoscopy

Only half of all Americans age 50 and over have had a colonoscopy, one of several common screening tests for colon cancer, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

17 Dec 2007

Predicting post-traumatic stress disorders in deployed veterans

Richardson is a psychiatrist with Parkwood Hospital, part of St. Joseph's Health Care, London and a professor with the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at The University of Western Ontario.

14 Dec 2007

New UIC center to study end-of-life transition

The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing has received a federal grant to create a center to study people as they transition to the end of life.

14 Dec 2007

Cancer research giants to present the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium

The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has announced a collaboration for the future of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).

14 Dec 2007