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Telemonitoring or telephone calls prevent heart failure deaths

Monitoring heart failure patients with either high-tech home monitors or through regular telephone contacts with nurses improves the odds they will survive during the months after a serious hospitalization, according to a new study in the May 17, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

18 May 2005

Routine, inexpensive blood test sharpens heart disease risk predictions

Routine measurements of white blood cell counts that provide a ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes may offer a simple and low-cost way to refine predictions of heart attack or death, according to a new study in the May 17, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

18 May 2005

Testosterone appears to benefit, not harm, cardiovascular health of middle-aged men

Although men suffer more coronary heart disease than women, the blame should not be placed on testosterone, according to a new study in the May 17, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

18 May 2005

HIV/AIDS is the biggest killers in every South African province except the Western Cape

A new report by the Medical Research Council in South Africa has quantified the leading causes of death in each province for the first time, and has found that HIV and Aids are the biggest killers in every province except the Western Cape.

17 May 2005

"Streaming detection" ultrasound could reduce number of diagnostic procedures for breast lumps

"Streaming detection" ultrasound accurately differentiated fluid-filled cysts from solid masses in a recent pilot study and has the potential to reduce the number of cyst aspirations and imaging follow-ups for breast masses that are indeterminate at conventional ultrasound, say researchers from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC.

17 May 2005

Identifying high-risk prostate cancer means more prudent treatment decisions

While prostate cancer is a very common diagnosis, it is a deadly disease in relatively few men. One in 6 men will develop prostate cancer during his lifetime. However, of these, only one in 10 cases will be life-threatening.

16 May 2005

Social anxiety disorder patients may be avoiding their doctor

Patients with social anxiety disorder are less likely to visit their primary care doctors than people with other psychiatric disorders like depression, or patients without mental health disorders, according to new research in the journal General Hospital Psychiatry.

16 May 2005

Primary care clinics at Veterans Affairs hospitals are not recognizing posttraumatic stress disorder

The study, conducted Dr. Kathryn M. Magruder and colleagues, showed that the clinics examined recognized less than half (46.5 percent) the PTSD cases identified by the researchers.

16 May 2005

Annual flu shots to be recommended for everyone in the U.S.

Public health advocates in the U.S. are predicting that within five years, annual flu shots will be recommended by the government for every American and not just young children, the elderly and other at-risk people.

15 May 2005

High nighttime blood pressure linked to increased blood sugar levels

People whose blood pressure doesn't drop significantly overnight tend to have more cardiovascular problems.

15 May 2005

Statin therapy is cost-effective for a wider range of individuals with vascular disease or diabetes than previously recognised

Current guidelines generally recommend the initiation of statin therapy when the estimated 10-year risk of a non-fatal heart attack or coronary death is at least 15-20%.

12 May 2005

Type 2 diabetes may begin with Grandma's diet, study suggests

An innovative study published in the latest online edition of the Journal of Physiology provides the first evidence that the insulin resistance typical of type 2 diabetes can be "programmed" across two generations by poor nutrition during a grandmother’s pregnancy and lactation.

11 May 2005

Coping with pain quite a struggle for half of the U.S.A.

At least 50 precent of the U.S. population are struggling to cope either with the aggravation of intermittent pain or with the misery of chronic pain which is difficult to treat. This results in less work, crankier moods and fewer activities, combined with a wide-ranging search for pain relief.

11 May 2005

Some children in the United States are still at risk for lead poisoning

Despite efforts to remove lead from many products, such as gasoline and paint, some children in the United States are still at risk for lead poisoning. A new study shows that children at the greatest risk for lead poisoning, and also those identified with elevated blood lead levels through screening, were the least likely to get follow-up testing needed for prevention.

10 May 2005

Races react differently to dietary salt

African-American and Caucasian adolescent girls handle sodium and calcium differently, which may help explain why the races have different rates of hypertension and osteoporosis, according to research at Purdue University.

10 May 2005

Study reports little hope, much hazard in new tobacco products

On May 4, 2005, the University of Minnesota Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center released a groundbreaking report that shows there is no evidence that a relatively new line of tobacco products, called “potentially reduced-exposure tobacco products,” or PREPs, are safer than other tobacco products.

10 May 2005

Pharmacies in supermarkets: Where's the public benefit?

Protecting public health is more important than Woolworths' profits and should be the primary consideration in any government decision over whether to allow pharmacies in supermarkets, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia Vice-President Frank Payne said yesterday.

10 May 2005

Help needed for chronic care

Many general practitioners are keen to adopt a team-based approach that promises better treatment for patients with chronic conditions, but they face a number of significant obstacles, according to research in the School of Commerce at Flinders University, Australia.

10 May 2005

U.S. Government will pay hospitals for treatment provided to illegal aliens

Health care providers in the U.S. will, as from this week, be able to charge the government for emergency care they provide to illegal aliens.

9 May 2005

Carbonated soft drinks can cause heartburn

Carbonated soft drinks and one of the most commonly prescribed sleeping pills, benzodiazepines, can cause nighttime heartburn, according to new research.

9 May 2005