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Simple video-based awareness programme could reduce rapidly increasing hospital infection rates

A simple video-based awareness programme significantly improved hand washing among family members visiting sick children in a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, according to research in the June issue of the UK-based Journal of Clinical Nursing.

19 Jun 2007

Restricting hospital-based services during SARS outbreak had modest impact

Restrictions on the non-urgent use of hospital-based services that were imposed when a provincial health emergency was declared during the 2003 SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in Toronto, Ontario, resulted in only modest reductions in overall admissions.

19 Jun 2007

Safe blood for safe motherhood

On the occasion of World Blood Donor Day, the theme of which this year is "Safe blood for safe motherhood", WHO is launching a new initiative to improve the availability and use of safe blood to save the lives of women during and after childbirth.

19 Jun 2007

Multidisciplinary approach to treatment of heart attacks a success

Acute heart attacks can be successfully treated through a multidisciplinary team approach involving Emergency Medical Services, emergency physicians, cardiologists and specialty centres, according to a study conducted by Dr. Jacobus S. de Villiers and colleagues in Calgary.

19 Jun 2007

Breast feeding for thirteen months or more reduces mother's risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis

In the study, the longer the breast feeding period, the lower the mother's risk of developing RA in later life.

19 Jun 2007

Elevator-related injuries in children

In the first large-scale epidemiological study evaluating elevator-related injuries in children throughout the United States, researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine and a colleague from Ohio State University report on the large number of these preventable injuries.

19 Jun 2007

Scientists discover proteins in blood that accurately identify colon cancer and precancerous polyps

Initial studies of the proteins, CCSA-3 and CCSA-4, suggest they could be used to develop a blood test to identify at-risk individuals.

19 Jun 2007

Embryos that are selected out as abnormal can undergo chromosomal modifications

Ms Tsvia Frumkin, from the Racine IVF unit, LIS Maternity Hospital, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre, Tel Aviv, Israel, will tell the conference that her team's findings meant that the results of preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) for chromosomal abnormalities were not always reliable and should be interpreted with caution.

19 Jun 2007

Bariatric surgery should not be denied solely based on age or Medicare status

Complications after bariatric surgery appear similar between patients younger and older than age 60 and also between Medicare recipients and non-recipients, according to a study in the June issue of Archives of Surgery.

19 Jun 2007

Veterans treated in psychiatric wards which "threaten their lives"

A report by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations has found serious flaws in services for veterans at two psychiatric wards in a Seattle hospital.

19 Jun 2007

Vietnam on alert after latest human bird flu death

Authorities in Vietnam have confirmed the death of a man from bird flu, the country's 43rd victim of the deadly virus.

18 Jun 2007

Causes of childhood brain aneurysms

A new University of Cincinnati (UC) study questions the commonly held scientific belief that childhood brain aneurysms are caused by trauma, infection or underlying vascular malformations.

18 Jun 2007

One in ten young cancer docs depressed

In a survey of 401 oncology registrars, 102 scored above the threshold for possible psychiatric morbidity and more than one in ten showed clinically important levels of depression.

From The University of Manchester 18 Jun 2007

Obesity epidemic and rheumatoid arthritis

The global obesity epidemic was issued with a further health warning today ? that obesity exacerbates the quality of life of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

17 Jun 2007

New mathematical model of sepsis

A new mathematical model of sepsis can help predict deaths, discharges, and disease progression in hospital patients with this serious bacterial blood infection. It's hoped the model, described in the online open access journal Critical Care, will help clinicians assess which interventions are likely to be best for their patients.

17 Jun 2007

Focus on motor neurone disease

Motor neurone disease (MND), also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a degenerative disease of unknown cause which causes patients to lose basic motor functions and has a devastating effect on them and their families.

17 Jun 2007

International map of rheumatoid arthritis

In the first international map of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), spanning Europe and beyond, significant national differences in RA severity can be directly traced to national economics, most notably health expenditure, as exposed by data from the QUEST-RA Study presented at EULAR 2007, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, Barcelona, Spain.

17 Jun 2007

Aspirin resistance

Aspirin is used by millions of patients for the prevention and treatment of coronary artery disease, the single leading cause of death in the world.

17 Jun 2007

Enbrel safety data for up to 8 years in patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

Amgen and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth have announced the presentation of additional data that showed that the safety profile of Enbrel, (etanercept) was maintained with long-term use in patients with moderate-to-severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) who completed up to eight years of therapy.

17 Jun 2007

Early palliative care interventions can reduce length of stay in ICU

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have found that early palliative care interventions can reduce the length of stay for seriously ill patients in the medical intensive care unit (MICU) by more than seven days without having an impact on mortality rates.

17 Jun 2007