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Lower liver quality from donation after cardiac death linked to drop in transplants

A new study, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Health Resources and Services Administration, and published in the January 2013 issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), found that the non-use of donor livers climbed through 2010 due to a worsening of donor liver quality, primarily from donation following cardiac death. Diabetes, donor age, and body mass index (BMI) were also linked to a decrease in use of organs.

11 Jan 2013

Longer looks: A key Hagel mission is to cut military health costs; Medical lessons from a mother's death; How they price - and how we pay for -a $300,000 medicine

As David Brooks and Paul Wolfowitz and many others have shown, it's easy to frame our messy fiscal conundrum in these simple terms of guns vs. butter, or rather, guns vs grandma's buttery-yellow, super-pricey heart medication.

11 Jan 2013

FDA requires sleep drugs that contain zolpidem to lower recommended doses

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced it is requiring the manufacturers of Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar and Zolpimist, widely used sleep drugs that contain the active ingredient zolpidem, to lower current recommended doses. Ambien and Ambien CR are also available as generics.

11 Jan 2013

Scientists develop playbook to end devastating impact of fibrotic diseases

A team of scientists has developed a playbook for ending the devastating impact of fibrotic diseases of the liver, lung, kidney, and other organs, which are responsible for as many as 45 percent of all deaths in the industrialized world.

11 Jan 2013

Johns Hopkins develops PapGene test to diagnose ovarian and endometrial cancers

Using cervical fluid obtained during routine Pap tests, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have developed a test to detect ovarian and endometrial cancers. In a pilot study, the "PapGene" test, which relies on genomic sequencing of cancer-specific mutations, accurately detected all 24 (100 percent) endometrial cancers and nine of 22 (41 percent) ovarian cancers. Results of the experiments are published in the Jan. 9 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine.

11 Jan 2013

Americans die sooner and experience higher rates of disease and injury than others

On average, Americans die sooner and experience higher rates of disease and injury than people in other high-income countries, says a new report from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. The report finds that this health disadvantage exists at all ages from birth to age 75 and that even advantaged Americans -- those who have health insurance, college educations, higher incomes, and healthy behaviors -- appear to be sicker than their peers in other rich nations.

11 Jan 2013

Pakistan re-launches polio vaccination campaign amid increased security

"Pakistan's ambassador for polio eradication, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, re-launched the anti-polio campaign in Sindh province on Tuesday," Pakistan Today reports.

11 Jan 2013

New information on insulin and cell bonding mechanics

The discovery of insulin nearly a century ago changed diabetes from a death sentence to a chronic disease. Today a team that includes researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine announced a discovery that could lead to dramatic improvements in the lives of people managing diabetes.

11 Jan 2013

PLoS Medicine articles look at HIV care disengagement, development aid, mental health

PLoS Medicine Publications Assistant Michael Morris summarizes several articles published this week in the journal in this PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog post.

11 Jan 2013

H. pylori may protect against stroke and some cancers

A new study by NYU School of Medicine researchers reveals that an especially virulent strain of the gut bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) isn't implicated in the overall death rate of the U.S. population, and may even protect against stroke and some cancers.

10 Jan 2013

Tips for parents to safely help relieve child's flu symptoms

Doctors' offices are teeming with patients suffering from one of the worst outbreaks of cold and flu season in recent years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that flu is at an elevated level across the nation. Though virus symptoms vary by age, children are especially vulnerable since they are unable to take over-the-counter medications to help alleviate symptoms.

10 Jan 2013

UMDNJ develops rapid detection test for Exserhilum rostratum

A rapid detection test for Exserhilum rostratum, the fungus primarily responsible for 39 deaths among patients injected last year with a contaminated steroid medication, has been developed by a research team led by David S. Perlin, PhD, Executive Director of the Public Health Research Institute (PHRI) at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School.

10 Jan 2013

Link between environmental tobacco smoke and dementia syndromes

Passive smoking, also known as 'second-hand' smoke or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is known to cause serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer.

10 Jan 2013

Study compares three treatment approaches in membranous nephropathy

The results of a pioneering UK-wide clinical trial that compared treatments for patients with a common type of kidney disease has found one to be significantly more effective. The results of the study, published online in The Lancet, will be recommended to clinicians worldwide as the most effective approach to treating the condition.

10 Jan 2013

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center receives $36M NCI grant

The National Cancer Institute has awarded the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center a $36 million grant to fund cutting edge research programs and clinical trials over five years.

10 Jan 2013

Loyola uses FilmArray Respiratory Panel to screen infectious diseases

Cold, allergies, the flu or something else? Thanks to advanced technology, physicians at Loyola University Health System receive confirmation of their patient's respiratory illness within one hour. Loyola is one of only two hospitals in lllinois to use the FDA-approved FilmArray Respiratory Panel, which screens for 17 viral and 3 bacterial pathogens in about 60 minutes.

10 Jan 2013

Simple and inexpensive method to cut DNA could transform genetic medicine

A simple, precise and inexpensive method for cutting DNA to insert genes into human cells could transform genetic medicine, making routine what now are expensive, complicated and rare procedures for replacing defective genes in order to fix genetic disease or even cure AIDS.

10 Jan 2013

Several genes may control body-fat responses to fast-food diets

Researchers at UCLA say it's not just what you eat that makes those pants tighter - it's also genetics. In a new study, scientists discovered that body-fat responses to a typical fast-food diet are determined in large part by genetic factors, and they have identified several genes they say may control those responses.

10 Jan 2013

Researchers uncover genetic causes of von Willebrand disease

In 2006, the lab of Dr. David Ginsburg at the Life Sciences Institute put a call out for siblings attending the University of Michigan to donate blood for a study of blood-clotting disorders.

10 Jan 2013

New York State WIC program reduces rates of obesity among children

New York children participating in a federal nutrition program had healthier eating behaviors and lower rates of obesity two years after improvements to the program were undertaken, according to a study published online today in Obesity, the official journal of the Obesity Society.

10 Jan 2013