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Over 30% of pregnant American women have C-sections

The proportion of American women having their babies delivered by C-section jumped to nearly one in three in 2005, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

17 Feb 2008

Mathematical approach to tackle dual-resistant hospital infections

A mathematical model that looks at different strategies for curbing hospital-acquired infections suggests that antimicrobial cycling and patient isolation may be effective approaches when patients are harboring dual-resistant bacteria.

17 Feb 2008

Nabilone marijuana-based drug reduces fibromyalgia pain

Patients with fibromyalgia treated with a synthetic form of marijuana, nabilone, showed significant reductions in pain and anxiety in a first-of-its-kind study, published in The Journal of Pain.

17 Feb 2008

Insurance status linked to advanced stage in multiple cancers

A new American Cancer Society study of twelve types of cancer among more than 3.5 million cancer patients finds uninsured patients were significantly more likely to present with advanced stage cancer compared to patients with private insurance.

17 Feb 2008

Fighting the global obesity epidemic

According to Rena Wing, professor of psychiatry and human behavior at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and director of the Weight Control & Diabetes Research Center at The Miriam Hospital, people who are most successful in preventing weight gain, and dieters who lose weight and keep the pounds off, have made major changes in their in diet and exercise routines.

17 Feb 2008

Infertility is a growing problem

Infertility will become more prevalent in generations to come, but interpreting these trends is complicated, say researchers in this week's BMJ.

17 Feb 2008

Chronic pain is a disease in its own right

The concept that chronic pain is a disease in its own right is leading to new specific treatments aimed at physical, psychological, and environmental components of this major disease, including genetic predisposition, according to a world renowned pain medicine expert.

17 Feb 2008

Waking up during surgery - how likely is it?

Most patients worry before an operation about waking up during the surgery unable to move or cry out and their fears are not without grounds.

17 Feb 2008

$98 million new hospital deemed dysfunctional

A brand new $98 million hospital in Bathurst in NSW's central west has been deemed so unsafe that routine elective surgery has been suspended; doctors at the hospital say there are serious flaws in the design and construction of the facilities.

17 Feb 2008

Stomach flu vaccine possibility

Every year, millions of people are infected with noroviruses - commonly called "stomach flu" - often resulting in up to 72 hours of vomiting and diarrhea.

14 Feb 2008

Routine screenings uncover hidden carbon monoxide poisoning

Screening all emergency room patients for carbon monoxide poisoning is a simple yet potentially life-saving practice that can be done even in a high-volume urban hospital, according to new research by emergency physicians at Rhode Island Hospital.

14 Feb 2008

Gene chip technology used to distinguish ventilator-associated pneumonia from underlying critical illness

Critically ill patients who need a ventilator to breathe face a high risk of pneumonia.

14 Feb 2008

Bacterial toxin closes gate on immune response

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have demonstrated that a bacterial toxin from the common bacterium Staphylococcus aureus shuts down the control mechanism of the tunnel, called an ion channel, in immune cell membranes.

14 Feb 2008

Problems with blood thinning drug could originate in China

Following a warning from the the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it had received reports of 4 deaths and over 300 incidents of health problems associated with a blood thinning drug, it has now been revealed that U.S. regulators never inspected the Chinese plant that makes Baxter International's heparin.

14 Feb 2008

Another Vietnamese falls victim to bird flu

Vietnamese authorities have confirmed that a man who has died in a Hanoi hospital was infected with the bird flu virus.

14 Feb 2008

Latest bird flu case in Indonesia raises concern

In the latest news on the bird flu front the World Health Organization (WHO) says the daughter of an Indonesian women from West Jakarta who tested positive for bird flu has also contracted the virus.

13 Feb 2008

$Australian stem cell fracture treatment shows great results$

Australian stem cell fracture treatment shows great results

A trial at an Australian hospital using adult stem cells to repair bone fractures has had excellent results.

13 Feb 2008

NSW patients at greater risk of infection by super bugs

A study published late last year on the prevalence of the bug, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA which showed that far more MRSA bugs were collected in NSW-ACT hospitals than in other states, has been supported by one of Sydney's most senior surgeons.

13 Feb 2008

NSW public hospitals below par with obsolete equipment

The latest report from the New South Wales (NSW) Auditor-General office offers more evidence that the state's public hospital systems are falling below par in some respects.

13 Feb 2008

Get fit because it's never too late!

According to the latest research it's never too late to get fit. Researchers in the United States say the benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle which includes regular exercise last well into old age.

13 Feb 2008