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FDA clears breathing tube coated with a thin layer of silver

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced that it has cleared for marketing a breathing tube coated with a thin layer of silver. The coating, a material known to have antimicrobial properties, reduces the risk that patients on ventilators will acquire pneumonia while in the hospital.

13 Nov 2007

Factor key to severity of community-associated methicillin-resistant staph infections identified

Newly described proteins in drug-resistant strains of the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium attract and then destroy protective human white blood cells - a key process ensuring that S. aureus survives and causes severe disease, according to scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

13 Nov 2007

Collaboration between Eastern and Western healthcare practitioners is needed

Recent study findings from The Cleft Palate–Craniofacial Journal stress the importance of culturally sensitive rehabilitative practices, collaboration, referrals and information sharing between Eastern and Western health care practitioners.

13 Nov 2007

Chicken pox vaccination should be introduced for children in the UK

The only realistic way of preventing deaths and severe complications arising from chickenpox is to routinely vaccinate children against the disease, concludes research published ahead of print in Archives of Disease in Childhood.

13 Nov 2007

Fires and burns take devastating toll on nation's children

The approach of winter season brings with it an increase in burn-related injuries to our nation's children. Annually in the United States, fires and burns result in almost 4,000 deaths and more than 745,000 non-hospitalized injuries among all age groups.

13 Nov 2007

Antivirals reduce deaths from flu in hospitalized patients

Adults with influenza infections serious enough to require hospitalization are much less likely to die from the disease if they are given antiviral medications, according to a new study published in the December 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, currently available online.

13 Nov 2007

Managing asthma

The great majority of the nearly 23 million people with asthma, including 6.5 million children, can avoid serious symptoms and disability if they follow the latest guidelines to keep their disease under control.

13 Nov 2007

Online NHS programme uses traffic light system to rate patient's health

An online programme launched by the National Health Service in Britain uses a 'traffic light' system to rate people's health status.

7 Nov 2007

Potential block buster on the horizon - new vaccine to control high blood pressure

A vaccine that would help people control their blood pressure is showing promise in early trials.

7 Nov 2007

Link between asthma and depressive disorders found

Young people with asthma are about twice as likely to suffer from depressive and anxiety disorders than are children without asthma, according to a study by a research team in Seattle.

6 Nov 2007

Improving hospital safety rating tools

In a bid to clean up misleading institutional safety comparisons and go further to fix safety problems, Johns Hopkins experts are proposing standard guidelines to be used as hospital safety rating tools.

6 Nov 2007

MRSA prevalent in Canadian pig farms and pig farmers

A new study published in Veterinary Microbiology found methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevalent in Canadian pig farms and pig farmers, pointing to animal agriculture as a source of the deadly bacteria.

6 Nov 2007

CPR guidelines double hospital discharge rates

A new seven-city study on the impact of new CPR techniques supports the widespread use of the American Heart Association's new 2005 CPR guidelines, according to the study authors in a presentation at the AHA's Scientific Sessions November 4 in Orlando.

6 Nov 2007

Tezosentan does not appear to improve symptoms for patients with acute heart failure

The medication tezosentan, which was thought could be beneficial for the treatment of acute heart failure, did not improve breathlessness or reduce the risk of fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular events, according to a study in the November 7 issue of JAMA.

6 Nov 2007

Community computer grid squeezes speeds cancer research

Canadian researchers expect to accelerate the war on cancer by tapping into a global network of hundreds of thousands of people who volunteer their idle computer time to tackle some of the world's most complex problems.

6 Nov 2007

Research sheds new light on how joints work

Mice that don't produce lubricin, a thin film of protein found in the cartilage of joints, showed early wear and higher friction in their joints, a new study led by Brown University researchers shows.

6 Nov 2007

Fenofibrate intervention and event lowering in diabetes

Fenofibrate is the first and only widely available lipid modifying agent to demonstrate significant protection to the eye of patients with type 2 diabetes, reducing the need for laser therapy in a wide spectrum of patients which should decrease the risk of progressive loss of vision.

6 Nov 2007

Fat cells release a protein that aids insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells

The body's fat cells help the pancreas do its job of secreting insulin, according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

6 Nov 2007

EU project confirms Europe's excellence in migraine research

An EU-funded project on migraines has not only taken researchers a step closer to understanding the causes of these incapacitating attacks, but has created a critical mass, reinforcing Europe's reputation of excellence in this field, and reassuring migraine sufferers that their condition is being taken seriously.

6 Nov 2007

Energy drinks raise blood pressure

Downing an “energy drink” may boost blood pressure as well as energy, researchers said in a small study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2007.

6 Nov 2007