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MTF survey shows large decline in teen smoking

Cigarette and alcohol use by eighth, 10th and 12th-graders are at their lowest point since the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey began polling teenagers in 1975, according to this year's survey results. However, this positive news is tempered by a slowing rate of decline in teen smoking as well as continued high rates of abuse of other tobacco products, marijuana and prescription drugs.

15 Dec 2011

Lockheed Martin, Johns Hopkins partner to create safer and more efficient ICU model

The Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality of Johns Hopkins Medicine is collaborating with the Lockheed Martin Corporation, a global security and technology company, to create a safer and more efficient hospital intensive care unit (ICU) model.

15 Dec 2011

More than half of older patients with anemia do not need transfusions after hip surgery

More than half of the older, anemic patients in a New England Journal of Medicine study did not need blood transfusions as they recovered from hip surgery, according to new research co-authored by University of Maryland School of Medicine scientists.

15 Dec 2011

Paul Farmer discusses equity in international health with Scientific American

In this Scientific American "60-Second Health" podcast, journalist Katherine Harmon interviews Paul Farmer, a Harvard professor and co-founder of the non-profit Partners in Health, who is "famous for his health work in Haiti."

15 Dec 2011

Cereblon protein now holds hope in fight against multiple myeloma

Research on the same protein that was a primary mediator of the birth defects caused by thalidomide now holds hope in the battle against multiple myeloma, say Mayo Clinic researchers who presented results of several clinical trials at the 53nd annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology Dec. 10-13 in San Diego.

15 Dec 2011

Five tips to identify unstable individuals during holidays

While it is true that the suicide rate at the holidays is actually lower than at other times of the year, the holidays can be a very lonely time for those with nowhere to go and no one to turn to. As a result, the hospital emergency department sees an increase in visits from people who have engaged in potentially self-destructive or depressive behavior.

15 Dec 2011

GeneKey launches personalized medicine service for cancer patients

GeneKey Corp., announced today that it has launched a personalized medicine service that empowers cancer patients and their oncology teams to develop treatment strategies based on insight into the biology of individual tumors.

15 Dec 2011

Vaginal progesterone reduces rate of preterm birth and neonatal complications

A team of investigators of the National Institutes of Health housed at the Detroit Medical Center (DMC) and Wayne State University (WSU) published today that performing a cervical ultrasound in all pregnant women and treating those with a short cervix with vaginal progesterone reduces the rate of preterm birth and neonatal complications.

15 Dec 2011

Mayo Clinic to build new cancer treatment facility

Mayo Clinic broke ground today for a cutting edge cancer therapy facility at its Phoenix campus. Construction begins this month on a $182 million facility to house Mayo Clinic's Proton Beam Therapy program - marking the beginning of a new era in cancer treatment.

15 Dec 2011

Simple online calculator can tackle pancreatic and bowel cancer

A simple online calculator could offer family GPs a powerful new tool in tackling two of the most deadly forms of cancer, say researchers.

15 Dec 2011

ASN joins ABIM Foundation's Choosing Wisely campaign

The American Society of Nephrology (ASN), the world's leading kidney organization, joins the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation, eight other leading national medical specialty societies and Consumer Reports in the Choosing Wisely campaign. This campaign will help physicians, patients and other health care professionals address overuse of health care resources in the United States.

15 Dec 2011

Peacekeepers, relief workers do not show same mental health effects as combat veterans

Despite similar traumatic exposures, peacekeepers and relief workers don't show the same mental health effects as combat veterans, reports a study in the December Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

15 Dec 2011

M. pneumoniae CARDS toxin plays a critical role in asthma

Five years ago, microbiologists at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio discovered the toxin produced by a common respiratory bacterial pathogen, Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Joel Baseman, Ph.D., who led the discovery, said at the time that the toxin's presence in humans could be causing as many as 40 percent of all asthma cases.

15 Dec 2011

Gynaecological cancer survival rates have improved in Eastern England

Gynaecological cancer survival rates have improved in Eastern England following the reorganisation of services and multidisciplinary team working finds a new study published in the gynaecological oncology themed issue of BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

15 Dec 2011

First Total Artificial Heart implant performed at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia

Surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center performed the first Total Artificial Heart implant in the New York City area to replace a patient's dying heart.

15 Dec 2011

MDC professor to receive Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize

Professor Nikolaus Rajewsky of the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin is to receive Germany's most prestigious research award, the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize.

15 Dec 2011

Scientists evaluate toxicity of Peruvian plant species in traditional medicine

Many developing countries rely on traditional medicine as an accessible and affordable treatment option for human maladies. However, until now, scientific data has not existed to evaluate the potential toxicity of medicinal plant species in Peru. Scientists from the William L. Brown Center of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis led a study using brine shrimp to determine the toxicity of 341 Northern Peruvian plant species commonly ingested in traditional medicine.

15 Dec 2011