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Important find will help design appropriate screening and therapy for women carrying fetuses impaired in their growth

In her research, Dr. Andree Gruslin encountered many pregnant women who could not carry their fetuses to term because the placenta, and in turn the fetus, were too small. In once case, she followed a woman who had had eight consecutive miscarriages due to this condition. Thanks to this latest discovery, she now understands why.

19 Jul 2005

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) rates in women skyrocket

The death rate for one of the most lethal diseases in North America has skyrocketed for women in the last 20 years, and a team of researchers from the University of British Columbia and the B.C. Centre of Excellence for Women's Health wants to find out why.

19 Jul 2005

New way to fight antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus infections

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital and Health Center, San Diego have discovered that "Staph" bacteria use a protective golden armor to ward off the immune system, a finding with the potential to lead to new treatments for serious infections now increasingly resistant to standard antibiotics.

19 Jul 2005

Ducks possibly the culprit in spreading bird flu

An international team, which included experts from China, Indonesia, Thailand, the US and Vietnam, say that domestic ducks possibly pose a major threat of spreading avian flu to animals and humans, as not only do they carry the virus with few visible signs, the virus is able to mutate in them, which means they could trigger a human pandemic.

19 Jul 2005

Better tracking system needed to check the safety of new medical devices

A recently released report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) says that a better system is needed by U.S. health officials for tracking the safety of medical devices after they are approved for sale, especially ones used to treat children.

19 Jul 2005

Healing touch, music, relaxation a plus for heart surgery patients

According to a newly released study people who learned about relaxed breathing and received soothing touch and music before heart surgery were more likely to be alive 6 months after the procedure.

19 Jul 2005

Innovative new brachytherapy planning tool

The Vitesse system is being used in more than 25 hospitals worldwide to speed up planning and enable treatments to take place within a day, avoiding the need for patients to stay in a hospital overnight.

19 Jul 2005

Discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria

People living with HIV/AIDS face many forms of stigma and discrimination. This is the case in whichever country they may live, as has been shown in a number of previous research studies.

19 Jul 2005

Many paramedics do not get enough clinical experience in insertion of emergency breathing tubes

Across the United States, many patients require insertion of emergency breathing tubes before arriving to a hospital, but emergency medicine researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have found that many paramedics - the highest level of prehospital providers - do not get enough clinical experience in this life-saving skill.

19 Jul 2005

Cranberry juice common for urinary tract infections

A new study suggests that while it's fairly common for parents to give their children cranberry products to treat or prevent urinary tract infections, they usually do not discuss the treatment with their pediatrician.

19 Jul 2005

A study analyzes the most important factors leading to death or liver transplant in drug-induced liver disease

Drug-induced liver disease (DILD), a potential complication seen with some medications, is usually not life-threatening, but may occasionally be more severe with a high mortality, requiring a liver transplant in selected cases.

18 Jul 2005

Smokers who give up are much less likely to lose their teeth prematurely

Dental researchers at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, observed a group of cigarette smokers with chronic gum disease over one year and found some symptoms were more likely to improve in the people who quit during the study period.

18 Jul 2005

Tamiflu may treat avian flu virus

Experiments in mice show that an antiviral drug currently used against annual influenza strains also can suppress the deadly influenza virus that has spread from birds to humans, killing dozens of people in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand since early 2004.

18 Jul 2005

ACE inhibitors should be available at no cost to the 8 million Americans over age 65 who have diabetes

Nothing in life is free, the old saying goes. But maybe some things should be, according to a new University of Michigan Health System study.

18 Jul 2005

Scientists have identified a gene associated with both childhood and adult obesity

According to research published today in Nature Genetics, the team from Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, and the CNRS Lille, France, have identified a gene (ENPP1), with strong links to childhood obesity in 3,147 in a sample of 4,886 French Caucasian individuals.

18 Jul 2005

Close connection between gender-based violence and HIV infection

amfAR has released an issue brief demonstrating a close connection between gender-based violence and HIV infection. The New York-based AIDS research foundation is calling for resources to develop, test, and implement behavioral, biomedical, and social interventions to address violence as both a cause and a consequence of HIV infection.

18 Jul 2005

NIPA levels act as switch regulating cell division

Cells control mitosis (cell division) by assembling a biochemical switch to block it or by disassembling the switch to trigger it, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Technical University of Munich.

18 Jul 2005

Malpractice litigation has little to do with erratic quality of health care

Conventional wisdom holds that malpractice lawsuits are the bane of modern medicine, with high insurance premiums driving doctors from the profession and the threat of lawsuits discouraging health-care employees from reporting and correcting medical mistakes.

17 Jul 2005

Bioniche launches injection for varicose veins in the U.S

Bioniche Life Sciences has announced that its Pharma Division has launched Sotradecol(R) Injection (Sodium Tetradecyl Sulfate Injection) in the United States.

15 Jul 2005

Cedars-Sinai dumping hundreds of low income patients

The California Nurses Association has sharply criticized state officials for establishing a dangerous precedent in approving tax-supported revenue bonds for the state's largest private hospital, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of Los Angeles, which is dumping hundreds of its Medi-Cal patients, denying them access to available and much needed medical care.

15 Jul 2005