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Early ritalin may cause long-term effects on the brain

A new study conducted in rats by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School suggests that the misdiagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) combined with prescription drug use in children may lead to a higher risk of developing depressive symptoms in adulthood.

13 Dec 2004

Study of early stage breast cancer patients identifies women at low risk of breast cancer mortality

Kaiser Permanente researchers are presenting results of a large epidemiologic study of a unique breast cancer test at the 27th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The KP study shows the test can identify patients with early stage disease who are at low risk of breast cancer death at 10-years.

13 Dec 2004

Childhood cancer slowly increasing over the past 3 decades

Research from 19 European countries in this week’s issue of THE LANCET documents how childhood cancer, while still rare, has been slowly increasing over the past 3 decades.

13 Dec 2004

PCT waste fears as patients shun new treatment centre

Patients prefer to wait nine months for orthopaedic operations rather than be treated within ten weeks by a new independent treatment centre, a referral centre has found.

13 Dec 2004

Migraine sufferers are twice as likely to suffer a stroke than those who don't experience migraines

In the first review of its kind, researchers in Canada and the US looked at 14 studies which investigated an association between stroke and migraine. They found that the risk of stroke for migraine sufferers was 2.16 times that for non-sufferers.

13 Dec 2004

Discovery of key immune system molecules that helps determine how effectively a person resists HIV infection

A team of researchers based partly in South Africa has identified a key set of immune system molecules that helps determine how effectively a person resists infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

8 Dec 2004

Excellent news for the many people who suffer from high blood pressure

An international trial comparing blood-pressure lowering treatments has been stopped early due to the significantly better performance of one of the treatments in the trial.

8 Dec 2004

No complicated formulas: more cleaners = cleaner hospitals

UNISON, the UK’s largest health union, has welcomed new figures showing improvements to standards of hospital cleanliness, but said that for most patients - “seeing is believing”.

8 Dec 2004

Greater risk of heart attack associated with Vioxx than Celebrex

In the first epidemiological study designed and executed specifically to determine the heart-attack risk associated with COX-2 inhibitors rofecoxib (Vioxx) and celecoxib (Celebrex), researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found a greater risk of heart attack associated with Vioxx than Celebrex, although neither of the two drugs showed a statistically significant elevated risk of heart attack relative to people who did not use the drugs.

8 Dec 2004

Study supports the use of the internal mammary artery in coronary artery bypass grafting

Long-term follow up with heart bypass patients treated in Veterans Affairs hospitals shows that 85 percent of left internal mammary artery grafts and 61 percent of vein grafts remain open (patent) after 10 years, and that these grafts are more likely to offer long-term success when they are attached to larger arteries on the heart, according to a new study in the Dec. 7, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

8 Dec 2004

Dane County patient dumping case unloads costs on consumers

The Wisconsin Hospital Association expressed disappointment with the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision yesterday that allows Dane County and other counties to impose yet another hidden tax on health care consumers.

8 Dec 2004

African health care systems: what went wrong?

The last century witnessed unparalleled improvements in the health indicators of many countries in the African Region, particularly reductions in child mortality.

8 Dec 2004

Accumulated exposure to lead may be an important but unrecognized risk for developing cataracts in men

Lead continues to pose a significant public health problem in spite of substantial reductions in lead exposure in the United States in the recent past, according to background information in the article.

8 Dec 2004

Breast MRI moderately useful for detecting breast cancer

In women with breast lesions that are suspicious for cancer, based on clinical examination or mammography, performing a breast MRI has high sensitivity but only moderate specificity for detecting breast cancer, but does not necessarily eliminate the need for tissue sampling, according to a study in the December 8 issue of JAMA.

8 Dec 2004

Physically fit men visit their doctors less frequently

Physically fit men had fewer overnight hospital stays and visited their doctors less frequently, according to the results of a long-term study published this month in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the official scientific journal of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

7 Dec 2004

Revival of a unique and proven cancer treatment, neutron therapy

Northern Illinois University has announced plans to revive a unique and proven cancer treatment that blends advanced medical science with accelerator physics developed at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, a Department of Energy laboratory in Batavia, Ill.

7 Dec 2004

Zarnestra, a farnesyl transferase inhibitor, can help treat high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome patients

An oral targeted therapy gentle enough to be used by patients in their 70s or 80s is showing benefit in treating high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a pre-leukemic disorder that can progress to acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

7 Dec 2004

Existing Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders (DNR) for children should be reevaluated when the child requires surgery

A new clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says that existing Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders (DNR) for children should be reevaluated when the child requires surgery.

7 Dec 2004

Cardiac surgery mortality rates continue to decline

New Jersey’s sixth cardiac surgery report card shows that mortality rates continued to decline in 2001 to the lowest levels since reporting began in the state, Health and Senior Services Commissioner Clifton R. Lacy, M.D., announced yesterday.

7 Dec 2004

Gauging the risk from prolonged low-level radiation

Everyone knows that high doses of radiation are dangerous, but the effects of long-term exposure to low-level radiation is poorly understood. RISC-RAD, a new European Union backed research project, seeks to identify our tolerance threshold so as to optimise protective measures.

7 Dec 2004