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Number of newborn screening tests more than doubles in Washington

The Washington State Department of Health's Newborn Screening program has more than doubled the number of screening tests it performs on newborns in our state from four to nine.

20 Aug 2004

Increased dementia risk after stroke

One in four stroke victims will suffer from cognitive impairment severe enough to be diagnosed as dementia within three to six months of the attack, according to new research from the University of New South Wales.

20 Aug 2004

Research sheds shed light on a common cause of miscarriage in humans

Top poker players know that the face mirrors the brain. Specialists in embryonic development wouldn’t disagree. In fact, because the same clumps of primordial cells mold the final features of both, a close look at a child’s face can often yield clues about less visible problems within the skull

20 Aug 2004

Study to compare prostate surgery and drugs

The Minimally Invasive Surgical Therapies (MIST) Consortium for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) has launched a new study to compare long-term benefits and risks of transurethral needle ablation (TUNA) and transurethral microwave thermotherapy (TUMT) to a regimen of the alpha-1 inhibitor alfuzosin and the 5-alpha reductase inhibitor finasteride.

20 Aug 2004

Manitoba's first human case of West Nile virus infection

The first human case of West Nile virus infection this year has been identified in Manitoba. The individual, a Winnipeg resident in his sixties, is currently in hospital. The individual has been reported to Health Canada as a probable case of West Nile neurological syndrome.

20 Aug 2004

Scientists have developed the first mouse model Werner’s syndrome

Scientists have developed the first mouse model of a rare disease in which people age rapidly and start developing cancers and other diseases associated with the elderly when they are only about 30 years old.

20 Aug 2004

Budding doctors can get the low-down on life at medical school

The Insider's Guide to Medical School 2004-5, compiled by members of the BMA's Medical Students Committee, gives a unique insight into what studying medicine is really like. It provides students considering medicine with crucial information, such as each U.K. medical school's entry requirements.

20 Aug 2004

Performance of individual surgeons in the UK will be made publicly available

Later this year, the performance of individual surgeons in the UK will be made publicly available, but the move remains controversial. Researchers in this week's BMJ discuss the issues in relation to cardiothoracic surgery.

20 Aug 2004

Ambulances may not be sent to deal with non-urgent 999 calls

From October, a nurse, paramedic or emergency care practitioner may treat these patients at home, avoiding the need for a hospital visit. They may also receive advice over the phone from NHS Direct.

20 Aug 2004

Living near to a petrol station may increase the risk of acute childhood leukaemia by 400%

These new findings are based on 280 cases of acute childhood leukaemia and a comparison group of 285 children matched for sex. The children were drawn from four hospitals in France (Nancy, Lille, Lyon, and Paris), and almost two thirds (60%) of the children with leukaemia were aged between 2 and 6.

19 Aug 2004

Madeline Mann, the world's smallest surviving baby now 15

Medical progress of her 14-year follow up will be released in a letter published in the Aug. 19, 2004 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

18 Aug 2004

Expatriates find better quality outside of the UK

Despite what Victoria Beckham may think, Spain has come out on top in a poll of people living and working abroad. Research carried out by BUPA International found that nine out of 10 expats they questioned claimed that their quality of life is better, or very much better, in Spain than in their home country.

18 Aug 2004

Limb-sparing technique called rotationplasty helps very young children with bone cancer

The current issue of New England Journal of Medicine illustrates a case of a five-year-old girl with Ewing’s sarcoma, a cancerous tumor, behind her left knee. Surgeons at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia used a limb-sparing technique called rotationplasty to remove the diseased portion of bone, turn the shortened portion of the leg bone in a half-circle and reattach it, with the ankle joint functioning as a knee.

18 Aug 2004

Researchers find way to detect dangerous brain swelling in diabetic children

A rare swelling of the brain that is nonetheless the most common diabetes-related cause of death for children with the disease could be caught earlier — potentially saving lives — if practitioners learn to recognize key signs, researchers at the University of Florida report.

18 Aug 2004

Organ transplant recipients infected with West Nile virus develop more severe neurological illness

West Nile virus is an infection which in the last three years has had a significant impact in the United States. The virus is spread from birds to humans via mosquito bites. Symptoms include headache, fever and disorientation, and the disease can cause serious illness in a small percentage of infected people.

18 Aug 2004

Exposure to natural and man-made substances in the environment accounts for at least two-thirds of all the cases of cancer in the U.S.

These environmental factors include lifestyle choices like cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, poor diet, lack of exercise and excessive sunlight exposure. Other factors include exposure to certain medical drugs, hormones, radiation, viruses, bacteria, and chemicals that may be present in the air, water, food and workplace.

18 Aug 2004

Successful resuscitation rates doubled after upgrade to automated external defibrillators

Successful resuscitation rates more than doubled after the Atlanta VA Medical Center instituted a program of upgrading existing defibrillators and placing automated external defibrillators (AEDs) throughout the hospital, while also educating staff, according to a new study in the Aug. 18, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

18 Aug 2004

Catheter delivered devices may be just as effective as drug therapy in treating strokes of unidentified origin

A percutaneous catheter procedure to correct a heart abnormality caused by an open patent foramen ovale (PFO), a flap that should be closed in an adult heart, may be just as effective as drug therapy in treating patients who have had strokes of unidentified origin, perhaps caused by this condition.

18 Aug 2004

Combination therapies improve prostate cancer survival rates

The addition of six months of androgen suppression therapy (AST) to radiation therapy improves survival of patients with clinically localized prostate cancer, according to a study in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

18 Aug 2004

In the fragmented European hospital information systems market, established vendors have a distinct advantage

New vendors are therefore finding it extremely difficult to break through the barriers and reach potential clients. While some cash-rich vendors have attempted to address this issue through the acquisitions route.

18 Aug 2004