Medicine News and Research

RSS

NIDA, ASAM launch new screening resources for primary care providers

A free, nationwide service was launched today to help primary care providers seeking to identify and advise substance-abusing patients.

11 Apr 2011

New point-of-care trial can reduce cost and length of studies

Doctors at the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System are testing a new kind of clinical trial that's not only less costly but guides doctors to switch to the best treatment even before the trial is completed.

11 Apr 2011

A4M: Estrogen helps prevent risk of breast cancer in women

After timely breaking news this week about a study showing that estrogen lowers breast cancer risk in women, The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine could have almost started its 19th Annual Conference here today saying "I told you so."

11 Apr 2011

New survey to understand patterns of disability and aging in older Americans

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have been selected to lead a new national survey of older Americans to understand patterns of disability and aging.

11 Apr 2011

Scientists identify novel mechanism to control cancer spread

Saint Louis University researchers have identified a novel mechanism to control the traffic of cells and fluid from tissues to lymphatic vessels. It may be possible to harness this mechanism to fight cancer spread from one organ to another organ and improve the effectiveness of vaccines.

11 Apr 2011

New study finds no significant benefit of bosentan against IPF

A new study has demonstrated no significant benefit of taking the drug bosentan for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

11 Apr 2011

Louisville Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine earns APS' Walter B. Cannon Award

Heart failure affects roughly six million Americans, yet treatment consists of either a heart transplant or the insertion of mechanical devices that assist the heart. This is unacceptable to Roberto Bolli, MD, Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Ky., which is why he is on a mission to make cardiac stem cell treatment an option for all who must cope with the limitations of a failing heart.

11 Apr 2011

Study: Unemployment linked to high risk of death in men than women

In a meta-analysis of 42 studies with data on 20 million people regarding the relationship between unemployment and the risk of death, a team of researchers at Stony Brook University found that the risk of death was 63 percent higher in those who experienced an episode of unemployment than those who did not.

11 Apr 2011

Opinions: Budget talks, foreign aid; making drugs more accessible to poor

"If the federal government shuts down at midnight on Friday - which seems likely unless negotiations take a sudden turn toward rationality - it will not be because of disagreements over spending. It will be because Republicans are refusing to budge on these ideological demands," argues a New York Times editorial, highlighting issues such as "foreign aid to countries that might use the money for abortion or family planning ... aid to the United Nations Population Fund, which supports family-planning services."

11 Apr 2011

US should watch how UK adopts new, 'value-based pricing' policy

The United States should pay close attention to how the United Kingdom carries out plans to assess a new drug's worth using factors that go beyond clinical and cost effectiveness, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics.

8 Apr 2011

Seventh Sense Biosystems receives Edison Gold Medal Award for Touch Activated Phlebotomy technology

Seventh Sense Biosystems, Inc., an early stage, venture-backed company developing a new generation of health diagnostics products, announced today that its Touch Activated Phlebotomy™ (TAP) technology has received the Gold Medal Award from The Edison Awards™ in the Science and Medicine - Diagnostic Aids Segment. These annual awards recognize innovation, creativity and ingenuity.

8 Apr 2011

Survivors of severe critical illness requiring intensive care do not regain physical or psychological health

A unique and richly detailed long-term study of survivors of severe critical illness requiring intensive care found that even those who were previously healthy, young and working did not regain the physical or psychological health they had before their illness.

8 Apr 2011

Current 'metrics' don't paint clear picture of health care quality

With a push to make hospitals and doctors more accountable for health care quality, more attention must be paid to the accuracy and reliability of measures used to evaluate caregivers, says a prominent Johns Hopkins patient safety expert.

8 Apr 2011

Gene expression changes in prostate tissue surrounding cancer lesions may allow prostate cancer diagnosis

Researchers have found that gene expression changes in prostate tissue surrounding cancer lesions may allow diagnosis of prostate cancer even if no cancer cells are present in biopsy tissue, according to study results published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

8 Apr 2011

Researchers test plants used in traditional African medicine against malaria

The malaria parasite has gradually developed resistance to the most commonly used medicines. To make matters worse, several mosquito species that host and transmit the parasite have become resistant to insecticides, making it difficult to eliminate them from populated areas.

8 Apr 2011

Marking World Health Day, WHO warns misuse of antibiotics undermining global fight against infectious diseases

U.N. officials on Thursday marked World Health Day with a warning that "the misuse and irrational use of antibiotics has undermined the global fight against tuberculosis and malaria, warning of a possible return to the days before the drugs were developed," and called for urgent action to control the spread of drug resistance, Reuters reports.

8 Apr 2011

Brain 'talks' to computer by saying/thinking of a particular sound

Patients with a temporary surgical implant have used regions of the brain that control speech to "talk" to a computer for the first time, manipulating a cursor on a computer screen simply by saying or thinking of a particular sound.

8 Apr 2011

Small businesses can benefit from high-quality employee wellness programs

A new study published today supports the premise that high-quality employee wellness programs in small businesses improve employee health and well-being, which drives improvements in organizational outcomes such as absenteeism, healthcare costs and disability claims.

8 Apr 2011

Mammal muscle turned into biological raw material for new limb

Move over, newts and salamanders. The mouse may join you as the only animal that can re-grow their own severed limbs. Researchers are reporting that a simple chemical cocktail can coax mouse muscle fibers to become the kinds of cells found in the first stages of a regenerating limb. Their study, the first demonstration that mammal muscle can be turned into the biological raw material for a new limb, appears in the journal ACS Chemical Biology.

8 Apr 2011

Canadian political parties called upon to focus on health system during election campaign

The Health Action Lobby today called on all political parties to focus on the health system during the federal election campaign. HEAL is a coalition of 35 national health organizations that represents a broad cross-section of health providers, health regions, institutions & facilities.

8 Apr 2011