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JHUSON adds Harvey the Cardiopulmonary Simulator to simulation education

It's official: Harvey the Cardiopulmonary Simulator checked in for an extended stay at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (JHUSON) last month. Harvey is the latest addition to the School's upgraded simulation laboratories and the newest member of the "Sim Fam." These life-like practice manikins, including Sim Man, Vital Sim Man,Noelle with newborn, and Sim Baby give nursing students the hands-on experience without the anxiety of working with actual human beings.

18 Mar 2011

Transcranial LED-based light therapy improves cognitive function in traumatic brain injury patients

At-home, daily application of light therapy via light-emitting diodes (LEDs) placed on the forehead and scalp led to improvements in cognitive function and post-traumatic stress disorder in patients with a traumatic brain injury (TBI), according to a groundbreaking study published in Photomedicine and Laser Surgery, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

18 Mar 2011

Major clinical studies for heart disease, stroke fail to consider participant's ethnicity

Major clinical studies that evaluate prevention strategies for heart disease and stroke fail to consider a participant's ethnicity, a factor that can more than double the rate of death in some groups, according to research led by St. Michael's Dr. Joel Ray.

18 Mar 2011

UCLA researchers identify new biomarker that can help track amyloid beta in Alzheimer's

UCLA researchers have identified a new biomarker that could help them track how effectively the immune system is able to clear the brain of amyloid beta, which forms the plaques considered one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.

18 Mar 2011

ACP: Increase in internal medicine enrollment can ease primary care workforce shortage

The increase in the number of U.S. medical students choosing internal medicine residencies in 2011 is a positive sign toward easing the primary care workforce shortage, according to the American College of Physicians, the nation's second-largest doctors group.

18 Mar 2011

CPF applauds new guidelines for treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

The Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis (CPF) applauds the joint statement issued by the American Thoracic Society for the first evidence-based clinical guidelines for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The guidelines represent progress in understanding of the disease and a milestone for patients. The devastating and deadly disease also called simply "Pulmonary Fibrosis" or "PF" has no FDA approved treatment and no cure.

18 Mar 2011

Liquid polymer research could represent next breakthrough in stem cell therapy

At present, cartilage implants created using stem cells can only be constructed as a solid shape, acting as an interim measure before the almost inevitable need for total joint replacement.

18 Mar 2011

Anacor Pharma, MMV enter agreement to develop AN3661 for malaria treatment

Anacor Pharmaceuticals announced today that it has entered into a development agreement with Medicines for Malaria Venture to develop Anacor's compound AN3661 for the treatment of malaria.

18 Mar 2011

Increase in nurses' workload linked to high mortality risk in patients

Nurses are the front-line caregivers to hospital patients, coordinating and providing direct care and delivering it safely and reliably. The goal for any hospital is to ensure that each of its patient-care units has an adequate number of nurses during every shift.

18 Mar 2011

Stem cell therapy can reduce heart size, scar tissue and improve function in cardiac patients

Researchers have shown for the first time that stem cells injected into enlarged hearts reduced heart size, reduced scar tissue and improved function to injured heart areas, according to a small trial published in Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart Association.

18 Mar 2011

New information on how best to teach children with hearing loss

Two to three in every 1,000 children are born with a hearing loss that is likely to impact development. Research of the auditory system at its early developmental stages, and efforts to identify hearing loss and initiate appropriate rehabilitation strategies, can be crucial to the healthy development of a child.

18 Mar 2011

Scientists receive £5million EU grant to identify gene targets for kidney cancer treatment

An international consortium led by scientists from the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute, The Royal Marsden Hospital and the Technical University of Denmark has been granted nearly £5million by the European Union to identify gene targets for personalised treatment for kidney cancer patients.

18 Mar 2011

New study: Men who consume hair loss drug may report sexual dysfunction

A new study by The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, that will be published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, suggests men who take the drug finasteride, commonly marketed under the trademark names Propecia and Proscar, may report an on-going reduction in sex drive, and in some cases, prolonged periods of erectile dysfunction even after they stop using the medications.

18 Mar 2011

BUSM scientists identify new biomarker and melanoma treatment target

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, have identified a potential new biomarker and therapeutic target for melanoma.

18 Mar 2011

British pie, mash and gravy meals too salty: Heart health experts

A new study by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) in the UK that looked at 526 pie, mash and gravy meals and products, found some meals to be extremely high in salt. A chicken and mushroom pie with chips or mash, gravy and peas from pub chain Wetherspoons contained an alarming 7.5g of salt, well over the daily maximum recommendation of 6g a day. All the pie and mash pub meals looked at contained more than 3g, half the daily maximum, the report said. The survey, conducted by YouGov, found that the mashed potato and gravy could significantly increase the salt content of a meal. According to CASH, while good progress has been made by supermarkets in cutting salt levels in pies, there are still too many products containing unnecessary quantities of salt.

17 Mar 2011

Stem cell therapy successfully heals a scarred and failing heart

A new study has shown that stem cells could heal scars caused by old heart attacks. In all eight patients who received the experimental treatment in an ongoing clinical trial this therapy worked. All of them had suffered heart attacks an average of 5 1/2 years prior; one of the patients had his heart attack 11 years earlier.

17 Mar 2011

Gene therapy for Parkinson’s: It works!

A latest study has shown that gene therapy may be successful in treating the dreaded brain degenerative disease – Parkinson’s disease. Neurologists are hopeful that it could be useful in other neurologic disorders too.

17 Mar 2011

Sports medicine physician suggests cardiac screening for young athletes requires augmentation of existing diagnostics to achieve greater accuracy, become cost-effective

Sports medicine physician Steve Watts says cardiac screening for young athletes is useful in preventing sudden cardiac death and suggests new diagnostics have the potential to add value and change the debate about the viability of cardiac screening for young athletes in the United States.

17 Mar 2011

Hopkins experts: Taking potassium iodide could be harmful

The Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR) is advising that people in the United States should not take potassium iodide as a preventive medication for possible radiation fallout from Japan's evolving nuclear plant crisis.

17 Mar 2011

Highmark forces patients with PIDD to switch over to specific IgG therapy

Beginning April 1, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield will force their insured patients with primary immunodeficiency diseases and other rare disorders to switch their prescription to a single brand of immunoglobulin, regardless of their current IgG therapy.

17 Mar 2011