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Fear, misconceptions about screenings keep many African-Americans from getting mammograms

Training physicians and caregivers to improve cultural sensitivity and communication with economically disadvantaged African-American patients could influence these women to get mammograms that could save their lives, according to a new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

12 Nov 2008

Expert warns it would be ill-advised to mandate HPV vaccinations at this time

Vaccinating girls against the human papillomavirus (HPV) before they are sexually active appears to be successful in protecting them against cervical cancer, however, a Johns Hopkins University researcher and health policy expert warns it would be ill-advised to mandate vaccinations at this time.

12 Nov 2008

Regularly exercise good for heart failure patients

Heart failure patients who regularly exercise fare better and feel better about their lives than do similar patients who do not work out on a regular basis, say researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

12 Nov 2008

African-Americans with depression and heart attack have greater risk of death

African-American patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) and previously treated depression that persists at their MI hospitalization have an increased risk of post-MI death, according to Emory researcher Susmita Parashar, MD, MPH.

12 Nov 2008

Adalimumab therapy may reduce health-care costs for Crohn's disease patients

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a term that refers to both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD).

12 Nov 2008

New method of viewing cancer cells shows how breast cancer spreads

In a breakthrough study appearing in advance online publication of Nature Methods, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University describe for the first time a method of viewing individual breast cancer cells for several days at a time.

12 Nov 2008

Osteoporosis care at risk in the U.S.

Cuts to Medicare reimbursement of DXA undermine efforts to properly diagnose and treat osteoporosis and diminish quality of patient care.

12 Nov 2008

Computers used to create predictive models of human disease

Increased use of computers to create predictive models of human disease is likely following a workshop organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF), which urged for a collaborative effort between specialists in the field.

12 Nov 2008

A large waistline doubles your risk of premature death

Having a large waistline can almost double your risk of dying prematurely even if your body mass index is within the 'normal' range, according to a new study of over 350,000 people across Europe, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

12 Nov 2008

FDA warns public of extortion scam by FDA impersonators

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers about a fraudulent scheme to extort money from consumers by callers who falsely identify themselves as "FDA special agents" or other FDA officials.

12 Nov 2008

Without enzyme, biological reaction essential to life takes 2.3 billion years

All biological reactions within human cells depend on enzymes. Their power as catalysts enables biological reactions to occur usually in milliseconds. But how slowly would these reactions proceed spontaneously, in the absence of enzymes - minutes, hours, days? And why even pose the question?

12 Nov 2008

Text messaging could help children to stay a healthy weight

Many children love sending and receiving text messages through their cell phones - sometimes to the great annoyance of their parents.

12 Nov 2008

Hydrogen sulfide could be used to treat humans with heart failure

At low concentrations, the toxic gas hydrogen sulfide protects the hearts of mice from heart failure, scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have found.

12 Nov 2008

Staying active may lower health risks for large, retired athletes

The larger body size of professional football players doesn't increase risk of cardiovascular disease or atherosclerosis after they retire, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008.

12 Nov 2008

Scientists map steps to block enzyme phosphodiesterase 5's action in heart failure

Taking a cue from the way drugs like Viagra put the biological brakes on a key enzyme involved in heart failure, scientists at Johns Hopkins have mapped out a key chemical step involved in blocking the enzyme.

12 Nov 2008

Dental pulp stem cells show promise for use in cell therapy

Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, have discovered dental pulp stem cells can stimulate growth and generation of several types of neural cells.

12 Nov 2008

Compound found that blocks SARS virus

A Purdue University researcher has created a compound that prevents replication of the virus that causes SARS and could lead to a treatment for the disease.

12 Nov 2008

Newborn neurons in the adult brain can settle in the wrong neighborhood

A new study published in this week's PLoS Biology could have significant consequences for neural tissue transplantation to treat brain injuries or neural degeneration.

11 Nov 2008

Neck arteries of obese children and teens look more like those of 45-year-olds

Researchers used ultrasound to measure the thickness of the inner walls of the neck (carotid) arteries that supply blood to the brain. Increasing carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) indicates the fatty buildup of plaque within arteries feeding the heart muscle and the brain, which can lead to heart attack or stroke.

11 Nov 2008

Nanomatrix stent coating designed to mimic natural endothelium

A nanomatrix for stent coating designed at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) mimics natural endothelium, the substance that lines blood vessels, and promises the potential to prevent post-operative tissue scaring along the blood vessel wall, greatly reducing the possibility of future thrombosis, or blockage at the stent site.

11 Nov 2008