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Exercise and Vitamin D supplementation most effective in reducing fall among seniors

A systematic review of over 50 clinical trials finds that exercise and Vitamin D supplements are the best ways to reduce the risk of falling in people aged 65 and over. The review is published in the December 21 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine and was commissioned by the US Preventive Services Task Force.

22 Dec 2010

The Lewin Group to perform two-year study on health outcomes in children with ASD

The National Institute of Mental Health has selected The Lewin Group to perform a two-year study on health outcomes in children with autism and their families. The study will describe the range of medical conditions experienced by children with autism spectrum disorders and the health outcomes of the children and their families.

21 Dec 2010

Recent study finds racial and ethnic minority smokers of menthol cigarettes have lower quit rate

Menthol cigarettes may be harder to quit, particularly for some teens and African-Americans, who have the highest menthol cigarette use, according to a study by a team of researchers.

21 Dec 2010

Kanis receives Hamdan Award for Medical Research Excellence in osteoporosis

Professor John A. Kanis is the winner of the 2010 Hamdan Award for Medical Research Excellence in the field of osteoporosis. The prestigious Award honours his outstanding contribution to the development and validation of a widely used fracture risk assessment tool

21 Dec 2010

New study finds racial, ethnic disparities in cancer treatment

Black people with early stage liver cancer were more likely than white patients to die from their disease, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

21 Dec 2010

Health inequalities still exist between England's richest and poorest

Significant health inequalities still exist between the country's richest and poorest according to the latest findings from the biggest annual survey of health in England, The Health Survey for England. The survey, conducted by the National Centre for Social Research and UCL and funded by The NHS Information Centre, shows that people in the lowest income households continue to experience much worse outcomes across key health measures than people in the highest income households.

17 Dec 2010

Ischemic stroke patients at substantial risk once leaving the hospital: Study

A UCLA-led has study found that after leaving the hospital, nearly two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for acute ischemic stroke either died or were rehospitalized within a year.

17 Dec 2010

Three million Western Europeans suffer from critical limb ischemia

A recent analysis published by THE SAGE GROUP concluded that 3 million people in Western Europe have critical limb ischemia (CLI). Reflecting the aging population, this number is projected to grow to 4 million by 2030.

16 Dec 2010

BPA exposure reduces quality of womens' eggs retrieved for IVF

A small-scale University of California, San Francisco-led study has identified the first evidence in humans that exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) may compromise the quality of a woman's eggs retrieved for in vitro fertilization (IVF). As blood levels of BPA in the women studied doubled, the percentage of eggs that fertilized normally declined by 50 percent, according to the research team.

16 Dec 2010

Plasma technology safe, effective alternative to antibiotics to treat multi-drug resistant infections

Cold plasma jets could be a safe, effective alternative to antibiotics to treat multi-drug resistant infections, says a study published this week in the January issue of the Journal of Medical Microbiology.

15 Dec 2010

Angiogenesis inhibition is a validated strategy for cancer therapy

Scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute may have uncovered a mechanism for blocking tumor angiogenesis that involves the patient's immune system, according to findings published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

15 Dec 2010

Inhaled corticosteroids may cause diabetes

In a study published in the most recent issue of The American Journal of Medicine, researchers found that inhaled corticosteroids were associated with a 34% increase in the rate of diabetes onset and in the rate of diabetes progression. At the highest inhaled doses the risk increased by 64% in diabetes onset and 54% in diabetes progression.

15 Dec 2010

African American patients less likely to receive medications for parkinsonian symptoms

African American patients and those with lower socioeconomic status have more advanced disease and greater disability when they seek treatment from Parkinson's disease specialists, according to a study from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

14 Dec 2010

Higher co-payments lead to early discontinuation of life-saving therapy for breast cancer

A higher prescription co-payment, especially among older women, is associated with both early discontinuation and incomplete use of adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy, a life-saving therapy for women with hormone sensitive early stage breast cancer.

13 Dec 2010

Better approaches to ovarian cancer screening could lower cancer deaths

Cancer prevention experts have long been frustrated by the lack of a meaningful way to screen women for ovarian cancer. It is a relatively rare disease that often progresses with few symptoms until it is too late for potentially curative treatments, and elevated values of the most commonly used biomarker used in screening, CA125, are also related to other disorders.

13 Dec 2010

Weightlifting may help prevent lymphedema following breast cancer treatment

Weightlifting may play a key role in the prevention of the painful limb-swelling condition lymphedema following breast cancer treatment, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Combined with the team's previous findings that the exercise limits a worsening of symptoms among women who already have lymphedema, the new data cements the reversal of long-running advice that breast cancer survivors should avoid lifting anything heavier than five pounds after they finish treatment.

10 Dec 2010

Tru-D UV-C device effective in reducing pathogens on all environmental surfaces in hospital patient rooms

Results of an eight-month hospital study, "Room Decontamination with UV Radiation," were published in the October 2010 issue of "Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology." The study evaluated the ability of an automated UV device, Tru-D, to decontaminate patient rooms contaminated with MRSA, VRE, C. difficile and a MDR strain of Acinetobacter baumannii.

10 Dec 2010

COPD becomes third leading cause of death in the U.S.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) released a report today, "Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2008," confirming that Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) became the third leading cause of death in the U.S. for 2008.

10 Dec 2010

Chinese study examines association between alcohol intake, CAD

Among a large number of Chinese men presenting with chest pain or EKG changes, sequential subjects undergoing cardiac angiography were evaluated for obstructive coronary artery disease lesions according to their reported recent alcohol intake. The study population consisted of 1,476 consecutive men 36 to 84 years of age; participants were categorized as nondrinkers, light drinkers, moderate drinkers, or heavy drinkers.

10 Dec 2010

Divorce: men get fitter women fatter!

Divorce is a stressful experience but according to a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, it can do good to men’s fitness. Women, on the other hand, are likely to become less healthy.

9 Dec 2010