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Telemedicine for addiction treatment? Picture remains fuzzy

When President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency, it came with a regulatory change intended to make it easier for people to get care. The declaration allows for doctors to prescribe addiction medicine virtually, without ever seeing the patient in person.

14 Dec 2017

Radiation therapy can be used to treat patients with life-threatening heart rhythm

Radiation therapy often is used to treat cancer patients. Now, doctors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that radiation therapy - aimed directly at the heart - can be used to treat patients with a life-threatening heart rhythm.

14 Dec 2017

Good friends might be your best brain booster as you age

Ask Edith Smith, a proud 103-year-old, about her friends, and she'll give you an earful. There's Johnetta, 101, whom she's known for 70 years and who has Alzheimer's disease. "I call her every day and just say 'Hi, how are you doing?' She never knows, but she says hi back, and I tease her," Smith said.

14 Dec 2017

New blood test accurately forecasts advanced heart failure patients’ survival after surgery

An experimental blood test developed at UCLA that uses gene activity data from immune cells was 93 percent accurate in predicting survival rates for people with advanced heart failure who had surgery to implant mechanical circulatory support devices.

14 Dec 2017

Autism traits linked to risk of depression, suicidal thoughts in people with psychosis

People with autism traits who have psychosis are at a greater risk of depression and thoughts of suicide, new research has found.

14 Dec 2017

Study: Living Lyme disease bacteria found months after antibiotic treatment

Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, today announced results of two papers published in the peer-reviewed journals PLOS ONE and American Journal of Pathology, that seem to support claims of lingering symptoms reported by many patients who have already received antibiotic treatment for the disease.

14 Dec 2017

Groundbreaking gene therapy trial brings cure for hemophilia closer

A 'cure' for hemophilia is one step closer, following results of a groundbreaking gene therapy trial led by the NHS in London.

14 Dec 2017

Chagas disease presents real public health problem to Canadians

Believe it or not, a tropical blood parasite native to Latin America could be harmful to Canadians. Infectious diseases like malaria or Zika may have dominated recent headlines but Chagas - the "Kissing Bug" disease - is in the spotlight following the publication of a new case study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

13 Dec 2017

Survey finds extremely high rate of mortality from sepsis in ICUs

Brazil has an extremely high rate of mortality from sepsis in intensive care units (ICUs), surpassing even mortality due to stroke and heart attack in ICUs.

13 Dec 2017

NIH-funded study to explore hearing loss risk in Detroit firefighters

Firefighters face potential exposure to various hazardous chemicals that increase their risk for numerous health issues. During responses to fires or other hazardous events, they may be exposed to, inhale or ingest toxic gases, vapors or particles.

13 Dec 2017

Human ‘common cold’ virus kills healthy chimpanzees in Uganda

In the wild, chimpanzees face any number of dire threats, ranging from poachers to predators to deforestation.

13 Dec 2017

20% of young colon cancer patients have inherited genetic abnormality, research finds

As doctors grapple with increasing rates of colorectal cancers in young people, new research from the University of Michigan may offer some insight into how the disease developed and how to prevent further cancers.

13 Dec 2017

Autism treatment: Social impairments can be corrected by brain stimulation

Scientists are examining the feasibility of treating autistic children with neuromodulation after a new study showed social impairments can be corrected by brain stimulation.

13 Dec 2017

Clinician re-examines evidence on re-use of catheters and UTIs in people with spinal cord injuries

People with spinal cord injuries rely on catheters to empty their bladder. When a well-respected publication concluded that catheters could be reused without an increased risk of infection, it didn't sit right with a Vancouver clinician and researcher.

13 Dec 2017

Tailor-made protein combats several kinds of pathogenic bacteria

As resistance to existing antibiotics increases, new approaches to serious bacterial infections are needed. Now researchers at Lund University in Sweden, together with colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in the US, have investigated one such alternative.

13 Dec 2017

Male virgins still at risk for acquiring HPV, study finds

Men who have never engaged in sexual intercourse are still at risk for acquiring HPV, according to a study published recently in the Journal of Infectious Diseases by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health.

13 Dec 2017

Steroid study provides new insights into medicines' side effects

Fresh insights into key hormones found in commonly prescribed medicines have been discovered, providing further understanding of the medicines' side effects.

13 Dec 2017

Researchers use cryptographic techniques to decode activity of motor neurons

Cracking the German Enigma code is considered to be one of the decisive factors that hastened Allied victory in World War II. Starting with clues derived from espionage, computer scientists were able to work out the rules that turned a string of gibberish characters into plain German, providing life-saving and war-shortening intelligence.

13 Dec 2017

Targeted lung cancer treatments may benefit smokers and non-smokers alike

Smokers are less likely than non-smokers to have lung cancers caused by targetable genetic changes. But a study published this week in the journal Clinical Cancer Research shows that when they do, smokers benefit just as much as non-smokers from targeted treatments.

13 Dec 2017