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Nighttime intensivists can improve ICU patient outcomes

Intensive care units (ICUs) that have no or limited access to critical care doctors during the day can improve patient outcomes by having the specialists, called intensivists, staff the unit at night, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC.

23 May 2012

Proper care of diabetic foot infections can save limbs, lives

Diabetic foot infections are an increasingly common problem, but proper care can save limbs and, ultimately, lives, suggest new guidelines released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

23 May 2012

Sarcoidosis accounts for 25% of all deaths in African-American women

A new study conducted by researchers from Boston University has found that sarcoidosis accounts for 25 percent of all deaths among women in the Black Women's Health Study who have the disease. The study is the largest epidemiologic study to date to specifically address mortality in black females with sarcoidosis.

23 May 2012

Flexible sigmoidoscopy reduces deaths due to colorectal cancer

Research conducted at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as part of a national study reveals that flexible sigmoidoscopy — a screening test for colorectal cancer that is less invasive and has fewer side-effects than colonoscopy — reduces deaths due to colorectal cancer.

23 May 2012

International task force unveils revised definition of ARDS

An international task force this week unveiled a revised definition of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a disease first recognized during the Vietnam War in casualties with limb injuries who had trouble breathing.

23 May 2012

Critically ill patients on antidepressants more likely to die

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in Boston, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, have found that critically ill patients were more likely to die if they were taking the most commonly prescribed antidepressants when they were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).

23 May 2012

Combination therapy does not reduce mortality rates associated with severe sepsis

Frank M. Brunkhorst, M.D., of Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena, Germany, and colleagues conducted a study to compare the effect of the antibiotics moxifloxacin and meropenem with the effect of meropenem monotherapy on sepsis-related organ dysfunction.

22 May 2012

Glytec receives FDA clearance for Glucommander 2.0 Enterprise software

Glytec, LLC, headquartered in Greenville, SC, announced today that its Glucommander 2.0 Enterprise software has been cleared by the FDA for pediatric use, ages 2 - 17.

22 May 2012

Focusing attention on population, reproductive health issues

"As representatives of the World Health Organization Member States arrive in Geneva this week for the 65th World Health Assembly, I feel a cautious optimism about the future, and the future health of Africa," Joy Phumaphi, co-chair of the Aspen Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health, writes in this post in the Huffington Post Blog.

22 May 2012

New definition for acute respiratory distress syndrome

Gordon D. Rubenfeld, M.D., of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Toronto, Canada, and colleagues with the ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) Definition Task Force, developed a new definition of ARDS (the Berlin Definition) that focused on feasibility, reliability, validity and objective evaluation of its performance.

22 May 2012

AAPA honors Portsmouth physician assistant with Humanitarian PA of the Year Award

When Jack Gardner, PA-C, of Portsmouth, N.H., left a successful business career 12 years ago to become a physician assistant, he did not anticipate the number of lives he would touch as he pursued his dream to provide medical care to those in need.

22 May 2012

SDB may increase risk of cancer mortality

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurocognitive disorders. New studies show that it also implies a greater risk of developing tumors, and even dying from cancer.

22 May 2012

USPSTF issues final recommendation statement against PSA testing

The Prostate Cancer Roundtable expressed deep disappointment today as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued its final recommendation statement against the use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing in the detection of prostate cancer.

22 May 2012

Airway inflammation linked with asthma-related mortality rates in older adults

Higher mortality rates among older adult asthma patients compared to their younger counterparts may be due, at least in part, to an increase in airway inflammation, according to a study conducted by researchers in Canada, who note that their results imply that elderly patients are either less likely to follow asthma medication dosing instructions, or that the underlying airway inflammation in elderly patients is relatively resistant to current anti-inflammatory therapies.

22 May 2012

'Discharge bias' disproportionally hurts large and academic hospitals

In-hospital mortality for ICU patients is often used as a quality measure, but discharge practices may bias results in a way that disadvantages large academic hospitals, according to a recently conducted study.

22 May 2012

Nighttime intensivists not associated with reduced mortality

Nighttime intensivist physician staffing in intensive care units (ICUs) with a low-intensity daytime staffing model is associated with reduced mortality, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference in San Francisco.

21 May 2012

Tuberculosis independently predicts death from lung cancer in the elderly

Tuberculosis independently predicts death from lung cancer in the elderly, according to a new study from researchers in Hong Kong.

21 May 2012

SERVE-HF study on effect of CSA treatment for stable heart failure enrolls 1,000th participant

SERVE-HF, the largest study to investigate if treatment of predominant central sleep apnea (CSA) improves survival and outcomes of patients with stable heart failure, has enrolled its 1,000th participant. The study, sponsored by ResMed Ltd., is the largest of its kind. This milestone brings the SERVE-HF study, which began in 2008, one step closer to its target of approximately 1,250 participants.

From ResMed Corp 21 May 2012

HS6ST2 enzyme an important regulator of breast cancer cell-bone interactions

Researchers from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have in collaboration with the University of Turku, Indiana University and two Finnish companies, Biotie Therapies Corp. and Pharmatest Services Ltd, discovered a novel mechanism regulating the development of breast cancer bone metastases and showed that heparin-like compounds can potentially be used to inhibit breast cancer metastasis to bone.

21 May 2012

Experimental bariatric surgery can lower blood sugar levels in rats with type 1 diabetes

For the first time, scientists at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute have shown that an experimental bariatric surgery can lower blood sugar levels in rats with type 1 diabetes.

21 May 2012