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Young men with HIV infection have coronary atherosclerotic plaques: MGH study

A Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) study has found that relatively young men with longstanding HIV infection and minimal cardiac risk factors had significantly more coronary atherosclerotic plaques - some involving serious arterial blockage - than did uninfected men with similar cardiovascular risk.

8 Jan 2010

New genetic findings may lead to better interventional therapies for obsessive compulsive disorders

A collaboration between the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and the Broad Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has identified a genetic locus on canine chromosome 7 which coincides with an increased risk of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) susceptibility.

7 Jan 2010

UV LED therapy can be used for treating focal epilepsy in humans

Researchers from the University of Minnesota Medical School discovered that light from an ultraviolet diode (UV LED) reduced "seizure-like" activity in a rat epilepsy model. During the study, UV light released gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) from the "caged" compound carbonyl amino butanoic acid (BC204).

7 Jan 2010

Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicinef fellows receive AMIA awards

Jon D. Duke, M.D. and Jeffrey Klann, M.Eng., medical informatics fellows at the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine, have been recognized by the American Medical Informatics Association for their development and testing of two new physician support computer tools. Their

7 Jan 2010

Dana-Farber researcher honored for scientific advancement

Kai W. Wucherpfennig, MD, PhD, a researcher at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, has been named a Fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

6 Jan 2010

Weill Cornell Medical College offers innovative program to teach medical students about health care system

While medical students are required to know the names of every body part and disease, most graduate with only a cursory understanding of how the health care system actually works, and some of the ways it doesn't.

6 Jan 2010

Multidisciplinary care, patient decision aids rarely offered by breast cancer surgeons

Most breast cancer surgeons' practices do not follow standards associated with the best quality of care, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

6 Jan 2010

Study confirms link between GI and autism

An article published today in the journal Pediatrics confirms what parents and advocacy organizations have been saying for years: many individuals with autism suffer from gastrointestinal disease that can contribute to behaviors and symptoms associated with autism.

5 Jan 2010

Physicians fail to provide pain treatment for fear of prescription drug abuse

Millions of Americans with significant or chronic pain associated with their medical problems are being under-treated as physicians increasingly fail to provide comprehensive pain treatment - either due to inadequate training, personal biases or fear of prescription drug abuse.

5 Jan 2010

RFA reduces pain in bone metastases patients

Image-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA), a minimally invasive cancer treatment which can be performed in the outpatient setting, significantly reduced the level of pain experienced by cancer patients with bone (osseous) metastases, limiting the need for strong narcotic pain management, and supporting improved patient frame of mind, according to results of an American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) study published online in the journal Cancer.

5 Jan 2010

Citicoline supplements may reduce cravings and increase satiety

The obesity crisis in the United States has now grown to epidemic proportion. And as the list of consequential health conditions and diseases continues to expand as well, there are major movements toward helping Americans lose weight.

5 Jan 2010

Erectile dysfunction linked to RLS in older men

A study in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that erectile dysfunction was more common in older men with restless leg syndrome (RLS) than in those without RLS, and the magnitude of this association increased with a higher frequency of RLS symptoms.

3 Jan 2010

Psychological stress at workplace can lower employees' productivity, says study

A new study shines a light on depression in the workplace, suggesting that psychological stress at the office — or wherever people earn their paychecks — can make it more difficult for depressed workers to perform their jobs and be productive.

31 Dec 2009

MEPREP to fund research to study the effects of medication in pregnant women

A new research program called the Medication Exposure in Pregnancy Risk Evaluation Program (MEPREP) will fund research to study the effects of prescription medications used during pregnancy.

31 Dec 2009

Experts release recommendations to help adults bolster their cognitive health

A panel of experts from leading northeastern universities recently reached consensus that proper nutrition, regular physical and mental activity, and adequate sleep can help to maintain and even improve cognitive skills in healthy adults.

30 Dec 2009

TRAP-1 may prevent cancer cell death, current research suggests

Current research suggests that TNF-receptor associated protein-1 (TRAP-1) may prevent cancer cell death. The related report by Leav et al, "Cytoprotective Mitochondrial Chaperone TRAP-1 as a Novel Molecular Target in Localized and Metastatic Prostate Cancer," appears in the January 2010 issue of the American Journal of Pathology.

30 Dec 2009

Discovery of beta cell defending enzyme raises hope for new treatments against diabetes

Cells in your body are constantly churning out poisonous forms of oxygen (oxidants) and mopping them up with a countervailing force of proteins and chemicals (anti-oxidants).

28 Dec 2009

Opinions: Doctors in developing nations; foreign aid

In a New York Times opinion piece that focuses on health reform in the U.S., Shannon Brownlee, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation and David Goodman, a professor at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, discuss an amendment that teaching hospitals in the U.S. hope will make it into final health care legislation. The amendement would add 15,000 residency slots to the 100,000 residencies supported by the federal government.

24 Dec 2009

New findings show ether discovery might have occurred earlier

The successful use of ether to anesthetize patients was the first great milestone in the history of surgical anesthesia. But the discovery might have occurred earlier—and medical history written differently—but for a scientific error by another physician, according to an article in the January issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

23 Dec 2009

Postnatal depression treatments are not cost effective, say York researchers

Routine screening for postnatal depression in primary care - as recommended in recent guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) - does not appear to represent value for money for the NHS, researchers at the University of York have concluded.

23 Dec 2009