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New tool can help determine senior citizens' 10-year survivability rates

A UC San Francisco team has developed a tool that can help determine - and perhaps influence - senior citizens' 10-year survivability rates.

6 Mar 2013

Accenture supports Unified Clinical Organization to improve care coordination, patient outcomes

The Unified Clinical Organization, an innovative care improvement model from Trinity Health, is improving care coordination, patient outcomes and advancing standardization of care practices with support from Accenture.

6 Mar 2013

Increased pneumonia rates after Japan earthquake

Significantly increased rates of pneumonia and related deaths were seen after the 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami in Tohoku, Japan, report researchers.

5 Mar 2013

Special envoy for malaria Ray Chambers to help secure investment for achieving health-related MDGs

"Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has tasked Ray Chambers, who has served as his special envoy for malaria since 2008, with promoting and securing greater investment to achieve the health-related targets within the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)," the U.N. News Centre reports.

5 Mar 2013

Editorial, opinion piece address efforts to eradicate polio

The Independent recently published an editorial and opinion piece discussing the global effort to eradicate polio.

5 Mar 2013

AAP, ACMG release guidelines on best practices for genetic testing and screening of children

For the first time, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) spoke with one voice and released a set of recommendations and guidelines on best practices for genetic testing and screening of children.

5 Mar 2013

PsiOxus completes enrollment in MT-102 Phase II trial on cancer cachexia

PsiOxus Therapeutics, Ltd. (PsiOxus), a development stage biotechnology company, has completed patient enrollment for its Phase II clinical trial to study MT-102, a small molecule therapeutic for the treatment of cancer cachexia.

4 Mar 2013

Colonoscopy is also safe, confirms German Cancer Research Center study

Colon cancer develops slowly. Precancerous lesions usually need many years to turn into a dangerous carcinoma. They are well detectable in an endoscopic examination of the colon called colonoscopy and can be removed during the same examination. Therefore, regular screening can prevent colon cancer much better than other types of cancer.

3 Mar 2013

Facebook ‘Likes’ indeed an indicator of hospital quality and patient satisfaction

While those active on social media aren't shy about expressing opinions on their Facebook pages, how much do their "Likes" really reflect the quality of an organization? American Journal of Medical Quality (a SAGE journal) recently published a study that found that Facebook "Likes" were indeed an indicator of hospital quality and patient satisfaction.

3 Mar 2013

NPR blog examines debate over option B+ HIV prevention strategy

NPR's "Shots" blog examines the debate over Option B+, a strategy to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission that "aims to put every pregnant woman with HIV on triple-drug treatment and keep her on it for the rest of her life -- even if the virus has not yet damaged her immune system to the point where she needs medications to preserve her own health."

2 Mar 2013

India needs political leadership, resources to ensure children's right to health

"India is making positive strides in reducing child mortality through new policies and ambitious programs, but preventing the deaths of millions of children remains one of the country's greatest challenges," health expert and blogger John Butler writes in the Wall Street Journals "India Real Time" blog, noting, "Roughly 1.7 million children under five years old die every year in India, says UNICEF, representing more than a fifth of all child deaths worldwide."

2 Mar 2013

Urinary cystatin C prognostic marker in acute kidney injury

Urinary cystatin C level may be a useful biomarker for discriminating between prerenal and intrinsic acute kidney injury, report researchers.

1 Mar 2013

Team-based geriatric inpatient consultation benefits unclear

Comprehensive geriatric assessment of inpatients on nongeriatric wards may be of limited benefit when delivered via a team rather than a ward, conclude the authors of a meta-analysis.

1 Mar 2013

$Bisphosphonate link to nonhealing fractures strengthened$

Bisphosphonate link to nonhealing fractures strengthened

US scientists have identified a safety signal between bisphosphonate use and nonhealing femoral fractures, possibly due to the rare side effect, atypical femur fracture.

1 Mar 2013

Associated Press examines international aid to Afghanistan as troops withdraw

The Associated Press examines how the "impending withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign combat forces" from Afghanistan is affecting international aid to the country, which is "on the decline because of donor fatigue and fears of deteriorating security after nearly 12 years of war."

1 Mar 2013

IPS examines health implications of child marriage in Afghanistan

Inter Press Service examines the relationship between child marriage and the health of women and girls in Afghanistan. "In Afghanistan, the maternal mortality rate is on the rise; hospitals are filling up with anemic women and girls; and in over 200 districts, high schools are devoid of even a single female pupil," the news service writes, adding, "These issues are not unrelated -- they are all products of a grave social problem in this country of 35 million people: early child marriages."

28 Feb 2013

Telehealth enthusiasm dampened

A home-based telehealth system being pushed by the UK Government does not benefit patients with long-term conditions in terms of their quality of life or psychologic wellbeing, research has shown.

28 Feb 2013

Article summarizes connection between Mediterranean dietary pattern and cancer risk

This Nutrition and Cancer article summarizes the connection between a Mediterranean dietary pattern and cancer risk in observational epidemiological studies. All studies that met the following criteria were reviewed: human cohort and case-control studies, which examined the effect of the Mediterranean diet as an entire food pattern.

28 Feb 2013

Survival following heart transplantation associated with several patient characteristics

Survival following heart transplantation is associated with several patient characteristics, including patient education, higher social and economic satisfaction, and patient adherence with medications, according to a study published in the March 2013 issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

28 Feb 2013

Methodology masking true variations in Medicare spend

Variations in regional mortality and spending rates in the US Medicare system are being blurred by inadequate risk adjustment methodology, researchers suggest.

27 Feb 2013