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Contact precautions reduce number of visits by healthcare workers and outside visitors

The prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) can help reduce patient morbidity and mortality, but a common prevention effort for patients with hard to treat infections known as contact precautions, can have positive and negative impacts on patient care.

12 Dec 2012

Tiotropium benefits patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

In order to widen the narrowed airways in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), tiotropium bromide (tiotropium in brief) is one of the drugs available that can be prescribed for inhalation. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has examined whether tiotropium offers a perceptible advantage to patients compared to a dummy medication (placebo) and to other COPD drugs.

12 Dec 2012

Blocking myeloid-derived suppressor cells after lymphopenia improves adoptive T-cell therapy

Researchers at the Moffitt Cancer Center have found that delayed tumor growth and enhanced survival of mice bearing melanoma were possible by blocking the reconstitution of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and Tregs (suppressors of anti-tumor activity) after total body irradiation had eliminated them. Blocking myeloid-derived suppressor cells and regulatory T-cell reconstitution improved adoptive T-cell therapy, an immunotherapy designed to suppress tumor activity.

12 Dec 2012

Older adults with visually impairing eye disease limit their activities due to fear of falling

A new study published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science found that between 40 to 50 percent of older adults with visually impairing eye disease limit their activities due to a fear of falling. Vision scientists warn that this protective strategy puts seniors at risk for social isolation and disability.

12 Dec 2012

Strong inverse association between caffeinated coffee intake and oral/pharyngeal cancer mortality

A new American Cancer Society study finds a strong inverse association between caffeinated coffee intake and oral/pharyngeal cancer mortality. The authors say people who drank more than four cups of caffeinated coffee per day were at about half the risk of death of these often fatal cancers compared to those who only occasionally or who never drank coffee.

10 Dec 2012

Viewpoints: Girding for a 'beloved' Medicare fight; Two views about health law's employer mandate; Doctors fear 'SGR cliff'

It's a shame that Republicans are playing into Mr. Obama's hands, negotiating in public among themselves, ... Tennessee Senator Bob Corker made the case for this strategic retreat on "Fox News Sunday," arguing that if Republicans raise tax rates as Mr. Obama wants, "the focus then shifts to entitlements and maybe it puts us in a place where we actually can do something that really saves the nation."

10 Dec 2012

ATLAS holds up 10-year tamoxifen regime

Results from the ATLAS study indicate that women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer should consider taking tamoxifen for up to 10 years after diagnosis.

10 Dec 2012

New hope for leukemia patients

Nine of twelve leukemia patients who received infusions of their own T cells after the cells had been genetically engineered to attack the patients' tumors responded to the therapy, which was pioneered by scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

10 Dec 2012

Surgical patients with chronic psychological symptoms require psychotherapeutic treatment

In their study, the research group, headed by Privatdozent Dr. Henning Krampe, psychologist at the Charité Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Prof. Claudia Spies, Director of the Charité Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine and Prof. Elmar Brähler, Head of the Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology at the University of Leipzig, initially recorded how many patients faced by a forthcoming operation were interested in psychotherapy sessions and to what extent this interest was associated with the increased psychological distress occurring before the operation. Finally, the scientists examined whether changes in the psychological symptoms took place during the six months following the surgery.

10 Dec 2012

Nuron Biotech announces acquisition of Meningitec from Pfizer

Nuron Biotech Inc., a specialty biologics and vaccines company, today announced it has acquired from Pfizer Inc. Meningitec, which is a vaccine for the prevention of invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C.

10 Dec 2012

Genzyme receives EC approval for Thyrogen product label expansion

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, today announced it has received European Commission approval of a product label expansion for the use of Thyrogen (thyrotropin alfa) with a wider irradiation dose range for postoperative thyroid remnant ablation.

10 Dec 2012

Delirium associated with higher mortality rates

A new meta-analysis has found that delirium, a condition developed by many patients in hospital intensive care units (ICU), is associated with higher mortality rates, more complications, longer stays in the ICU, and longer hospitalizations.

10 Dec 2012

GSK, MD Anderson partner to develop new therapeutic antibodies against cancer

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have signed a research collaboration and license agreement to develop new therapeutic antibodies that promote an immune system attack against cancer.

10 Dec 2012

Lancet examines Indonesia's efforts to reduce maternal mortality

The Lancet examines Indonesia's efforts to reduce maternal mortality, one of the Millennium Development Goals President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has identified as a national priority.

8 Dec 2012

Cost-benefit analysis of TasP compared with circumcision, ART

In a study published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Till Barnighausen, David Bloom, and Salal Humair of the Harvard School of Public Health examine "whether [HIV treatment as prevention (TasP)] is indeed a game changer or if comparable benefits are obtainable at similar or lower cost by increasing coverage of medical male circumcision (MMC) and antiretroviral treatment (ART)."

8 Dec 2012

Viewpoints: Considering baby boomers' future burden on Medicare; Holtz-Eakin endorses state exchanges; The value (or not) of mammograms

The Congressional Budget Office projects that if current policies continue, total federal spending will rise to 24 percent of gross domestic product in 2022. [Republicans and Washington deficit hawks'] proposed solution is a cap on government spending.

7 Dec 2012

Prosthetic joint infection guidelines released

The Infectious Diseases Society of American has released guidelines for the diagnosis and care of patients with a prosthetic joint infection.

7 Dec 2012

Pay for performance may have reduced UK mortality rates

The introduction in 2008 of a US-based “pay-for-performance” scheme into National Health Service hospitals in the northwest of the UK resulted in a significant decrease in mortality rates, particularly for pneumonia, study findings show.

7 Dec 2012

Bypass option for ‘unclippable’ giant cerebral aneurysms

Extracranial–intracranial bypass is a “durable” treatment option for giant middle cerebral artery aneurysms that cannot be clipped, say US researchers.

7 Dec 2012

Stopping TB requires dedication of international community

Noting that the WHO's Global Tuberculosis Report shows "that access to care and treatment for tuberculosis [TB] has expanded substantially in the past two decades," Deborah Derrick, president of Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, writes in an AlertNet opinion piece, "Not only is this good news for those countries that are most vulnerable to tuberculosis; it is also good news for the global community," as TB can be passed through the air.

7 Dec 2012