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Noninvasive MRI helps diabetes diagnosis and treatment

Noninvasive imaging (MRI) may aid physicians in the early diagnosis, staging and treatment of diabetes, according to a study performed at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. This is the first study of its kind to apply noninvasive imaging techniques to diabetes research.

6 Aug 2009

Dartmouth wins $3 million for health IT research

Dartmouth has received a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation for research to develop secure and trustworthy computing systems for healthcare settings.

6 Aug 2009

Therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest is cost-effective

A brain-preserving cooling treatment called therapeutic hypothermia is a cost-effective way to improve outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which claims the lives of more than 300,000 people each year in the United States and leaves thousands of others neurologically devastated.

6 Aug 2009

$1 million grant to Rhode Island hospital for melanoma screening training program

Rhode Island Hospital dermatologist Martin Weinstock, MD, PhD, has received a $1 million, 2-year Team Science Award grant from the Melanoma Research Alliance to serve as principal investigator to develop a training program for primary care physicians to improve melanoma screening in primary care. The goal is to develop a web-based training module that will lead to earlier detection of melanoma and ultimately reduce the number of melanoma deaths by half.

6 Aug 2009

Health care reform must avoid conflicts-of-interest

As President Obama and Congress weigh changes in the nation’s health care system they must avoid creating a system where physicians are financially motivated to pressure patients into mandated treatments that conflict with their values and needs, two Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center physicians warn.

5 Aug 2009

Protein DNA repair complex key to avoiding DNA repair mistakes

As the body creates antibodies to fight invaders, a three-protein DNA repair complex called MRN is crucial for a normal gene-shuffling process to proceed properly, University of Michigan research shows.

5 Aug 2009

High levels of glutamate in brain linked to depression, low cognitive function

Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center and several other institutions have for the first time linked high levels of glutamate – a neurotransmitter in the brain produced from glucose – in people with type 1 diabetes to symptoms of depression and lower levels of cognitive performance. The findings may lead to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of these conditions in people with diabetes.

4 Aug 2009

Women and minorities under-represented in trials

Enrollment demographics published in many U.S. vascular surgery randomized control trials (RCTs) under-represent women as well as race or ethnic minorities, according to a new study published in the Society for Vascular Surgery’s August 2009 issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery.

4 Aug 2009

Parents fear medical errors when children in hospital

Nearly two-thirds of parents reported they felt the need to watch over their child's care to ensure that medical errors are not made during their hospital stay, according to a study led by Beth A. Tarini, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School.

3 Aug 2009

Ten exceptional health professionals have unique opportunity to influence health reform

Ten exceptional health professionals have been selected as Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows for 2009-2010. The ten fellows will utilize their wide range of academic, public health, clinical and community-based experience to provide health policy leadership on Capitol Hill to improve health and health care.

3 Aug 2009

Discovery of potential treatment for spinal muscular atrophy

Spinal Muscular Atrophy is the second-leading cause of infant mortality in the world. Ravindra Singh, associate professor in biomedical sciences at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, would like to see Spinal Muscular Atrophy lose its high ranking and even slide off the list altogether.

28 Jul 2009

Fresh meats often contain additives harmful to kidney disease patients

Uncooked meat products enhanced with food additives may contain high levels of phosphorous and potassium that are not discernable from inspection of food labels, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). This can make it difficult for people to limit dietary phosphorous and potassium that at high levels are harmful to kidney disease patients.

26 Jul 2009

Discovery of key event in prostate cancer progression

A study led by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reveals how late-stage, hormone-independent prostate tumors gain the ability to grow without need of hormones.

24 Jul 2009

Major depressive disorder redefined

Researchers from Rhode Island Hospital's department of psychiatry propose that the definition for major depressive disorder (MDD) should be shortened to include only the mood and cognitive symptoms that have been part of the definition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for the past 35 years.

24 Jul 2009

Cause of colic

Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston say one organism discovered during their study may unlock the key to what causes colic, inconsolable crying in an otherwise healthy baby.

24 Jul 2009

More than half of primary care doctor graduates are immigrants

"Nationally, about a quarter of all residency graduates began their medical training abroad. And in primary care - where there is a national shortage of physicians - more than half of all graduates are immigrants," The Concord Monitor reports.

22 Jul 2009

Health care experts examine top performing, low cost communities

Talk about health care reform efforts has focused largely on all that is wrong with the current system. In contrast, an event Tuesday in Washington, D.C., examined best practices in ten top performing communities where they spend less and have better quality of care.

22 Jul 2009

Nanoparticle Trojan horse for ovarian cancer

In a feat of trickery, Dartmouth Medical School immunologists have devised a Trojan horse to help overcome ovarian cancer, unleashing a surprise killer in the surroundings of a hard-to-treat tumor.

19 Jul 2009

Sunitinib shows promise for advanced kidney cancer patients with poor prognosis

Sunitinib prolongs progression-free and overall survival, and is safe and well tolerated in advanced kidney cancer (metastatic renal cell carcinoma) patients with a poor prognosis such as the elderly and those whose cancer has spread to the brain, finds an Article published Online First (www.thelancet.com) and in the August edition of The Lancet Oncology.

16 Jul 2009

Skin cancer researchers throw new light on tumour growth

Three researchers from the Dermatology Research Foundation at the University of Sydney have identified a compound produced by certain fatal skin cancer tumours, providing new hope for developing treatments.

14 Jul 2009