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New technology can help in rapid diagnosis and treatment of sepsis

Sepsis patients can be diagnosed and treated earlier with the help of new technology available for hospitals and homecare settings.

14 Jul 2016

New opioid use among older adults with COPD linked to increased risk for respiratory-related death

Older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who start using opioids have a more than two-fold higher risk of dying from a respiratory-related complication compared to non-opioid users, St. Michael's Hospital researchers have found.

14 Jul 2016

Review highlights lack of consistent assessment tool to assess driving ability in people with Alzheimer's

No single assessment tool is able to consistently determine driving ability in people with Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment, a St. Michael's Hospital research review has found.

13 Jul 2016

First-of-its kind study investigates effects of palliative care for medical decision-makers, caregivers

Shannon Carson, MD, professor of medicine and division chief of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine at the UNC School of Medicine, along with co-principal investigator Judith Nelson, MD, JD, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Christopher Cox, MD, of Duke University, led a four-year, first-of-its kind clinical study on the effects of palliative care for medical decision-makers.

12 Jul 2016

Exposure to London's 1952 smog linked to increased incidence of childhood, adult asthma

London's Great Smog of 1952 resulted in thousands of premature deaths and even more people becoming ill.

8 Jul 2016

New report provides insight into burnout syndrome

A new report on burnout syndrome in critical care health care professionals gives key stakeholders guidance on mitigating the development of burnout syndrome and calls for initiating research to examine ways to prevent as well as treat burnout syndrome.

7 Jul 2016

New lung-targeted gene therapy shows promise in improving treatment for emphysema

Researchers have developed a new strategy using lung-targeted gene therapy that may lead to improved treatments for inherited diseases including emphysema.

6 Jul 2016

Health care resource use and costs of H.P. Acthar® gel for multiple sclerosis relapse

Mallinckrodt plc, a leading global specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced new retrospective health economic data on H.P. Acthar® Gel (repository corticotropin injection; RCI), which may be an option for the management of multiple sclerosis (MS) relapses.

6 Jul 2016

Circulating angiogenic factor shows PAH biomarker potential

Hepatoma-derived growth factor predicts disease severity and survival in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, showing some possible clinical advantages over N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, researchers report.

5 Jul 2016

Study assesses prevalence of delirium among survivors of cardiac arrest treated with hypothermia

A study in the American Journal of Critical Care found a remarkably high prevalence of delirium in a small cohort of critically ill patients treated with therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest.

1 Jul 2016

Researchers determine that physical therapy did not shorten hospital length of stay for ICU patients

In a surprising reversal, researchers have determined that a particular protocol providing physical therapy to ICU patients with acute respiratory failure did not shorten hospital length of stay.

29 Jun 2016

New blood test could help predict severity of pulmonary arterial hypertension

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report that rising blood levels of a protein called hematoma derived growth factor (HDGF) are linked to the increasing severity of pulmonary arterial hypertension, a form of damaging high blood pressure in the lungs.

20 Jun 2016

Caribbean, African-born women more likely to be admitted at ICU during delivery

Women born in the Caribbean or Africa are two times more likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit at the time of their delivery than Canadian-born women, a new study has found.

17 Jun 2016

Infection prevention bundles effective for reducing CLABSIs in critical care newborns

Infection prevention bundles, a package of evidence-based guidelines implemented in unison, are effective for reducing central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSI) in critical care newborn infants, according to a new study published today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

15 Jun 2016

Scientists aim to heal failing heart with the body’s own cells

Babies born with heart defects live longer than ever thanks to advances in the diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart disease. Yet, despite substantial progress, many continue to face bleak odds, lifelong medication, multiple surgeries and progressive heart failure, often requiring a transplant.

15 Jun 2016

New study finds underutilization of PR therapy among older COPD patients

A new study from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston investigating trends on the use of pulmonary rehabilitation therapy among older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease found that this therapy was underutilized, despite its health benefits and cost effectiveness.

10 Jun 2016

Barley products lower levels of two types of bad cholesterol linked to cardiovascular risk

Eating barley or foods containing barley significantly reduced levels of two types of "bad cholesterol" associated with cardiovascular risk, a St. Michael's Hospital research paper has found.

8 Jun 2016

Need for improved care in and out of ICU to treat patients with PICS, PICS-F

Thanks to advances in modern medicine, more ICU patients are surviving critical illness, but most are unprepared for the challenges ahead for themselves and their families on their journey toward recovery.

8 Jun 2016

Large national effort shows promise in reducing both catheter use and UTI rates

Right now, about one in five hospital patients has a catheter collecting their urine - and putting them at risk of a painful and potentially dangerous urinary tract infection, or UTI.

2 Jun 2016

Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC supports parents’ presence with children during resuscitation

Inviting parents to the bedside while their child receives CPR is supported by professional associations, joint position and policy statements, and clinical practice guidelines, but hospitals often find that putting those recommendations into practice requires more than a new policy.

1 Jun 2016