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Doctors often miss whooping cough diagnosis in teens

Doctors can do a better job of diagnosing whooping cough among teens, an age group with a growing incidence of the illness, according to a University of Michigan study.

19 May 2009

Safe for passengers with lung disease to travel by air

Oxygen levels while flying are substantially less than at ground level. Current guidelines for in-flight oxygen levels are sufficient to support the needs of passengers with non-obstructed lung disease.

19 May 2009

Urgent need for stringent TB screening policies among South African healthcare workers

Healthcare workers in South Africa are at a significantly increased risk of developing drug-resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, in a trend which threatens to further exacerbate the already beleaguered healthcare systems in sub-Saharan countries, according to results of a new study.

17 May 2009

Combining two chemotherapy drugs with Herceptin shows promise for metastatic HER2+ breast cancer

At the 45th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), researchers from the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida report that using a combination of capecitabine, vinorelbine, and trastuzumab offers a treatment option that is at least as beneficial as other current options - and doesn't cause hair loss in patients.

17 May 2009

Editorial says, Obama is “right to push for health care reform”

President Obama is "right to push for [health care] reform now, despite calls to postpone efforts solely on the economic recovery," a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial states.

14 May 2009

Cimzia approved in U.S. for rheumatoid arthritis

UCB announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Cimzia, the only PEGylated anti-TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor), for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

13 May 2009

Discovery of molecule ‘superfamily’ that causes melanoma apread

A University of Nebraska Medical Center research team has determined that a superfamily of molecules holds the secret to the progression and spread of melanoma -- the deadliest form of skin cancer. The study results were published in the May 13 of the British Journal of Cancer.

13 May 2009

Atrial fibrillation more difficult to identify in blacks than whites; might explain lower prevalence, study finds

Limitations in the methods used to diagnose atrial fibrillation -- periods of irregular heartbeat -- in population-based studies might explain why findings indicate that atrial fibrillation is less common among blacks than whites, according to a study published in the journal Stroke, Reuters Health reports.

12 May 2009

American Civil Liberties Union challenges breast cancer gene patents

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (PUBPAT) filed a lawsuit today charging that patents on two human genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer stifle research that could lead to cures and limit women's options regarding their medical care.

12 May 2009

Smoking makes it harder for brain blood flow to recover from long-term heavy drinking

Alcohol-use disorders (AUDs) can damage the brain, particularly the frontal and parietal cortices, although this damage is at least partially reversible with sustained abstinence from alcohol. Chronic smoking is extremely common among individuals with AUDs.

12 May 2009

Urban dwellers at greater risk of late-stage cancer

People who live in urban areas are more likely to develop late-stage cancer than those who live in suburban and rural areas. That is the conclusion of a new study published in the June 15, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

12 May 2009

Two government reports show little progress in improving patient safety; reducing racial, ethnic health disparities

The U.S. has not made substantial improvement in narrowing health care disparities among racial and ethnic groups, nor has it improved quality of care, according to two Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports released on Wednesday by HHS, Politico reports (Allen, Politico, 5/6).

7 May 2009

Safety concerns over testosterone gel prompt FDA to require label changes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that it is requiring manufacturers of two prescription topical testosterone gel products, AndroGel 1% and Testim 1%, to include a boxed warning on the products' labels.

7 May 2009

Research confirms benefits of mobile health screening program to help diagnose at-risk populations

Results presented today at the American Society of Hypertension's Twenty Fourth Annual Scientific Meeting (ASH 2009) reveal that hypertension is still disproportionally prevalent in African-American women living in Boston’s inner city neighborhoods, despite recent improvements in diagnostic and treatment options.

7 May 2009

Research looks at contact lens risks and benefits

Contact lenses are great for sight, but do they have an impact on general eye health? Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Optometry are working to answer that question by analyzing tears.

6 May 2009

Loss of stromal protein major new prognostic factor in patients with breast cancer

Reporting online in the American Journal of Pathology, researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have implicated the loss of a stromal protein called caveolin-1 as a major new prognostic factor in patients with breast cancer, predicting early disease recurrence, metastasis and breast cancer patient survival.

6 May 2009

Understanding why non-smokers develop lung cancer among research projects funded by Canadian Cancer Society

A new BC-based study aimed at understanding the genetic basis of lung cancer in people who have never smoked is being funded for approximately $379,000 by the Canadian Cancer Society.

6 May 2009

International community should ensure access to diagnostic, treatment services to control tuberculosis in Africa, blog entry says

Tuberculosis "remains the most common cause of adult death in some countries" even though the global health community knows "what causes" the disease, "how it spreads" and "how to treat it," Ruth McNerney of the TARGETS Consortium at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine writes in the Guardian's "Katine Chronicles" blog.

5 May 2009

New gene called DEAR1 may be a breast cancer diagnostic marker

In a research article published in this week's PLoS Medicine, Ann Killary (from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center) and colleagues describe a new gene called DEAR1 that is genetically altered by mutation and deletion in breast tumors, and that may provide a new breast cancer prognostic marker.

4 May 2009

Average age of autism diagnosis nearly six years old - wide age gap between possible and actual diagnosis

"Timely identification and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can impact a child's development and is the key to opening the door to the services and therapies available to children with autism," says Paul Shattuck, Ph.D., assistant professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. "Unfortunately, our research shows that the average age of autism diagnosis is nearly six years old, which is three to four years after diagnosis is possible."

4 May 2009

Diagnostic News and Research

Doctors often miss whooping cough diagnosis in teens

Safe for passengers with lung disease to travel by air

Urgent need for stringent TB screening policies among South African healthcare workers

Combining two chemotherapy drugs with Herceptin shows promise for metastatic HER2+ breast cancer

Editorial says, Obama is “right to push for health care reform”

Cimzia approved in U.S. for rheumatoid arthritis

Discovery of molecule ‘superfamily’ that causes melanoma apread

Atrial fibrillation more difficult to identify in blacks than whites; might explain lower prevalence, study finds

American Civil Liberties Union challenges breast cancer gene patents

Smoking makes it harder for brain blood flow to recover from long-term heavy drinking

Urban dwellers at greater risk of late-stage cancer

Two government reports show little progress in improving patient safety; reducing racial, ethnic health disparities

Safety concerns over testosterone gel prompt FDA to require label changes

Research confirms benefits of mobile health screening program to help diagnose at-risk populations

Research looks at contact lens risks and benefits

Loss of stromal protein major new prognostic factor in patients with breast cancer

Understanding why non-smokers develop lung cancer among research projects funded by Canadian Cancer Society

International community should ensure access to diagnostic, treatment services to control tuberculosis in Africa, blog entry says

New gene called DEAR1 may be a breast cancer diagnostic marker

Average age of autism diagnosis nearly six years old - wide age gap between possible and actual diagnosis

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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