Diagnostic News and Research

RSS

DNA packaging linked with cancer

New laboratory findings at the University of Illinois at Chicago suggest that what lies outside cancer cells is at least as important as the genes inside in explaining a tumor's malignancy.

5 Apr 2005

How heart is formed in the embryo helps explain congenital heart disease

Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Cardiologist Bradley B. Keller, MD, and his research team are discovering details in the lab that explain how the heart is formed in the embryo. This knowledge improves the chances of doctors identifying fetuses who can benefit from intervention to treat congenital defects.

5 Apr 2005

When treating malaria is a waste of money

Africa may fail to benefit from new and better drugs for malaria because of massive misdiagnosis of the disease by health workers and patients.

5 Apr 2005

Research offers promise for people with learning disabilities

Learning disabilities such as dyslexia are believed to affect nearly one in 10 children. To better study them, a Northwestern University research team has developed a data-driven conceptual framework that links two well-established scientific concepts. In doing so, they also have developed a non-invasive diagnostic tool called BioMAP that can quickly identify children with learning disabilities.

4 Apr 2005

Treatment of bronchiolitis in children varies widely and often results in unnecessary tests and antibiotics

Considerable differences exist in the treatment of bronchiolitis at children's hospitals across the United States, according to a study from Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle published in the April 1 issue of Pediatrics.

4 Apr 2005

Study shows connection of varicose veins to chronic pelvic pain

Research presented today at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 30th Annual Scientific Meeting found that 16 percent of women with varicose veins in their legs simultaneously had ovarian varicose veins -- a common but often under-diagnosed cause of chronic pelvic pain.

4 Apr 2005

UK sex clinics swamped

A study, by sexual health charity the Terrence Higgins Trust, reveals the true scale of Britain's sexual health crisis and says that two-thirds of clinics are turning away patients because they cannot cope with demand for treatment.

4 Apr 2005

Autistic children found to have abnormal metabolic profile

Autism, a neurodevelopment disorder which has increased tenfold over the last 15 years, now affects 30 of every 10,000 children in the United States.

4 Apr 2005

Movie techniques, MRI/CT data combine with computer modeling of knee/patella to aid surgery

Take the kinds of movie techniques that allow animation with true-life action, throw in an anatomically-based muscle, ligament, tendon, bone and soft-tissue geometries dataset, and add individual patient MRI or CT scan data.

3 Apr 2005

Children with autism have a severely abnormal metabolic profile

Chronic biochemical imbalance is often a primary factor in the development of many complex diseases but a possible metabolic basis for autism has not been well explored. Now Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute researchers report for the first time that children with autism have a severely abnormal metabolic profile indicating increased vulnerability to oxidative stress.

3 Apr 2005

CDC experts sent to Angola to help with Marburg epidemic

In an effort to control the Marburg virus outbreak in Angola, Health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta will assist the World Health Organization by going to Angola to help with outbreak investigation, infection control and laboratory diagnosis of the disease.

30 Mar 2005

Primary health care providers should incorporate HIV testing into routine patient care for all sexually active individuals

Primary health care providers should incorporate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing into routine patient care for all sexually active individuals, regardless of risk factors, say a group of physician/researchers at Emory University School of Medicine, Brown Medical School, and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

30 Mar 2005

An overconfident physician will not seek help or may ignore help that is offered

Physicians' often do not have correct perceptions of the accuracy of their diagnoses at the time they make them, and in significant numbers of cases they may be overconfident - wrong when they believe they are right; or underconfident - right when they believe they are wrong--about their diagnostic assessments, according to a University of Pittsburgh study.

29 Mar 2005

Onconase granted orphan drug status for malignant mesothelioma in Australia

Alfacell Corporation has announced that the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in Australia has granted Onconase (ranpirnase) Orphan Drug status for the indication of malignant mesothelioma (MM). Onconase is also designated as an Orphan Drug for MM in Europe.

28 Mar 2005

Molecule that causes secondary stroke

Scientists at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine have discovered the cause of a deadly type of secondary stroke known as cerebral vasospasm.

28 Mar 2005

Three different leukemias are all caused by mutations that alter a specific enzyme controlling blood cell proliferation

Identifying the genetic malfunction that causes these disorders raises the hope that researchers may be able to devise a targeted therapy, just as they have done for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), which is presently treated with Gleevec. The three leukemias that share a common genetic cause are polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET) and myeloid metaplasia with myelofibrosis (MMM).

28 Mar 2005

US tendency to arrogantly flout international ethical practice for patient trials abroad

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed that observing a widely accepted code of medical ethics that protects patients who take part in trials is not necessary for studies conducted abroad, states a comment in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

28 Mar 2005

Alzheimer's treatment improves with new diagnostic method

Earlier detection and treatment for Alzheimer's Disease are now more practical for larger segments of the population through a more refined use of existing, well-validated neuropsychological tests.

22 Mar 2005

Novel method of testing exhaled breath to detect infection

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University are developing a novel method of testing exhaled breath to detect infection rapidly after potential exposure to a biological warfare agent. They report their findings today at the 2005 ASM Biodefense Research Meeting.

22 Mar 2005

Genomic DNA provides clues to new advances in cancer diagnostics

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have identified a method of assessing the malignant potential of cells based on the sensitivity of cellular DNA to enzyme digestion.

22 Mar 2005