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Diagnosis and referrals for kidney disease fall well short of need

Results of a national study of 304 U.S. physicians, in which "mock" patients' symptoms were presented for diagnosis, suggest that a sizeable percentage of primary care doctors probably fail to properly diagnose and refer patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

3 Aug 2006

Research ethics requirements compromising quality of health research

Current research ethics requirements are compromising the scientific quality of health research, warn senior doctors in this week's British Medical Journal.

3 Aug 2006

New framework for understanding physician medical errors

Disclosing medical errors made by physicians is extremely important yet often extremely difficult.

3 Aug 2006

Practical advice and individualized attention can help people with HIV stick to a consistent drug regimen

The studies were too different to combine results, but the review team found that the most successful programs emphasized "practical medicine management," one-on-one attention or a 12-week or longer duration.

2 Aug 2006

Placebo study - brain activity predicts treatment results before medication begins

Treating major depression can be quite a puzzle, and a newly published UCLA study suggests medication is just one of many potential pieces.

2 Aug 2006

Why reassurance fails in patients with unexplained symptoms

When patients are unconvinced by reassurance from their doctor that they have nothing to worry about, it may be because their emotional state makes it hard for them to remember all the information the doctor has given them, according to new research in PLoS Medicine.

2 Aug 2006

Couple charged after home-style liposuction results in death

A Brazilian couple in the United States have been charged with drug possession and distribution, illegal possession of a hypodermic needle and unauthorized practice of medicine without a license after a female patient died following liposuction.

1 Aug 2006

Teen in Thailand dies from bird flu caught from fighting cockrel

A teenage boy has become the first victim in over seven months to die of bird flu in Thailand.

27 Jul 2006

Guideline helps predict outcome in comatose survivors after CPR

Certain tests can predict with great accuracy whether a person in a coma after CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) will have a poor outcome, according to new guideline developed by the American Academy of Neurology.

27 Jul 2006

Advance care planning is not about documents - it is about persons and their relationships

One-third of married individuals choose someone other than their spouse as a surrogate for medical decision-making. And more often than not, when adult patients chose a parent, sibling or child, they prefer their mothers, sisters and daughters to serve as medical proxies over their fathers, brothers and sons.

26 Jul 2006

Periodic 'deep inflation' helps prevent ventilator-induced lung injury

Ventilation therapy burst into the public consciousness more than 60 years ago with the "iron lung" and the polio epidemic.

26 Jul 2006

New faster magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data-acquisition technique

A faster magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data-acquisition technique will cut the time many patients spend in a cramped magnetic resonance scanner, yet deliver more precise 3-D images of their bodies.

26 Jul 2006

NICE backs use of Enbrel and Raptiva to treat severe psoriasis

NICE has today issued guidance for the use of the targeted biological therapies, Enbrel (etanercept) and Raptiva (efalizumab), to treat adult patients with severe plaque psoriasis.

26 Jul 2006

Lassa fever reported in Germany

German health authorities have reported to WHO an imported case of Lassa fever, confirmed by laboratory tests at the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute of Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.

25 Jul 2006

Matchstick-sized contraceptive implant that lasts for three years

The Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. has given approval for a new contraceptive which will protect women from pregnancy for as long as three years.

20 Jul 2006

Humidified air inhalation for treating croup

For decades, parents and pediatricians have relied on humid air to relieve the barking cough and noisy breathing of croup, a common childhood condition that sometimes sends worried families to the emergency room.

19 Jul 2006

Researchers find cause of frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) is the second major form of dementia.

17 Jul 2006

AMA offers a better plan to get young doctors to live and work in country Australia

Australian Medical Association (AMA) President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, has called for the scrapping of the Government's unpopular, unfunded and ultimately unworkable bonded medical schools places program.

13 Jul 2006

Vioxx user was a heart attack waiting to happen

In the on-going court battle facing drug company Merck over it's blockbuster painkiller Vioxx, a lawyer for Merck has said one of the plaintiffs was more or less a heart attack waiting to happen regardless of Vioxx.

12 Jul 2006

Fombonne's autism research is dangerously inaccurate

Fombonne, a thimerosal litigation expert witness on behalf of various pharmaceutical companies, will reportedly state that it is "very clear" there is no relationship between mercury-based thimerosal and the onset of autism.

11 Jul 2006