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ACO rule revisions get nod from medical industry group

An influential medical group's change of heart is boosting President Barack Obama's plan to use Medicare to promote higher quality, less expensive care. The American Medical Group Association represents premier organizations like the Mayo Clinic, the models for the proposed "accountable care organizations" in Obama's health care overhaul law. The networks of doctors and hospitals will collaborate to keep patients healthier.

1 Nov 2011

Infiltration of white blood cells into blood vessels may explain high blood pressure in pregnancy

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers have discovered that the infiltration of white blood cells into an expectant mother's blood vessels may explain high blood pressure in pregnancy.

1 Nov 2011

Gender not an independent predictor of mortality post-PCI

New research shows that women undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also known as angioplasty, exhibit more co-morbidities and cardiovascular risk factors than men. Risk-adjusted analyses have now indicated that, in the contemporary era, gender is not an independent mortality predictor following PCI according to the study now available in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.

1 Nov 2011

Heart disease treatment tops list of most expensive conditions for men

The cost of treating men for heart disease topped $47 billion in 2008, leading a list of the 10 most expensive conditions for men age 18 and older, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

1 Nov 2011

Dementia people with stroke more likely to become disabled and not return home

New research shows people with dementia who have a stroke are more likely to become disabled and not return home compared to people who didn't have dementia at the time they had a stroke.

1 Nov 2011

Aspirin may reduce risk of bowel cancer by half: Study

According to a new study published in The Lancet, a regular dose of aspirin may not only stave off heart disease but also cut the risk of developing hereditary cancer in half.

31 Oct 2011

New computer-based tool enables early diagnosis of cancer

A computer-based tool could help GPs to speed up the diagnosis and treatment of patients suffering from two of the most common forms of cancer, potentially saving thousands of lives every year.

31 Oct 2011

Insurers look for opportunities for expansion

Big players such as Aetna and Cigna are snapping up smaller companies in an effort to keep earnings figures up.

31 Oct 2011

Leg muscle dysfunction related to severity of symptoms in heart failure patients

Doctors should not only treat the heart muscle in chronic heart failure patients, but also their leg muscles through exercise, say researchers in a study published today in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

31 Oct 2011

First Edition: October 31, 2011

In today's headlines, news reports about a key medical group's take on accountable care organizations and how a "merger wave" is hitting the health care sector.

31 Oct 2011

EarlySense to launch contact-free patient monitoring system in Europe

EarlySense announced today that the Company will launch its contact-free patient monitoring system in Europe at MEDICA in Duesseldorf, November 16 - 20, 2011.

31 Oct 2011

Researchers shed light on inner workings of endocycle

An international team of researchers led by investigators in the U.S. and Germany has shed light on the inner workings of the endocycle, a common cell cycle that fuels growth in plants, animals and some human tissues and is responsible for generating up to half of the Earth's biomass.

31 Oct 2011

Medtronic’s atrial fibrillation device fails to impress safety panel

The US health advisers rejected a Medtronic Inc. device for treating atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm disorder that is a major cause of stroke, citing risks to safety. The panel voted 8-2 that risks of device outweigh benefits of the Medtronic Cardiac Ablation System especially given the high number of strokes among patients who got the device during clinical trials.

From Medtronic 30 Oct 2011

Python heart holds surprises that could be of use in cardiology

The expanding hearts of pythons have intrigued researchers. Leslie Leinwand - a University of Colorado at Boulder molecular biologist who studies heart disease in humans called pythons’ expanding hearts “amazing biology”. “They're not swelling up. They're building (heart) muscle,” he said.

30 Oct 2011

'Deep sequencing' technology identifies new target area for depression

Scientists at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute and Yale University have identified a new target area in the human genome that appears to harbor genes with a major role in the onset of depression.

29 Oct 2011

VUMC doctors to begin statin drug screening for rare genetic variation

Vanderbilt University Medical Center doctors announced today they will begin screening patients who take commonly prescribed statin drugs for a rare genetic variation that can increase risks for side effects from these drugs such as muscle aches, kidney damage and even death.

29 Oct 2011

Researchers uncover biochemical signals that trigger generation of new lung alveoli

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College say they have taken an important step forward in their quest to "turn on" lung regeneration -- an advance that could effectively treat millions of people suffering from respiratory disorders.

29 Oct 2011

More than 50,000 patients at high risk of SCA have been prescribed ZOLL's LifeVest

ZOLL Medical Corporation, a manufacturer of medical devices and related software solutions, announced today that more than 50,000 patients at high risk of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) have been prescribed the LifeVest Wearable Defibrillator.

29 Oct 2011

Study: Reduced secretion of beta-amyloid signals beginning of Alzheimer's

For decades the amyloid hypothesis has dominated the research field in Alzheimer's disease. The theory describes how an increase in secreted beta-amyloid peptides leads to the formation of plaques, toxic clusters of damaged proteins between cells, which eventually result in neurodegeneration. Scientists at Lund University, Sweden, have now presented a study that turns this premise on its head.

29 Oct 2011