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Matching method allows surgeons to successfully transplant kidneys that would otherwise be discarded

By carefully matching the estimated function of kidneys from deceased donors with the needs of potential recipients, surgeons can successfully transplant kidneys that would otherwise be discarded, according to a report from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. The center was able to double its transplant volume within a year.

18 May 2004

Interventional radiologists now are able to treat using minimally invasive procedures

Interventional radiologists at Temple University Hospital now are able to treat many patients with minimally invasive procedures not available only a few years ago. “Conditions that used to require extensive surgery now take an hour or less, and patients leave with a bandaid and walk home,” says Gary Cohen, M.D., Section Chief of Interventional Radiology and Vice Chairman of Radiology. “How can you beat that?”

17 May 2004

Steps to tackle bed-blocking have led to a big reduction in delayed discharges

Health Secretary John Reid said that the 4,000 beds that have been freed up since the ‘Cash for Change’ programme was introduced in 2001 was equivalent to adding eight extra hospitals to the NHS. The scheme provided £300m to local councils to ensure that people leaving hospital would get the care they needed.

17 May 2004

Discovery of the gene for Cornelia de Lange syndrome

An international team of researchers has discovered the gene for Cornelia de Lange syndrome, a disabling, multisystem genetic disease that affects an estimated one in 10,000 children. The finding is expected to lead to a genetic test, enabling rapid and definitive diagnosis of the syndrome, as well as prenatal testing for families who already have one child with the disease.

17 May 2004

Managing large numbers of patients from mass casualty incidents

Today’s hospitals are challenged to become better prepared to manage large numbers of patients from mass casualty incidents (MCI), hazardous material incidents (HAZMAT), or in extreme cases, attacks using weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

17 May 2004

New British firework laws aim to kerb injuries

Air bombs will be banned from next month and new strict controls on mini rockets introduced in the latest Government move to crackdown on firework yobs, Consumer Minister Gerry Sutcliffe will announce today.

17 May 2004

Guidelines for FUZEON (enfuvirtide) are published today in AIDS

New international consensus guidelines for FUZEON (enfuvirtide) are published today in AIDS, the official journal of the International AIDS Society.

17 May 2004

Stability in the Australian private health sector

The latest figures on Australian private health insurance membership levels show that the private health sector continues to remain remarkably stable.

17 May 2004

Glucose metabolism could be used to selectively destroy cancer cells

Scientists have known for decades that cancer cells consume more glucose than normal cells. A longstanding assumption that the excess glucose metabolism was needed to make energy has not been borne out by research studies.

15 May 2004

Unique computer system to help patient care in America

Like a chain with many fragile links, the care of every hospital patient in America is made up of dozens, even hundreds, of daily interactions and handoffs between the doctors, nurses, therapists, residents and medical students who care for them.

15 May 2004

Health care status in the United States leaves 44 million children, women and men without health insurance

"The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation initiated Cover the Uninsured Week so that millions of Americans could join together to say that the health care status quo in the United States, which leaves 44 million children, women and men without health insurance, is unacceptable, and that we cannot allow this situation to continue.

15 May 2004

Australian researchers identify potential target to fight tumours

Dr Guishui Zhang and Associate Professor Levon Khachigian, from the Centre for Vascular Research, and Dr Nick Di Girolamo of the School of Medical Sciences were part of a team which suppressed a protein in the cells lining blood vessels.

14 May 2004

Interacting and petting animals creates a hormonal response in humans that can help fight depression

The next time a dog comes bounding up to you for a wet, sloppy kiss and a good belly rub, don’t back away. In an ongoing study, a University of Missouri-Columbia researcher has found that interacting and petting animals creates a hormonal response in humans that can help fight depression.

14 May 2004

British GPs will be able to charge overseas visitors

British GPs will be given new powers to charge some overseas visitors for their services, under new proposals announced today.

14 May 2004

Signs of liver disease also improve in conjunction with alterations to gut flora

Some cirrhotic patients develop brain dysfunction, called hepatic encephalopathy, which causes deficits in behavior, intelligence, consciousness and neuromuscular function.

14 May 2004

Computer prescribing systems in UK general practices are endangering patients’ lives

Computer prescribing systems in UK general practices are endangering patients’ lives by failing to pick up on some hazardous drug combinations, say researchers in this week’s British Medical Journal.

14 May 2004

Five million village doctors in rural China to be re-trained

A memorandum which is to lead to the re-training of five million village doctors in rural China is to be signed on 23 May in Beijing, China. The memorandum goes back to the initiative of Terence Ryan, Professor of Dermatology at the University of Oxford, who has been instrumental in drawing it up and will participate in the signing.

14 May 2004

Study of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for severe, treatment-resistant lupus

The study will include a basic research component to examine the roles of B and T cells, white blood cells in the immune system, in triggering lupus symptoms.

14 May 2004

The Stroke Association have found that surgery can halve the risk of a stroke

Scientists funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and The Stroke Association have found that surgery can halve the risk of a stroke for people who have significant narrowing of the main artery carrying blood to the brain. Their findings, published in this week’s The Lancet, are the result of a large-scale international clinical trial.

14 May 2004

Largest study comparing leading hepatitis C treatments

Medical centers, hospitals, clinics and other treatment sites across the country are actively enrolling Americans with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in a nationwide study that will for the first time determine which of the two FDA-approved pegylated interferon therapy regimens offers patients the best chance to eliminate the virus.

14 May 2004