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Improving the care delivered to children with special health care needs

Health care delivered close to home is vitally important, especially when the patient is a child. But how do community pediatric practices adapt to offer the best care when faced with a child who has complex and often, multiple health needs? Reporting in this month's issue of Pediatrics, Dartmouth researchers outline a process designed to help any practice become a state of the art "medical home" for such children.

20 May 2004

No justification for claims that cleaning and hygiene contribute to an increase in allergies

A landmark report by the London-based International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene (IFH) on the so-called hygiene hypothesis finds "no justification" for claims that cleaning and hygiene contribute to an increase in allergies.

20 May 2004

Diabetes drug improves metabolic changes associated with HIV combination therapy

Use of an oral antidiabetes medication produced significant improvement in a group of patients with HIV lipodsytrophy, a syndrome involving the redistribution of fat and other metabolic changes in those receiving combination drug therapy for HIV infection.

20 May 2004

Obese women more likely to have pregnancy complications and caesarean sections than women of average weight

The controlled study is one of the largest ever to look at obesity in pregnancy, following more than 16,000 pregnant women at 14 medical centers across the country.

20 May 2004

Study has important implications for African Americans who suffer from high blood pressure

A new study has important implications for the millions of African Americans who suffer from high blood pressure. The study, AADVANCE, shows Diovan HCT(R) (valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide) lowers blood pressure in African Americans to aggressive recommended target blood pressure goals as effectively as amlodipine.

20 May 2004

UK pet owners who take their animals on holiday to Europe could bring back tropical diseases

UK pet owners who take their animals on holiday to Europe are being alerted to the fact that their pets could bring back some unwelcome souvenirs in the form of diseases more often associated with the tropics.

20 May 2004

Australian government puts it on the record that prices of prescription medicines will not rise as a result of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States

The price of prescription medicines will not rise as a result of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States. The Australian Government gave this undertaking going into the negotiations and has delivered on this commitment.

20 May 2004

Studies identify risk factors for colon cancer in women

In new studies presented today at Digestive Disease Week in New Orleans, scientists report that women’s preferences for a female physician may delay or prevent proper colorectal screenings due to a lack of females in the field and diabetes may be a significant risk factor for development of colon cancer.

19 May 2004

CRT implantable defibrillators significantly reduce hospitalization rates and extend lives

Researchers at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center have announced the findings of a large-scale clinical trial for patients with late-stage heart failure. Results showed that cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) from implantable pacemaker-like devices or CRT combined with an implantable defibrillator (CRT-D), when used in addition to optimal drug therapy, reduced significantly the mortality and first hospitalization rate when compared to drug therapy alone. CRT-D also substantially lowered mortality.

19 May 2004

New study of tumor genetics may help to treat patients with head and neck cancer

Head and neck tumors account for more than 40,000 new cancers annually in the United States. The most common of these is squamous cell carcinoma. Prognosis is based largely on location and size of the tumor, and if the cancer has spread, or metastasized, to lymph nodes and distant sites in the body.

19 May 2004

Damaged metal halide lamps can cause sunburn

Ever think you could get a nasty sunburn — severe enough to peel — by attending an indoor event? Seems improbable, but it can happen. And it has — three times recently in Middle Tennessee.

19 May 2004

Anti-clotting treatment underused at many hospitals

Academic hospitals are more likely than community or Veteran’s Administration (VA) hospitals to follow national guidelines for treating patients at risk for blood clots with aspirin or warfarin.

19 May 2004

Higher volume may not guarantee higher quality angioplasty and stenting

"Practice makes perfect" seems logical, but how much practice remains uncertain, and current health care quality guidelines may be set too high. It may be time to reexamine the standard recommending hospitals perform at least 400 angioplasty and stent procedures per year, according to a new study in the May 19, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

19 May 2004

Comparison study shows low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet loses more weight than low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-calorie diet

People who followed a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet lost more weight than people on a low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-calorie diet during a six-month comparison study at Duke University Medical Center. However, the researchers caution that people with medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure should not start the diet without close medical supervision.

19 May 2004

Parents overestimate their children's use of bicycle helmets and seatbelts

Parents think their children use bicycle helmets and seatbelts more often than children say they use them, according to a new study by a University of Michigan Health System pediatric surgeon.

19 May 2004

Closer to understanding the function of a protein linked to an inherited form of the movement disorder dystonia

The protein, torsinA, is defective in patients with DYT1 dystonia, an inherited condition that causes uncontrollable movements in the limbs and torso. Learning what torsinA does could be an important step toward developing a treatment for the disorder.

19 May 2004

Drug combo effective for advanced breast cancer

A pair of studies at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center that takes laboratory science to the patients' bedside found that combining the molecularly targeted therapy Herceptin with a specific chemotherapy combination resulted in significant tumor response rates and longer relapse-free periods in women with an aggressive form of advanced breast cancer.

19 May 2004

Genome Quebec Innovation Centre has announced the signing of a service agreement with GenoMed

The McGill University and Genome Quebec Innovation Centre has announced the signing of a service agreement with GenoMed, a US company located in St. Louis, Missouri that specializes in using genomics to practice better medicine.

19 May 2004

Multimillion-dollar electron microscope unveils shapes of viruses and proteins

With a multimillion-dollar electron microscope and computer programs that can pick out the shapes of structures only six atoms wide, Dr. Wah Chiu and his colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston are attempting to explain the intricate structures of viruses and proteins.

19 May 2004

Variability in weight and drug content of split tablet may put patients at risk of receiving wrong dosage

Back and neck pain sufferers who divide the most frequently prescribed muscle relaxant may be getting anywhere from half to one-and-a-half times the amount of medicine they believe they are taking, suggests a new study examining the practice of tablet splitting.

19 May 2004

Medicine News and Research

Improving the care delivered to children with special health care needs

No justification for claims that cleaning and hygiene contribute to an increase in allergies

Diabetes drug improves metabolic changes associated with HIV combination therapy

Obese women more likely to have pregnancy complications and caesarean sections than women of average weight

Study has important implications for African Americans who suffer from high blood pressure

UK pet owners who take their animals on holiday to Europe could bring back tropical diseases

Australian government puts it on the record that prices of prescription medicines will not rise as a result of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States

Studies identify risk factors for colon cancer in women

CRT implantable defibrillators significantly reduce hospitalization rates and extend lives

New study of tumor genetics may help to treat patients with head and neck cancer

Damaged metal halide lamps can cause sunburn

Anti-clotting treatment underused at many hospitals

Higher volume may not guarantee higher quality angioplasty and stenting

Comparison study shows low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet loses more weight than low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-calorie diet

Parents overestimate their children's use of bicycle helmets and seatbelts

Closer to understanding the function of a protein linked to an inherited form of the movement disorder dystonia

Drug combo effective for advanced breast cancer

Genome Quebec Innovation Centre has announced the signing of a service agreement with GenoMed

Multimillion-dollar electron microscope unveils shapes of viruses and proteins

Variability in weight and drug content of split tablet may put patients at risk of receiving wrong dosage

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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