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IVF improvements in United States

Since its introduction in the United States, assisted reproduction technology has helped allow women to conceive more than a million babies.

16 Apr 2004

Stem cell personal space determines their future

Johns Hopkins scientists report that restricting the shape and personal space of human stem cells from bone marrow is more important than any known molecular signal in determining the cell type they become.

16 Apr 2004

Delirium in ICU patients a predictor of mortality

Between 60 percent to 80 percent of these patients develop a brain dysfunction known as delirium, which according to a group of physicians at Vanderbilt Medical Center is an independent predictor of mortality.

16 Apr 2004

Use of acute services by patients who die in NHS hospitals does not increase with age according to new research

Use of acute services by patients who die in NHS hospitals does not increase with age according to new research by the University of Bristol published in the British Medical Journal today.

16 Apr 2004

Secrets of the human body unveiled at new museum

Ned Kelly’s death mask, skeletons from the 1800s and more than 12,000 assorted anatomy and pathology specimens will be on display at a special media event to launch the opening of a unique new anatomy and pathology museum at the University of Melbourne.

16 Apr 2004

Citrus soda culprit in patient’s medical mystery

It took a team of medical sleuths at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to get to the bottom of what was causing the 35-year-old to have abnormal blood chemistries during a post-transplant check up.

16 Apr 2004

Patient uses inorganic blood substitute

A patient who is losing large amounts of blood presents a medical emergency, requiring proper blood-typing and immediate access to multiple units of compatible blood.

16 Apr 2004

Decongestant may increase blood pressure

A common ingredient in over-the-counter decongestants -- pseudoephedrine -- may increase blood pressure and the risk of life-threatening or disabling strokes in susceptible patients, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have reported.

15 Apr 2004

Women get better picture on hormone replacement therapy

Detailed results of the "estrogen-alone" study within the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), which was terminated in early March 2004, are providing some of the first answers to questions about the efficacy of estrogen alone to prevent chronic disease in healthy, postmenopausal women who have had a hysterectomy.

14 Apr 2004

Protein identification gets a speed boost

But the labor intensity of the procedure is now a thing of the past for researchers in the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine. The Proteomics Shared Resource, an unassuming but state-of-the-art lab on the fifth floor of OHSU's Medical Research Building, can process more than three times as many protein samples in half a day, and much of it can be done by one person.

14 Apr 2004

Fertility specialists find multiple birth rate declining

During the past decade in the United States, increasing attention has been paid to lowering the incidence of multiple gestations resulting from the use of assisted reproductive technology. To determine whether such efforts have been successful, we assessed national trends in embryo-transfer practice patterns and in outcomes after the use of assisted reproductive technology.

14 Apr 2004

CT colonography not presently a viable option for colorectal cancer screening

Findings of a new multicenter study by Cotton et al. published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association comparing standard colonoscopy with CT colonography for the detection of colorectal cancer reveal that this technology, in the form used most often in the United States, while of significant interest, is not presently a viable option for routine colorectal cancer screening.

14 Apr 2004

Ultrasound therapy does nothing to help an injured skeletal muscle heal any faster

Although ultrasound is one of the most frequently prescribed treatments for one of the most common sport and athletic injuries – skeletal muscle contusions – there's really no good scientific evidence showing that it treats injured muscles effectively, said Steven Devor, the study's lead author and an assistant professor of sport and exercise sciences at Ohio State University.

14 Apr 2004

Differing views on virtual colonoscopy accuracy

Demonstrating clearly that not all virtual colonoscopies are equal, the study, published in the December 2003 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine and the American Journal of Roentgenology, found the results found using the Viatronix V3D-Colon system for primary 3D reading to be equal to or better than optical colonoscopy results.

14 Apr 2004

EU ethical, social and legal aspects of human genetic testing

On 6 and 7 May 2004, the European Commission is inviting all interested parties to attend a European citizens’ and stakeholders’ conference to discuss the ethical, social and legal aspects of human genetic testing in research and healthcare applications.

14 Apr 2004

Drug duo prevents life-threatening condition in children undergoing stem cell transplant

A drug duo appears to be a safe and effective way to prevent a serious condition called graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) in youngsters undergoing a stem cell transplant

14 Apr 2004

Stong evidence for lower penicillin allergic reactions

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have concluded the world's largest analysis of penicillin allergy due to re-prescription of the popular antibiotic.

14 Apr 2004

Autism gene discovered

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine are first to strongly link a specific gene with autism. While earlier studies have found rare genetic mutations in single families, a study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry is the first to identify a gene that increases susceptibility to autism in a broad population.

14 Apr 2004

A new system of health and wellbeing

Hands up who goes to the doctor when they are feeling well? Hands up who goes to the doctor just to chat about how they can stay well? The fact is most of us drag ourselves off to the doctor only when there are signs of trouble, when we are feeling sick.

14 Apr 2004

The amount of female smokers rose by 600% in the 20th century

American women who smoke rose dramatically during the 20th century, resulting in a 600 percent increase by the year 2003 in the number of women who died of lung cancer. In the same period, the number of lung cancer deaths in men declined.

14 Apr 2004