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QRS prolongation associated with increased rates of heart-failure mortality

A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden demonstrates that a change in the ECG wave called the QRS prolongation is associated with a higher rate of heart-failure mortality.

5 Oct 2012

Myocardial infarction mortality rates decrease by 44% over the last 15 years in Argentina

Mortality caused by myocardial infarction has decreased by 44% over the last 15 years in Argentina, according to new research which will be presented during the 38th Argentine Congress of Cardiology.

5 Oct 2012

New ToxIC study identifies current drug poisoning trends

Nonprescription medications are just as likely a cause of poisoning as prescription drugs, according to a new study by Timothy Wiegand, M.D. from the University of Rochester Medical Center in the US and colleagues.

5 Oct 2012

New gene test can detect pre-cancerous cells in patients with mouth lesions

Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London have developed a new gene test that can detect pre-cancerous cells in patients with benign-looking mouth lesions. The test could potentially allow at-risk patients to receive earlier treatment, significantly improving their chance of survival.

5 Oct 2012

STAT-ED may help identify adolescents at risk for suicide

Investigators at Nationwide Children's Hospital and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center are hoping to better identify adolescents at risk for suicide and improve how these at-risk children receive follow up mental health treatment.

5 Oct 2012

Study shows impact of obstetric unit closures on outcomes of mothers and babies

After a series of Philadelphia hospitals started closing their maternity units in 1997, infant mortality rates increased by nearly 50 percent over the next three years. The mortality rates subsequently leveled off to the same rate as before the closures, but pediatric researchers say their results underscore the need for careful oversight and planning by public health agencies in communities experiencing serious reductions in obstetric services.

5 Oct 2012

Top-line data from Pfizer’s Prevenar 13 Phase 3 trial on pneumococcal disease

Pfizer Inc. today announced top-line data assessing immunogenicity, tolerability and safety of Prevenar 13 (Pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine [13-valent, absorbed]) in adults 18 to 49 years of age.

5 Oct 2012

Diclofenac increases risk for anastomotic leakage after colorectal surgery

The use of cyclo-oxygenase-2 nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs increases the risk for anastomotic leakage after colorectal surgery, research shows.

4 Oct 2012

Stenting outcomes worse for elderly women than men

Results from a cohort study published in Cardiology show that elderly women have a higher risk for complications and in-hospital mortality immediately after treatment with either drug-eluting stents or bare metal stents than elderly men.

4 Oct 2012

Beta blockers do not lower cardiac risk in patients with or without CAD

Beta-blocker therapy does not reduce the risk for cardiovascular events in patients with or without coronary artery disease, researchers say.

4 Oct 2012

Chronic kidney disease independently increases mortality risk

Findings from two meta-analyses published in The Lancet show that patients with chronic kidney disease are at high risk for death and end-stage renal disease even if they do not have comorbid hypertension or diabetes.

4 Oct 2012

Heart attacks linked with mortality risk in people with schizophrenia

The risk of death resulting from heart attack is higher in people with schizophrenia than in the general public, according to scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).

4 Oct 2012

Obama should promote, invest more in PMI to gain votes

Leading up to the debates this month and the November presidential election, "President Obama would be wise to talk up our effective aid programs and the soft power they provide with regional allies," particularly the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), Roger Bate, a resident scholar with the American Enterprise Institute, and Kimberly Hess, a researcher with Africa Fighting Malaria, write in a New York Daily News opinion piece.

4 Oct 2012

Leaders announce expansion of successful maternal, child health program in Tanzania

"Tanzania has made significant advances in cutting maternal deaths thanks to a United Nations-sponsored program that brings public and private sectors together to resolve one of the most stubborn but preventable woes afflicting the developing world," but more must be done to scale up efforts to save lives, leaders involved in the program said during a news conference on Tuesday at U.N. Headquarters, the U.N. News Centre reports.

4 Oct 2012

Certificate of Need appears to do neither for heart bypass surgery

Certificate of Need, a form of state government regulation designed to keep mortality rates and health care costs down, appears to do neither for heart bypass surgery, according to a health economics researcher at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM).

4 Oct 2012

Family planning experts launch task force in support of International Conference on Population and Development goals

"Gathered at the Ford Foundation in New York Monday, international luminaries, family planning experts and women's rights activists ... marked the launch of a new 26-member high-level task force to galvanize support behind the goals of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)," Inter Press Service reports.

4 Oct 2012

American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma develops ATLS mobile app

For the first time, first responders to emergency medical situations will have a mobile app ready for use in the field that provides up-to-date content from the Advanced Trauma Life Support Program (ATLS) developed by the Committee on Trauma (COT) of the American College of Surgeons (ACS).

4 Oct 2012