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Consent forms should be more readable

When children are part of a clinical trial, their parents must sign a document agreeing to the treatment and procedures used in the study. But what if they don't understand what they're being asked to sign?

12 Apr 2005

Getting coronary bypass patients back on their feet sooner

Often after coronary bypass graft surgery, patients suffer more pain in their leg than any other part of the body. The pain is due to the harvesting of a healthy blood vessel from the leg to construct the bypass graft. Traditionally, the vein was removed with a long incision that may stretch from ankle to groin. Many patients may not be aware there is an alternative.

12 Apr 2005

Innovation, competitive prices to underpin uptake of diagnostic ultrasound devices

Across Europe, the pricing of ultrasound systems is expected to be central to its uptake. In addition to being competitively priced, products with an emphasis on innovation, user-friendliness, mobility and compactness are also expected to appeal to end-users.

12 Apr 2005

Tissue engineering to grow bone, ligaments and cartilage

A future in which laboratory-grown organs and stimulated growth of muscle, bones and nerves could play a major role in treating medical conditions was revealed at a recent Tissue Engineering Symposium at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

11 Apr 2005

FDA hearings on silicone breast implants

On April 11-13, the FDA's advisory panel on General and Plastic Surgery Devices will once again meet to review data on the safety of silicone breast implants. The panel will vote Tuesday on Inamed Corporation's application for approval, and on Wednesday on Mentor Corporation's application.

11 Apr 2005

Public-health efforts to increase the use of breast-cancer screening appear to have altered the types of breast cancer being diagnosed

Since 1980, the incidence of ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, one of the most common kinds of early stage breast cancer, has increased more than sevenfold. This sharp increase in DCIS – which is a tumor that contains cancer-like cells but is not considered "true" cancer because the cells have not invaded normal breast tissue – has been accompanied by a flattening in the incidence of true invasive breast cancer.

11 Apr 2005

Eat like the Greeks and live longer

Researchers at the University of Athens Medical School, in a major pan-Europe study, have produced convincing evidence that a Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables and fruit and low in saturated fats can help us live longer.

10 Apr 2005

No link between silicone implants and systemic disease

Silicone breast implants have been scrutinized more than any medical device, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has stated.

10 Apr 2005

Mothers' poor health revealed in new study

Sleep deprived new mothers are doing it tough, but getting help from early parenting centres improves their mental health, according to a new report.

7 Apr 2005

ARC Pharmaceuticals granted new U.S. patent

ARC Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ARC) announced today that The University of British Columbia (UBC) has been granted a new US patent entitled "Pharmaceutical Compositions and Methods Relating to Fucans, No. 6,812,220.

7 Apr 2005

FDA approves first cranial dural sealant

Confluent Surgical, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the DuraSeal Dural Sealant System as the first and only product indicated as an adjunct to sutured dural repair during cranial surgery to achieve watertight closure. The FDA has approved the DuraSeal Sealant with a condition to conduct a post-approval study.

7 Apr 2005

Level I trauma centers boost head injury survival

Head injury patients transferred to level I trauma centers are more likely to survive than if they're transferred to level II facilities, an Oregon Health & Science University study has found.

7 Apr 2005

Pfizer withdraws Bextra from market

Despite an expert panel stating last month that the three COX-2 drugs Vioxx, Bextra and Celebrex were safe enough to be marketed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has this week told drug manufacturer Pfizer to remove the drug Bextra from the market and a statement by Pfizer confirms that the European Union regulators have done the same.

7 Apr 2005

Oncolytic viruses may one day help treat brain tumors

New research shows that a virus designed to kill cancer cells can significantly increase the survival of mice with an incurable human brain tumor, even in some animals with advanced disease.

7 Apr 2005

FDA posts silicone gel breast implant approval information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has posted information on it's web site related to the Mentor Corporation's silicone gel breast implant pre-market approval (PMA) application, scheduled to be reviewed at a General and Plastics Surgery Devices Advisory Panel meeting April 11-13, 2005.

6 Apr 2005

Kidney transplant can reverse systolic heart failure

Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center say that contrary to conventional thinking, a kidney transplant can significantly improve the heart function of people on dialysis with a serious form of heart failure.

6 Apr 2005

Modest triglyceride elevations linked to coronary artery disease risk

Even modest increases in blood levels of triglycerides, as well as a type of high cholesterol known as type III hyperlipidemia, are strongly associated with coronary artery disease in people with a family history of the disease, according to a new study in the April 5, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

5 Apr 2005

Gene therapy shows effect in heart patients

The first double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial of VEGF gene injections into the heart muscle of patients with coronary artery disease with the intention of spurring growth of new blood vessels showed significant effects on heart wall motion, although blood flow was not significantly better in treated patients, according to a new study in the April 5, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

5 Apr 2005

Organ donors must document their wishes

According to the results of a new survey by the Coalition on Donation, an alliance of national and local organ and tissue donation education groups, even though many Americans support organ and tissue donation and are willing to become donors themselves, many have not taken the steps required to ensure that their wishes will be carried out after their death.

5 Apr 2005

How heart is formed in the embryo helps explain congenital heart disease

Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Cardiologist Bradley B. Keller, MD, and his research team are discovering details in the lab that explain how the heart is formed in the embryo. This knowledge improves the chances of doctors identifying fetuses who can benefit from intervention to treat congenital defects.

5 Apr 2005