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Loyola Medicine study finds high success rate for diabetic Charcot foot surgery

Nearly four out of five diabetic patients with severe cases of a disabling condition called Charcot foot were able to walk normally again following surgery, a Loyola Medicine study has found.

14 Dec 2017

Clinician re-examines evidence on re-use of catheters and UTIs in people with spinal cord injuries

People with spinal cord injuries rely on catheters to empty their bladder. When a well-respected publication concluded that catheters could be reused without an increased risk of infection, it didn't sit right with a Vancouver clinician and researcher.

13 Dec 2017

An overlooked epidemic: Older Americans taking too many unneeded drugs

Consider it America’s other prescription drug epidemic. For decades, experts have warned that older Americans are taking too many unnecessary drugs, often prescribed by multiple doctors, for dubious or unknown reasons.

12 Dec 2017

SLU scientists provide promising approach in designing new drugs for DMD

In a paper published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports, Saint Louis University researchers report that a new drug reduces fibrosis (scarring) and prevents loss of muscle function in an animal model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), providing a promising approach in designing new medications for those suffering from DMD.

8 Dec 2017

New discovery about brain activity could improve control over prosthetic limbs

High-tech prosthetics allow amputees to engage more fully in everyday life, even to compete in sporting events.

1 Dec 2017

$2 million grant funds new telemedicine program for children with disabilities

The UC Davis Department of Pediatrics has received a $2 million, five-year grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to fund a new telemedicine program for children in remote communities.

16 Nov 2017

Early intervention may be crucial to successful treatment of Friedreich's ataxia

New research published today in Disease Models & Mechanisms indicates that early intervention should be a key target in the development of new therapeutics for Friedreich's ataxia, as current treatments may be administered too late to target the disease effectively.

8 Nov 2017

Weight bias may hinder bariatric patients from receiving appropriate care

Health care providers should look beyond body mass index when providing care to patients with obesity, according to an article in AACN Advanced Critical Care.

7 Nov 2017

Academics to raise awareness about dangers of pressure ulcers

COMMUTERS are being asked to take a seat – to raise awareness about the dangers of a condition which affects hundreds of thousands every year.

6 Nov 2017

Single infusion of wildtype HSPCs halts cellular damage caused by neuromuscular disorder in mice

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that a single infusion of wildtype hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) into a mouse model of Friedreich's ataxia (FA) measurably halted cellular damage caused by the degenerative disease.

25 Oct 2017

Fires prey on frail residents living on their own

They were asleep when the fire reached their home. Charles Rippey, 100, and his wife, Sara, 98, had been married 75 years. They died together, after a caregiver struggled to save them but couldn't get them out in time.

13 Oct 2017

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis affects more than 300,000 children in the U.S.

When most people think of arthritis, they picture the knobby knuckles, inflamed joints or aching back of an older person. But more than 300,000 children in the U.S. suffer from chronic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), which has more to do with joint inflammation than wear and tear on cartilage and bone.

12 Oct 2017

New insights into rare-among-rare genetic bone disorder

I have been writing about conditions that cause out-of-place bone formation for over 10 years – since the discovery of the gene in 2006 for the rare bone disorder, FOP (fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive). But it was while interviewing geneticist Eileen Shore, PhD last spring about another bone disorder, progressive osseous heteroplasia, or POH, that it really hit me how much more rare POH is compared to FOP.

10 Oct 2017

Patients, health insurers challenge Iowa’s privatized Medicaid

Iowa is one of 38 states that radically changed the way it runs Medicaid over the past few years. The state moved about 600,000 people on the government-run health program into care that is managed by for-profit insurance companies.

9 Oct 2017

Despite boost in social security, rising Medicare Part B costs leave seniors in bind

Millions of seniors will soon be notified that Medicare premiums for physicians' services are rising and likely to consume most of the cost-of-living adjustment they'll receive next year from Social Security.

5 Oct 2017

Navy developing new class of intelligent prostheses for warfighters with limb loss

Traditional leg prosthetics enable amputees to maintain mobility and lead more active lives. But these prosthetics depend on soft limb tissue to function and can be painful to wear, resulting in awkward walking motion and possible skin infection.

4 Oct 2017

Postcard from Capitol Hill: Health care hearing’s action was in hallway

"Kill the bill, don't kill us," one woman screamed, inches from a U.S. Capitol Police officer's face Monday afternoon in a marbled hallway of U.S. Capitol at the start of the one and only public hearing on the GOP's last-ditch effort to replace the Affordable Care Act.

26 Sep 2017