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Research explores power of offering colon cancer screening options

Researchers find that when given a choice of methods, more people will opt to get screened for colon cancer. Meanwhile, a separate study found that insurance coverage of lung cancer screenings for high-risk patients could prevent -- at a low cost -- thousands of deaths annually.

12 Apr 2012

Education tool helps chest pain patients decide on stress testing

Chest pain patients educated about their future heart attack risk and involved in deciding care options were more likely than less-aware patients to opt out of stress testing, according to research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.

12 Apr 2012

Scientists aim to develop new testing methods for drug-induced liver failure

Liver damage caused by medicinal drugs is one of the most common reasons for liver failure and liver transplants in the Western world. Nevertheless, it is difficult to predict which active ingredients will turn out to be toxic for the organ. Oftentimes the problems are not discovered until the drug is already on the market. Prof. Dr. Jens Timmer, Freiburg physicist and Director of the FRIAS School of Life Sciences - LifeNet, is a project partner in a consortium that wants to solve this problem.

12 Apr 2012

ECG abnormalities associated with increased risk of CHD in older adults

In a study that included elderly men and women without preexisting cardiovascular disease, major and minor electrocardiographic abnormalities were associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) events and improved the prediction of CHD events such as heart attack, beyond traditional cardiovascular risk factors, according to a study in the April 11 issue of JAMA.

12 Apr 2012

Quest Diagnostics receives FDA clearance for Simplexa C. difficile Universal Direct test

Quest Diagnostics, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510(k) clearance to its Simplexa C. difficile Universal Direct Test on the 3M Integrated Cycler.

From Quest Diagnostics 12 Apr 2012

Preliminary results from GE Healthcare’s flutemetamol Phase 3 studies on AD

GE Healthcare today announced the preliminary results of two Phase 3 studies of its investigational PET amyloid imaging agent, [18F]flutemetamol, where both studies met their primary endpoints. One study, in terminally ill patients who agreed to undergo brain autopsy, showed strong concordance between flutemetamol PET images and Alzheimer's disease-associated beta amyloid brain pathology.

12 Apr 2012

ST2 more specific than BNP for heart failure diagnosis

Critical Diagnostics today announced publication in the latest issue of the Journal of Heart Failure results of a study involving 995 patients who presented to the emergency room (ER) with chest pain. The study concluded that in this undifferentiated, symptomatic patient population ST2 was more specific for acute heart failure than BNP and that ST2 is independently predictive of future death and/or heart failure and has incremental utility in combination with BNP.

12 Apr 2012

Mayo Clinic to offer novel device for patients with GERD

Mayo Clinic in Florida will be one of the first health care institutions in the United States to offer a newly approved device to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The condition, also known as acid reflux disease, can lead to serious health problems.

12 Apr 2012

Emdeon, MZIHC enter services agreement

MZI HealthCare, LLC (MZIHC), a leading provider of health plan administration software, announced today that it has entered into a services agreement with Emdeon, a leading provider of revenue and payment cycle management and clinical information exchange solutions.

12 Apr 2012

Boston Scientific launches Z Flex-270 Steerable Sheath in the U.S.

Boston Scientific Corporation announces the U.S. market launch of its Z Flex-270 Steerable Sheath. The device is intended for use in a wide range of electrophysiology (EP) procedures to facilitate the introduction and placement of diagnostic and therapeutic catheters within the heart.

12 Apr 2012

GPs seeking separate remuneration for maintaining e-health records

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11 Apr 2012

Computer modeling supports theory that many dementias spread like prion diseases

A new technique for analyzing brain images offers the possibility of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to predict the rate of progression and physical path of many degenerative brain diseases, report scientists at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.

11 Apr 2012

SomaLogic, HUNT Biosciences partner to advance clinical use of cardiovascular biomarkers

HUNT Biosciences and SomaLogic, Inc., today announced a new collaboration to advance the clinical use of protein biomarkers, with an initial focus on the validation of biomarkers for the prediction of cardiovascular events such as strokes, heart attacks, and heart failure.

11 Apr 2012

Scientists map physical architecture of intelligence in the brain

Scientists report that they have mapped the physical architecture of intelligence in the brain. Theirs is one of the largest and most comprehensive analyses so far of the brain structures vital to general intelligence and to specific aspects of intellectual functioning, such as verbal comprehension and working memory.

11 Apr 2012

New online tool determines extent of exposure to radio alcohol ads among young people

A new online tool from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health determines the extent of exposure to radio alcohol advertisements among young people ages 12 to 20 in 75 different media markets.

11 Apr 2012

Lauren Sciences, BGN Technologies sign licensing agreement for V-Smart- drug delivery technology

BGN Technologies, the technology transfer company for Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), has signed a licensing agreement for its V-Smart- drug delivery technology with Lauren Sciences LLC, a privately held biotechnology company in New York.

11 Apr 2012

Siemens announces integrated imaging solution for detection of amyloid plaques

Siemens Healthcare is the first company worldwide to announce a complete integrated diagnostic imaging solution proposed for the detection of amyloid plaques — one of the necessary pathological features of Alzheimer's disease— in the living brain.

From Siemens Healthineers 11 Apr 2012

New method for direct identification of antigens

The immune system is a vital part of our defenses against pathogens, but it can also attack host tissues, resulting in autoimmune disease. The antigens that induce destructive immune reactions can now be identified directly - without any prior knowledge of their possible structure.

11 Apr 2012

EKG can detect heart attack in healthy senior citizens

Can a simple diagnostic test used to measure a heart's electrical activity help predict heart attacks? And can that knowledge help doctors reroute their patients away from coronary heart disease? These are the questions researchers at UCSF asked in a comprehensive eight-year study focused on senior citizens in the United States. Researchers found a higher risk of heart attack when abnormalities showed up on electrocardiogram (EKG) results of healthy elderly people.

11 Apr 2012

Study shows how biofilms form on implanted devices

Bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, the 'superbug' behind MRSA, can be a major problem for patients who have a medical implant, such as a replacement heart valve or pacemaker.

11 Apr 2012