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Disclosure of physicians' financial incentives may increase patient trust

Providing notices that explain how physicians are paid appears to increase patients' knowledge about compensation models, does not harm trust and may increase the loyalty patients feel toward their physicians, according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

11 Apr 2006

Similarities and differences in outcomes of cirrhosis due to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and hepatitis C

Cirrhosis related to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is associated with fewer complications and a lower mortality compared to cirrhosis from hepatitis C, despite NASH patients' greater risk of dying from cardiovascular events.

11 Apr 2006

Researchers determine factors that turn on protein production in bacteria

In the study, published in the journal Molecular Cell, researchers Sean Studer and Simpson Joseph in UCSD's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry report how the messenger RNA instructions to make a protein are unfolded in a bacterial cell, so that they can be read by the cell's protein-making machinery.

11 Apr 2006

Losartan can prevent progression of Marfan syndrome

A commonly prescribed blood pressure medication may provide the first ray of hope in preventing potentially deadly complications of Marfan syndrome, a genetic disease that weakens the structural meshwork of blood vessels.

11 Apr 2006

Alcohol use, tobacco use and male gender associated with an earlier onset of colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths, according to background information in the article. Screening asymptomatic patients is an important strategy for reducing these deaths, because by the time patients experience symptoms, the cancer may have progressed beyond the point where it can be cured.

11 Apr 2006

Fat cells surrounding coronary arteries may play a role in development of heart disease

The fat cells that surround coronary arteries may play a central and previously unrecognized role in development of cardiovascular disease, according to a study by University of Iowa researchers.

11 Apr 2006

REM state intrusion contributes to near death experiences

People who have had near death experiences often have different arousal systems controlling the sleep-wake states than people who have not had a near death experience, according to a new study published in the April 11, 2006, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

11 Apr 2006

Alcohol use, comorbidity, and mortality

Older men who drink as few as two drinks twice a week and also have diseases that could be worsened by alcohol or cause problems with medications taken while drinking alcohol have higher death rates, as compared to men who either drink less or may drink more but don't have such comorbidities.

11 Apr 2006

Evidence supporting use of honey as a wound dressing

Substantial evidence demonstrates that honey, one of the oldest healing remedies known to medicine, produces effective results when used as a wound dressing.

11 Apr 2006

Evaluation of an inactivated subunit H5N1 influenza virus vaccine in humans

Results from a clinical trial demonstrate that high doses of an experimental H5N1 avian influenza vaccine can induce immune responses in healthy adults.

11 Apr 2006

Passive smoking increases diabetes risk

A study published on the British Medical Journal website shows for the first time that breathing other people's smoke raises the risk of developing glucose intolerance, the precursor to diabetes.

11 Apr 2006

Lack of response to herceptin may be reversed with PI3K inhibiting agents

Breast cancer patients with HER2-positive tumors who don't respond to Herceptin (trastuzumab) may benefit from cocktail therapy that includes Herceptin along with one or more PI3K inhibiting agents, say researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

11 Apr 2006

Study illustrates contribution of obesity to decreased mobility in high functioning older women with osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis, common among older adults, is strongly linked to late-life disability, but the process by which this happens has not been well studied.

11 Apr 2006

Exposure to arsenic in utero and early childhood tied to lung disease and cancer in adults

Children who are exposed to high levels of arsenic in their drinking water are seven to 12 times more likely to die of lung cancer and other lung diseases in young adulthood, a new study by University of California, Berkeley, and Chilean researchers suggests.

11 Apr 2006

Salivary biomarkers of existing periodontal disease

A University of Kentucky study published in the Journal of American Dental Association could help change the diagnosis and treatment of periodontal disease.

11 Apr 2006

Depression is an often undiagnosed source of suffering for elderly

Elderly patients with lesser versions of depression, a group many times larger than those with major depression, are more than five times as likely as healthy patients to descend into major depression within one year, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

11 Apr 2006