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The efficacy and safety of Rituximab in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis

Drugs aimed at suppressing inflammation-provoking cytokines--specifically those linked to T-cells--have improved the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disease. Still, the frequency of remission achieved by these biologic agents remains below 50 percent.

3 May 2006

MRI clues identify stroke victims at risk of skull hemorrhaging

The appearance of parenchymal enhancement of stroke lesions and the hyperintense MCA sign on MRI may help identify stroke patients at risk of hemorrhaging in the skull, says a new study by researchers at Shantou University Medical College in China and the University of Toronto in Canada.

3 May 2006

Image-guided kidney biopsy can diagnose benign kidney tumors and has a low rate of complications

For the study, 407 image-guided kidney lesion biopsies were performed in 377 patients using either CT, ultrasound, or a combination of both to guide a small needle through the skin of the patient to take a sample of the lesion.

3 May 2006

Reward-motivated learning: mesolimbic activation precedes memory formation

The prospect of a paycheck, good grade, or promotion wonderfully concentrates the mind, and researchers have now identified the brain circuitry responsible for such reward-motivated learning.

3 May 2006

Gay men who are HIV-positive rarely regret revealing their health status to others

The study, the first of its kind, could be important for clinicians who work with HIV-positive men who are often uncertain whether to tell friends, family, co-workers or others about being diagnosed with the virus that causes AIDS.

3 May 2006

Cancer survivors in Norway have normal living conditions

In the context of sociological research, cancer patients' quality of life and living conditions constitute their welfare.

3 May 2006

A new fast-melting oral formulation of desmopressin

Vande Walle and colleagues performed this study to determine the pharmacodynamic properties as well as the safety and tolerability of a new oral lyophilisate formulation of desmopressin (in single doses of 30, 60, 120, 240, 360 or 480 µg) in children with known primary nocturnal enuresis (PNE).

3 May 2006

Hormone therapy still the most effective for menopause symptoms

A new study has found that estrogen therapy is the best treatment for menopause-related hot flashes.

3 May 2006

Underage and abusive drinkers very profitable for the alcohol industry

According to new research in the U.S. the underage drinking market is making the alcohol industry a neat $23 billion a year and that figure represents 17.5 percent of all money spent on alcohol in the U.S. annually.

3 May 2006

Antidepressant suicide risk up five times for seniors

According to Canadian researchers seniors who are prescribed antidepressants such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft are almost five times more likely to commit suicide during the first month on the drugs than those given other medication to treat depression.

3 May 2006

Bronchial thermoplasty offers significant improvement for asthmatics

Asthmatic patients showed significant improvement in peak expiratory flow, airway responsiveness and number of symptom-free days after treatment with bronchial thermoplasty, a new procedure designed to reduce the ability of airway smooth muscle to narrow from inflammation.

3 May 2006

Verbal medical order errors reduced to zero

Hospitals have spent millions of dollars on computerized physician order entry systems to reduce medical errors, but a simple change in the way verbal orders are entered in the system -- so simple that it cost nothing to implement -- has reduced errors to zero, according to a new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study.

3 May 2006

SLU Liver Center to study effectiveness of tenofovir in treating hepatitis B

Saint Louis University School of Medicine researchers are studying the effectiveness of a drug for patients with chronic hepatitis B that is currently used to treat HIV.

3 May 2006

Saint Louis University hunt for a Hepatitis C vaccine

Human clinical trials involving investigational vaccines to prevent Hepatitis C are rare. In the fall of 2003 there was a first-ever study at Saint Louis University Center for Vaccine Development, and an earlier small study at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

3 May 2006

Percutaneous cryoablation is a safe method for treating kidney tumors

Percutaneous cryoablation, a relatively non-invasive technique that destroys tumors by freezing them, is a safe method for treating kidney tumors in selected patients who are not considered candidates for surgery, according to a new study by researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

3 May 2006

Therapeutic gene suspected to cause cancer

One of the few gene therapy studies that had ever been successful was terminated in 2003, because several of the treated children had developed leukemia.

3 May 2006

Different methods of cooking vegetables could vary their effects on dental erosion

A research team led by Dr Graham Chadwick in the School of Dentistry have investigated whether the method of cooking a popular vegetarian dish, Ratatouille, would have any impact on the acidity of the food, and therefore the potential for contributing to dental erosion.

3 May 2006

MR cystography accurate and safe for vesicoureteral reflux screening

MR cystography provides excellent anatomic detail of the urinary system and is a potential screening examination for vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), according to a new study by researchers from Changi General Hospital in Singapore and the University of California, San Francisco.

3 May 2006

Passive smoking associated with behavior problems in children and pre-teens

A new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study shows that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, even at extremely low levels, is associated with behavior problems in children and pre-teens.

3 May 2006

More effective influenza vaccine

An intranasal influenza vaccine proved to be more effective than the injectable influenza vaccine in children older than 6 months and younger than 5 years of age, according to study data presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in San Francisco.

3 May 2006