Medical Research News

RSS

Implant-based breast reconstruction has disadvantages

Implant-based breast reconstruction, particularly immediate reconstruction, is associated with a higher failure rate than a free flap technique in obese people, suggest researchers.

1 Nov 2012

FoXTROT results: preoperative chemo could become new standard

Preoperative chemotherapy is a feasible option for resectable advanced colon cancer, show results of the FoXTROT trial.

1 Nov 2012

Bone quality reduced in mood disorder patients

Results from an Australian study show that men and young women with mood disorders have significantly lower bone quality than their mentally healthy counterparts.

1 Nov 2012

Psychotic symptoms increase suicidality risk in adolescents

The presence of psychotic symptoms is associated with a significantly increased risk for suicidal behavior in adolescents, research shows.

1 Nov 2012

Primary care improvement program shows benefits of collaboration

A collaborative primary care program aimed at enhancing provision for chronic diseases, patient self-management, access, and Aboriginal healthcare has shown improvement across the vast majority of measures, Australian study findings indicate.

1 Nov 2012

Genetic underpinning of placebo effect identified

US researchers have identified a gene that appears to be responsible for the placebo effect.

1 Nov 2012

Acupuncture shows promise in head and neck patients with xerostomia

Acupuncture significantly relieves the symptoms of xerostomia, or dry mouth, compared with oral care education in patients who have undergone radical or adjuvant radiotherapy for head and neck cancer, indicate the results of a randomized crossover trial.

1 Nov 2012

Social disadvantage may increase risk for psychosis

Results from a UK study suggest that social disadvantage is associated with an increased risk for developing psychosis.

1 Nov 2012

Treatment rate high at end of life for prostate cancer patients

Approximately one-third of men with castration-resistant prostate cancer receive some form of treatment in the last 3 months of life, show US study results.

1 Nov 2012

Multiple sclerosis disease activity reduced by leukaemia drug, even when first-line treatment has failed

A drug which was originally developed to treat leukaemia and other cancers of the immune system offers substantial improvements over existing treatments in reducing relapse rates for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), even when they have not responded well to first-line treatment, according to the results of two phase 3 trials published Online First in The Lancet.

1 Nov 2012

Transformatix Technologies, NCH partner to create BioLinQ

The latest significant biomedical informatics technology is not coming from the biotech industry or a university. In fact, it's coming from a children's hospital.

1 Nov 2012

Ischemic stroke: an interview with Dr Gregory Ford

A stroke is a sudden interruption of blood flow to the brain which deprives the brain of oxygen and nutrients. Approximately two millions brain cells die each minute during a stroke. This can lead to brain damage, physical and mental disability and death.

1 Nov 2012

Humans and apes do not bare the imprint of nocturnal life in their eye structures

Since the age of dinosaurs, most species of day-active mammals have retained the imprint of nocturnal life in their eye structures. Humans and other anthropoid primates, such as monkeys and apes, are the only groups that deviate from this pattern, according to a new study from The University of Texas at Austin and Midwestern University.

1 Nov 2012

Brain's infralimbic cortex can switch between new and old habits

Habits are behaviors wired so deeply in our brains that we perform them automatically. This allows you to follow the same route to work every day without thinking about it, liberating your brain to ponder other things, such as what to make for dinner.

1 Nov 2012

Symbolic math connected to evolutionarily primitive general magnitude system

The ability to learn complex, symbolic math is a uniquely human trait, but it is intricately connected to a primitive sense of magnitude that is shared by many animals, finds a study to be published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

1 Nov 2012

Controlling depression can improve health status and social functioning in patients with heart failure

Controlling depression in patients with heart failure can improve health status, social functioning and quality of life, according to a new study by psychiatrists and cardiologists at the UC Davis and Duke University schools of medicine.

1 Nov 2012

Recurrence risk can be identified before hepatectomy

Patients who are likely to experience disease recurrence after undergoing hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma can be identified by factors that are available preoperatively, indicate the results of a Hong Kong study.

31 Oct 2012

Prognostic impact of Gleason score modernization undetermined

A review of contemporary grading systems for prostate cancer has found that modernization of the Gleason grading system results in more accurate grading for radical prostatectomy than older systems.

31 Oct 2012

All schoolchildren could be screened for stuttering

A screening model for stuttering could be used to assess all school-age children for the speech disorder, say researchers.

31 Oct 2012

Affordable Medicines Facility improves access to anti-malarials

The Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria has resulted in significant improvements in the availability and price of quality-assured artemisinin-based combination therapies in seven African countries after 1 year, show study findings published in The Lancet.

31 Oct 2012