Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Study shows surgical robot technology reports misleading picture of safety

Despite widespread adoption by hospitals of surgical robot technology over the past decade, a "slapdash" system of reporting complications paints a , according to Johns Hopkins researchers.

4 Sep 2013

Policies, operations taking shape for online insurance marketplaces

Three states plan to open call centers today to aid consumers in finding their way around new health exchanges, slated to start business on Oct. 1. Meanwhile, in Alaska, federal officials and local organizations are working to try to get a marketplace up and running before this deadline, and California's marketplace offers more details about premium rates for coverage that will be available.

4 Sep 2013

Study: "Negative working conditions score" associated with depressive symptoms

The sum total of adverse working conditions explains a substantial portion of the risk of depression in working-age adults, suggests a study in the September Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

4 Sep 2013

Poor black residents receive worse care in US nursing homes, study finds

If you're poor and aging in America, the golden years may not be pretty, especially if you are black.

4 Sep 2013

BIDMC receives grant to study new noninvasive neurophysiologic intervention for spinal cord injuries

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has been awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate the use of a new noninvasive neurophysiologic intervention for the treatment of patients with spinal cord injuries.

4 Sep 2013

Inhaled steroids linked to improved school performance in asthma

Researchers from Greece say that the use of steroid inhalers in elementary school children with asthma may improve school performance over other forms of therapy.

3 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 3, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about interest in and action surrounding state health exchange call centers.

3 Sep 2013

Acacia Pharma raises $23.5 million in Series B financing

Acacia Pharma, a pharmaceutical company specialising in the development of drugs for supportive care, announces it has raised £15 million (~$23.5 million) in a Series B financing led by Fidelity Biosciences and Novo A/S.

3 Sep 2013

Women in their 40s and 50s are hospitalized more than twice for asthma attack

Asthma is a disease that mostly affects young boys and adult women. And according to a new study, women in their 40s and 50s with asthma are hospitalized more than twice as often as men in the same age group. The 10-year study is published in the September issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).

3 Sep 2013

Study estimates total annual costs for five major health care-associated infections

A study estimates that total annual costs for five major health care-associated infections (HAIs) were $9.8 billion, with surgical site infections contributing the most to overall costs, according to a report published by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

3 Sep 2013

New model to predict which patients are most likely to have severe kidney failure from rhabdomyolysis

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have developed a risk score calculation that can help predict which patients with rhabdomyolysis (a condition that occurs due to muscle damage) may be at risk for the severe complication of kidney failure or death.

3 Sep 2013

Balance training boosts pulmonary rehabilitation

Canadian researchers report that balance training can significantly improve outcomes when added to pulmonary rehabilitation programs for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

2 Sep 2013

Multicultural Health Week 2013 puts spotlight on medication safety

Every year, thousands of people are hospitalised because of medicine-related problems. Interactions between medicines, accidentally doubling up on a dose, and adverse effects are some of the factors that can result in hospitalisation. Many of these incidents are potentially avoidable.

2 Sep 2013

Roche's Herceptin formulation wins EU approval for treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that the European Commission has granted Roche European Union marketing authorization for the use of a time-saving subcutaneous formulation of Herceptin (trastuzumab) for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer.

2 Sep 2013

Effectiveness of community-based rehabilitation programme for cardiovascular prevention

With a growing incidence of cardiovascular disease in Asia, lifestyle modification such as weight loss and routine exercise plays an important role in early primary cardiovascular disease prevention.

2 Sep 2013

Pre-treatment with prasugrel increases risk of bleeding without reducing risk of ischemic events

In patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE- ACS), pre-treatment with the P2Y12 antagonist prasugrel prior to catheterization, significantly increases the risk of life-threatening bleeding without reducing the risk of major ischemic events, according to the results of the ACCOAST (A Comparison of Prasugrel at PCI or Time of Diagnosis of Non-ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction) trial.

2 Sep 2013

Reimbursement systems appear to impact on achievement of cholesterol lowering targets

Dr Gitt said: "There are wide variations between European countries in the achievement of LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) targets. However the effect of different reimbursement systems on meeting the targets was unknown."

2 Sep 2013

Despite living with highest risk factors for heart disease, people in high income countries suffer less

Despite living with the highest risk factors for heart disease, people in high income countries suffer less from serious cardiovascular disease, says an international study by the global PURE (Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology ) collaboration and led by McMaster University researchers.

2 Sep 2013

Holistic approach to understand and treat TB

For years, physicians around the world have watched as strain after strain of the deadly bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis evolves resistance to drugs.

2 Sep 2013

Reverse innovation in global health systems: learning from low-income countries

The idea that insights from the healthcare systems of low-income countries might be transferable from low to high-income countries is becoming increasingly common in global health and innovation publications.

31 Aug 2013