Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Life-giving technology: Camera pills and ultrasound creating maps of the body

For more than ten years, senior medical officer Ronald Marvik at St. Olav's Hospital in Trondheim has been collaborating with SINTEF scientist Thomas Lango. Together, they have created a new IT-base window on the inside of the body, a window that makes a patient transparent on a screen when a surgeon inserts operating instruments through small openings in the abdominal wall.

23 Feb 2009

Questions of ethics and quality cloud globalization of clinical trials

Top-tier U.S.-based pharmaceutical companies are moving their clinical trials overseas at warp speed, raising questions about ethics, quality control, and even the scientific value of their findings for people back in the U.S.

20 Feb 2009

Optimizing dosage of blood-thinning drug warfarin

In a large-scale study and an upcoming clinical trial, scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health address one of the trickiest issues in prescribing medicine - how to quickly optimize each patient's dosage of the common blood-thinning drug warfarin.

20 Feb 2009

MRSA infections in ICU patients have been decreasing in recent years

In contrast to the perception that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections associated with use of a catheter is an increasing problem in intensive care unit (ICU) patients, the incidence of this type of infection decreased by nearly 50 percent from 1997 - 2007, according to a study in the February 18 issue of JAMA.

18 Feb 2009

Handheld device provides on-the-spot DNA analysis to test tolerance to prescription drugs

A handheld device to predict whether patients will respond adversely to medication is one step closer to the market, thanks to a new partnership.

18 Feb 2009

Doctors' resources for off-label prescribing may be incomplete, unclear

The resources doctors use to get important information about indications and reimbursement for use of cancer drugs off-label may be out-of-date and incomplete, according to a study led by researchers in the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center.

16 Feb 2009

Nanoscopic changes to pancreatic cells reveal cancer

A team of researchers in Chicago has developed a way to examine cell biopsies and detect never-before-seen signs of early-stage pancreatic cancer, according to a new paper in the Optical Society (OSA) journal Optics Letters.

16 Feb 2009

Personal digital assistants used to track tuberculosis data

For patients who have drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis, it's critical to monitor the disease as closely as possible.

11 Feb 2009

2 genes influence social behavior, visual-spatial performance in people with Williams syndrome

Unraveling the genetics of social behavior and cognitive abilities, researchers at the University of Utah and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have traced the role of two genes,GTF2I and GTF2IRD, in a rare genetic disorder known as Williams Syndrome.

11 Feb 2009

Unexplained chest pains

Each year, many people seek emergency treatment for unexplained chest pains.

9 Feb 2009

Continuation of statin treatment associated with lower risk of death

Patients with high cholesterol levels who continually take statins appear to have a lower risk of death over four to five years, regardless of whether they already have diagnosed heart disease, according to a report in the February 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine , one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

9 Feb 2009

A happy hospital makes for happy patients

Imagine a hospital where morale is high, employee turnover is low and patient call buttons rarely go unanswered---and if they do, you can call the hospital's CEO.

9 Feb 2009

Alarming increase in prevalence of chronic low-back pain

The proportion of people suffering from long term, impairing low back pain has more than doubled in North Carolina since the early 1990s, according to a new study.

9 Feb 2009

Traumatic brain injury patients can relearn emotions

The visitor in Barry Willer's office at the University at Buffalo was frustrated and deeply depressed.

9 Feb 2009

Remote Intelligent Drug Delivery System (RIDDS) may soon be a reality

Electronic implants that dispense medicines automatically or via a wireless medical network are on the horizon. Australian and US researchers warn of the security risks in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology .

8 Feb 2009

Healthcare reform

Faced with a barrage of pressing issues, the Obama administration has placed health-care reform high on its agenda.

8 Feb 2009

Medications control metabolism dominate spending for prescription meds

Medications that affect a person's metabolism by helping to lower cholesterol, control diabetes and control weight accounted for $38 billion of the $208.1 billion that American adults spent on medications in 2006, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

8 Feb 2009