Medical News

RSS

Extended thrombolysis window has potential pitfall

The benefits gained from extending the window for thrombolysis in patients with stroke could be lost if the more generous deadline causes physicians to relax, a study suggests.

3 Oct 2012

Babies’ facial expressions after jab reveal pain type

Researchers have discerned seven distinct facial expressions in babies immediately after vaccination, which they say could signal different types of pain and aid communication of distress to caregivers.

3 Oct 2012

Haploidentical bone marrow transplants for sickle cell disease: an interview with Dr. Javier Bolaños Meade

Bone marrow transplant (also called stem cell transplant) is a medical intervention that allows a physician to deliver very high doses of chemotherapy (if needed) but more importantly, deliver a new immune system to the patient to fight a disease (such as cancer).

3 Oct 2012

First Edition: October 3, 2012

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jordan Rau reports: "Medicare's new readmission penalties for hospitals just got a bit tougher. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has discovered errors in its initial calculations in August. As a result, 1,422 hospitals with comparatively high readmission rates will lose slightly more money than they were expecting, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis of the revised penalties. Fifty-five hospitals will lose less than were previously told."

3 Oct 2012

New contact lenses can cure nearsightedness, slow progression rates in children

Nearsightedness, or myopia, affects more than 40 percent of people in the U.S. and up to 90 percent of children in some parts of Asia. The problem begins in childhood and often progresses with age.

3 Oct 2012

More access to video-EEG may reduce treatment gap for epilepsy and PNES

HIV prevention, vaccine research progressing

In a guest post on the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog, Margaret McGlynn, president and CEO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), and William Snow, director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, discuss the recent AIDS Vaccine 2012 Conference that was held in Boston.

3 Oct 2012

Adolescent and young cancer cost barriers: an interview with Anne Kirchhoff

According to the National Cancer Institute, almost 70,000 people ages 15-39 are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States. Cancers in this adolescent and young adult (AYA) population differ quite a bit across this age span.

3 Oct 2012

Post office's retiree health benefits hole gets deeper

The Postal Service sank deeper into debt on Monday after the agency defaulted on a $5.6 billion payment due at the end of September, the second time it has missed a deadline this year to set aside money for its future retiree health benefits.

3 Oct 2012

UMass Amherst biophysicist receives 2013 Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Award

University of Massachusetts Amherst biophysicist Jenny Ross has won one of the top national honors in her field, the 2013 Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Award, from the Biophysical Society of Rockville, Md. It is given to a woman who has achieved prominence for "substantial contributions to science," while showing very high promise for ideas and leadership in the early stages of her biophysical research career.

3 Oct 2012

NF1 gene mutations cause noninheritable or spontaneous breast cancers

Cancerous tumors contain hundreds of mutations, and finding these mutations that result in uncontrollable cell growth is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. As difficult as this task is, it's exactly what a team of scientists from Cornell University, the University of North Carolina, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York have done for one type of breast cancer.

3 Oct 2012

Census reports Americans go to the doctor less often

A study of working-age people found that the average number of doctor appointments dropped from 4.8 visits a year in 2001 to 3.9 visits in 2010.

3 Oct 2012

Improvements to diagnosis and screening of sleep apnea are critical to stroke prevention

Improvements to the diagnosis and screening of sleep apnea are critical to stroke prevention, according to new stroke care guidelines released today at the Canadian Stroke Congress.

3 Oct 2012

World Bank President addresses meeting of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America

The World Bank provides a transcript of World Bank President Jim Yong Kim's remarks at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America. Kim discusses his engagement in Africa and Latin America as co-founder of Partners In Health, highlights the World Development Report, which he says "is focused on jobs," and emphasizes the role of the private sector in economic growth.

3 Oct 2012

Rising rates of obesity lead to increases in bariatric surgery

With rising rates of morbid obesity, the number of bariatric surgery procedures is likely to increase as well, reports a paper in the October issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

3 Oct 2012

Liberty University hopes to revive health law challenge

The school says its suit raises questions not answered by the Supreme Court in its June decision and is asking the high court to order an appeals court to hear the case.

3 Oct 2012

Direct link between pressure ulcers, patient mortality and increased hospitalization

A new clinical study spearheaded by the dean of UCLA's School of Nursing has found a direct correlation between pressure ulcers - commonly known as bedsores - and patient mortality and increased hospitalization.

3 Oct 2012

Devex interviews global health experts during U.N. week

During last week's events in New York, including the U.N. General Assembly, the Clinton Global Initiative, and the Social Good Summit, Devex interviewed several newsmakers on the sidelines of the meetings. WHO Assistant Director-General on Family, Women and Children's Health Flavia Bustreo in an interview with Devex said three challenges to continuing to lower maternal, child, and infant death rates include improving accountability, channeling resources to areas with the least improvement, and keeping a focus on women and children.

3 Oct 2012

LpxC-1 can effectively treat antibiotic-resistant infections

A new type of antibiotic can effectively treat an antibiotic-resistant infection by disarming instead of killing the bacteria that cause it. Researchers report their findings in the October 2 issue of mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

3 Oct 2012

DFG-funded project to research into complex regional pain syndrome

German Research Foundation funds a three-year joint project of the Mainz University Medical Center and the University of Münster to the tune of about EUR 460,000.

3 Oct 2012