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Simple measures to control spread of XDR TB

By using a combination of inexpensive infection control measures, hospitals around the world could prevent half the new cases of extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB), according to a new study in The Lancet by researchers at Yale School of Medicine.

20 Dec 2007

Safer, more accurate, and more effective radiation therapy for pregnant women

Developing fetuses are extremely sensitive to radiation, which poses an impossible dilemma for expecting mothers in need of screening or treatment for cancer.

20 Dec 2007

Research may bring new generation of cochlear implants

A Rutgers University team led by neuroscientist Robin Davis is opening new doors to improved hearing for the congenitally or profoundly deaf.

20 Dec 2007

RNA interference therapy heals growth deficiency disorder in a live animal

A team of Vanderbilt researchers have demonstrated for the first time that a new type of gene therapy, called RNA interference, can heal a genetic disorder in a live animal.

20 Dec 2007

Researchers train the immune system to deliver virus that destroys cancer in lab models

An international team of researchers led by Mayo Clinic have designed a technique that uses the body's own cells and a virus to destroy cancer cells that spread from primary tumors to other parts of the body through the lymphatic system.

20 Dec 2007

Chronic fatigue syndrome - new research may help diagnosis

One of the most difficult things for people suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is that many believe the condition to be a psychological, not physical affliction.

20 Dec 2007

Rehabilitation training for patients with spinal cord injuries may help repair brain, spinal cord

Intensive rehabilitation training for patients with spinal cord injuries can stimulate new branches growing from severed nerve fibers, alongside compensatory changes in the brain, say Canadian researchers.

20 Dec 2007

No need for reduced alcohol consumption in later life

Provided they stick to the same guidelines about alcohol consumption as younger adults, regular moderate drinking poses no additional risks to the over 65s, and may even bring health benefits, according to two studies from the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England.

20 Dec 2007

A new brain imaging study identifies 'brain signature' for cigarette cravings

A new brain imaging study by researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania shows that cigarette cravings in smokers who are deprived of nicotine are linked with increased activation in specific regions of the brain.

20 Dec 2007

Hardening of the arteries - mutant gene identified as culprit

A genetic mutation expands lesions in the aorta and promotes coronary atherosclerosis, more commonly known as hardening of the arteries, according to a study by Yale School of Medicine in Cell Metabolism.

20 Dec 2007

Link between chronic kidney disease and hypoxia

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered how low-oxygen conditions can worsen chronic kidney disease (CKD).

20 Dec 2007

Robotic-assisted visceral arterial aneurysm surgery

Surgeons at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago have performed a landmark robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery to remove a renal arterial aneurysm and reconstruct the artery using a graft from a vein in the patient's leg.

20 Dec 2007

Intensive training post-spinal cord injury can stimulate repair in brain and spinal cord

20 Dec 2007

New treatment option offers hope to multiple myeloma patients

Patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an often deadly bone marrow cancer, rarely live more than three years after diagnosis if treated with conventional chemotherapy or even some of the newer drug therapies.

20 Dec 2007

Health care savings, coverage for all could lower spending $1.5 trillion over 10 years

Guaranteed health insurance for all combined with several federal policy options to achieve health care system savings could result in $1.5 trillion in reduced spending over 10 years, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report prepared by Fund staff and the Lewin Group for study by the Fund's Commission on a High Performance Health System.

20 Dec 2007

Depletion of antioxidant glutathione linked to Parkinson's in mice

Scientists at the Buck Institute have shown that mice suffering from a depletion of the antioxidant glutathione in dopamine-producing neurons developed nerve damage and symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) in humans.

20 Dec 2007

Laser procedure may treat vasa previa

A University of South Florida fetal surgeon at Tampa General Hospital successfully treated in utero a rare but potentially devastating condition in which placental blood vessels block the birth canal and can rupture during labor, leaving the baby without vital blood and oxygen.

20 Dec 2007

FDA Critical Path Initiative addresses differences between women's and men's health outcomes

Advanced medical technology and analysis methods now being promoted through the Food and Drug Administration's Critical Path Initiative to facilitate the development of drugs, biologics and devices can help address differences between women and men in the detection and treatment of disease, according to a paper published in the Winter 2007 issue of Drug Discovery Today: Technologies.

20 Dec 2007

Study looks at prevalence of "false-positive" catheterization laboratory activation for patients with suspected STEMI

Physicians caring for patients suspected of having a heart attack may trigger "false-positive" activation of the cardiac catheterization laboratory based on test results suggestive of a heart attack, according to a study in the December 19 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

20 Dec 2007

Early surgical treatment contributes to better outcomes in gallstone pancreatitis cases

Although delaying surgical treatment remains the standard of care for patients with severe gallstone pancreatitis, a new study published in the December issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that, contrary to widespread belief, early cholecystectomy -- or surgical removal of the gallbladder -- significantly reduces hospital stays in patients with mild to moderate gallstone pancreatitis with no increase in complications or mortality.

20 Dec 2007