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Men who are overweight or obese have lower PSA values, even before they get prostate cancer

Men who are overweight or obese have lower concentrations of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in their blood than their normal-weight counterparts, according to a new study led by Duke University Medical Center researchers.

20 Feb 2008

Optical tool detects biomarkers in breath

Exhale on a cold winter day and you will see the water vapor coming out of your mouth.

20 Feb 2008

More needs to be done for preemie healthcare

A recent survey of 202 neonatologists and pediatricians, which examined current attitudes and practices when caring for the specialized health needs of preterm infants, revealed that most respondents (70 percent) feel the United States' healthcare system does not place enough emphasis on or dedicate enough resources to preventive healthcare for preemies.

20 Feb 2008

Mix of endocrine disrupters a dangerous cocktail

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which are harmless individually in small doses, can together be a dangerous cocktail.

20 Feb 2008

The debut of second generation memory care

Researchers and clinicians from the Indiana University School of Medicine and the Regenstrief Institute are blurring the distinction between lab and clinic as they debut the second generation of memory care.

20 Feb 2008

More support needed for menopausal women in rural areas

Good social support and reliable information are essential for women who find menopause an intense and life-altering experience, especially if they live in rural areas where health services are patchy or inaccessible.

20 Feb 2008

Study finds increase in thyroid diseases risk from radiation exposure at Chernobyl

Persons exposed to radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl accident as children and adolescents have an increased risk of follicular adenoma or benign tumor of the thyroid gland, according to researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

20 Feb 2008

Listening to music in the early stages after a stroke can improve patients' recovery

Researchers from Finland found that if stroke patients listened to music for a couple of hours a day, their verbal memory and focused attention recovered better and they had a more positive mood than patients who did not listen to anything or who listened to audio books.

20 Feb 2008

Bacteria dupe human immune system by using invisibility cloak

Scientists at the University of York have characterised an important new step in the mechanism used by bacteria to evade our immune system.

20 Feb 2008

In-hospital heart attacks during the night or weekends may lower survival rate

Patients who have an in-hospital cardiac arrest at night or on the weekend have a substantially lower rate of survival to discharge than hospitalized patients who experience a cardiac arrest during day/evening times on weekdays, according to a study in the February 20 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

20 Feb 2008

Human stem cells aid stroke recovery in rats

Neural cells derived from human embryonic stem cells helped repair stroke-related damage in the brains of rats and led to improvements in their physical abilities, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

20 Feb 2008

Most maternal deaths worldwide are preventable

A study published in PLoS Medicine this week suggests that of women who die during pregnancy and childbirth in sub-Saharan Africa, more may die from treatable infectious diseases than from conditions directly linked to pregnancy.

20 Feb 2008

U.S. hospital helps lower infection rates at British hospital

Using their best practice methods for infection control and patient care, Hospital for Special Surgery in New York has helped a new British hospital lower their infection rates and average length of stay.

20 Feb 2008

Ocular melanoma - potential new treatment options

Ocular melanoma is rarely detected before it has grown large enough to impair vision or to metastasize.

20 Feb 2008

$Hormone refractory prostate cancers more likely to spread to other organs$

Hormone refractory prostate cancers more likely to spread to other organs

Prostate cancers that are resistant to androgen deprivation therapy are more invasive and more likely to spread to other organs than androgen dependent prostate cancers, UCLA cancer researchers have found.

20 Feb 2008

Stereotypes and misinformation about HIV still commonplace in healthcare

The doctor who wouldn't come into the patient's hospital room. The neurologist who avoided eye contact. The ambulance attendant who angrily threw her bloodied gloves into the street after learning the injured patient was HIV-positive.

20 Feb 2008

Gene therapy - immune system discovery may lead to effective treatment for glioblastoma multiforme

A new gene therapy approach that attracts and "trains" immune system cells to destroy deadly brain cancer cells also provides long-term immunity, produces no significant adverse effects and -- in the process of destroying the tumor -- promotes the return of normal brain function and behavioral skills, according to a study conducted by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Board of Governors Gene Therapeutics Research Institute.

20 Feb 2008

FDA approves XYZAL (levocetirizine dihydrochloride) for allergies and chronic idiopathic urticaria

UCB and sanofi-aventis have announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a New Drug Application (NDA) for XYZAL (levocetirizine dihydrochloride) 0.5 mg/mL oral solution, a prescription antihistamine indicated for the relief of symptoms associated with indoor and outdoor allergies, as well as the treatment of chronic idiopathic urticaria.

20 Feb 2008

Families need help coping with mild cognitive impairment

The age-related memory condition known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is more disruptive of day-to-day life and relationships than once believed, gerontology researchers at Virginia Tech have discovered.

20 Feb 2008

Evidence supports bats as SARS virus source

Scientists who have studied the genome of the virus that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) say their comparisons to related viruses offer new evidence that the virus infecting humans originated in bats.

20 Feb 2008