Medical News

RSS

Management of faecal incontinence in adults

Adults who involuntarily lose solid or liquid stools no longer have to suffer in silence, thanks to new national standards on treating and managing the condition, known as faecal incontinence.

17 Jul 2007

New hope for childhood cancer sufferers

Scientists investigating drug therapies for children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) have presented new data demonstrating for the very first time that a small molecule called ABT-737 can increase the effectiveness of standard therapies.

17 Jul 2007

Latest in HIV/TB research

With HIV infection driving a deadly resurgence of tuberculosis (TB), a new publication provides up-to-date recommendations for clinicians facing the many challenges of treating patients with both of these two complex diseases.

17 Jul 2007

Nasal insufflation for sufferers of sleep apnea

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found that symptoms in patients with obstructive sleep apnea and hypopnea can be significantly reduced through treatment with nasal insufflation (TNI), using a nasal cannula to deliver warm, humidified air at a high flow rate.

17 Jul 2007

Analysis of diabetes drugs

Most oral medications prescribed for type 2 diabetes are similarly effective for reducing blood glucose, but the drug metformin is less likely to cause weight gain and may be more likely than other treatments to decrease so-called bad cholesterol, according to a report funded by HHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

17 Jul 2007

Insulin resistance in skeletal muscle can be countered through exercise

Abdominal fat, the spare tire that many of us carry, has long been implicated as a primary suspect in causing the metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that includes the most dangerous heart attack risk factors: prediabetes, diabetes, high blood pressure, and changes in cholesterol.

17 Jul 2007

C-reactive protein may indicate cognitive impairment in children with obstructive sleep apnea

C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation that is often used to detect cardiovascular disease, may also indicate cognitive impairment in children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), according to a new study of children ages 5 to 7.

17 Jul 2007

DNA analysis of Egyptian Pharaoh

Preliminary results from DNA tests carried out on a mummy believed to be Queen Hatshepsut is expected to support the claim by Egyptian authorities that the remains are indeed those of Egypt's most powerful female ruler.

From The University of Manchester 17 Jul 2007

Inverse relationship between mortality rates and performance in the hospital quality alliance measures

A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) shows that patients who go to hospitals ranked higher according to specific quality measures have a lower chance of dying than patients treated at lower-ranked hospitals.

17 Jul 2007

Parkinson's and manganese air pollution link

A University of Toronto study is the first in North America to draw a link between Parkinson's and manganese air pollution, and suggests industry-generated pollutants poses a greater health risk than traffic-generated manganese.

17 Jul 2007

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells suppress anti-tumor response to cancer

Scientists at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere say they have mapped out an escape route that cancers use to evade the body's immune system, allowing the disease to spread unchecked.

17 Jul 2007

Study looks at how medical IT affects both employees and residents in nursing homes

Staff members in 17 nursing homes in downstate New York are being trained in the use of new, hand-held wireless computers for record keeping that will send patient information directly to a central server, where doctors, pharmacies, rehabilitation specialists and others treating residents will be able to access it easily and quickly.

17 Jul 2007

How children with brain tumors perform at school

While children who have had brain tumors perform worse in school than healthy kids, grades in foreign language are the most affected and girls have a harder time than boys in getting good grades, according to a study published in the July 17, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

17 Jul 2007

Gene analysis and biostatistics

Three-stage procedures offer an optimal relationship between costs and benefits in analysing genetic influences in diseases and therapies, a fact that has major practical importance for the ever growing number of gene analyses.

17 Jul 2007

FDA approves Demipulse and Demipulse Duo Generators for use in vagus nerve stimulation

Cyberonics, Inc. has announced that the Demipulse and Demipulse Duo Generators for use in Vagus Nerve Stimulation ("VNS") Therapy were approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") for commercial release.

17 Jul 2007

FDA approves gene test to detect spread of breast cancer into lymph nodes

Veridex, LLC, a Johnson & Johnson company, has announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the first intra-operative and gene-based test to detect the spread of breast cancer into the lymph nodes.

17 Jul 2007

Novel type of communication between nerve cells in the brain discovered

The findings may have relevance for the prevention and treatment of epilepsy, and possibly in the exploration of other aspects of brain functions, from creative thought processes to mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

17 Jul 2007

Apraclonidine causes severe lethargy in infants

New research suggests that an eyedrop used to diagnose a rare syndrome in infants can cause severe lethargy lasting up to 10 hours and requiring hospital admission and oxygen administration.

17 Jul 2007

Diabetics experience more complications during hospitalization for trauma

Individuals with diabetes appear to spend more days in the intensive care unit, use more ventilator support and have more complications during hospitalization for trauma than non-diabetics, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Surgery.

17 Jul 2007

Structural basis for synthesis of inflammatory mediators by human leukotriene C4 synthase

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have managed to elucidate the crystal structure of a human membrane protein - LTC4 synthase - which has a major influence on the development of asthma.

17 Jul 2007