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Black Medicare patients less likely to receive angioplasty following a heart attack

A large study has found that black Medicare patients are less likely than white patients to receive blood vessel opening procedures such as angioplasty following a heart attack, whether they are admitted to hospitals that provide or do not provide these procedures, but also experience higher mortality rates at 1 year, according to a study in the June 13 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

14 Jun 2007

Survey of public knowledge of avian influenza

Researchers at the Food Policy Institute at the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station have conducted a nationwide survey of public knowledge, attitudes, intentions and behaviors related to the threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

14 Jun 2007

Petting zoos have potential health risks that are not always properly addressed

A new study shows that simple guidelines to protect petting zoo patrons from disease-causing germs found in the zoo are frequently not followed, thus allowing the risks of contracting serious intestinal illnesses to persist.

14 Jun 2007

Carotenoids have even deeper health benefits than originally thought

Mom may have been right all along, especially when we were hormone-raging teenagers, eat your veggies and good things will happen.

14 Jun 2007

Asthma and allergic shock

Asthma, even a mild form, is the single most important factor that increases the risk of death from anaphylaxis (allergic shock), says a new report from Harvard Medical School, What To Do About Allergies .

14 Jun 2007

Children receiving antibiotics before age 1 at greater risk for asthma by age 7

The study, published in the June issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), reports that children receiving antibiotics in the first year of life were at greater risk for developing asthma by age 7 than those not receiving antibiotics.

14 Jun 2007

State snapshots highlights gains and lags in health care quality

AHRQ's State Snapshots Web tool was launched in 2005. It is an application that helps state health leaders, researchers, consumers, and others understand the status of health care quality in individual states, including each state's strengths and weaknesses.

14 Jun 2007

Gamma-secretase acts as a tumor suppressor

Researchers at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have provided the first evidence that gamma-secretase, an enzyme key to the progression of Alzheimer's, acts as a tumor suppressor by altering the pathway of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a potential treatment target for cancer.

14 Jun 2007

Global prevalence of Alzheimer's disease will grow to 106 million by 2050

More than 26 million people worldwide were estimated to be living with Alzheimer's disease in 2006, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

14 Jun 2007

Which exercise for heart failure?

Countless exercise programs claim to trim the thighs, abs and buttocks, but how many offer to reshape a flabby heart? According to new research, aerobic exercise does just that for patients with stable heart failure, literally turning an enlarged heart into a trimmer, more efficient organ for pumping blood throughout the body.

14 Jun 2007

First comprehensive description of sleep and wake patterns of cancer patients using continuous polysomnography

Patients with advanced-stage cancer experience very poor sleep quality and often have troubling staying awake, says Emory University researcher Kathy Parker, PhD, RN.

14 Jun 2007

Addressing multiple unhealthy behaviors at once may be more effective than sequential approach

Physicians trying to help patients change more than one behavioral risk factor may have more success approaching several topics at once rather than addressing them separately over time, according to a report in the June 11 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

14 Jun 2007