MRSA: Political point-scoring over hospital cleanliness ignores the real issue
... hospital cleaning staff--providing circumstantial evidence of a link. Importantly, however, comparisons with other countries show that even in US and Japanese hospitals--which are prized for their cleanliness--MRSA thrives. The Lancet comments: "This tit-for-tat political posturing has certainly helped keep ...More evidence of cannabis-induced psychosis
... Favrat and colleagues' report adds to the body of evidence that cannabis might be more harmful than previously thought. In the UK, cannabis was downgraded to class C early last year, but government officials have called for a review of the decision following a series of studies revealing that cannabis dramat...British hospitals need clinical ethicists
...l to the good practice of medicine, yet conclusive evidence exists that doctors need help with ethical problems, writes Daniel Sokol of Imperial College London. About a fifth of NHS acute trusts currently have a clinical ethics committee. Although these provide a valuable service in drafting hospital policies...Not enough evidence that multivitamins prevent infections in the elderly
There is currently not enough evidence to suggest that multivitamin and mineral supplemen...orted fewer days spent with infection, overall the evidence was weak and conflicting. The evidence does not support a policy recommending the routine use of su...Wolfowitz is the wrong choice for the World Bank
.... But he must achieve effectiveness through sound, evidence informed, policy making not brazen ideology, says Abbasi. In the end, the Wolfowitz situation boils down to how the United States wants to be perceived by the world. His nomination, and that of John Bolton as US ambassador to the United Nations, has...Study shows promise in identifying kidney failure
...ublished in the current issue of The Lancet, sites evidence in favor of using the protein neutrophil gelatinas...nimal models by Dr. Devarajan and colleagues found evidence confirming the NGAL gene and protein are directly correlated to kidney failure. The gene and its bio...Chronic pain treatments more effective when taken together, new study shows
...either drug alone. "We now have the first clinical evidence that combining these drugs provides better pain re...or if it will improve," says Dr. Gilron. "This new evidence showing that combination treatment provides better pain relief, with comparable side effects, opens ...March/April 2005 Annals of Family Medicine tip sheet
...In a new Recommendation Statement and accompanying evidence review, the U.S. Preventive Service updates its 19...tions for glaucoma screening, finding insufficient evidence to recommend for or against screening adults for glaucoma. Despite some evidence that treatment to l...Unexpected benefit seen in treating HER-2 breast cancer with new preoperative drug combo
...east tissue was later removed, they could look for evidence of an effect. The trial they designed was the first to compare preoperative use of Herceptin and chemotherapy against use of chemotherapy alone in patients with operable breast cancer, Buzdar says. Patients enrolled in the study were randomized to fo...Cultural and social factors influence prostate cancer treatment
...xternal beam radiation, and brachytherapy have no evidence of clear mortality benefit over expectant treatment (i.e., observation). Moreover, the treatments can lead to serious side effects, including urinary incontinence, impotence, and bowel urgency. It is widely assumed that men make treatment decisions b...Bullying among sixth graders a daily occurrence, UCLA study finds
...e in the fifth year of this research. "Now we have evidence that the school environment, psychological health, physical health and school achievement are all interrelated," Juvonen said. Many children are reluctant to discuss bullying incidents, and may visit the school nurse instead, she said. "They want to......LD are limited, but the existing data provide some evidence that they can be used safely," reports the author, whose own studies recently showed that hyperlipidemic patients with elevated baseline liver enzymes are not at a higher risk for hepatotoxicity from statins compared with hyperlipidemic patients with...NHS target driven culture is failing patients
...e errors and should require an approach that is as evidence based as our approach to prescribing," he concludes. "How many such stories lurk in the corridors of today's NHS, and what do they tell us?" asks Fiona Godlee, BMJ Editor. "If this is, as Gannon implies, a result of recent reforms, what can we expect...Improving access to healthy food has little effect on diet
...c health and reduce health inequalities. However, evidence to inform how, when, and where to reduce these ine...ion, while a similar study in Glasgow found little evidence for an overall effect. Despite some study limitations, the authors suggest that overall, retail inte...NYU College of Dentistry study equates poor oral health with preterm birth risk
...ctions of the gums (periodontal disease). This new evidence adds to the growing body of research which shows that a pregnant woman's oral health is important to the health of her newborn. The study's principal investigator, Dr. Ananda P. Dasanayake, associate professor of epidemiology & health promotion at...NIH state-of-the-science panel calls for 'demedicalization' of menopause
... menopausal transition, and there is some positive evidence for a menopausal link to sleep disturbance. But the evidence of a link between menopause and mood symptoms, cognitive disturbance, and urinary incontinence is we...First mouse model for multiple system atrophy points to new treatment targets for brain diseases
...r way around," says Lee. In fact, there is growing evidence that non-neuronal cells also play a role in amyloid deposits in Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) mouse models. Lee and colleagues report their findings in the March 24, 2005 issue of Neuron. MSA is so named because it affec...Opponents of needle-exchange programs should think about their message to drug users
... they're actually sending.Despite the overwhelming evidence that needle-exchange programs (NEPs) can help reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis, many legislators refuse to support such efforts and instead write off death and illness as "just deserts" for illegal behavior, said William Martin, senior fel...New studies suggest airborne SARS transmission is possible
Two new studies present evidence that the virus causing severe acute respiratory sy...isease in the outbreak, and hence we feel that the evidence is quite strong." An editorial accompanying the Toronto study, by Tommy Tong, MBBS, of Princess Marg...... of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), as has evidence for an AD protective effect of increased marine fish consumption, a main source of DHA. This week, Lim et al. test whether DHA has a direct effect on amyloid production in a mouse model of AD. The studies support a role for DHA in reducing amyloid bu...