College alcohol problems exceed previous estimates
The harm caused by alcohol consumption among college students may exceed previous estimates of the problem. Researchers report that unintentional fatal injuries related to alcohol increased from about 1,500 in 1998 to more than 1,700 in 2001 among U.S. college students aged 18-24. Over the same period national surveys indicate the number of students who drove under the influence of alcohol incr...Physicists find patterns within seemingly random events of physiological systems
(Boston) -- Finding patterns behind seemingly random events is the signature of a recent trio of research studies coming from the statistical physics group in Boston University's Department of Physics. Although describing physical phenomenon is not a surprising industry for research physicists, findings from this BU group increasingly wed phenomena associated with the inanimate world to those of...Men with severe sleep breathing disorder have higher risk of heart problems
Men with a severe form of a sleep breathing disorder called obstructive sleep apnoea-hypopnoea have an increased risk of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events, concludes a study published in this week's issue of THE LANCET....... Obstructive sleep apnoea-hypopnoea affects four per cent of middle-aged men and two per cent of middle-aged women. It is caused by a blockage in the pharynx that obs...Most hospital executives have substantial concerns about mandatory error reporting systems
A survey of hospital leaders indicates that many have serious reservations about a mandatory error reporting system, including that it would discourage event reporting and increase the risk of lawsuits, according to a study in the March 16 issue of JAMA....... Since the early 1990s, much has been learned about medical errors in health care settings, and about their impact on illness, death, and c...Computerized order entry systems can increase risk of medication errors
A new study suggests that computerized order entry systems which are implemented in part to reduce prescribing errors can actually increase the risk of medication errors in certain situations, according to a study in the March 9 issue of ....... Adverse drug events (ADEs) are estimated to injure or kill more than 770,000 patients in hospitals annually, according to background information on the...College students at no greater risk of alcohol-related problems than peers
CHICAGO Although college students had higher rates of yearly, monthly, and weekly alcohol use than their peers not attending college, they did not appear to be at a greater risk for alcohol dependence problems, according to an article in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.... ...According to background information in the article, binge drinking a...Study: Two brain systems regulate how we call for help
MADISON - The willingness to call out in distress to get help from others appears to be regulated by two brain systems with very different responsibilities, according to a study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.... ..."These findings have far-reaching implications because they help clarify how a balance of two important brain systems can influence an individual's behavior and...Beta-blockers may help broader group of patients with heart problems
ORLANDO, Fla., March 7, 2005 - Beta-blockers, medications that block the action of certain hormones on the heart, can benefit patients with certain serious heart problems such as diastolic heart failure, according to cardiologists at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and Loma Linda University Medical Center. ......Researchers presented two reports on the use of...Mood elevating hormone may trigger depression and heart problems
New Haven, Conn.--Impaired function of a receptor that regulates release of a mood elevating hormone in the brain may be responsible for causing depression, anxiety and cardiovascular disorders, according to a Yale study in Pharmacogenetics and Genomics.... ...The genetic variant that causes this malfunction is nearly 15 times as prevalent in African-Americans as Caucasians and might explain why...Major review of subway systems suggests potential for significant health and safety hazards
New York, February 24, 2005 Although information on subway safety is generally very limited, a new paper by safety experts at the Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health provides the first comprehensive look at health and safety hazards that might affect both riders and subway workers. The report, published in the Journal of Urban Health in a special issue on mass transit, indicat...Pioneering nanosystems degree wins approval
The Louisiana Board of Regents granted final approval Thursday for Louisiana Tech (in Ruston, La.) to offer a nanosystems engineering degree program, the nation's first such undergraduate degree. ......Tech's new Bachelor of Science degree program will be implemented this fall. .........According to the National Nanotechnology Initiative -- a federal coordinator of multi-agency efforts in nanosc...Women with PCOS and their siblings with hormone problems have same gene defect
CHICAGO --- Siblings of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have metabolic and hormonal abnormalities that are linked to the same gene defect that causes PCOS, a disorder associated with irregular periods, infertility, excessive body hair and increased risk for diabetes....... These new findings came from the $6 million National Institutes of Health-funded National Centers Program for In...Intralase Will Develop Laser Systems For Eye Surgery
has approved a license agreement for a new U-M company---IntraLase Corporation---which will develop and market a new generation of lasers for eye surgery and other high-precision medical applications. The company is being formed in collaboration with Escalon Medical Corporation of Skillman, N.J., with financing from the Enterprise Development Fund of Ann Arbor. . "IntraLase ophthalmic las...HIV patients may be at risk of heart problems when taking protease inhibitor drugs
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A widely-used class of drugs that keep the HIV-virus infection from progressing to AIDS may cause serious and potentially lethal heart rhythm disturbances in some patients. The finding of a Mayo Clinic-led investigation appears in the current edition of The Lancet ( )....... In collaboration with colleagues from the HIV Program of Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis; t...Immediate access to antibiotics stems spread of sexually transmitted diseases
In an editorial to be published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers at Johns Hopkins offer their support for a study which shows that providing faster, more direct access to antibiotics for partners of newly infected patients reduces re-infection rates and spread of sexually transmitted diseases, such as gonorrhea and Chlamydia, compared to standard practice. ......In the study, t...Problems in the bedroom can indicate heart problems
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is often the first and earliest sign of a more significant cardiovascular condition, according to a study in The Journal of Sexual Medicine. The study presents results from the Minority Health Institute (MHI) Expert Advisory Panel. ......"Erectile dysfunction is not just a quality of life issue, but needs to be considered a significant public health concern associated w...Communication between primary-care physicians and patients can reduce medication-related problems
BOSTON Primary-care physicians who encourage their patients to let them know about bothersome side effects of prescribed medications and who address such problems promptly can reduce the chances that patients will be harmed by the medications, according to a new study by researchers in Boston....... , will help researchers develop strategies for decreasing the number of adverse drug events (AD...Study shows drugs such as Vioxx and Celebrex were widely over-used long before recent problems
Even before making the connection between drugs such as Vioxx and heart attacks, many doctors were becoming concerned that the heavily advertised drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors were being over-used, often by patients unlikely to benefit from this costly but innovative pharmaceutical class. ...... , researchers from the University of Chicago and Stanford University School of Medicine use data fr...Novartis announces collaboration with Bayer for EMSELEX
Basel, 17 December 2004 Novartis Pharma AG announced today the start of a collaboration between Novartis Pharma GmbH and Bayer Vital AG for the commercialization and distribution of EMSELEX (darifenacin hydrobromide), 7.5 mg and 15 mg in Germany. The collaboration is effective following an agreement between Bayer Vital AG and Novartis Pharma GmbH. EMSELEX, a new once-daily M3 selective receptiv...Researchers describe how human blood stem cells transform themselves to repair injured animal hearts
HOUSTON - Regeneration of damaged hearts using blood stem cells now appears to be clinically promising, say Texas researchers who show that in mice, human stem cells use different methods to morph into two kinds of cells needed to restore heart function - cardiac muscle cells that contract the heart as well as the endothelial cells that line blood vessels found throughout the organ....... (which...Little evidence to link mercury fillings to human health problems
(December 9, 2004) Bethesda, MD For many of us, having a dental cavity filled can be a frightening experience. Others take such dental repair in stride. Regardless of how you approach a trip to the dentist, you can take comfort in a new report, which concludes that the peer-reviewed scientific and medical literature published since 1996 reveals little evidence of a link between dental mercury an...Day-long drivers at risk of cardiovascular problems as a result of traffic pollution
Exposure to fine particles and pollutants that accumulate in cars driving at varying speeds in road traffic enhances the likelihood of thrombosis, inflammation and alters the regularity of the heart rhythm. A study published today in the journal raises concerns about cardiovascular risks for vehicle drivers. ...... Michael Riediker, from The Institute of Occupational Health Sciences in Switzerl...Adolescent gamblers often suffer psychiatric problems
New Haven, Conn.--The younger a person is when they begin to gamble, the more likely they are to develop psychiatric and substance use problems, according to a study by Yale School of Medicine researchers in The Archives of General Psychiatry....... The report is believed to be the first to compare adolescent, early-onset adult, and adult-onset gamblers in terms of psychiatric health and gambling...Close control of blood pressure associated with fewer eye problems in patients with type 2 diabetes
CHICAGO Patients with type 2 diabetes and hypertension who kept their blood pressure very tightly controlled had fewer eye disorders caused by their diabetes, according to an article in the November issue of The Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals....... According to the article, type 2 diabetes and hypertension are often associated. At age 40, approximately 32 percent...Pediatricians often underestimate substance abuse problems in adolescents
Adolescents who have problems with substance use often aren't identified during routine pediatric visits, according to a study to be released in the November issue of Pediatrics, the peer-reviewed, scientific journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).... ..."We found that most pediatricians significantly underestimate the severity of adolescent substance use," said the study's primary a...Laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery effectively improves obesity-related health problems
ORLANDO (November 1, 2004)--Surgeons at Western Pennsylvania Hospital report that laparoscopic surgery for obesity, known as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, effectively improves unhealthy conditions associated with severe clinical obesity (or "morbid" obesity). The results, which were presented at the 69th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, reveal that after this su...Gambling among adolescents and young adults associated with psychiatric problems
CHICAGO Adolescents and young adults who gamble are more likely than nongamblers to have substance use disorders and psychiatric problems, according to an article in the November issue of , one of the JAMA/Archives journals....... According to the article, approximately 68 percent of the U.S. adult population gambled legally in the past year. Although most adults gamble responsibly, about 9 mi...Anxiety good for memory recall, bad for solving complex problems
SAN DIEGO Students, keep this in mind before that next major exam:...... Pre-test jitters make it easier to recall memorized facts, but that stress also makes it tough to solve more complex problems....... Researchers at Ohio State University gave a battery of simple cognitive tests to 19 first-year medical students one to two days before a regular classroom exam a period when they would be hig...Breathing problems during sleep may affect mental development in infants and young children
Children who have problems breathing during sleep tend to score lower on tests of mental development and intelligence than do other children their age, according to two studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Both studies appear in the October issue of Journal of Pediatrics....... The first study, funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), f...Emselex(R) receives positive CHMP opinion for the treatment of overactive bladder
Basel, 30th July 2004 Novartis Pharma AG announced today that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), adopted a positive opinion recommending that the European Commission (EC) grant a Marketing Authorisation for Emselex throughout these countries.... ..."We are delighted by the CHMP's positive opinion for Emselex </...Early behavior problems linked with wheezing later in childhood
ORLANDO, Fla.--Behavior problems early in life may be associated with increased later risk of developing wheeze, according to a study presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference in Orlando on May 24. ... Researchers at the University of Manchester in England studied 771 children at age 3 and again at age 5, and found children who developed wheezy symptoms after 3 years of...Computer prescribing systems risk patient safety
Computer prescribing systems are putting patients at risk by failing to warn of potentially serious errors, warn researchers in this week's BMJ. ......The NHS Information Authority regulates the use of general practice computer systems, but these contain only general references to safety and there is evidence that they do not prevent contraindicated prescribing. ......Researchers in Edinburgh, Ke...What might our health systems look like in 2020?
Doctors and machines will be "connected" to each other to share knowledge ... Health service brokers will help consumers identify where the best care can be found ... Evidence interpreters will help consumers make informed choices ... Avoidable error will be a thing of the past ......These are just some of the innovations that could shape our health services in 2020, according to an article in th...Recent research finds boys have more literacy problems than girls
Recent research from the University of Warwick, Coventry and Kings College, London finds that boys really do have more reading difficulties than girls. The study into reading disabilities, published in the , confirms that boys are much more prone to having trouble than girls, and it's not simply because they're more disruptive. ...... About 15 percent of school-aged children have a learning disa...Spanking a risk factor for behavior problems among white children
White children who are more frequently spanked before age two are at greater risk for having behavior problems by the time they reach elementary school when compared to those who were not. However, the same association does not appear to be true for African-American or Hispanic children, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study is among...Anthrax survivors continued to have health problems one year after exposure
People infected with anthrax continued to report health problems, poor life adjustment, and psychological distress one year after their exposure, according to a study in the April 28 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).... ...In 2001, bioterrorist activities involving the U.S. Postal Service infected 22 individuals with Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), according to backgr...Epilepsy presents unique problems for women
SAN FRANCISCO-- Anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) are powerful medications that help women with epilepsy control their seizures; however, when these same women have to deal with reproductive issues and their epilepsy drugs, a myriad of problems can crop up, according to Mark Yerby, M.D., MPH, a leading expert in women's issues and epilepsy. About 1 million of the estimated 2.5 million Americans with e...Successful therapy for head and neck cancer may lead to long-term circulatory problems
Washington, DC Despite a steady stream of health advisories, younger Americans continue to light up in bars and restaurants. What many do not realize is that tobacco and alcohol combined contributes to head and neck cancer. While this is not one of the more common cancers, it is among the deadliest. Malignancies in this region of the body are among the most difficult to treat, resulting in a...Sleep problems in early childhood may predict substance use during adolescence
... Researchers know there is an association between insomnia and the subsequent onset of alcohol abuse, nicotine dependence, and drug abuse/dependence in some adults. ... A new study has found an association between sleep problems during early childhood and substance abuse during adolescence.... ...... ...Previous research has linked insomnia with the subsequent onset of alcohol abuse, ni...Computerized prescriber order entry systems may have limited impact on patient harm
Computerized prescriber order entry (CPOE) systems decrease medication error, but they may not decrease patient harm due to medication error, according to the results of a study conducted at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and published this week in Archives of Internal Medicine. ... ..."Medication errors are the single most common serious adverse event that occurs in hospitalized patients,...