Cancer doctors could benefit from training in communication skills
...otaped. Around 2400 patients participated. Outcome measures included objective and subjective ratings made by researchers, doctors, and patients. The primary outcomes were objective improvements after training in key communication skills. Course content included structured feedback, videotape review of consul...Dutch study highlights short-term and long-term options for treatment of tennis elbow
..., physiotherapy, or a wait-and-see policy. Outcome measures included general improvement, severity of the main...ter than all other therapy options for all outcome measures at 6 weeks; success rates were 92% compared with 47% for physiotherapy and 32% for wait-and-see poli...Testicular cancer - cure rates now so high patients may be more at risk from treatment
... cancer or a second malignancy. Then they can take measures to minimise this risk, such as controlling their weight, regulating their blood pressure and cholesterol levels and not smoking." Norwegian researchers lead by Dr Sophie Fossa from the Norwegian Radium Hospital, Montebello, Oslo, evaluated renal func...Five-week antibiotic treatment may improve cardiovascular function
...d at study entry and at the end of treatment. FMD measures the blood vessels ability to relax in response to blood flow increases, and also endothelial function. A healthy artery (with a healthy endothelium) will be more flexible than a diseased artery. In addition, levels of E-selectin and von Willebrand ...Not working alone at night, outside lights can cut workplace homicides, study shows
... said. Combinations of five or more administrative measures appeared to lower risk levels significantly. Eli...of effectiveness for a number of other recommended measures individually. Requiring two or more employees in stores open at night, as Florida does, is controver...NHLBI study shows vast majority of middle-aged Americans at risk of developing hypertension
...that they properly control it with these lifestyle measures and medication." High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a measure of the force of blood within blood vessels. It is recorded as two numbersthe systolic (the force of the blood as the heart beats) over the diastolic (the force of the blood as the...HIV protein stops cell division, leading to more virus and sicker patients
...s an indicator of how patients are faring. Current measures of clinical status, such as viral load and CD4 counts, sometimes dont give physicians enough information to tailor drug treatments for individual patients, Sherman said. Knowing how many cells are infected in the patient might be valuable and improve...Steroid nasal spray more effective against hay fever
...dy the symptom scores were slightly better and the measures of inflammation were significantly better for those taking fluticasone. "Because of the effect on inflammation, we prefer fluticasone," he added, "but for patients, the choice may come down to cost and whether they would prefer a pill or a spray." S...Link found between kids sleep, behavior problems
...ractivity scores among children who scored high on measures of sleepiness, snoring severity and sleep-disordered breathing. The contrast in behavior between children with and without some symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing changed significantly when the researchers divided the group by age and sex. Boys ...American Thoracic Society Journal news tips for March (first issue)
...tion between the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), which measures disordered breathing, and 2-hour glucose and insulin levels. Among the study group, polysomnography revealed an average AHI of 17.4 events (at least 10-second pauses inbreathing) per hour. According to the authors, an AHI of over 5 events per hour ...Eating breakfast may keep colds & flu at bay
... ill should also be increased and possible counter measures considered' he adds. 'We are now beginning to understand muchmore about the mechanisms underlying these effects and further study of the cognitive process which are impaired, the changes in brain chemistry which take place and the role of mediating f...Most popular websites not necessarily of highest quality
...ular websites did not differ in any of the quality measures studies. Furthermore, the presence of inaccurate information did not differ between more popular and less popular sites. These results show that type rather than quality of content determines popularity of websites, say the authors. It remains the re...Yale study of hospital website ratings finds mixed results
...for consumers to know how hospitals do on accepted measures of quality, such as the timely administration of critical medications or the use of therapies endorsed by national guidelines," Krumholz said. "Current efforts focusing on mortality data using billing data may be more misleading than illuminating for...Study succeeds in closing gaps in heart attack care
...eir attacks. With recent advances in treatment and measures to prevent complications and recurrence, survival rates have improved, leaving 7.5 million heart attack survivors alive today throughout the United States. But the quality of care that patients receive in the minutes, hours, days and months after th...Certain behaviors can predict binge-eating disorders in teenage girls
...e past 30 years. Stice looked at more than a dozen measures of self-esteem, depression or eating behaviors and found that they could predict binge eating with 92 percent accuracy. Based on the results of this study, Stice suggests that it might be useful for prevention efforts to attempt to reduce girls' per...Guidelines needed to prevent spread of infection in European hospitals
...ed by strict infection control measures, but these measures were expensive and at times stopped new admissions...thors propose that a European consensus on control measures should be reached and guidelines drawn up on how to approach hospital outbreaks before these bacteri...Examining the effects of managed care on alcohol and other drug treatment
...as measured by subsequent substance use as well as measures of social functioning such as psychological functioning, employment and involvement in criminal activities. Therefore, when assessing penetration and effectiveness, it is important to distinguish among these three concepts. It may be necessary for t...Majority of parents schedule child's first dental visit two years too late
...ute to tooth decay, determining if such preventive measures as fluoride treatments are required and teaching parents to better understand and care for their childs teeth and gums, said John S. Rutkauskas, D.D.S., M.B.A., executive director of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) Foundation. Gall...African-American heart patients
...ortality rates. Using a standardized test that measures how disease affects everyday living, the Dukeresea...lth, mental health and social functioning. It also measures howpatients feel their illness has impacted their everyday mental and physical activities. The test ...Undersize infants score higher on IQ tests if breast fed exclusively
...hool and Primary Scales of Intelligence. This test measures children's intellectual capacity, rating how well they perform on various verbal and nonverbal tasks. By the time the infants were 24 weeks old, the researchers could find no evidence that supplements had increased the growth of either SGA or AGA inf...