MRSA: Political point-scoring over hospital cleanliness ignores the real issue
...se unclean wards; and health minister John Reid is now considering proposals to charge hospital bosses with corporate manslaughter if patients die from infections acquired in hospital. But the focus on pleasing the public means these policies are missing the point, states the editorial. Critics of the UK...Study of energy and health in Africa focuses spotlight on charcoal and forest management
...ble deaths and pollution emissions. Decisions made now or in the near future are going to have large effects on health and environmental outcomes in the distant future." The authors assessed multiple strategies to reduce mortality as well as greenhouse gas emissions from household fuel sources. They gat...Charcoal and forest management could reduce greenhouse gas levels & save lives in Africa
...ble deaths and pollution emissions. Decisions made now or in the near future are going to have large effects on health and environmental outcomes in the distant future."The results of the study show that the best situation in Africa would be to transition from biomass fuels to petroleum-based fossil fuel...British hospitals need clinical ethicists
... adds the author. In light of all the evidence, we now need to introduce clinical ethicists in hospitals in the United Kingdom, he says. Doctors cannot possibly deal with all the ethical problems they encounter in their professional lives, nor can they be expected to analyse complex ethical issues, and t...Study shows promise in identifying kidney failure
...ker diagnosis of kidney failure - a diagnosis that now often occurs too late to treat kidney failure effectively. The research, which is published in the current issue of The Lancet, sites evidence in favor of using the protein neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, or NGAL, as a new biomarker for d...UMaine study looks at infants and chronic nighttime crying
..."In the past, only the father worked in Japan, but now both parents working is very common," he says. "Yonaki or night-waking makes the parents especially the mother exhausted due to sleep deprivation. Sometimes child abuse occurs because of babies non-stop crying." Pediatricians have insufficient know...Exercise-induced shortness of breath not always caused by asthma
... Hospital of Iowa at the time of the study and who now works as a pediatrician in the Washington, D.C. area....Chronic pain treatments more effective when taken together, new study shows
... than during treatment with either drug alone. "We now have the first clinical evidence that combining these drugs provides better pain relief, with comparable side effects," says lead researcher Dr. Ian Gilron, Director of Clinical Pain Research for Queen's Departments of Anesthesiology, and Pharmacolog...New study in 'Nature' demonstrates protection against cell death during heart attack
...nt care, partially because data didn't exist until now to prove they would work, according to Jeff Molkentin, Ph.D., a researcher at Cincinnati Children's and the study's senior author. Cyclophilin D resides within the mitochondria of a cell. The mitochondria are the power plants of a cell and are respo...UCSF study offers insight into human circadian rhythms
...ight play a role in depression, the scientists are now exploring this possibility, as well. "Evidence suggests that circadian rhythms may have a fundamental role in numerous behaviors," says Ying-hui Fu, PhD, associate professor of neurology at University of California, San Francisco and the senior autho...Early onset of puberty the EU gets serious
...e. The reasons for this are unknown, and the EU is now financing a major three-year project called PIONEER in a determined effort to get to the root of the problem. Two Swedish research groups are involved in the project, both from Karolinska Institutet. The onset of puberty is determined by a string of ...Satellite survey enhances knowledge of Tuscan landslides
...cult to obtain ordinarily. "The final results are now undergoing a process of implementation within land planning and risk prevention policies of the Arno Basin National Authority for its PAI. The proposed methodology represents one of the first examples in Europe of full integration of remote sensing d...U of M researcher says Viagra may cause permanent vision loss in some men
...ON. Based on the fact that 14 cases of NAION have now been reported soon after the use of Viagra, the researchers believe that ophthalmologists should ask all men with NAION about the use of Viagra, and recommend that patients with a history of NAION in one eye be cautioned that Viagra may increase the ...Pitt marks 50th anniversary of its Salk polio vaccine with reunion, scientific symposium
...in, have shared longer stories, including how they now cope with the effects of post-polio syndrome. Friends, neighbors and colleagues of Salk and his research team also have come forward, each providing a glimpse of what it was like to participate in medical history. Remembering Polio: The History and ...Unexpected benefit seen in treating HER-2 breast cancer with new preoperative drug combo
... and several large and lengthy clinical trials are now under way to test for cancer recurrence and survival after use of Herceptin with chemotherapy. But researchers at M. D. Anderson wanted to test use of the drug combination in patients with earlier stage breast cancer, defined as stage II to IIIa. In ...OHSU scientists test medication to treat involuntary weight loss
...eveloped the test medication for this research, is now developing a related medication that will likely b...rowth and accumulation of muscle mass. Researchers now hope to conduct clinical trials where both healthy human patients and those suffering from cachexia ...Cultural and social factors influence prostate cancer treatment
...ons than previously believed. Prostate cancer is now detected earlier than ever because of the introduction of a simple blood test in 1987 called the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test. However, the treatment options for prostate cancer radical prostatectomy, external beam radiation, and brachythera...Economist: Cuba's state-run baseball doesn't go to bat for players
...of commercial gimmicks and hype. But an economist now weighs in with research showing that Cuba's government-run baseball system exploits its players, while offering its fans less-even competition between teams than in the market-driven United States. "The organization of baseball in Cuba offers a sta......er biochemistries before and during usage. "It is now evident that elevated aminotransferases are insensitive to detect underlying hepatic steatosis and patients with advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis may have entirely normal aminotransferases," he reports. After considering the available literature thoro...US attempting to flout ethical practice for patient trials abroad
...an Treaty. For the first time, this attitude would now apply to research ethics. Dr Lurie concludes: "The Declaration of Helsinki is the standard-bearer for international research ethics and enjoys particular respect in the developing world. It would be tragic if the US tendency to arrogantly flout inter...