The Gerontological Society of America announces Hartford Fellowship recipients
Four outstanding social work students have been chosen as the newest recipients of the prestigious Hartford Doctoral Fellowship, a program funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation, administered by The Gerontological Society of America, and directed by Dr. James Lubben. ......Robin Bonifas of the University of Washington School of Social Work, Mythu Chiem-Lu of the University of Washington School...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...Epidemiologist Trichopoulos receives $5.8 million Department of Defense 'Innovator Award'
Boston, MA - A renowned cancer epidemiologist, HSPH Professor Dimitrios Trichopoulos has received a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) "Innovator Award" to explore fetal and early-life factors associated with adult breast cancer, including whether exposure to hormones such as estrogens and insulin-like growth factors while in the womb may cause the disease years later....... The grant, for $5.8 mil...HIV and ID doctors oppose ideologically driven STI prevention policies
HIV and infectious disease experts are urging the federal government to stop funding unproven strategies, like abstinence-only sexual health education, to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STI). ...... The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) say these programs must be replaced with STI prevention policies that are based on sound science, n...Cardiologists underestimate racial and ethnic disparities in care
NEW YORK, March 15 Only one-third of cardiologists surveyed believe racial and ethnic disparities in care occur often in the United States despite extensive documentation of the problem, according to a survey published in a special disparities issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.... In the 2004 Rand Corporation survey, 34 percent of cardiologists agreed that differenc...Fixing of the lumbar column aided by simple radiological techniques
Fixing of the lumbar vertebral column aided by simple radiological techniques facilitates the process and avoids complications. This technique has arisen as a result of the conclusion of the PhD thesis by Dr. Matas Alfonso, specialist in the Department of Orthopaedic and Bone Surgery at the University Hospital of Navarre, and has been based on research carried out on a pedicular screw method base...2005 Award for Basic Research in Biological Mineralization
Baltimore, Maryland...The 2005 Award for Basic Research in Biological Mineralization will be presented today by the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) to Dr. Mary MacDougall, Associate Dean for Research for the Dental School, Interim Chair of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, and Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Dental School. The aw...Medical technologies may hinder rather than help newborn survival
Medical interventions during pregnancy and childbirth may not be the best way to improve newborn survival in middle-income countries, suggests a study published online today by THE LANCET....... In Brazil neonatal mortality declined in the 1980's but rates have virtually remained unchanged since the 1990's. Fernando Barros (Hospital de Clinicas, Montevideo, Uruguay) and colleagues studied births...New imaging technologies can enhance orthopaedic outcomes
WASHINGTON, D.C. Feb. 24, 2005 -- New imaging technologies are enabling doctors to not only diagnose a variety of orthopaedic and musculoskeletal conditions with more accuracy, but also to determine with unprecedented precision whether clinical recovery from bone, joint or tendon damage is actually complete and not simply a "placebo effect." ...... Radiologists examining patients with damaged ti...Penn study will compare heart failure management technologies
(Philadelphia, PA) Researchers at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) have been awarded a $1.5 million dollar grant from the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality and the National Institutes of Health to study disease management technologies in patients with heart failure, and patients with both heart failure and diabetes. The principal investigator for the two-site trial...Brain-scanning technologies need standards, according to Stanford researcher
STANFORD, Calif. - Researchers have developed ever more sensitive ways of peering into the brain to seek out explanations for brain disease. In most cases these technologies are good news for patients, bringing new ways of understanding health and treatment options. However, standards defining ethical ways of moving forward with the new technology are needed in order to prevent abuse....... ...Ju...UT Southwestern gerontologist offers ways to find the right nursing home
DALLAS April 25, 2002 A recent study conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services found that nine out of 10 nursing homes in the United States lacked adequate staffing to properly care for patients. ...... Such findings may alarm Americans, but a gerontology specialist at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas said consumers who conduct research on prospective facilities and discu...Radiologists offer non-surgical treatment for early-stage liver cancer
OAK BROOK, Ill. (Feb. 16, 2005) Radiofrequency (RF) ablation offers an effective first-line treatment for some liver cancer patients who are excluded from surgery, according to two studies appearing in the March issue of the journal Radiology. ......"I believe that this treatment will soon enter into the guidelines for the clinical management of liver cancer patients," said the first study's lea...Another look finds promising proteomics test is not biologically plausible
HOUSTON - In a new study, researchers present a "cautionary tale" about what may go wrong when using the fledgling science of proteomics to devise a diagnostic test for cancer....... In the February 16 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center detail why an experimental test intended to identify early ovarian cance...New brochure helps explain treatment for gynecologic cancers
February 7, 2005 The American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology has published a new patient information brochure Radiation Therapy for Gynecologic Cancers: Facts to Help People Understand Their Treatment Options to help educate patients and their families about the treatments available for gynecologic cancers. ..."Being diagnosed with a gynecologic cancer can be an overwhelming exp...Canadian neurologist wins highest award as American Stroke Association honors five
NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 2 One of North America's foremost neurologists and stroke researchers, Vladimir Hachinski, M.D., D.Sc., professor of neurology at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ont., Canada, is the recipient of the American Stroke Association's highest honor the Thomas Willis Award for 2005.... Hachinski will receive the award and deliver the prestigious Willis Lecture today at t...Mental health crisis looming for tsunami survivors, warns psychologist just back from Indonesia
As the death toll from the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami climbed above 200,000, a University of Washington psychologist who just returned from Indonesia warned of a new danger among the survivors a mental health crisis. ... "We are seeing children petrified by seeing water in a tub or cowering when large airplanes are flying overhead because they sound like rushing water," said Randall Kyes, a...Heart patients treated by non-cardiologists less likely to receive medications
Patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) are less likely to be discharged from the hospital with a prescription for an ACE inhibitor and other recommended medications if they are treated by a non-cardiologist, according to a study written by pharmacists at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and published January 15 in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy. Beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors,...USC/Norris oncologists test new front-line therapy for pancreatic cancer
LOS ANGELES (Jan. 13, 2005)-USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center oncologists are testing the effectiveness of a new drug against pancreatic cancer that targets the cancer from two directions....... In their National Cancer Institute-sponsored phase II clinical trial, researchers are evaluating how well BAY 43-9006 works alone and paired with gemcitabine, today's standard chemotherapy for pancre...Environmental tobacco smoke linked to reading, math, logic and reasoning declines in children
CINCINNATI A new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study shows that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, even at extremely low levels, is associated with decreases in certain cognitive skills, including reading, math, and logic and reasoning, in children and adolescents....... The study is the largest ever to look at the effects of environmental tobacco smoke on children's health...Jefferson virologists coax HIV out of hiding
When researchers came up with the powerful cocktail of anti-HIV drugs known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), they hoped they had found a way to finally rid the body of the virus. But they were wrong. The virus instead goes into hiding, dormant and practically undetectable in the body and impervious to attack. While HAART manages to keep the virus at bay, it's still quite capable...Is it ethical to use enhancement technologies to make us better than well?
A variety of biomedical technologies are being developed that can be used for purposes other than treating disease. Such "enhancement technologies" can be used to improve our appearance and regulate our emotions, with the goal of feeling "better than well." While these technologies can help people adapt to their rapidly changing lifestyles, their use raises important ethical issues.... ...In a p...HydroGlobe acquired by Graver Technologies
HOBOKEN, N.J. -- HydroGlobe, a Technogenesis environmental technology company incubated at Stevens Institute of Technology, which produces patented products for the removal of heavy metals including lead and arsenic from water, has been acquired by Graver Technologies, a leading manufacturer of filtration and separation products. ... HydroGlobe was founded in 2000 by three Stevens professors...Animal studies show stem cells might make biological pacemaker
In experiments in the lab and with guinea pigs, researchers from Johns Hopkins have found the first evidence that genetically engineered heart cells derived from human embryonic stem (ES) cells might one day be a promising biological alternative to the electronic pacemakers used by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.... ...Electronic pacemakers are used in children and adults with certain...CIGNA settlement favorable to psychologists
(Washington, D.C., December 14, 2004) - Psychologists saw a significant step forward in their ongoing effort to improve managed care administrative services and policies when CIGNA agreed to change its policies and procedures to better ensure easier and faster processing of transactions for claims as well as prompt payment for services. The changes were part of CIGNA's recent announcement of a se...Carbon nanotubes yield a new class of biological sensors
Arlington, Va.--Nanotechnology researchers at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated a tiny, implantable detector that could one day allow diabetics to monitor their glucose levels continuously-without ever having to draw a blood sample. ...... . ...... Principal investigator Michael Strano, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering...Selective coatings create biological sensors from carbon nanotubes
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Protein-encapsulated single-walled carbon nanotubes that alter their fluorescence in the presence of specific biomolecules could generate many new types of implantable biological sensors, say researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who developed the encapsulation technique.... ...In a paper accepted for publication in the journal Nature Materials, and p...Jefferson and Molecular Targeting Technologies, Inc. scientists create vaccine for wildlife rabies
While the raccoon that raids your trash at night may look cute and mischievous, think again. Its claws can be nasty. Even worse, it might carry rabies. ...Now, scientists at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and at Molecular Targeting Technologies, Inc. (MTTI) in West Chester, Pa., are taking steps to prevent the disease. They have created a more powerful, safer vaccine than currently is...Penn epidemiological study shows difference in cardiovascular effects between Vioxx and Celebrex
(Philadelphia, PA) -- In the first epidemiological study designed and executed specifically to determine the heart-attack risk associated with COX-2 inhibitors rofecoxib (Vioxx) and celecoxib (Celebrex), researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found a greater risk of heart attack associated with Vioxx than Celebrex, although neither of the two drugs showed a statistically...More than half of relapsed CLL patients respond to two biologics with chemotherapy
SAN DIEGO - The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center offers these news items presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).... ...Combining two biologic agents with chemotherapy forms a potent drug regimen that is showing promise in treating patients who have relapsed with the most common kind of leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), researchers f...Psychological support helps adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome
Psychological support, in the form of cognitive behaviour therapy, is an effective treatment for adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome, finds a new study published on today. ...... Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome have debilitating unexplained severe fatigue that is not alleviated by rest. Trials have shown that cognitive behaviour therapy is effective in adults, but there have been n...Radiologists use MRI to keep basketball players on their feet
CHICAGO Early identification of potential stress fractures with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can reduce the threat of season-ending injuries for college basketball players, according to research presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).... ..."Stress fractures of the foot are extremely common in college basketball," said the study's author, N...Diagnostic imaging surge by non-radiologists draws concern
CHICAGO Imaging experts say they are alarmed by the dramatic increase in the number of diagnostic imaging tests being performed by physicians other than radiologists.... ..."These self-referrals, where physicians order imaging tests and then perform the tests themselves or have the tests performed by members of their own medical group, represent the type of trend that will bankrupt the healthca...Brain imaging study of drunk drivers pinpoints neurological changes
New Haven, Conn.--Imaging studies of the brain when it is under the influence of alcohol reveal that different areas of the brain are impaired under high and low levels of alcohol, according to a Yale study published in Neuropsychopharmacology. ......Godfrey Pearlson and Vince Calhoun, researchers in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, used a statistical method to sort areas...Duke University's Cohen wins The Gerontological Society of America's 2004 Donald P. Kent Award
The Gerontological Society of America has chosen Dr. Harvey Jay Cohen of the Duke University Medical Center as the 2004 recipient of the Donald P. Kent Award. This distinguished honor is given annually to a GSA member who best exemplifies the highest standards for professional leadership in gerontology through teaching, service, and interpretation of gerontology to the larger society. ... ...The...South Florida's Small wins The Gerontological Society of America's 2004 Margret M. Baltes Award
The Gerontological Society of America has chosen Dr. Brent Small of the University of South Florida's School of Aging Studies as the 2004 recipient of the Margret M. Baltes Early Career Award in Behavioral and Social Gerontology. This distinguished honor, given annually, recognizes outstanding early career contributions in behavioral and social gerontology.... ...The award presentation will take...The Gerontological Society of America confers 2004 M. Powell Lawton Award to Penn State's Zarit
The Gerontological Society of America has chosen Penn State University's Dr. Steven Zarit to receive its 2004 M. Powell Lawton Award. The distinction recognizes a significant contribution in gerontology that has led to an innovation in gerontological treatment, practice or service, prevention, amelioration of symptoms or barriers, or a public policy change that has led to some practical applicati...OHSU's Archbold wins GSA's 2004 Doris Schwartz Gerontological Nursing Award
The Gerontological Society of America has chosen Dr. Patricia G. Archbold, the Elnora E. Thomson Distinguished Professor at Oregon Health Sciences University's School of Nursing, as the recipient of the Doris Schwartz Gerontological Nursing Award. This distinguished honor, presented by GSA's Clinical Medicine section in collaboration with the John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nu...Emory cardiologists present research at AHA scientific sessions in New Orleans, Nov. 7 - 10
Could an enzyme produced by white blood cells in response to inflammation reveal hidden heart disease in patients with no symptoms? Do women referred for angioplasty have more symptoms and physical limitations due to angina than their male counterparts? Could the stress of every day life be linked to autonomic dysfunction and contribute to the development of metabolic syndrome (MetS)? ......How...Washington -- Researchers at the Boston Veterans Affairs Health Care System Brockton Division, Harvard Medical School, and the University of Massachusetts-Boston are using new imaging technology to gather valuable information about the brains of people with schizophrenia. This new variety of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Using DTI on patients with...