Small band of nurses plays key role keeping germ threats at bay
Flu. Smallpox. Anthrax. Whooping cough. The words represent a veritable murderers' row of infectious agents whose death toll runs in the millions. Between them and us stand a few small groups of nurses at select institutions around the country, including the University of Rochester Medical Center, who protec...Poison and firearms stored in open endanger visiting kids
...y significant, they may be clinically relevant and represent a risk to children," Coyne-Beasley says. Unintentional injuries, including poisoning and gunshots, are the leading causes of death among children and young adults in the United States. The study was supported by the Home Safety Council, National Cent...ER patients with substance abuse treatment need incur higher health care costs
...opriate. The emergency department visit itself can represent a teachable moment for a patient." The researchers estimated that 27 percent of adult emergency department patients in Tennessee have unmet substance abuse need. Compared to patients without substance abuse treatment need, patients with unmet need w...Thanks for the memories: cinematic portrayal of amnesia is profoundly misleading
The way the movies represent amnesia is profoundly misleading, and gives the general public a false view of what to expect if they are diagnosed with the condition, says a paper in this week's BMJ. Analyzing a host of movies from the silent era up to the present day, the paper t...Immigrants, beware: Living in the United States is fattening
...cal intervention on diet and physical activity may represent an important opportunity to prevent weight gain, obesity and obesity-related chronic illnesses, the authors said. Worldwide, obesity (or "globesity," as described by the World Health Organization) has become an epidemic, affecting over 300 million p...Prevalence of obesity among immigrants increases with longer residency in US
...ian intervention on diet and physical activity may represent an important opportunity to prevent weight gain, obesity, and obesity-related chronic illnesses," the researchers conclude....Study provides clues to alcohol's cancer connection
...ion of angiogenesis and VEGF expression by ethanol represent an important mechanism of cancer progression associated with alcoholic beverage consumption."...Can the standard course of radiation therapy following lumpectomy be shortened?
...ity of life. "This radiation schedule may represent an alternative both to longer six- to seven-week standard whole-breast radiation and the more radically shortened one-week partial-breast treatment schedules," Freedman said....Molecular test predicts risk of breast cancer recurrence and who will benefit from chemotherapy
...ree rates. Women with low recurrence scores, who represent about 50 percent of these patients, derived minimal benefits from chemotherapy. The group under study was not large enough to determine whether chemotherapy is detrimental to the low risk group. "The test has the potential to change medical practice...Brain can be trained to process sound in alternate way, study shows
.... But now neurons are much more selective, and can represent sound intensity with decreasing firing rates as well as increasing firing rates." This system is "optimal" for representing subtle changes in loudness, reasons Polley, because "it gives you two directions to change through," making it many times more...'Signal' identified that enables malarial parasites to target blood cells
... red blood cells. These proteins represent a vastly expanded pool of major candidate targets to block blood stage infection as well as complex disease pathologies associated with acute and severe malaria. ...Multi-center study finds therapy boosts kidney transplants in 'highly sensitized' patients
...f transplant, despite the fact that these patients represent about 20 percent of those on the waiting list. In fact, transplant rates for these patients have gone down over the past decade as antibody detection techniques improved and waiting lists for the limited number of donor organs grew. Dr. Jordan began ...U of MN researchers set new standard of care for adult cord blood transplant patients
...prior transplant. "These remarkable results represent a significant advance in the practice of adult cord blood transplantation. These approaches allow us to offer potentially life-saving transplant therapy to many patients who have previously been denied such treatment," said Juliet Barker, MBBS(Hons),...Bone marrow fat may indicate bone weakening
...eviously suspected that increased bone fat content represent a bone risk factor. However, before MR spectroscopy, doctors needed to examine bone fat by operatively removing bone samples from patients. A non-invasive method such as MR spectroscopy opens new diagnostic opportunities, he said. If these results a...Sleep loss boosts appetite, may encourage weight gain
...d leptin, both discovered in the last ten years -- represent the 'yin-yang' of appetite regulation. Ghrelin, made by the stomach, connotes hunger. Leptin, produced by fat cells, connotes satiety, telling the brain when we have eaten enough. Van Cauter's team measured circulating levels of leptin and ghreli...Stem cells to the rescue - or not?
...d here.with other types of stem cells[as] they may represent a better perspective for the stem cell therapy of striated muscle diseases than BM-SP stem cells." In light of these data, McNally and colleagues suggest that "active pursuit ofalternative approaches should be fully investigated as we advance into re...International trial finds benefits of breast MRI in women at high risk
... breast tissue that can look suspicious but do not represent breast cancer and yet may lead to a biopsy." ...Academy meeting examines the vaccine & avian influenza crisis
... for new influenza subtypes to spread in pandemics represent new challenges to global public health. To alleviate supply issues, some public health experts propose administering low-dose vaccines, but will this be adequate to protect high-risk populations? With the prospect of an avian influenza epidemic on ...Diagnostic imaging surge by non-radiologists draws concern
...s performed by members of their own medical group, represent the type of trend that will bankrupt the healthcare system by driving up costs overall," said David C. Levin, M.D., author or co-author of five papers presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). "Plus, ...Imatinib (Gleevec) has activity in AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma
...d lead author of the study. "Studies like this one represent an exciting time in oncology, when our understanding of the development of diseases like KS coincide with the availability of effective treatments. Further research on imatinib in KS patients will be needed to determine appropriate dosing schedules."...