Investigational drug may protect cancer and AIDS patients from side effects of pain relief therapy
...ases in CCR5 receptors. "Methylnaltrexone does not represent a cure for HIV infection," emphasized Moss, but it may offer an unexpected benefit to AIDS patients who require pain relief." A phase-2 clinical study of MNTX is underway at the University of Chicago in opioid-treated HIV-positive individuals....AAPA survey shows physician assistants increasingly employed in medical practices
...pediatrics (2.7%). Cumulatively, these percentages represent a slight decrease from the total percentages of PAs working in primary care settings in 2002. Other prevalent specialties for PAs were general surgery/surgical subspecialties (23.0%), emergency medicine (10.0%), and the subspecialties of internal med...Early signs of cardiovascular disease detected in asymptomatic individuals in need of treatment
...Center are primarily self-referred. "This does not represent a cross-section of our community," Cohn said. "But it emphasizes that even in this health-conscious group of people with full access to the health care system, early disease is not being recognized or treated." The screening visit at the Rasmussen Ce...Largest study to date finds radiofrequency ablation is best treatment for benign bone tumor
...Harvard Medical School in Boston. Osteoid osteomas represent about 10 percent of benign bone tumors. They are most commonly found in children and young adults and are often difficult to diagnose. Although such tumors rarely exceed 1.5 cm in diameter (a little over half an inch) and have little or no growth p...High blood pressure does not accelerate age-related cognitive decline
...ver, the changes we recorded in the laboratory may represent a situation that could become clinically significant when other diseases, especially those that are cardiovascular in nature, are included. "The significance of these cognitive effects will become clearer as additional evidence is obtained regarding ...EUROCARE 3 - new European cancer survival figures
..., both of which are amenable to intervention. They represent a benchmark for reduction in inequalities in cancer survival across Europe in the future. While we do not yet have a fully satisfactory interpretation of these differences, we have few alternatives to this type of study and we believe this is a vital...Uninsured face higher death risk from aorta problems
...ished in the current issue of the journal Surgery, represent the first confirmation of a long-suspected effect: that there's a deadly downside to the delay in detection and treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms that results from uninsured patients' lack of access to regular medical care. "Although we can't b...A picture perfect test of well-being: Graphic assessment tool tunes into life satisfaction
...ding that the body is only the shape the energy we represent happens to take; action, or the choice to do something whether physical or cognitive with that energy; and power, which essentially refers to whether or not you feel able to use and channel your energy toward getting what you need in life. Gueldner's...Hospital care quality differs markedly by state: annual HealthGrades study
...ades rates at hospitals nationwide were chosen to represent various aspects of quality at the state level: Coronary Artery Bypass Graft surgery (CABG), Percutaneous Coronary Interventions (PCI), Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI), Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) and Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP). The grea...Prescription drug utilization reviews are less than useful
..., the journal of the American Medical Association, represent the first published study of the clinical effectiveness of such review programs. Drug utilization review is required of all state Medicaid programs and is also used by most private-sector prescription programs. In theory, these reviews examine presc...A cheap and easy way to treat Parkinson disease
...already utilized in the treatment of epilepsy, may represent a cheap and easy way to treat Parkinson disease. Parkinson disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer disease. Sufferers experience motor skill abnormalities including tremor, muscle stiffness, and unstable voluntary...American Thoracic Society Journal news tips for September 2003 (second issue)
...on of innate immune responses mediated by TLR4 may represent a novel and effective means of preventing acute rejection after lung transplantation. The study appears in the second issue for September 2003 of the American Thoracic Society's peer-reviewed American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicin...University of Pittsburgh receives two grants to try to increase organ donation/procurement
...d to brain-dead donors, donors after cardiac death represent a very small subset of the total number of deceased donors. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, 167 of the 6,081 deceased donors in 2001 were from donors after cardiac death, also referred to ...UCSD researchers decipher function of blood-brain barrier in bacterial meningitis
..."It appears that the normal GBS with a capsule may represent a form of 'molecular mimicry,' where the bacteria disguises itself to look more like the host and avoid immune recognition." In a second test, the researchers developed a GBS mutant that lacked a potent cell-damaging toxin called beta-hemolysin/cyto...UNC study: Trails, places to excercise, streetlights can boost activity levels
...ties since those counties are widely separated and represent rural, suburban and urban areas. "We found no association between leisure activity and unattended dogs and only a weak link with heavy traffic," Huston said. "Sidewalks appeared to make only a small positive difference, too. "But people who re...New Alzheimer projections add urgency to search for prevention, cure
...s expected to reach 13.2 million. The new numbers represent a significant increase over a 1990 study by the same researchers that estimated 7.5 to 14.3 million cases, with a medium range of 10.2 million, by 2050. "Our choice is clearer than ever," said Goldberg. "Either increase funding for research to fend ...Sickness records can predict employee deaths
... the risk of death because short-term absences may represent healthy coping behaviours. Medically certified sickness absences may well capture the full array of illnesses employees experience during their job contract, say the authors. These routinely collected data could be used as a global measure of health ...ID Migraine screener found to be highly reliable in detecting migraine in undiagnosed patients
...fective treatment, use of the screening tool might represent an important step toward reducing the burden of this illness." "Headaches sometimes have serious causes not identified by the screener. Whether a patient has migraine or headaches due to other conditions, the ID migraine screener can help facilitate...Researcher invents new graphing method
...expanding polygons within a diamond shaped grid to represent values. The researcher experimented with other sha...d that the six-sided polygon was the only shape to represent the outcomes equally within the grid as it expanded. Over the years, other researchers have attempte......nority children, particularly Latino children, who represent 50 percent of California's youngest children. "These new CHIS findings underscore the urgent need to invest in quality preschool and health care," said E. Richard Brown, director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and professor in the UCLA...