Study shows inadequate psychiatric care in assisted living facilities
...f life for the elderly. As of 1999, about 600,000 senior citizens in the United States were living in AL facilities (1) and that number is expected to increase to 1.9 million by the year 2030. (2,3) ...Angioplasty, robotically assisted keyhole bypass combo appears effective
...nd aesthetic results," said Frank Van Praet, M.D., senior author of the report and staff member of the department of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery at the OLV clinic in Aalst, Belgium. Keyhole surgery involves cutting two small holes in a patient's chest, in addition to a larger hole (the mini-thoracot...Cholesterol-lowering drug may slow Alzheimer's progression
... promise of benefit," said D. Larry Sparks, Ph.D., senior scientist and head of the Roberts Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Disease Research at Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City, Ariz. Animal and human studies have shown that elevated cholesterol is an important risk factor for Alzheimer's disease...People on food stamps can't afford heart-healthy meals
...ods part of their daily diet, researchers said. A senior living alone would need at least $100 extra. "Low-...eeds. The average monthly food cost was $242 for a senior living alone and $692 for a family of four. Maximum food stamp benefits in Massachusetts are $139 f...Ventricular assist devices can be used as bridge to heart recovery without need for heart transplant
...he University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and senior author of the study. "Successful therapeutic strategies for end-stage congestive heart failure now include not only cardiac replacement with assist devices or transplantation, but the true opportunity for repair and recovery of myocardial function th...'Outgrown' a peanut allergy? Eat more peanuts!
...heir allergy," says Robert Wood, M.D., the study's senior author and a pediatric allergist at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. According to Wood, an estimated 20 percent of children stop having allergic reactions to peanuts as they grow older. Few studies have been able to clearly assess the rate of re...Brookhaven Lab and BioSET develop a synthetic peptide that enhances the effect of BMP-2
...as 40 times," said Brookhaven scientist Louis Pea, senior author of the paper. "This peptide unlocks a synergy with BMP-2. In a cell culture model, we used BMP at doses too low to have any observable effect by itself, and the same was true for the B2A2 peptide. But when the two were added together in the sa...Study pinpoints schizophrenia brain glitch
...all. There was a pretty dramatic difference," said senior author Robert W. McCarley, MD, deputy chief of staff for mental health services at the VA Boston Healthcare System and chair of the Harvard psychiatry department. The brain contains hundreds of billions of neurons, or nerve cells. Researchers believ...Smoking cessation can improve survival among patients with severe COPD
...estigator of the Boston Early-Onset COPD Study and senior author of this manuscript. "It is possible that women are more susceptible to the harmful effects of cigarette smoke and that this increased susceptibility has not been appreciated due to the historically higher rates of smoking among men." COPD is ...Genetic testing can identify ischemic and nonischemic heart failure
...test that can be used in a clinical setting," said senior study author and cardiologist Joshua Hare, M.D., a professor of medicine at the Heart Institute. "Ischemic patients need to be monitored more closely in case they develop drug resistance and require surgery to unblock clogged arteries. Knowing whic...Study: Physical activity in middle age cuts risk of early death
...es, including her RWJ mentor Rodney Hayward, M.D., senior author on the new paper and a professor of internal medicine at the U-M Medical School as well as a member of the Survey Research Center at the Institute for Social Research and director of the VA Center for Practice Management and Outcomes Research....New brain cells develop during alcohol abstinence, UNC study shows
...derstand negative consequences." In the new study, senior co-author Crews and co-author Nixon found inhibition of neurogenesis, or brain cell development, during alcohol dependency, followed by a pronounced increase in new neuron formation in the hippocampus within four-to-five weeks of abstinence. This inc...Pitt researchers identify biomarkers of lupus which could lead to quicker and better diagnosis
...he University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and senior author of the study. "Today we are one step closer to providing patients with an immediate and accurate diagnosis, one step closer to providing physicians with the ability to offer better treatment options and one step closer to providing incenti...Britain should adopt universal hepatitis B immunisation
...d adopt universal hepatitis B immunisation, says a senior doctor in this week's BMJ. The United Kingdom is one of the few developed countries that have not implemented universal immunisation. Because the burden of hepatitis B was low and individual rights were considered paramount, a policy of selective imm...$2.8 million public-private partnership to examine how surroundings can encourage active lifestyles
...yond the physical infrastructure" said Kate Kraft, senior program officer at The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "This pioneering program is more than just adding trails and sidewalks but investing in diverse partnerships that bring together citizens, local government and the private sector to build physica...Dealing with casualties from a terrorist attack
...authorities and the media. Triage was performed by senior faculty at the entrance to the ED, and lasted until around 10.30 a.m." The authors conclude, "All in all, common sense, diligence in the triage of patients and serenity seemed to prevail after the initial unavoidable chaos and emotional trauma common...Surgical procedure to treat GERD in children found to be ineffective
...em to the disease," said Hashem El-Serag, MD, MPH, senior study author. "This study emphasizes the importance of pre-operative counseling on alternative treatment options for GERD in children, as well as an assessment of the risks and benefits involved." Fundoplication is a procedure which involves surgica...National survey shows few physicians elected to Congress
...ers. "There is real irony in our findings," said senior author Thomas Suarez, M.D., director of medical education at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. "Health care issues are increasingly at the forefront of the presidential election debate, national health care spending is at an all-time high of 14 percent of...Molecular clock genes influence metabolism of sugar and dietary fats
...tissues of the body. Some years ago, a team led by senior author Garret FitzGerald, MD, Chairman of Penn's Department of Pharmacology, discovered a molecular clock in the heart and blood vessels and described for the first time how the master clock in the brain could use a hormone to control such a periphe...Improved acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment offers hope for eliminating irradiation
... Evans, Pharm.D., St. Jude hospital director and a senior author of the paper. "To do this, we will have to continue to improve our ability to target therapy more effectively in patients with genetic abnormalities that identify them as being at high risk for treatment failure. For example, we are already te...