Childhood obesity indicates greater risk of school absenteeism, Penn study reveals
... The study found that overweight children were absent on a...New contracts support clinical trials on antibiotic-resistant, community-acquired staph infections
NIAID today announced the award of two new five-year contracts to study whether selected oral, off-patent antibiotics can effectively treat uncomplicated cases of skin and soft tissue infections caused by community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) bacteria. If so, doctors could use those antibiotics first in an effort to dampen the development of resistance to such...Study reveals gaps in vaccine financing for underinsured children
... The number and cost of new vaccines routinely recommended for children and adolescents has increased considerably since 2003. New or expanded recommendations for meningococcal conjugate, tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis (Tdap), hepatitis A, influenza, rotavirus, and human papillo...Electrical implant steadies balance disorder in animals
... Though human testing of the so-called multichannel vestibular prosthesis remains a few years away, the scientists say such a device, which is partially implanted in the inner ear, could aid the 30,000 Americans the experts own estimates show are coping with profound loss of inner ear balance. These people often suffer from unsteadiness, disequilibrium or wobbly vision. Problems with vesti...Novel candidate biomarker for heart failure also strongly predicts risk of death
A potential new biomarker for heart failure may be more powerful than established measures in identifying patients at increased risk for death from several causes. In a report to appear in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that has received early online release, an international research team describes finding that blood levels of a protein called ST2 both indicate the presence o...Annals of Internal Medicine tip sheet for Aug. 7, 2007, issue
... ... Authors say an earlier study, which found the drug associated with increased risk for myocardial infarction and cardiovascular death, had several flaws. The authors re-analyzed the data from the earlier trial, using a variety of modeli...Happier hospitals means healthier patients
... Frictions between doctors and managers have been well documented. And the new research, led by Professor Ian Kirkpatrick of the Leeds University Business School, blames poor relationships between the two sides for the fact that increased productivity in hospitals has not kept p...Study says normal but out-of-control enzyme may be culprit that signals some cells to become cancer
... Colorectal [cancer] is the second leading cause of cancer mortality, and the molecular pathways [by w...HealthGrades study: Bariatric surgery patients have fewer complications at high-volume hospitals
... A c...University hospitals wins multiple national IT awards for electronic patient data bank
... ... UH also was selected to receive the CIO 100 Awar...Trials underway for 'essential' new TB vaccine
... ... TB, which is caused by the M. tuberculosis bacterium, is thought to kill two million people every year. The UK's Hea...Helicopter flight trials for EGNOS
... The Lausanne trials were performed by Eurocopter, using their EC155 experimental all-weather helicopter (Hlicoptre Tous Temps HTT). The trial programme was coordinated by skyguide, the Swiss air navigation service provider and consisted of a number of validating approaches performed by the HTT to a Helicopter Emergency Medical Se...Lower mortality rates associated with hospitals that rank highest on quality of care indicators
Boston, MA -- A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) shows that patients who go to hospitals ranked higher according to specific quality measures have a lower chance of dying than patients treated at lower-ranked hospitals. The researchers calculate that if the lowest performing hospitals had similar patient mortality rates to those of top-performing hospitals, 2,200 fewer e...Sucampo Pharmaceuticals submits supplemental new drug application for Lubiprostone to treat IBS-C
Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (Sucampo Pharmaceuticals) today announced that it has submitted a supplemental New Drug Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to seek market approval of a lower strength of lubiprostone (8 mcg) to treat irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C). Lubiprostone, developed by Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, is currently approved for the treatment of C...UT study reveals inaccuracies in cardiac PET-CT imaging, finds fixes
... Lead author K. Lance Gould, M.D., professor in the Division of Cardiology at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, said he discovered the abnormalities upon his initial use of cardiac PET-CT scanners in the Weatherhead P.E.T. Center For Preventing and...'Cars' imaging reveals clues to myelin damage
... ... "Although multiple sclerosis has been studied for many years, nobody knows exactly h...Women's mortality rates for cardiovascular disease differ widely among hospitals
... The study also found that, for women, the largest quality gaps between the best-performing and poorest-performing hospitals were in heart failure and interventional cardiology procedures. Compared to poorly performing hospitals, the best...Taking animals out of laboratory research
... ... Scientists hope that by developing the use of cell and tissue cultures, computer modelling, cell and molecular biology, epidemiology and other methods, they will one day be able to...Millennium development goals: Are we on track?
... The MDGs were developed at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 to set measurable goals and targets for a range of pressing global problems, inc...STAMP system can help professionals to identify potentially violent individuals
... ... STAMP - which stands for Staring and eye contact, Tone and volume of voice, Anxiety, Mumbling and Pacing could be used by any professionals in potentially vi...Diabetes professionals join forces to identify gaps in diabetes care and better self care
... "We as health care professionals expect a lot from people wit...Report calls for new directions, innovative approaches in testing chemicals for toxicity to humans
WASHINGTON -- Recent advances in systems biology, testing in cells and tissues, and related scientific fields offer the potential to fundamentally change the way chemicals are tested for risks they may pose to humans, says a new report from the National Research Council. The report outlines a new approach that would rely less heavily on animal studies and instead focus on in vitro methods that...UCLA researchers develop new nanomaterials to deliver anti-cancer drugs to cells
... ... In a paper scheduled to be published...Performance-related financial incentives for hospitals not linked with improved quality of care
... "The concept of providing financial incentives to health care givers to improve quality of care, known as pay for performance, has received national attention as a potential means of narrowing well-documented gaps between health care guidelines and clinical practice," the authors write. In 2003, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the largest pay-for-performa...Strengthening exercises may slow progression of ALS
... ALS, also referred to as Lou Gehrigs disease, is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease that causes muscles to weaken and eventually deteriorate. Information on the role of exercise in ALS has been conflicting, with some studies suggesting that overworking the muscles could cause the disease to progress faster...Bias in statin trials, failure to control malaria, and more
... ... ... ... ... ... ... Research on the effectiveness of a major class of drug statins, used to reduce c...International journal group updates guidelines on registration of clinical trials
... ... The revised ICMJE policy now says: ... ... In addition to accepting registration in any of the five existing registries, the ICMJE will accept registrati...May/June Annals of Family Medicine tip sheet
... An easily identifiable dermatologic condition, acanthosis nigricans, is associated with having multiple risk factors for type 2 diabetes, in patients aged 7 to 39 years, finds this study of 1,113 patients. As the number of type 2 diabetes risk factors increased, so did the prevalence of acanthosis nigricans in both children and adults. Patients with this dermatologic condition were nearly...General physicals prompt needed cancer screenings
... ... "Because people go to the doctor anyway when they feel sick or have a medical problem, some authorities have questioned whether preve...HealthGrades patient safety study shows increase in hospital incidents, gaps among state, hospitals
Patient safety incidents in American hospitals grew from 1.18 million to 1.24 million among the 40 million hospitalizations covered under the Medicare program, and incidents varied widely from state to state, and among the best and worst hospitals, according to a by HealthGrades, the leading healthcare ratings company. ...... "Overall we see the number of patient safety incidents in American ho...Tip sheet Annals of Internal Medicine, April 4, 2006
3 Annals of Internal Medicine Articles and an Editorial Look at How Well Americans and Their Doctors Are Controlling Chronic Diseases...... ...... According to a new study, diabetes care in the past 10 years has improved, but, still, two in five people with diabetes have poor control of cholesterol, one in three have poor blood pressure control and one in five has poor control of blood sugar leve...MIT thinks small to find safer metals
MIT researchers have devised a new method for shrinking the size of crystals to make safer metal alloys. The new materials could replace metal coatings such as chromium, which is dangerous for factory workers to produce....... The method, developed by Associate Professor Christopher Schuh and graduate student Andrew Detor, both of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, involves maki...Tip sheet Annals of Internal Medicine, Feb. 21, 2006 issue
... ...In this study of more than 4,000 patients who were experiencing coronary heart disease for the first time, patients who were taking statin or b-blocker drugs were more likely to be diagnosed with angina than myocardial infarction or to die from sudden death (Article, p. 229). ... ...Angina is a more stable, more controllable and lower risk form of heart disease. Statins are drugs used to...Professor's research with hand-held device brings speech to impaired and disabled individuals
A middle-aged woman makes plans over the telephone to get together with a friend, even though she cannot talk after suffering a stroke. She is able to communicate using a hand-held device that speaks for her....University of Virginia neurolinguist Filip Loncke has the only research site in the United States using the apparatus - a barcode reader called the B.A. Bar that was developed in Switzerla...Annals of Internal Medicine tip sheet for Oct. 18, 2005
...... The Oct. 18 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine describes two new diabetes treatments: exenatide, an injected drug; and inhaled insulin. Both treatments have pluses and minuses and were tested on people with type 2 diabetes who were already taking two oral blood-sugar-lowering drugs but whose levels were not under control.... ... A 26-week trial comparing benefits and harms of exenatide...PLoS announces open access journal for all clinical trials, positive or negative
San Francisco, USA, October 18, 2005 - The Public Library of Science (PLoS) today announces PLoS Clinical Trials, an innovative new journal devoted to peer-reviewing and publishing reports of randomized clinical trials in all areas of healthcare ( ). ... ...The journal differs from other medical journals in one crucial respect. It will publish all trials that are ethically and scientifically so...VA tops private hospitals in infection-control study
... The recommendations were published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 2001, and by the Centers for Disease Control in 2002. Since then, "There really had not been any national studies that had looked at whethe...Detecting cold, feeling pain: Study reveals why menthol feels fresh
... ... As such, the receptor known as menthol receptor TRPM8 -- provides a target for studying acute and chronic pain, as can resul...Women with breast cancer do not get potentially life-saving information, survey reveals
... ... ... Milan, Italy and Stockholm, Sweden, 24 May 2007 New published data from a large pan-European survey indicate that the majority of postmenopausal women with early breast cancer taking post-surgical endocrine therapy are not involved in making key decisions abo...Study reveals aspirin's colorectal cancer prevention mechanism
... "We knew that aspirin can block COX-2 function...