2005 Potamkin Prize goes to neurologists for research in early detection of Alzheimer's disease
...isease-modifying therapies, and have stimulated an intensive search for sensitive predictive biomarkers of AD." Petersen's research has focused on mild cognitive impairment (MCI). "This represents the earliest clinical features of the disorder that will ultimately become Alzheimer's disease," Petersen said. "C...Exposed: Tobacco companies efforts to influence industry privatisation
...espite hoping to establish a monopoly, BAT planned intensive marketing, as if in a competitive market, aiming to target young people in cities. In doing so it predicted that smoking uptake would increase, especially among women, belying the tobacco industry claim that advertising only encourages brand switchin...OHSU develops instant, computerized notification system to communicate patients' end-of-life wishes
...ot want to be placed on a breathing machine in the intensive care unit. Doctors need to know this immediately to respect the patient's wishes the minute he or she arrives at the hospital. Along with the POLST form, OHSU patients also have their advance directives filed electronically with their medical record...Exercise may not be good enough to reduce mild hypertension in older people, Hopkins experts say
...each blood pressure goals, and it may require more intensive exercise programs. Although participants followed the prescribed program according to guidelines without fail, it does not seem to be enough for full blood pressure control in older people. "Alternatively, older persons may need to get started soo...ACP and ACP Foundation launch 3-year effort to improve diabetes care
...MD, FACP, FACC, president of ACP. "We believe this intensive three-year project, combining an emphasis on highest standards of care, measurable goals for practice in office settings, and research can dramatically improve diabetes care." "To tackle diabetes, we are looking beyond our 116,000 member internist...American Thoracic Society Journal news tips for April 2005 (second issue)
IMPROVING END-OF-LIFE CONFERENCES A study in 4 intensive care units (ICUs) aimed at family conferences to d...tigators, the majority of deaths that occur in the intensive care unit in North America involve withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining therapy. When this oc...Learning software developed by Rutgers-Newark scientist helps 450,000 students with reading
...d reading can be dramatically improved through the intensive use of these six- to eight-week programs involving computer-based suites of exercises. And educators have responded. Currently, public school districts in areas ranging from Juneau, Alaska, to Palm Beach, from St. Louis to Connecticut, and from Milw...Rare surgery performed to remove pancreas, prevent diabetes
...f the islet transplant program. The patient was in intensive care at UAB Hospital for two days following the surgery, and will be in the hospital until sometime next week, doctors said. Stewart's chronic pancreatitis developed four years ago as the result of a congenitally malformed pancreatic duc...Lessons to be learnt from life at the very limit
...rallels between extreme environment physiology and intensive care in hospitals. Talks will cover the history a...re including Everest summiteer Dr Sundeep Dhillon, intensive care consultant and mountaineer Dr Hugh Montgomery and Nick Lane, author of the book 'Oxygen: the Mo...New prognostic markers help identify risk of relapse
... help clinicians identify patients in need of more intensive therapy. At the same time it may be useful in identifying those children who could have reduced therapy and avoid drug side-effects." The study's authors recommend a prospective clinical trial now be undertaken to test the value of these findings f...American Thoracic Society journal news tips for May 2005 (first issue)
...charged from or died in 21 French medical-surgical intensive care units (ICUs), one-third of the relatives questioned 90 days after the event showed levels on a test that demonstrated moderate to major risk of post-traumatic stress reaction. Using the impact of events test, investigators saw even higher rates ...Sensor warns of gastrointestinal problems
... to measure carbon dioxide levels in the brains of intensive care patients, as this can provide information about the patient's recovery. Further the sensor can be adapted to measure other substances such as glucose or specific ions. Sebastiaan Herber's research is being funded by Technology Foundation STW....Lower doses of chemotherapy equally effective in most children
...ght predict which children would do well with less intensive chemotherapy drugs. They looked at factors such as...ng our treatment plans. Maybe we add a little more intensive therapy to our treatment to help patients with these particular factors to improve their outcomes." ...U.S. ranks highest worldwide in use of high-tech imaging
...ars of income. "Not surprisingly, the most capital intensive countries more often used CT and MRI," he said. France was an outlier among wealthier nations, he noted. The study authors did not specifically research reasons for the global differences, but "who is paying for the studies may be a driving force in ...Surgery no better than rehabilitation for low back pain
...urgery for chronic low back pain is no better than intensive rehabilitation and is unlikely to be a cost-effect...re assigned to spinal fusion surgery and 173 to an intensive programme of rehabilitation, led by physiotherapists, involving daily exercises and cognitive (menta...Risk factors associated with elderly hospital deaths: Dependence on others and being too thin
...ability to function with good physical therapy and intensive rehabilitation." Dr. Thomas says his is the first study that examines connections between the many factors that influence death in the hospital. "Previous reports have examined individual factors that influence hospital outcomes. Functional status, h...Errors in intensive care units: medical staff report fewer unintended events than observers
... the rate of "unintended events" (UE) reporting by intensive care unit (ICU) staff is less than half that of a ...t different types of UEs compared to observers. In intensive care units, unintended events, often caused by human error, could lead to critical and even fatal in...Delirium in non-ventilated patients predictor of longer hospital stay
...ime that nearly half of non-ventilated patients in intensive care units (ICU) experience delirium, which is als...ividuals who were patients in the medical centre's intensive care unit for longer than 24 hours and did not require invasive mechanical ventilation. The patients...Skin infections caused by MRSA are cured more often when treated with Pfizer's ZYVOX
...o percent of hospital-acquired Staph infections in intensive care units were resistant to antibiotics, but today physicians are seeing rates of approximately 60 percent. "The rapid emergence of MRSA is an increasing public health problem, especially among hospitalized patients where skin and soft tissue inf...Greater risk of death for cardiac surgery patients with long ICU stay
... surgical procedures and had prolonged stay in the intensive care unit had lower survival rates and lower quality of life. Dr. Vinayak Bapat atSt. Thomas' Hospital, London and his team looked at a study group of 89 patients who had undergone various cardiac procedures and survived the following 30 days, and ...