Ozone recovering, but unlikely to stabilize at pre-1980 levels, says study
...olumn ozone, is found between 10 miles to 20 miles above Earth's surface in the stratosphere, Weatherhead said. The ozone layer protects the planet from the harmful effects of UV radiation, including skin cancer and cataracts in humans and damaging effects on ecosystems....World Hypertension League calls for urgent action to get more hypertensive patients to goal
...n people with high blood pressure worldwide remain above this goal, leaving them at significant risk of cor...simply, for every 20/10mmHg rise in blood pressure above this level, the risk of death from cardiovascular problems doubles3. International guidelines have s...News briefs from Heart Rhythm 2006
...oping ventricular fibrillation by 1.5 to two times above the study's baseline safety margin. Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic used a custom-built device to deliver a neuromuscular-incapacitating discharge in research animals that matched the waveform of commercially-available stun guns (TASER X-26). Dha...Computerized atlas highlights 'plethora' of changes in brain disorder
...ory sulcus, a groove or furrow-like structure just above the olfactory tract, tends to be shallower on average in those with Williams syndrome. Genetic and environmental differences, reactions to injury, and inherited disorders can all change the topography of the brain in minor and major ways. According ...Surgical plugs in ear's bone stops strange form of severe dizziness
...han the diameter of a dime. They first cut a hole above the ear and open the skull, after which they move aside a part of the brain so that they can reach the three paired canals that form the inner ear, of which the superior canal is the one closest to the top of the head. The plug mixture is made up of...Benefits of screening colonoscopy in very elderly may be limited
...50 years or older, but do not specify an age limit above which screening is not recommended. The number of screening colonoscopies in elderly U.S. patients has increased dramatically since Medicare coverage was approved in 2001, according to background information in the article. However, some clinicians m...Ireland leads Europe for anti-tobacco policies while Luxembourg comes last
...me fifth, with 62 points. Only 13 countries scored above 50 points; 11 of them were from the European Union...s, earning it last place on the league table, just above Romania on 27 points, Latvia on 29, and Austria on 31. While the UK managed only 1 point for its fai...Lower literacy means poor health and poor health care access for older people
... level were twice as likely as the ninth-grade and above group to have poor access to health care, as measured by lacking a regular doctor or place of care, a flu shot within the previous year, or insurance to cover medication. Subjects with a seventh- to eighth-grade reading level also had less health car...Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute new study on pregnant women & iron
... iron in pregnancy can drive the hemoglobin levels above desirable levels, so that by the end of the second trimester of pregnancy, 27 percent of the non-anemic women in our study had hemoglobin levels that were undesirably high," said Fernando Viteri, MD, Scientist at Children's Hospital Oakland Research ...Study finds sizeable underutilization of hip and knee replacement procedures
...es. In addition, implant survival rates were well above 90 percent after 10 years; patient satisfaction levels stood firm at 85-90 percent; and the procedures themselves were highly effective in relieving pain and restoring function. The study's sources did not include people who might benefit but had not...Overweight and obesity enlarges teenagers' hearts
...e that obesity carries no adverse mortality impact above the age of 60 years--possibly even from age 55 to 50 years. This remains to be tested," they added. Robert J Bryg, M.D. from the University of Nevada School of Medicine, who was not connected to this study, said it demonstrates that there are signifi...Small naps a big help for young docs on long shifts
...t to get "sluggish," she said, at three. Anything above three is "clinically relevant." The researchers found, however, that despite mounting fatigue and the allure of protected sleep time, interns were reluctant to rely on the night-float residents, forwarding their pagers only 22 percent of available o...Step by step, cancer patients use exercise to feel better
...e averaging more than 12,000 steps a day which is above the American College of Sports Medicine and Centers for Disease Control recommendations of 10,000 steps a day for healthy people without cancer," said principal investigator Karen Mustian, Ph.D., of the University of Rochester James P. Wilmot Cancer ...Stevens Institute of Technology Roundtable
...lting respectively, is alarming and reinforces the above finding via the conducted survey. Concerning the theft of medical data, it is surprising to note that in Colorado, it is considered only a Class 6 Felony, ranking it slightly higher than a misdemeanor. The panel at Stevens concluded that a more strin...New way to assess risk of heart disease in ethnic groups
...isk score to identify high-risk patients. Patients above an agreed threshold are prescribed preventive treatments. However, the relevance of the Framingham score to the British population is uncertain, particularly when applied to ethnic groups, because the US data on which Framingham is based, are over 2...New study suggests antidepressants save lives
... whether antidepressants increase suicide over and above the underlying disorder, such as major depression. "Much of the psychiatric community fears that the absence of treatment may prove more harmful to depressed individuals than the effects of the drugs themselves," Licinio said. "Most people who commit...Study reveals high rate of diabetes in rural India
...le survey of rural India, 13% of adults aged 30 or above were found to have diabetes in a developing area of Andhra Pradesh with a further 16% exhibiting features of pre-diabetes. Prior studies have highlighted the escalating problem of diabetes in urban India however, high quality information about healt...IADR and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare announce winners of 2006 Innovation in Oral Care Awards
...pursue innovative and novel research in oral care, above and beyond the bounds of traditional research. "The IADR is delighted to be partnered with GSK in delivering the Innovation in Oral Care Awards," said Takayuki Kuroda, IADR President. "All three winning entries addressed very significant, but differe...New scoring system predicts gastric bypass surgery risk
...w to the lungs. Increased age. In addition to the above four characteristics that were identified by the analysis of the 2,075 patients, the researchers added a fifth factor age -- to their scoring system. Based on the results of past studies, patients over the age of 45 are known to be at the highest ri...Higher death rates associated with increasing degrees of obesity, PITT researchers report
...in the obesity 1 category (approximately 60 pounds above a normal weight for a 5-foot, 5-inch tall woman) t...ut extremely obese women (approximately 110 pounds above a normal weight for a 5-foot, 5-inch tall woman) had an alarming 86 percent higher risk of death tha...