Gene variations point to why lung cancer drugs work better in Japanese vs. US patients
... Now, a follow-up study suggests the reasons appear to lie in subtle variations in certain genes that govern how the body metabolizes chemotherapy drugs. David Gandara, M.D., a University of California, Davis researcher who led the recent Southwest Oncology Group study,...Huge waves from 1 storm slam coasts some 6000 km apart
... Waves reaching up to 11 metres devastated France's Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean when it slammed into the southern port of Saint Pierre on 12 May. Six days later waves created from the same storm measuring as high as seven metres began crashing into Indonesia coastlines from Sumatra...Scientific breakthrough for naprapathy
... Naprapathy is a special system for restoring functionality and reducing pain in muscles and joints. The therapy is manual, with the naprapath using manipulation and mobilisation of the spine and other joints, and muscle treatments such as stretching and massage....Computer predicts wishes of incapacitated patients better than family or loved ones
... To use the decision tool, called a "population-based treatment indicator," the doctor first enters the incapacitated patient's circumstances and personal characteristics into a computer. Perhaps, for example, the patient has pneumonia and s...Study finds lapatinib shows promise as therapy for inflammatory breast cancer
SAN ANTONIO In the first multi-center and international clinical trial conducted to better understand the complexities of a rare, aggressive and often lethal form of breast cancer, researchers have discovered that the experimental biological agent, lapatinib, successfully and specifically treats inflammatory breast cancer (IBC). ... Massimo Cristofanilli, M.D., associate professor in the Departm...Japanese adults with diabetes have increased cancer risk
... Researchers have long suspected that there might be an association between diabetes and cancer, but no conclusive evidence has been obtained, according to background information in the article. Diabetes is rapidly becoming more common in Japan, as it is in many other countries. More than 7.4 mil...Consumption of green tea associated with reduced mortality in Japanese adults
... Tea is the most consumed beverage in the world aside from water. Three billion kilograms of tea are produced each year worldwide, according to background information in the article. Because of the high rates of tea consumption in the global population, even small effects in humans could have large i...Cincinnati surgeon's pediatric laparoscopic liver surgery a world first
... ... Liver cancer is rare in children--less than 150 cases are diagnosed each year compared to more than 18,000 in adults--so the dise...World Trade Center dust cuts lung function capability in rescue workers
... ... Gisela I. Banauch, M.D., of the Pulmonary Division at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, and eight associa...Medical device test center expands capabilities to help reduce potential interference
... One source of potential interference is the electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems that help retailers, libraries and other establishments prevent theft and track inventory. Also, early signs suggest potential concerns from the radio-frequency identification (...Robot-assisted, laparoscopic surgery for vaginal vault prolapse found to be effective
... ... "After hysterec...New McGill research shows mice capable of empathy
... ... In research published online June 29 in the journal Science, Professor Mogil, graduate student Dale Langford and their colleagues in the Pain Genetics Lab at McGill University discovered that mice that were co-housed (that is, familiar to each other) and able to see one another in pain were more sensitive to pain than those tested alone. The results, which for the first t...NYU researchers decorate virus particles, showing potential to enhance MRI capabilities
Researchers at New York University have made chemical modifications to nanometer sized virus particles--a process that has the potential to improve magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Their results are reported in the latest issue of Nano Letters....... The study was conducted jointly by NYU's Department of Chemistry and the Department of Radiology at the NYU School of Medicine. The stud...Japanese encephalitis widespread in Bali
Japanese encephalitis might be more widespread in Indonesia than previously thought. In a study published today in the open access journal , researchers analysed the incidence rate of Japanese encephalitis, a potentially lethal disease caused by a mosquito-borne virus, in children living on the Indonesian island of Bali. The researchers found an incidence rate of 8.2 per 100,000 in children less...Picking apart how neurons learn
Johns Hopkins researchers have used mouse mutants to define critical steps involved in learning basic motor skills. The study focuses on the behavior of two proteins and the specific steps they take to control a neuron's ability to learn by adapting to signals from other nerve cells. ...... The findings, published in the March 16 issue of Neuron, pull together a growing body of evidence from the...Two new studies reveal benefits of laparoscopic surgery for uterine cancer
In a pair of studies presented today at the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists 37th Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer, researchers have found in a large randomized trial of laparoscopy versus laparotomy for surgical treatment of uterine (endometrial) cancer that laparoscopy is safe, and when successfully completed reduces hospital stay by 50 percent, and contributes to a better quality of life fro...Impact of fondaparinux tested on most serious heart attacks
ATLANTA, GA (March 14, 2006) -- The results of a large international cardiovascular trial will shed light on whether the addition of a new drug that prevents blood clotting, or thrombosis, can improve the treatment of the most serious form of heart attacks. This research will be presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 55th Annual Scientific Session and the inaugural Innovation in...Enoxaparin beats unfractionated heparin as adjunct therapy for heart attacks
A simple-to-use strategy that prevents blood clots in patients who have suffered a heart attack markedly reduces the risk of repeat heart attack or death when compared to an older, more widely used blood thinning strategy, according to a large international study presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 55th Annual Scientific Session and the inaugural Innovation in Intervention: Th...Declines in exercise capacity may be due to lack of training, not just age
Older people generally have to work harder than younger people to walk as fast or do other exercise, but some of the difference may be due to reduced exercise efficiency, which can be reversed with training, according to a new study in the Mar. 7, 2006, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology....... "Older subjects are less efficient than younger subjects. This inefficiency can...UT Southwestern doctors test robotic surgeon for laparoscopy
Having a surgeon with four arms is one of the advantages of the latest robotic technology now being studied at UT Southwestern Medical Center....... The $1.4 million robot named da Vinci can hold a camera in one hand while manipulating tiny laparoscopic surgical tools in its other hands. And it never tires like its human counterparts....... With a human surgeon at the controls, da Vinci filters o...Patients capable of self-monitoring their anticoagulation therapy have survival benefit
Patients capable of self-monitoring their warfarin therapy could benefit from a one-third reduction in death from all causes, according to a meta-analysis in this week's issue of The Lancet. However, self-monitoring is not feasible for all patients, and requires identification and education of suitable candidates, state the authors of the study....... Oral anticoagulation agents reduce the likeli...Sexual health clinics will need to more than triple capacity to meet 48 hour access target
Sexual health clinics will need to triple their capacity to meet the 48 hour access target, scheduled for 2008, reveals research in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections....... The target, set by the UK government for 2008, will mean that all sexual health clinics will have to provide every patient with an appointment within 48 hours of contacting the service, similar to the target imposed...Japan's ALOS in orbit: ESA will deliver its data to European researchers
ALOS, Japan's latest Earth Observation satellite, was successfully launched at 02:33 CET (10:33 Japan time) on 24 January. Environmental data and imagery from ALOS will be provided to European and African users through a cooperative agreement between ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)....... The Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) is a four-tonne satellite dedicated to lan...New technology developed at Barrow Neurological Institute enhances MRI capabilities
Researchers at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix have developed a new method that allows technicians to obtain clearer Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans with less sensitivity to patient motion....... PROPELLER is an acronym for "Periodically Rotated Overlapping ParallEL Lines with Enhanced Reconstruction." This method acquires data in a unique way that allows one to track the motion o...Dramatic increase in annual rate of laparoscopic bariatric surgeries
The number of bariatric surgeries performed in the U.S. increased by 450 percent between 1998 and 2002, a growth the researchers say could be linked with use of the minimally invasive laparoscopic technique, according to an article in the December issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals....... Currently, surgery is the only effective sustained weight loss option for patien...Use of laparoscopic procedure for gallbladder removal varies widely
CHICAGO There is a wide variation in the use of laparoscopic surgery for gall bladder removal in Hong Kong hospitals, and use of this procedure is more likely at certain hospitals and among younger female patients operated on more recently, according to a study in the November issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals....... Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC, removal of the...Can cooling affect exercise capacity of those with MS?
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Aerobic exercise is thought to help persons with multiple sclerosis fight fatigue, the most common symptom of the disease. Yet MS also appears to cause the body to heat up more quickly, compromising the ability to exercise. ... New research at UB will investigate if cooling the body before or during exercise allows persons with MS to exercise longer, and which method is most eff...Walking and sports linked with heart health benefits in Japan, too
(BETHESDA, MD) Even in an Asian nation where people generally have higher levels of physical activity on the job than is typical in North America or Europe, those who walk more or engage in regular sports activity tend to have lower levels of ischemic stroke and coronary heart disease, according to a new study in the Nov. 1, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.... .....One dose of vaccine against Japanese encephalitis provides sustained protection
A single-dose of a live vaccine against Japanese encephalitis can give children in Nepal high levels of protection for over a year, according to an article in this week's issue of The Lancet....... Japanese encephalitis is an infection transmitted through the rice-growing areas of Asia by several types of vector mosquito. It causes at least 50,000 clinical cases and 10,000 deaths every year in As...Laparoscopic surgery associated with reduced inflammatory response
CHICAGO Minimally invasive colorectal surgery may have a less pronounced inflammatory response and less of a suppressing effect on the immune system than conventional surgery, resulting in a possible reduction in post-operative complications, according to a study in the July issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. ......Minimally invasive (laparoscopic) techniques have b...Japanese doctors likelier than US counterparts to involve patients' families in decisions
Medical residents in Japan are more likely to involve patients' families in end-of-life decision making--and to favor informing family members over the patients first-- than their United States counterparts, who prefer dealing directly with the patient, according to a new study conducted by Dr. Bob Gabbay and colleagues....... Yet the Japanese medical residents are more conflicted about their ap...GroPep news: Key psoriasis patent granted in Japan and new asthma patent filed for GroPep drug
GroPep Limited announced today the granting in Japan of a key patent covering the active ingredient of its developmental psoriasis drug, PP0102. The world market for psoriasis drugs is more than US$1 billion annually....... The patent news is significant because Japan is a major pharmaceutical market and grant of the patent provides the Company with a patent monopoly until January 16, 2016, with...APA applauds new California regulations for inpatient psychological services
Washington, D.C., April 14, 2005 -- California patients suffering from serious mental illness will now have the benefit of having their inpatient care managed by psychologists with full hospital privileges. ......New state regulations issued by the state's Department of Health Services (DHS), recognizes California psychologists' expertise in diagnosing and treating mental disorders which allows...Prenatal sonography has no effect on the intellectual capacity of the developing child
Scientists carrying out a major epidemiological study at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University have discovered that there is no clear correlation between routine ultrasonic scans and intellectual impairment. ...... ..."Fears have been expressed that sonography can lead to diminished intellectual capacity," explains Helle Kieler, research scientist at Karolinska Institutet. ...... Previous...Depression overtakes back pain for incapacity benefit claims
Common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, now account for more incapacity benefit claims than musculoskeletal conditions like low back pain, say researchers in this week's BMJ....... Long term sickness absence is a major public health and economic problem. In 2003, 176 million working days were lost; up 10 million on the previous year. Each year, 13bn are spent on benefits, and the...