Medical whistleblowers speak out
...t on that, otherwise we're going to have disasters like Vioxx that happen in the future." Another lesson, says Lenzer, is that "the race to approve new drugs without proper safety testing may be compromising the public's health." A research scientist from a major pharmaceutical company, who participate...Psychosocial aspects of genetic testing for hereditary cancers meeting at Jefferson June 9-10
...for breast cancer education, will discuss what its like to be a patient, from sitting in a waiting room to being in a doctors office and feeling like a diagnosis of breast or ovarian cancer is imminent. Henry Lynch, M.D., chairman of preventive med...Most heart failure cases are discovered after patients are admitted to hospital
...between primary and secondary CHF. For one, they'd like to know if CHF combined with any kind of diagnosis regardless of whether CHF is primary or secondary drives up hospital and patient costs....ESC emphasizes underestimated effects of tobacco use
...y policies that protect non-smokers. Smoking bans, like those introduced by Ireland and Italy, and their strict enforcement, may have a significant positive impact on public health." World No Tobacco Day: 31 May 2005, is focused on the role of health professionals in tobacco control. Health Professionals ...Stress may increase long-term success of vaccinations
...ulate a natural acute stress response during times like vaccinations."...Airbags associated with increased automobile accident deaths, according to new UGA study
... effectiveness using only fatal crashes in FARS is like making everyone get radiation and then estimating the lives saved by looking only at people who have cancer. Overall, there will be more deaths if everyone is given radiation, but in the cancer subset, radiation will be effective." The new study dire...Drug to block mother-to-child HIV transmission induces resistance more often than previously thought
...searchers used standard sequencing techniques and, like the first group of researchers, two more-sensitive assays. The more-sensitive assays detected resistance mutations a year or more after use of single-dose nevirapine, whereas the conventional assay could not detect resistance at one or two years. Tak...Dartmouth professor finds prescription drug advertising 'walks a communications tightrope'
... consideration the overall architecture of the ad, like the introduction of information, the use of voice-overs, and the presentation of facts. He also analyzed the connections between spoken messages, images, and other non-verbal signals such as music, written words and body language. "I found an intens...New NHLBI-sponsored study shows programs can teach children to eat healthier
...ldren could benefit from healthier eating patterns like those followed by DISC participants. "DISC has shown that following a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol is safe for children in this age group and a heart-healthy diet can lower blood cholesterol levels," she noted. Lower levels of LDL cho...Where life's memories are stored
... The other view is that autobiographical memories, like other types of shorter-term memories, gradually become independent of the medial temporal lobe as time passes. Memory studies of brain-damaged patients have not yielded a clear winner, because of the complexity of such damage and the difficulty in ac...Chemotherapy options improve for patients with advanced colorectal cancer
...cal routine, at least for those patients who would like to avoid intravenous infusional protocols, ports a...-FU-infusion in combination with cytostatic agents like oxaliplatin or irinotecan in patients with colorectal cancer is complicated and needs support and a ...Doctor 'report cards' may keep some heart patients from getting angioplasties
...ior stroke or vascular disease, as well as factors like patient age, gender and smoking habits, are all known to affect the risk that an angioplasty patient will suffer a complication or die before leaving the hospital. As the procedure has become more common and its benefits have been demonstrated, the...Mental illness exacts heavy toll, beginning in youth
...Americans, with 5,000 participants. Each of these, like the NCS-R, will provide information on diagnosis, medications, disability/impairment, and service use, drawing from nationally based samples. An international perspective on these findings is also becoming available, as the study is part of a glob...3D atlas will help navigate the spinal cord
...ution of these chemicals in the rat spinal cord is like a "signature" for one type of nerve cell and its processes. Because most of the neurochemical proteins are conserved across species, they are present not only in a particular group of nerve cells in the rat, but also in itshomologue (corresponding ...Possible treatment found for 'chemobrain'
...nk of a key word in a sentence," she said. "I felt like the word was in back of my brain. I just couldn't ...dication has really helped me," Metz said. "I feel like my brain capacity is back to normal." All participants in this trial were offered the real medicatio...Omega-3 offers hope for new anti-breast cancer drugs
...ance its anticancer effects". Omega-3 fatty acids, like those found in oily fish such as tuna, salmon, herring, sardines and mackerel, are already known to have many positive health benefits. They are commonly recommended for maintaining a healthy heart, as they are known to reduce cholesterol levels and ...Blood-based TB test matches up to old skin test in study among health workers in India
...out to be more cost-effective in developed nations like the United States where labor costs are higher," said Pai. For this study, researchers analyzed the results of 726 health care workers from the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, a rural hospital in Sevagram, India, that treats about 300 tuberculosis patients...Zero increase in prescription drug spending with generic promotion programs
...inflammatory drug (NSAID) before brand-name NSAIDs like Celebrex or Vioxx were used. Adoption of the COX-2 step-therapy program rapidly accelerated in 2002 after Express Scripts presented award-winning research at its annual Outcomes Conference documenting that COX-2s were over-prescribed. Now, the com...Mayo Clinic case series illuminates connection between welding, brain damage
...iculty maintaining balance. This syndrome can look like Parkinson's disease, yet is distinct. Multifocal myoclonus -- lightning-fast twitches that occur all over the body. Vestibular-auditory dysfunction -- problems with balance, hearing or dizziness. Mild cognitive impairment -- concentration impa...TV confuses children about which foods are healthy, new study finds
...nutritious. "When they were presented with choices like Diet Coke vs. orange juice and fat-free ice cream ...ods in their diets with low-fat, low-calorie items like rice cakes and diet soda does them a disservice by depriving their bodies of the whole-food nutrient...