American Thoracic Society Journal news tips for October 2005 (second issue)
...ental state (disorientation, lethargy, or stupor), plus the arterial oxygen saturation level. These readily available clinical parameters each were assigned a numerical score to quantify them with the patient's potential for death. According to the authors, the rule identifies patients who are at either ...Nutrition expert evaluates new weight-loss medication
...lumbia. The study, which compared orlistat 60 mg plus diet to placebo plus diet in patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 to 28, demonstrates a statistically significant ...Side-effects cause some breast cancer patients to skip hormone treatment
...r preferring injections also included convenience, plus a desire to ensure adherence; Despite the initial scenario describing tablets and injections as equally effective, of those patients with a preference, 95.4% of those who preferred injections thought injections were more effective and 58.8% of those...Rapid restoration of immunity in immune-suppressed cancer patients using T-cell vaccines
...group that received the early pneumococcal vaccine plus the early T-cell vaccine infusion had an immune response that was protective and higher than often achieved in normal patients who do not have cancer. Custom-Designed T-Cell Therapies Will Enhance Immunity At the recently opened Clinical Cell and ...Treatment advances for lymphoma have reduced deaths by 70%
...sphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone) plus new monoclonal antibodies (rituximab or iodine-131...int. The third group of 356 patients received CHOP plus immunostimulant therapies during the 1970s; their four-year survival rate was 69 percent. "This data...Inhaled nitric oxide may help sickle cell disease
...e of Georgia researchers have found. "Hemoglobin S plus nitric oxide behaves much like normal adult hemoglobin, which does not sickle," says Dr. C. Alvin Head, chair of the Medical College of Georgia Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine. In fact, their test-tube studies of human hemoglo...Tracking desertification with satellites highlighted at UNCCD COP
...oducts include national and sub-national risk maps plus severity/recovery maps, pressure indicators and state indicators. The intention is to create a means of authoritatively assessing and monitoring desertification and its trends over time. ESA is manning an exhibit throughout the UNCCD COP, and in ad...Dipyridamole, ASA and warding off stroke
... a stroke or a TIA and were randomized to take ASA plus dipyridamole compared to ASA alone had increased rates of myocardial infarction, although the results were marginally not significant. ASA in doses between 75 and 150 mg/d should remain the gold standard of treatment to prevent stroke in high-risk p...TPV EU approval provides new HIV active drug to be combined with FUZEON
...ble the proportion of patients who received FUZEON plus tipranavir/r showed a 90 percent drop in viral load compared with patients not receiving FUZEON. This FUZEON effect was shown in other clinical trials combining FUZEON with other boosted protease inhibitors, including lopinavir/r and TMC 114/r. The u...The Gerontological Society of America awards new Hartford Doctoral Fellowships
...als will each receive a $50,000 dissertation grant plus $20,000 in matching support from their home institutions that will enable them to more fully concentrate on their dissertation research projects over the next two years: James Masten New York University School of Social Work Dissertation Title: "Agi...Annals of Internal Medicine tip sheet for Nov. 1, 2005
... counseling about coronary risk factors, education plus supervised exercise programs, and structured exercise programs alone. Researchers found benefits associated with all three types of programs. Overall, they positively affected risk factor profiles, such as blood pressure and cholesterol, improved f...Body checking found to cause few youth hockey injuries
... injury prevention is increased skill development, plus a greater emphasis on learning to play "heads up" hockey. He suggests that body checking may be a key component of teaching this technique to skilled players. "These younger kids are injured more often by falling into the boards or colliding with ea...Vitamin D, taxotere combination extends the lives of men with advanced prostate cancer
... randomized study of DN-101 (high-dose calcitriol) plus docetaxel vs. placebo plus docetaxel in androgen independent prostate cancer (AIPC)" PORTLAND, Ore. -- Men with advanced prosta...Studies find no evidence that estrogens in soy increase uterine cancer risk
...y all markers for cancer risk. Monkeys on the soy plus estrogen diet had increased levels of all markers, while monkeys that ate soy with isoflavones did not. In a short-term study, researchers gave monkeys 10 times the levels of isoflavones normally consumed through diet and again found no effects on t...Lancet study: Pfizer's Vfend equals two-drug candidemia regimen, with fewer serious side effects
...andida from the blood as quickly as amphotericin B plus fluconazole. The median time to attain a negative blood culture was two days in both groups. The adverse event rates were comparable between treatment groups. However, significantly more serious adverse events (57 percent in the amphotericin B/flucon...... nothing by mouth (control group) or standard care plus oral therapy with a laxative, a digestant and a defoaming agent (intervention group). Compared with patients in the control group, patients receiving oral therapy were more likely to have successful treatment without surgery (91% v. 76%); relative r...Clinical decision system helps reduce inappropriate antimicrobial prescribing
... and 6 communities received community intervention plus CDSS that were targeted toward primary care clinicians. Community-wide antimicrobial usage was assessed using retail pharmacy data. Diagnosis-specific antimicrobial use was compared by chart review. Within CDSS communities, 71 percent of primary car...Prescribed walking can improve physical fitness
...g either more exercise or the combination of HardI plus HiF exercise." (Arch Intern Med. 2005; 165: 2362-2369. Available pre-embargo to the media at www.jamamedia.org .) Editor's Note: This study was supported by a Polar Research Award to Dr. Duncan from the American College of Sports Medicine Foundat...Treatment has demonstrated improvement in physical function and kept joint damage from progressing
...rters of patients treated with Enbrel (etanercept) plus methotrexate combination therapy experienced no pr...20 mg once weekly), or ENBREL (25 mg twice weekly) plus methotrexate once weekly. Patients in the ENBREL TEMPO trial had active RA and an inadequate respon...Lifestyle modification plus medication more effective than medication alone
...tyle modification alone; 3. weight loss medication plus lifestyle modification; and 4. weight-loss medication plus brief physician-mediated therapy. The researchers included the fourth treatment group to measure th...