Study finds limitations in publicly reported quality-of-care indicators for heart-failure patients
...be the best benchmarks since none were significant predictors of patient mortality during the critical first 60 to 90 days immediately following hospital discharge. Published in the Jan. 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study found that none of the current measures used by the Jo...Ability of biomarkers to predict risk of heart disease, stroke appears limited
...ors have stood the test of time and are still good predictors of risk, while at the same time adding to the growing body of information on novel biomarkers," says Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD, director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which sponsors the Framingham Heart Study. "Although there...Genomic tests improve prediction of breast cancer response to chemotherapy, hormonal therapy
...atment, Symmans and Pusztai said. They plan to add predictors for other available treatments. Both chemotherapy and tamoxifen response tests are being developed in close collaboration with Nuvera Biosciences, a start-up company launched by M. D. Anderson for commercialization of molecular diagnostic technolog...Newsbriefs from the journal Chest, December 2006
...and baseline body max index (BMI) were significant predictors of developing habitual snoring. Change in BMI over the follow-up period, development of asthma, and initiation of smoking were additional independent risk factors for the development of habitual snoring. This study appears in the December issue of CH...New research shows big improvement in survival after stroke
... and history of pre-morbid dependency, were strong predictors of survival". "The increased number of stroke survivors in New Zealand is a positive outcome, showing more knowledge of the condition and how to treat it," says Associate Professor Valery Feigin of The University of Aucklands Clinical Trials Rese...Consortium of international hospitals receives $11 million to conduct study of genetic brain tumors
... institutions. By identifying potential genetic predictors of hereditary gliomas, researchers hope to uncover important genetic information that may lead to improved treatment and prevention strategies. Although only five percent of all brain tumors are inherited, this area of research is relatively neglec...Predictors of undergoing joint replacement surgery among patients with severe osteoarthritis
... undergo TJA and others resist it? To examine the predictors of time to a first TJA, a team of Canadian researchers, affiliated with the University of Toronto and other research institutes, conducted a population-based study of 2,128 individuals ages 55 and over with disabling OA of the hip and/or knee. Their...Rochester researchers join federal initiative to improve drug safety
...iograms (ECG) for the purpose of identifying early predictors of cardiac risk. This project is part of the "Critical Path" initiative launched two years ago by the FDA to accelerate the process of bringing medical breakthroughs to patients while at the same time ensuring safety and reducing drug development cos...HIV measurement appears to be less reliable than thought in predicting loss of CD4 cells
...se progression risk. In addition to their role as predictors of the clinical outcomes of HIV infection, CD4 cell count and plasma HIV RNA level are commonly used as markers of the success of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Until this study was completed, however, the degree to which blood levels ...Researchers use statistical technique to find mix of biomarkers predicting mortality
...technique for identifying multiple and interacting predictors of an outcome, as a useful analytical tool for addressing research questions in the biomedical sciences. Using recursive partitioning, they found that combinations of neuroendocrine and immune markers frequently appeared in high-risk male pathways, w...JAMA study provides clues to cause of sudden cardiac death in teens
...ncy treatment. Researchers found three significant predictors of life-threatening events in these patients: timing of prior fainting spells (syncope), the degree to which the QT interval was prolonged as measured by an ECG, and the patient's sex. Statistical analysis revealed that children with two or more fa...Factors linked with increased risk of cardiac arrest for adolescents with certain heart condition
...uent sudden cardiac death. Significant independent predictors of aborted cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac death during adolescence included recent syncope (loss of consciousness), QTc interval (a certain measurement on an electrocardiogram), and sex. Among those 10 to 12 years old, males had 4 times the risk of...JRRD tipsheet: Focus on stroke
Clinical and cognitive predictors of swallowing recovery in stroke, pg. 301 We examined whether the location of brain damage, neurocognitive deficits, and/or the number of clinical features identified during a swallowing study affected stroke patients' swallowing outcomes. Identific...Mexican Americans have higher risk of stroke recurrence
...his association was considerably larger than other predictors of death in this population including diabetes and coronary artery disease and indicates that in both ethnic groups, secondary stroke prevention is critical to improve survival following ischemic [inadequate blood flow] stroke," the authors state. ...African Americans have lower response rate to standard therapy for hepatitis C
...rican American patients is not caused by the usual predictors such as patient age, gender, pretreatment serum HC...age and non-Hispanic black race were the important predictors of genotype 1b...genotype1 and non-Hispanic black race, have been associated with a reduced response...Where are medical graduates practising and why?
...oundland (MUN) to identify the characteristics and predictors of their working in Canada and in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2004. In a related commentary, Wootton discusses the many factors, past, present and future, that affect physician supply. ...Different gene-expression predictors of breast cancer agree, UNC study shows
...erlands, studied the concordance of five different predictors that were all applied to a single data set of 295 ...ournal of Medicine, the researchers note that four predictors showed "significant agreement" in their outcome predictions on individual breast cancer patients, de...Never marrieds run highest risk of early death
...ngly, older age and poor health were the strongest predictors of death by 1997, but a surviving marriage was also strongly associated with a longer life. After taking into account age, state of health, and several other factors likely to influence the findings, those who had been widowed were almost 40% more ...Research reinforces findings that Chinese exercises benefit older adults
... balance and strength improvements are significant predictors of a laboratory loss of balance measures, and to evaluate stance width as a possible learned strategic mechanism for improved postural stability," Yang said. In real-world terms, improvements in these areas are believed to reduce seniors' risks of ...Increased nighttime blood pressure may be linked to higher risk for congestive heart failure
...4-hour period and night-day patterns, are powerful predictors of cardiovascular illness and death. However, no p... and the blood pressure variables were analyzed as predictors of subsequent CHF. Seventy men developed heart failure during follow-up. In analysis adjusted for an...