Depression overtakes back pain for incapacity benefit claims
...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 reduction of long term sick ...Lupus and the role of Epstein-Barr virus
... association between Epstein-Barr virus and lupus, researchers in North and South Carolina compared the prevalenc...g lupus patients, both African-American and white, researchers also observed a genetic variation in CTLA-4, a protein that works on T cells in regulating immunity,...Lack of vigorous activity linked to functional decline in older adults with arthritis
...ity in the future and ease the burden on Medicare, researchers are seeking to understand better and manage all th...n arthritis patients. Toward this goal, a team of researchers at Northwestern University conducted a long-term study of various risk factors, based on a large nat...Competition in health care may not result in better quality
...rkets with a greater percentage of HMO enrollment, researchers say. Another problem with the quality measurement ...heir results on the HEDIS and CAHPS measures. The researchers found that plans that make their data available publicly performed significantly better on both HEDI...Institute of Medicine news: Review of HIVNET 012 study
...'s conclusions based on a close examination of how researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Uganda's Makerer...y, the committee determined, noting that the trial researchers accurately recorded that information in the database created for the study. No evidence was found t...Liver may be source of 'good' cholesterol
...ay issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and...esis and learn more about how HDL is produced, the researchers developed mice without the ABCA1 gene in the liver which means their livers cannot produce HDL. The...OHSU scientist helping explain basis of psychotic behavior
...create dopamine supersensitivity in animal models, researchers used mice bred to lack the D2 gene as well as rats treated with PCP, alcohol, amphetamine and other dopamine-inducing drugs. They found that while there were small increases in the total population of D2 receptors among the animal models, the increas...Breakthrough in national diseases
...certain if there was a link to human diseases. The researchers discovered that people with the variant ran a 2040 per cent greater risk of developing rheumatism, MS or a myocardial infarction. The gene variant is also common: an estimated 2025 per cent of the population carry it. The discovery reveals a new area...About 70 percent of older adults use alternative medicine
...of the American Council on Consumer Interests. The researchers used data from the 2000 Health and Retirement Survey, conducted by the University of Michigan and funded mainly by the National Institute on Aging. The survey included 848 respondents aged 50 and over. The survey asked about the use of six types of a...Fifteen-year hunt uncovers gene behind 'pseudothalidomide' syndrome
... advances in technology and computer analysis, the researchers were able to find the Roberts gene, called ESCO2, ...re much more recent developments. For example, the researchers found important genetic changes in part by comparing different species' genetic sequences, most of w...Two drugs combined more cost-effective safer for managing arthritis in high-risk patients
...Vioxx or Celebrex. The study marks the first time researchers have looked at the cost-effectiveness of a popular...e most cost-effective. Over a one-year timeframe, researchers tracked a hypothetical group of 60-year-old patients with chronic arthritis who require long-term no...Painless test using teardrops may speed diagnosis of Sjgren's syndrome
... for the disease as well as its slow progress, the researchers say. According to study leader Naohisa Tomosugi, M...me-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS), the researchers identified about 10 protein biomarkers that appear to be specific for Sjgrens. In addition to helpin...Blood test can accurately diagnose heart failure in emergency patients
...o hospital emergency departments. The report from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) finds that...Sixty days after the original emergency visit, the researchers followed up with each patient, contacting them personally and reviewing their records to identify an...Tissue engineering experts discuss orthopaedics applications
...generative medicine. In the field of orthopaedics, researchers described using growth factors to regenerate bone,...ports injuries, cleft palate and osteoporosis, the researchers said. "The potential in orthopaedics is not only to manage devastating congenital or traumatic probl...Nature provides inspiration for important new adhesive
...tive with a commonly used urea-formaldehyde resin, researchers say, but does not use formaldehyde or other toxic ...ance the global competitiveness of U.S. companies, researchers say. They can also provide another market for the nation's soybean farmers - the new adhesives use a...ACHRI study finds CellCept improves survival in pediatric heart transplant patients
...g two weeks post-transplant. The study was led by researchers at the Arkansas Children's Research Institute (ACHRI) and results were presented today at the 25th annual meeting of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation in Philadelphia. "With pediatric heart transplant recipients, it is espe...Location of body fat associated with cardiovascular risk even at normal body weight
...ith the syndrome in normal and overweight men, the researchers found. A surprising finding, according to the authors, was that subcutaneous thigh fat was inversely associated with metabolic syndrome in obese men and women. Having more of this type of fat made an individual less likely to have metabolic syndrome....Restless legs syndrome has complex genetic involvement
... possibly affected) by restless legs syndrome. The researchers used statistical analysis of the genetic informati... individuals and 91 unaffected family members. The researchers confirmed that the syndrome was consistent with linkage to chromosome 12q within five families. Link...News briefs from the journal CHEST, April 2005
...dicts Mortality Patients With CAP In a new study, researchers found that patients with community-acquired pneumo...ted to six hospitals in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, researchers from the University of Alberta found that patients in a wheelchair at time of hospital admission wer...Hopkins study shows older children also benefit from 'lazy eye' treatment
... two more lines on a standard eye chart, which the researchers defined as successful vision improvement. A fourth of children in this age group using glasses alone also met this standard. For children ages 13 through 17 treated with glasses and eye patches (no drops were given to them), 25 percent experienced v...