University of Pittsburgh study shows using expanded critera donors is safe
...e, sex and MELD scores a liver transplant scoring system which estimates a patient's risk of dying while waiting for the transplant. Patient and graft survival were the following: Group one, 68 percent and 64 percent respectively; Group two, 76 percent and 65 percent respectively; Group three, 82 percent a...New data show the efficacy of EQUETRO in patients with Bipolar I Disorder
...marketing products in the areas of central nervous system (CNS), gastrointestinal (GI), and renal diseases. Shire has operations in the world's key pharmaceutical markets (US, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Spain and Germany) as well as a specialist drug delivery unit in the US. For further information on Shir...Protecting Europe from epidemics: official inauguration of ECDC on 27 May
...is by reinforcing and developing the EU's existing system of continent-wide disease surveillance, networking EU Member States' health expertise and providing authoritative scientific advice on new and emerging diseases. The ECDC's Director, Mrs Zsuzanna Jakab, was nominated by the Centre's Management Board ...Personalized immunosuppression with leading organ transplant therapy may optimize patient care
...ted States. CellCept works to suppress the immune system and prevent organ rejection. The FDA approved dosage for CellCept for adult kidney transplant recipients is 2 g daily. "To optimize use of CellCept in next-generation immunosuppressive regimens, we have initiated the large-scale OptiCept TM study t...Emory study finds health care use, work productivity linked to health levels
...f this nation's debate about fixing the healthcare system and insurance coverage. To date, we have focused on the supply-side of the healthcare problems," Keyes says. Keyes conducted the study with Wake Forest University School of Medicine professor Joseph Gryzwacz. Keyes' study used data from a representa......ial of the VentrAssist TM left ventricular assist system (LVAS). Chief Medical Investigator at Papworth Dr Steven Tsui said "The operation went according to plan and our patient has been stable during the last 24 hours. Technically, the VentrAssist is easier to implant than many earlier generations of ve...Medical privacy vs. health care quality?
...al consent rate was 34 percent. Under the previous system of simply asking patients for their permission in a phone call, 96.4 percent of 1,221 patients agreed. The lower participation rate with the HIPAA-compliant written consent means that the data collected would be less meaningful. The study also finds...Post-marketing analysis examines cholesterol-lowering drugs' side effects
... nature of the current post-marketing surveillance system to be the greatest limitation. "One of the limitations is that the current surveillance system does not require the reporting of all the drugs that patients are taking," he said. As a result, v...Enhancing innate immunity improves Crohn's disease symptoms
...d not be a good idea to stoke up the body's immune system to treat Crohn's disease. Most treatments for Croh...e the mid-1990s. "The idea of priming the immune system in patients with Crohn's disease sounds a bit crazy at first," says Dieckgraefe, an assistant profes...Immune factor GM-CSF significantly improves Crohn's disease symptoms
...drug that stimulates a specific part of the immune system may improve symptoms of Crohn's disease, according...nt with GM-CSF, which stimulates the innate immune system and is usually used to restore bone marrow function in chemotherapy patients. Promising results fro...New insight into potential cause of sexual dysfunction in women
...teraction between the nervous system, the vascular system and the musculoskeletal system," said Connell. "Alterations in any of these systems could potentially cause FSD." The trial was conducted while Connell was at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The team studied the pudenal nerve, which provide...New haptics systems challenge stroke patients to grasp, pinch, squeeze their way to recovery
...the space tube task and said she wanted to use the system at home." That is critical to post-stroke recovery. "It's not easy to keep patients motivated and engaged in daily, repetitive exercises," McLaughlin said, "so if they are enjoying the tasks, they're likely to do better during rehabilitation."...Errors in intensive care units: medical staff report fewer unintended events than observers
...corded and assessed using a uniform, international system called the Critical Incident Reporting (CIR) system. However, this system does not provide an objective numerator (the observed number of unintended events) and there is no u...Swedish researchers first in the world to gain access to BIMS
... Information Management System (BIMS) Owing to the system now being developed at Karolinska Institutet in St...formatics as well as tissue and blood samples. The system will enable researchers to seek biobank samples linked to the vast databases of phenotype and genoty...Medical whistleblowers speak out
...delines for the treatment of patients in the state system and were receiving money from companies with a stake in these guidelines. The marketing tactics used by drug companies came under scrutiny at the roundtable. Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau, a former drug representative who wrote and directed the movi...Fluorescence device to diagnose atherosclerosis and tumors described at optics conference
...aining vulnerable plaque are infiltrated by immune system cells called macrophages. This inflammatory proces...rs or blood vessels are being studied, the way the system operates is dependent on the unique characteristics of the tissue. "Each biological system will be c...Children in foster care may be underaccounted for in the Medicaid program
...during 1994 and 1995. They found that the Medicaid system failed to identify 28 percent of the children as residing in foster care. "We found a systematic sampling bias," said Dr. Rubin. "Children were more likely to be identified correctly as foster children if they had a greater number of foster care plac...Practice of defensive medicine widespread among physicians in specialties at high risk of lawsuits
...filing malpractice claims, or persuading the legal system that the standard of care was met. Other practices, described as "avoidance behavior" (sometimes called "negative" defensive medicine), reflect physicians' efforts to distance themselves from sources of legal risk. Defensive medicine, particularly av...May/June 2005 Annals of Family Medicine tip sheet
... they make a compelling argument for a health care system that integrates, rather than fragments, care. A study by Fortin and colleagues defines the extent of the problem, finding that comorbidity is the rule rather than the exception in primary care. A second study out of Duke University Medical Center con...... lasts from minutes to hours may prime the immune system for oncoming trauma. "In the case of skin wounds a...It may be nature's way of ensuring that the immune system provides heightened protection when we face possible injury or infection." The study appears online ...