Medicalizing the human condition
...ne normality, said Conrad. We are on a trajectory toward turning all human differences into diseases or disorders and subjecting them to medical treatments. This thought-provoking study offers valuable insight into not only how medicalization got to this point but also how it may continue to evolve....MRI detects cancers missed by mammography in breast cancer patients
...low. Studies like these are needed to pave the way toward greater use of MRI breast cancer screening in newly diagnosed patients. However, Dr. Vallow acknowledges that MRI scans need to be faster, cheaper, more accessible, and uniform across institutions, before it can be widely used, and cautions that ca...JRRD releases single-topic issue on pain and pain management
...hey had many fears, concerns, and negative beliefs toward using opioids to treat noncancer pain such as low back pain. If other doctors share these feelings, finding ways to increase their comfort by identifying and treating patients who might safely benefit from opioids to reduce their suffering and disabi...OFT's value-based pricing scheme is well-founded, but could increase overall NHS drug spend
..., worried that the current plan is overly generous toward pharmaceutical companies and could lead to a rise in the NHSs total drug bill. In most markets consumers are used to the idea of paying a high price for goods that give a lot of benefit, and a low price for those that perform less well. The consume...Scientists find war vets' hand dexterity determines susceptibility to PTSD
...k between handedness and a person's predisposition toward PTSD," Boscarino said. "These findings may be useful in mitigating some of the adverse outcomes associated with traumatic stressor exposures." ...Medical, high-energy physicists collaborate to improve PET scans
...mbitious as Henry," Chen said. "We are aiming more toward 30 picoseconds." In the PET world, more accurate particle velocity measurements would translate into improved image quality and thus more accurate diagnoses, Chen said. Doing so would require an emerging technique called "time-of-flight PET," which...New prevention, treatment methods for patients with painful bowel inflammation
... and we are pleased to see more attention directed toward improving the lives of people suffering from these conditions," said Mara Abreu, M.D., Director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, Associate Professor of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "The studies presented today provide evidence that s...Nationwide study compares surgeries to treat urinary incontinence in women
...der are weakened, causing the bladder to move down toward the bottom of the pelvis. In the sling procedure, a strip of the patients own tissue is placed under the urethra like a hammock and attached to the ligaments of the pubic bone to provide support. In the Burch procedure, the urethra and bladder are ...MIT reports key pathway in synaptic plasticity
...w MIT neuroscientists have taken an important step toward solving this challenging jigsaw puzzle. They have pieced together a direct linear pathway connecting three molecules involved in synaptic formation, to be reported in the May 21 advance online publication of Nature Neuroscience. "We haven't solved ...NIH study tracks brain development in some 500 children across US
...h suggesting that in adolescence, there is a shift toward integrating what one knows rather than learning new basic skills. Dr. Waber cautions, however, that these data provide "snapshots" of development in different children at different time points, rather than following each child over a series of time ...Fatalistic beliefs about cancer cause many to ignore cancer prevention advice
... to assess Americans knowledge about and attitudes toward cancer prevention. The findings have implications for cancer education efforts. "Many Americans seem to feel afraid and helpless in regards to cancer, which may be exacerbated by conflicting news reports and a general lack of education on the caus...Adolescents with high-risk sexual attitudes attract peers with similar attitudes
...d by peers to adopt certain behaviors or gravitate toward others with similar attitudes and behaviors. They also examined the role of peer attitudes in the development of high-risk behaviors. The study analyzed data on 1,350 15- to 18-year-old male and female students taking part in the National Longitudin...Public health impact of climate change, poverty, disaster response and housing design
...health equity in the urban setting requires action toward fairness and equity within and between countries. Engaging the people themselves, urban communities and multiple sectors in the urban development process is a must," explains Tord Kjellstrom, BMed, MEng, PhD, coauthor of the supplement's editorial. K...Ruling out pulmonary embolism with a simple bedside protocol
...ely 20-25%. More importantly, this is a first step toward a culture change of using intelligent clinical criteria instead of expensive technology to rule out life-threatening disease. According to Dr. Kline, I interpret our data as a manifestation of the erosion of the physician-patient relationship. Physic...Better health twice as likely for nonsmokers who live and work with smoking restrictions
...ons. "As the policy environment continues to move toward comprehensive protection at the workplace, the household increasingly will become the main and perhaps the only significant source of exposure among nonsmoking adults as it is among children," observes Donna Shelley, MD, Mailman School assistant prof...Coenzyme Q10 does not improve Parkinson's disease symptoms
...d a significant increase in plasma levels of CoQ10 toward levels observed with high doses of standard CoQ10 formulations in Parkinson's disease and other disorders, our study failed to show improvement of Parkinson's disease symptoms and did not meet its primary or secondary end points," which were changes ...Higher gas prices leave many workers running on empty
...creasing price of gas, which has inched its way up toward $4 a gallon in some parts of the United States. And consumers arent feeling those effects just in their wallets, a Florida State University professor has found. Research conducted by Wayne Hochwarter, a professor of management in FSUs College of Bu...Chunky adolescents' cardiovascular health is headed in wrong direction
...where in the middle because they likely are headed toward being fatter and at increased risk of cardiovascular disease," says Dr. Dong. He presents his findings May 10 during the Inter-American Society of Hypertension and the Consortium for Southeastern Hypertension Control Scientific Sessions in Miami. ...Breakdown of myelin implicated in Alzheimer's, UCLA research shows
...neuritic plaques from the late-myelinating regions toward the earlier-myelinating regions." Bartzokis noted that a similar progression has been described clinically of the cognitive, functional and neurologic declines that accompany Alzheimer's disease. Oligodendrocytes and myelin have the highest leve...Scientists equip bacteria with custom chemo-navigational system
...'s natural chemotaxis, a microbe's ability to move toward specific chemicals in its environment. "Equippin...teria with "chemo-navigation" systems to move them toward desired targets. Chemotactic bacteria navigate chemical environments by coupling their information...