New study shows promise in reducing surgical risks associated with surgical bleeding
CHICAGO (August 10, 2007) Surgeons may have a new patient safety tool to stop moderate surgical bleeding without some of the concerns associated with the current standard blood-clotting treatment. New research published in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that recombinant human thrombin (rhThrombin) reduces the risk of surgical complications associated w...Benefits of trastuzumab are lasting, reducing both HER2 + breast cancer deaths and recurrence
... These studies, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), were undertaken to test whether trastuzumab adds to the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy (doxorubicin, known as Adriamycin, and cyclophosphamide) followed by paclitaxel (Taxol) in women with HER2 + breast cancer w...Large study shows low-fat diet has little effect on reducing risk of breast cancer
A major study that includes nearly 50,000 women followed over 8 years indicates that a diet low in fat, but high in fruit, vegetables and grains, does not significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, according to an article in the February 8 issue of JAMA.... ...Ross L. Prentice, Ph.D., of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, and colleagues with the Wome...'Big picture' of brain changes may be crucial to recovery from stroke injury
A study of patients who have difficulty paying attention to the left side of their environment has provided some of the first direct evidence that brain injury can cause detrimental functional changes in brain regions far from the site of the actual injury. ... "We normally don't consider changes in function beyond the site of brain injuries," says Maurizio Corbetta, M.D., the Norman J. Stupp Pro...... ... 11 a.m. EDT Thursday, May 24, in Room 1...How insulin-producing cells develop -- new finding could help fight against diabetes
... The research reveals that glucose plays a key role in enabling healthy beta cells, which secrete insulin, to develop in the pancreas of an embryo. Glucose prompts a gene called Neurogenin3 to switch on another gene, known as NeuroD, which is crucial for the normal devel...Reducing cardiovascular disease risk factors when discontinuing hormone replacement therapy
... Participants were part of the five-year Women On...Increasing survival of organ transplant patients by reducing time interval for transported organs
... The cold preservation method, which has been in practice for more than 25 years, delivers the organ in a non-functioning state immersed in...Researchers discover gene crucial for nerve cell insulation
... The discovery has implications for understanding disorders of myelin production. These disorders can affect the peripheral nervous systemthe nerves outside the brain and spine. These disorders are known collectively as peripheral neuropathies. Peripheral neuropathies can result in numbness, w...Rapid response was crucial to containing the 1918 flu pandemic
... Cities where public health officials imposed multiple social containment measures within a few days after the firs...Mechanism of hallucinogens' effects discovered
... Stuart Sealfon, Jay Gingrich, and colleagues published their findings in the February 1, 2007 issue of the journal Neuron...Pacifier use assists in reducing the incidence of SIDS
... "Contrary to popular belief, there are some positive effects that result from sucking on pacifiers," says Jane Soxman, DDS, author o...New Congress should focus on covering the uninsured, reducing health costs, according to new survey
New York City, January 8, 2007 -- Expanding coverage for the uninsured should be the top health care priority for the new Congress over the next five years, identified as "absolutely essential" or "very important" by 88% of respondents to the latest Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders survey. Other top priorities are moderating rising health care costs (81%), reforming Medicare to ensu...RAND study finds vaccination of nursing home staff, residents, key to reducing flu outbreak
... ... Researchers defined clusters of influenza-like illness as more than three cases with influenza-like symptoms reported...Study by Children's Hospital and Carnegie Mellon explains crucial deficit in children with autism
... Previous research has shown that young children...Health facility births key to substantially reducing maternal deaths worldwide
... Over half...Health facility births key to substantially reducing maternal mortality worldwide
Making sure women throughout the world can give birth in a health facility, in the presence of a midwife, is the best strategy for substantially reducing maternal mortality worldwide, according to a landmark series of papers published by The Lancet today (Thursday September 28, 2006). The authors are calling on governments and donors to prioritise this strategy over alternatives, such as home bi...Mirrors in the mind: New studies elucidate how the brain reflects onto itself the actions of others
In three new independent studies, researchers have deepened our understanding of the remarkable ability of some specialized areas of the brain to activate both in response to one's own actions and in response to sensory cues (such as sight) of the same actions perpetrated by another individual. This ability is thought to be based in the activity of so-called mirror neurons, which have been hypot...Reducing side effects of painkillers
... ... Now a team in Cardiff University's School of Medicine, working with collea...Reducing contrast material injection in elderly patients can lower cost of exam and risks
... "When interpreting CT images acquired using the established protocol in our clinical practice, it was noted that in some examinations of elderly patients, contrast enhan...A little TLC goes a long way toward reducing high cholesterol
... Your Guide to Lowering Your Cholesterol with TLC (Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes) from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health details a three-part program of diet, physical activity, and weight management designed to bring cholesterol levels do...Exercise important in reducing size of abdominal fat cells
... "The message is very clear," said Tongjian You, Ph.D., instructor in geriatric medicine at Wake Forest Baptist and lead author. "Exercise is important to reducing the size of these cells, and may one day be part of a prescription for treating the health complication...Hopkins scientists show hallucinogen in mushrooms creates universal 'mystical' experience
... ... The agent, a plant alkaloid called psilocybin, mimics the effect of serotonin on brain receptors-as do some other hallucinogens-but precisely where in the brain and in what manner are unkn...UCI epilepsy researcher receives nation's top neuroscience prize
Irvine, Calif. -- Dr. Tallie Z. Baram, a UC Irvine School of Medicine neurologist and one of the world's top epilepsy researchers, has received a Senator Jacob Javits Award in the Neurosciences, the nation's most prestigious prize for cutting-edge research into brain disorders....... Javits awards are given annually by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to recognize resea...Sudden infant death syndrome: Reducing the risk
Far fewer cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) occur today in Canada since the reduction of environmental risk factors (e.g., avoidance of prone sleeping position and secondhand smoke). However, SIDS continues to be the leading cause of postneonatal infant death, accounting for about 25% of all deaths among infants between 1 month and 1 year old. In this review, Hunt and Hauck discuss the...UCI scientists find chlorine may contribute to ozone formation
Irvine, Calif., June 13, 2006 -- Standard methods of predicting air pollution don't take atmospheric chlorine into account, but the chemical could be responsible for 10 percent or more of daily ozone production in local air, research at UC Irvine has found....... Air measurements taken nearly nonstop in the Irvine area over a two-month period showed that daytime chlorine gas levels typically meas...Pneumonia can be treated effectively in nursing homes, reducing transfers to hospital
Hamilton, ON -- There may be no advantage to taking nursing home residents to hospital for treatment of pneumonia. They can do as well if they receive the same medical treatment at their residence, a study conducted by McMaster University researchers and funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has shown....... When nursing home residents are routinely hospitalized with pneumo...Study evaluates benefits and risks of tamoxifen and raloxifene for reducing risk of breast cancer
Raloxifene and tamoxifen are both effective in reducing the risk of invasive breast cancer, but each has potential disease and quality of life side effects that women and their physicians will need to consider, according to two reports and an editorial published online June 5 by JAMA. The papers are being published online to coincide with the scientific presentation of this information at the ann...When a child's heart stops, onset time of abnormal rhythms is crucial
Ventricular fibrillation, the life-threatening disordered heart rhythms that may accompany full cardiac arrest, occurs more frequently in children than commonly believed, according to a large national pediatric study....... Furthermore, not all ventricular fibrillation (VF) is the same, said study co-investigators Vinay Nadkarni, M.D., and Peter A. Meaney, M.D., M.P.H., specialists in Critical Ca...How to cut energy waste in China, India, Brazil said crucial to forestalling climate change
With world energy prices and climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions ballooning in tandem with a surge in energy demand from the hot economies of China, India and Brazil, the world has a major stake in the success of energy reduction efforts, particularly in those three countries, warn experts concluding a four-year international project....... Without significant gains from energy efficiency e...Reducing dose errors for children in cardiac arrest
When children suffer cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) in the pre-hospital setting, it is particularly important that Emergency Medical Services personnel administer correct medication doses. In a study presented at the 2006 Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Annual Meeting, May 18-21, 2006 in San Francisco, researchers evaluated the change in medication dosing error rates after the Los Angeles...Reducing the damage caused by cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrests outside of a hospital setting are very common and many patients who have been resuscitated die. The medical community has responded with educational programs in CPR and installation of Automated External Defibrillators to provide a bridge to hospital care. Once the patient makes it to the hospital, recent work in hypothermia to prevent brain damage shows some promise....... Thre...HIV Medicine Association applauds crucial HIV/AIDS bill
The HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) is pleased to see a key Senate committee putting medical care first in a new bill to reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act, the federal government's largest program for uninsured or underinsured people living with HIV/AIDS. ......However, the bill the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved yesterday could lead to rationing of medications...Sick of being pregnant? Inducing labor carries risks, Saint Louis University research finds
ST. LOUIS -- Women who have their labor induced or are given medication to stimulate contractions are at greater risk of developing chorioamnionitis, an infection of the placental tissues and amniotic fluid, new Saint Louis University research finds....... Elisabeth Erekson, M.D., a resident in obstetrics, gynecology and women's health at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, presented her r...New treatment against persistent ulcer-inducing bacteria successful
ANN ARBOR, Mich. May 1, 2006 - For those who suffer from stomach ulcers, the daily routine of breakfast, lunch and dinner can be painful. A common cause of these ulcers, as well as other gastric malignancies, is a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori. For some, this infection can be persistent and difficult to treat. ...... Many approaches have been taken in an attempt to clear such infections,...UCI researchers to study health effects of exercise in children
Irvine, Calif., May 1, 2006 -- Researchers with the UC Irvine Center for the Study of Health Effects of Exercise in Children have received a $7.2 million, five-year National Institutes of Health grant to study the impact of physical activity on childhood health. ... ...The information gained will be used to find how exercise can be best used to prevent asthma and childhood obesity, and to enhance...Jefferson researchers discover that nanoparticle shows promise in reducing radiation side effects
(PHILADELPHIA) Using transparent zebrafish embryos, researchers at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia have shown that a microscopic nanoparticle can help fend off damage to normal tissue from radiation. The nanoparticle, a soccer ball-shaped, hollow, carbon-based structure known as a fullerene, acts like an "oxygen sink," binding to dangerous oxygen radicals produced by radiation.... The s...UCI researchers find that, even at rest, men's and women's brains behave differently
Irvine, Calif., April 3, 2006 -- A key part of the brain involved in processing emotionally-influenced memories acts differently in men and women, even in the absence of stimuli, UC Irvine researchers have found. ... ...Larry Cahill, an associate professor of neurobiology and behavior, and Lisa Kilpatrick, a former postdoctoral fellow in his laboratory, have found that the amygdala, an almond-sh...UC Davis study shows grape seed extract may be effective in reducing blood pressure
Grape seed extract lowered the blood pressure of patients who participated in a UC Davis study of the benefits of the supplement on people with high blood pressure....... Conducted by UC Davis cardiovascular researchers, the study was the first human clinical trial to assess the effect of grape seed extract on people with metabolic syndrome, a combination of risk factors that increase the risk fo...Public education key to reducing genetic diseases linked to close-kin marriage
Basic information on the genetic problems linked to close-kin marriage and the preventive measures available should be included as part of the secondary school curricula in the Middle East, state the authors of a Comment in this week's issue of The Lancet....... The World Health Organization (WHO) defines close-kin marriage, or consanguineous marriage, as one between individuals who are second co...