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The rate of inappropriate cancer scans for low-risk prostate cancer patients in Sweden plummeted in the decade following a joint campaign to curtail such tests by Swedish County Councils and the National Prostate Cancer Register (NPCR) of Sweden, a professional association of Swedish urologists. The results, published today online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggest that curtailing unneeded medical tests, an urgent healthcare policy goal in the United States highlighted in the Choosing Wisely Campaign, among other initiatives, is achievable, says Danil V. Makarov, MD, assistant professor of urology and population health at NYU Langone Medical Center and lead author of the study.

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The encouraging observation in this study is that the incidence of T1D in Finnish children younger than 15 years has ceased to increase after a period of accelerated increase.

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An analysis of data from three studies that involved a total of more than 240,000 participants found that a self-reported history of kidney stones was associated with a statistically significant increased risk of coronary heart disease among women but no significant association was evident for men, according to a study in the July 24/31 issue of JAMA.

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In a survey of about 2,500 U. S. physicians on their perceived role in addressing health care costs, they reported having some responsibility to address health care costs in their practice and expressed general agreement with quality initiatives that may also reduce cost, but expressed less enthusiasm for cost containment involving changes in payment models, according to a study in the July 24/31 issue of JAMA.

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An investigation into the source of a fatal case of raccoon rabies virus exposure indicates the individual received the virus via a kidney transplant 18 months earlier, findings suggesting that rabies transmitted by this route may have a long incubation period, and that although solid organ transplant transmission of infectious encephalitis is rare, further education to increase awareness is needed, according to a study in the July 24/31 issue of JAMA.

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In an analysis of 5-year survival rates among black and white women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1991 and 2005, black women continued to have a lower rate of survival, with most of the difference related to factors including poorer health of black patients at diagnosis and more advanced disease, rather than treatment differences, according to a study in the July 24/31 issue of JAMA.

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Fluctuations in the unemployment rate affect people’s health care choices, finds a new study in Health Services Research.

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CU Cancer Center and CSU Flint Animal Cancer Center study shows NOTCH signaling elevated in K9 osteosarcoma, but aspects of Notch signaling noticeably deactivated in the worst cancers.

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A multidisciplinary team at UT Southwestern Medical Center has found that measuring the oxygenation of tumors can be a valuable tool in guiding radiation therapy, opening the door for personalized therapies that keep tumors in check with oxygen enhancement.

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A research team headed by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center scientists Christopher Kemp, Ph.D., and Carla Grandori, M.D., Ph.D., has received a $4 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to develop precision therapies that selectively kill cancer cells while sparing normal, healthy tissue.

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In cancer, the spread of tumor cells from the primary site to other parts of the body is called metastasis and is a major cause of death, especially in patients with breast cancer. A new study by Kiran Chada, PhD, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, shows that metastasis in breast cancer and the risk of death are reduced when the function of the gene HGMA2, is limited. This finding, published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), may be used to develop therapeutic treatments for patients.

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The plant pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s lives on today with a different genetic blueprint and an even larger arsenal of weaponry to harm and kill plants.

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Researchers have developed a reliable way to use a finger-stick blood sample to detect fibromyalgia syndrome, a complicated pain disorder that often is difficult to diagnose.

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Wayne State University researchers announced today a $25,000 planning grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a strategic plan for a field-based water research center.

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New treatment guidelines on the diagnosis and management of achalasia, a primary motor disorder of the esophagus, appear in the August issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology.

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A type of fungus coating much of the stored corn, wheat, rice and nuts in developing countries may be quietly worsening the AIDS epidemic, according to a paper published today in the World Mycotoxin Journal.

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A case series by researchers at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., examined three patients with ischemic stroke who later received a diagnosis of fungal meningitis attributed to epidural injections of contaminated methylprednisolone for low back pain.

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Parents who had established relationships with pediatricians still accessed care for their children at retail clinics (RCs), typically located in large chain drugstores, mostly because the clinics were convenient, according to a study published by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication.

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A study of the use of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) at an academic medical center suggests that although 9 in 10 of the procedures were appropriate under 2011 appropriate use criteria, less than 1 in 3 of the TTEs resulted in an active change in care, according to a report of the research by Susan Matulevicius, M.D., and colleagues at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.

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A study in Norway suggests echocardiographic screening in the general public for structural and valvular heart disease was not associated with benefit for reducing the risk of death, myocardial infarction (heart attack) or stroke, according to a report published by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

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Dennis O'Leary of the Salk Institute was the first scientist to show that the basic functional architecture of the cortex, the largest part of the human brain, was genetically determined during development. But as it so often does in science, answering one question opened up many others. O'Leary wondered what if the layout of the cortex wasn't fixed? What would happen if it were changed?

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A research team led by scientists from the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco has identified circuitry in the brain that drives compulsive drinking in rats, and likely plays a similar role in humans.

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Want to go to graduate school? Your weight could determine whether or not you receive an offer of admission.

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A team of University of California, San Diego researchers has designed new compounds that mimic those naturally used by the body to regulate blood pressure. The most promising of them may literally be the key to controlling hypertension, switching off the signaling pathways that lead to the deadly condition.

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Fitness tests that focus on sheer strength may not be the most accurate way to qualify applicants for physically demanding jobs and may also increase the likelihood of a gender discrimination lawsuit from female applicants.

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In events that could exacerbate sea level rise over the coming decades, stretches of ice on the coasts of Antarctica and Greenland are at risk of rapidly cracking apart and falling into the ocean, according to new iceberg calving simulations from the University of Michigan.

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Financial incentives for Ontario surgeons are likely a key factor driving greater use of laparoscopic colon cancer surgery, says a study led by a McMaster University surgeon. The research, published by the Annals of Surgical Oncology, found an increase in laparoscopic colon and rectal cancer surgery but few benefits for patients.

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The pulmonary vasculature, the blood vessels that connect the heart to the lung, develops even in the absence of the lung. Mice in which lung development is inhibited still have pulmonary blood vessels, which revealed to the researchers that cardiac progenitors, or stem cells, are essential for cardiopulmonary co-development.

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A rare immune cell and specific molecular reactions to allergenic foods team up – in a bad way – to cause a food allergy-associated disorder, which points to new ways to possibly treat inflammation associated with eosinophilic esophagitis.

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Highly controlled process can identify active catalyst sites -- may be a new paradigm for fine-tuning catalysts used in everything from making new materials to environmental remediation.

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Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital in China have discovered a gene expression signature that may lead to new immune therapies for lung cancer patients. They found that NF-κB, a protein complex known to promote tumor growth, may also have the ability to boost the immune system to eliminate cancerous cells before they harm, as well as promote antitumor responses.

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Mark Feuerstein plays a brilliant physician on the hit TV show Royal Pains, but the drama was all too real when his newborn daughter Addie was diagnosed with a rare congenital heart defect. Fortunately, this scary episode had a happy ending, thanks to a determined mother and expert medical care, reports an article in the August issue of Heart Insight, a quarterly magazine for patients, their families and caregivers. Heart Insight is published by the American Heart Association (AHA) and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

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The resistance to insulin seen in type 2 diabetics is caused partly by the lack of a protein that has not previously been associated with diabetes. This breakthrough could potentially help to prevent diabetes.

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A new use for glass is being developed by researchers in Penn State’s Materials Research Institute that could make future hybrid-electric and plug-in electric vehicles more affordable and reliable.

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Mass extinctions, like lotteries, result in a multitude of losers and a few lucky winners. This is the story of one of the winners, a small, shell-crushing predatory fish called Fouldenia, which first appears in the fossil record a mere 11 million years after an extinction that wiped out more than 90 percent of the planet's vertebrate species.

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A rapid and highly efficient system for transferring large molecules, nanoparticles, and other agents into living cells opens new avenues for disease research and treatment.

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There's no vaccine to prevent norovirus, or drugs to treat the pesky virus that sickens millions each year and is known to complicate cruise ship vacations. But a first ever small animal model developed at the University of Michigan Medical School provides a new tool for future drug studies.

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Climate change could drive the Iberian lynx ‒ the world’s most threatened cat – to extinction within 50 years, despite substantial ongoing conservation efforts, a new international study has found.

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Painstaking new analysis of the genetic sequence of the X chromosome—long perceived as the “female” counterpart to the male-associated Y chromosome—reveals that large portions of the X have evolved to play a specialized role in sperm production.

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Most of the time, it takes decades of accumulating genetic errors for a tumor to develop. While this explains the general occurrence of cancer in adults, it leaves a gap in understanding of the cause of pediatric tumors.

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Stem-cell researchers at UC San Francisco have found a key role for a protein called BMI1 that may help scientists direct the development of tissues to replace damaged organs in the human body.

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UCLA researchers have measured how the brain behaves in so-called hypersexual people who have problems regulating their viewing of sexual images. The study found that the brain response of these individuals to sexual images was not related in any way to the severity of their hypersexuality but was instead tied only to their level of sexual desire.

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In joint custody arrangements, infants who spent overnights away from their mothers had less attachment to their mothers, a U.Va. study shows.

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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with an increased risk of developing cerebral microbleeds, according to a new study from researchers in the Netherlands.

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In a bit of cosmic irony, planets orbiting cooler stars may be more likely to remain ice-free than planets around hotter stars. This is due to the interaction of a star’s light with ice and snow on the planet’s surface.

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The United States is one of 86 countries whose constitutions do not guarantee their citizens any kind of health protection. That's the finding of a new study from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health that examined the level and scope of constitutional protection of specific rights to public health and medical care, as well as the broad right to health.

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UC San Francisco researchers have found a way to knock down cancers caused by a tumor-driving protein called “myc,” paving the way for patients with myc-driven cancers to enroll in clinical trials for experimental treatments. 

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• Researchers found a strong, graded association between worse kidney function and the presence of hypertension that is resistant to medications. • More than 50% of individuals with moderate CKD had resistant hypertension. • Among people with CKD, blacks and those with a larger waist circumference, diabetes, and a history of heart attacks or strokes were more likely to have resistant hypertension.

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Children born with a complete absence of the external ear canal, even if only one ear is affected, are more likely than their peers to struggle in school, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

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A research team that examined the relationship between religious practices and obesity among Indian immigrants has found that religiosity in Hindus and Sikhs — but not Muslims — appears to be an independent factor associated with being overweight or obese.