AHRQ released a new booklet with practical tips on what people can do to improve the quality of the health care services they receive, including how to avoid medical errors. It focuses on the key health care choices people make, and stresses taking an active role in all decisions made about one's care.
A professor of pharmacology at the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, has recently found connections between a cannabinoid (marijuana) receptor and emesis (vomiting). (Neuropsychopharmacology, 1-01)
When was the last time you considered your kidney health? How about never? You're not alone. Most people take their kidneys for granted. Yet more than a quarter of a million people in this country need dialysis or a kidney transplant to stay alive. In addition, more than 50,000 people die from kidney failure each year.
Rigorous dieting and exercising alone don't improve a person's health as effectively as moderate diet and exercise along with a consistent stress-management regimen. In fact, some research suggests dieting and over-exercising can create more harm than good.
The number of AlzheimerÃs cases is expected to triple over the next 20 years as our population ages. The good news is that this devastating and high-profile disease is receiving a lot of attention from the medical community.
Failure to recognize and treat psychiatric and substance use disorders in obstetric medicine may adversely affect maternal and infant health outcomes, according to a study in the February 2001 American Journal of Psychiatry.
The exclusion of women from the majority of clinical studies has created gaps in medical knowledge about the effects of disease and treatment of women, according to an editorial in the February 2001 American Journal of Psychiatry.
A new type of "vaccine" therapy targets the immune system against glioblastoma multiforme (glioma) cancer cells. In what is believed to be the first study of its kind on glioma cells, dendritic cell immunotherapy extended the median length of survival. A larger Phase II study is now underway. (Cancer Research 2-1-01)
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Cancer Center have discovered a way to trick leukemia cells into committing suicide by using the gene that causes the leukemia in the first place. (Nature Medicine, 2-01)
In a study reflecting the growing interest in the long-term effects of cancer treatment, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital, Boston, have found that boys treated with high doses of chemotherapy are likely to experience fertility problems as adults. (Cancer, 2-1-01)
Stroke is a major cause of death and disability, but a novel approach to identifying potential stroke victims through their genes has begun at Adelaide University.
February is National Children's Dental Health Month and many people are unaware of the important role early dental care plays in children's overall health.
When winter sets in, parents usually find the cure for children's "cabin fever" is to involve them in indoor activities, such as gymnastics, soccer, volleyball and roller-skating. Releasing that pent-up energy, however, can result in some nasty falls.
As it prepares to graduate its third class of physician-fellows trained in the theory and practice of integrative medicine, the University of Arizona Program in Integrative Medicine is accepting applications for its 2002 fellowship class.
February is National Children's Dental Health Month, and the American Dental Association offers advice for parents and caregivers to help children maintain healthy teeth and gums, according to an ADA consumer advisor and Minnesota dentist.
The first known gene to put men at high risk for developing prostate cancer has been identified in a newly published study by researchers at Myriad Genetics Inc., the University of Utah School of Medicine and LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, and at two universities in Canada. (Nature Genetics, 2-01)
Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center report that inactivation of just one copy of a gene called PTEN and both copies of a gene called p27 that leads to prostate cancer in mice 100 percent of the time. (Nature Genetics, 2-01)
With a $58.5 million gift from an anonymous donor, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is launching an Institute for Cell Engineering, fostering research that not long ago would have been marked as science fiction.
The Physician Assistant Foundation has announced four winners of the 2000 Innovations in Health Care: AAPA/PA Foundation/Pfizer Recognition Program.
The Association of Cancer Online Resources (ACOR), announces the launch of Cancer-pain.org to provide patients with the education and support they need to obtain effective relief from pain.
Low doses of aspirin (80 to 325 mg) are at least as effective as higher doses (500 to 1,000 mg) in preventing stroke in patients with cerebrovascular disease, according to new guidelines released today by the American College of Chest Physicians. (Chest, 1-01)
As many as half of the children and siblings of individuals with diseased coronary arteries may have signs of atherosclerosis, even though they have no symptoms of heart or vessel disease. (Circulation, 1-24-01)
Mayo Clinic researchers are leading a nationwide clinical trial on a new way to detect colon cancer. The test, which requires only a stool sample, detects DNA that is shed from precancerous colon polyps and early-stage colon cancer. (Mayo Clinic Health Letter, 2-01)
Too many people are unaware of the risk factors and consequences of osteoporosis, says a UAB registered dietitian.
UAB has received a $4.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish a registry of blacks with early rheumatoid arthritis.
The nation's "cancer epidemic" was caused solely by cigarette smoking, and environmental pollution played little role in it, say UAB researchers. (Journal of Clinical Oncology 1-1-01)
Congestive heart failure patients sometimes skip their daily dose of diuretics to avoid embarrassing urinary accidents in public -- an unfortunate side effect of the medicine.
Two recent studies have found that some chocolate products contain high levels of antioxidant flavonoids. These plant-based compounds limit the effects of lipoprotein (LDLs) components in the harmful kind of cholesterol. (Mayo Clinic Health Letter, 2-01)
Despite its name, many people can survive sudden cardiac death if they have access to fast, appropriate medical care, and the likelihood of getting that care in time is improving. (Mayo Clinic Health Letter, 2-01)
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded a $749,968 grant to Wake Forest University School of Medicine for continued national direction of the Foundation's Substance Abuse Policy Research Program.
With a rapidly growing, aging population in search of nursing home care, seniors and caregivers alike can find practical advice in a new book called The New Nursing Homes: A 20-Minute Way to Find GREAT Long-Term Care.
Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered an exciting new application for "Fast CT" scanning technology that enables physicians for the first time to non-invasively see detailed kidney function in humans. (Seminars in Nephrology, 9-00))
After a 10-year search, an international team of scientists has identified the gene responsible for the most common form of dwarfism. The finding should enable doctors to identify carriers of the genetic mutations, and may lead to a better understanding of dwarfism. (Cell, 1-25-01)
Producing more rain by seeding clouds may no longer be wishful thinking. After many failed attempts by scientists to duplicate cloud-seeding experiments, a team from the National Center for Atmospheric Research believes it has succeeded in increasing rainfall in existing storm clouds and quantifying the results.
Women who gain more than the amount recommended during pregnancy are four times more likely to be obese one year after giving birth compared with mothers who gain within the recommended range, says a Cornell University nutritionist.
A severe shortage of nursing assistants and other personnel in nursing homes is resulting in more injuries, careless errors and deaths, risk of abuse and nursing home shutdowns, says a Cornell University gerontologist.
Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered an exciting new application for "fast CT" scanning technology that enables physicians for the first time to non-invasively see detailed kidney function in humans.
A UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researcher has found that mutated mice bred without an essential protein exhibit symptoms of a rare disorder that causes involuntary "mirror movement" in people. (Neuron, 1-01)
A common treatment for children in diabetic crisis should be abandoned in most cases because it appears to contribute to a rare but often-fatal complication known as cerebral edema, according to a study by researchers at UC Davis School of Medicine and Medical Center. (New England Journal of Medicine 1-25-01)
Dr. Carlton Erickson of The University of Texas at Austin's College of Pharmacy has been recognized by one of the country's most respected addiction treatment facilities for his life's work in the research laboratory and in educating the public concerning alcoholism.
The GDx Access (tm), a proprietary glaucoma-screening device developed by Laser Diagnostic Technologies, Inc. is currently the only screening technology available that directly and objectively evaluates the nerve fiber layer of the eye.
Three months after an unusual operation to seal a rupture in the fluid-filled sac protecting a pregnant woman's growing fetus, a healthy baby boy was delivered at NYU Medical Center.
Study shows for the first time that HIV can mutate to attack human protective cells, leading to the rapid progression of AIDS. (Nature Medicine, 1-01)
Randomized controlled trials appear to largely under-report or even neglect to report problems involving drug safety. Both the quality and amount of space devoted to safety information is inadequate, according to a new study from AHRQ. (JAMA 1-24-01)
In a study examining 10 years of high-risk asthma admissions to the Yale-New Haven Hospital, researchers found that high-risk female patients were admitted twice as often as males, stayed in the hospital almost a day longer, yet displayed lower levels of a blood marker of asthma severity. (CHEST, 1-01)
The grinding or clenching of teeth during sleep on a weekly basis affects more than 8% of the population and is associated with other disorders such as daytime sleepiness and anxiety, according to a new study. (CHEST, 1-01)
A drug already being used to lower cholesterol and prevent heart attacks sharply reduced strokes in patients who already had heart disease. (Circulation, 1-23-01)
The drug lamotrigine can reduce the pain that affects some stroke patients. Central post-stroke pain occurs in eight percent of stroke patients and is difficult to treat. The only current treatment, amitriptyline, doesn't work for many patients, and has many side effects. (Neurology, 1-23-01)
Top medical authorities are cautioning the nation's health care professionals to downplay the popular but unproven supposition that drinking red wine can help ward off heart attacks. (Circulation, 1-16-01)
For the first time a statin drug has been shown to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. (Circulation, 1-16-01)
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right