These are just a few of the many scientific sessions that will be presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists 1997 annual meeting, October 18-22, 1997, in San Diego.
A trial now underway at Temple University Hospital will examine the efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness of using the Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) as a permanent treatment of end-stage heart failure. The LVAD -- about the size of an outstretched hand -- is a two-pound mechanical device that pumps blood out of the heart to the body. In recent years, it has been used as a temporary "bridge" to heart transplant, keeping the sickest transplant candidates alive until they receive a new heart. This trial will push the limits of the LVAD.
By further tracking nitric oxide's actions in the brain, Johns Hopkins scientists report they have figured out what may be a universal sequence of biochemical events from stroke to brain cell death.
A contaminated endoscope that may have transmitted tuberculosis (TB) between two hospital patients has highlighted the need for scrupulous adherence to endoscope cleaning procedures and the value of maintaining TB DNA fingerprint registries.
New data from a clinical trial of the injectible antibiotic MERREM I.V. a (meropenem for injection) demonstrate that the drug is effective against the major pathogens associated with pediatric meningitis and is well tolerated among patients participating in the study.
US FDA cleared Zeneca Pharmaceutical's Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) tablets for marketing on Sept. 29, 1997. Seroquel is a new oral medication indicated for the management of the manifestations of psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia. Schizophrenia affects nearly three million Americans and results in as much as $65 billion annually in direct medical costs and lost productivity.
Cartilage is the body's shock absorber, a cushion of durable tissue that protects the knee from a lifetime of walking, bending and running. Now a team of bioengineers at the UC San Diego School of Engineering has described in detail for the first time what happens to each of these regions when cartilage is squeezed and flattened as it absorbs impact.
To loosely paraphrase Shylock, the lead character from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, bleeding is something we all do, regardless of heritage. So it is with clotting, a process that in the parlance of the theater, prevents bleeding from lowering the final curtain on us all.
"The dietary supplement industry can and will proceed to implement full nutrition labeling for our products now that FDA has published final dietary supplement labeling regulations, said John Cordaro, President and Chief Executive Office of the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN). "The new label format will help consumers better understand and compare dietary supplements," he added.
A revolutionary treatment for chronic urinary incontinence, developed by a University of Colorado Health Sciences Center urologist, has been approved by the US Food and Durg Administration (FDA).
Tips from Annals of Internal Medicine, published by the American College of Physicians: 1) No increase or decrease in the rate of myocardial infarction was found in postmenopausal women currently on hormone replacement therapy, 2) Social class has a substantial effect on the rate of recovery from myocardial infarction, 3) Paper reviews advances in geriatrics, 4) Nearly 100 medical journals are calling on investigators to register results from randomized, controlled trials that have not been published.
When African women work outside the home, their families reap more income but often with potentially deleterious consequences on the health of their very young children and at the expense of daughter's education, according to new Cornell University research.
James Garbarino, Cornell University's top child abuse expert, advocates viewing parental smoking as child abuse.
Neurosurgical specialists, reporting at the 47th annual meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) next week, will describe how the Digital Holographyô System from VoxelÆ (NASDAQ:VOXL) is helping them plan and perform complex neurosurgical procedures.
Nationwide study indicates a 15% increase in drug resistance over the last three years, suggesting that office physicians need to look out for antibiotic resistance in their patients and prescribe antibiotics appropriatley. Investigators collected over 8,000 samples from around the country of the Haemophilus influenzae bacteria which causes chronic bronchitis, middle-ear infections and sinusitis.
Scientists at Columbia University have developed a new topical hand cream that may prevent the two most common latex allergy reactions-- sensitization to latex after prolonged exposure and contact dermatitis. Over 100,000 people in the United States are at risk for latex allergies, which causes itching and redness and in severe cases can lead to respiratory distress or even death.
Newborn babies may avoid lifelong vision problems thanks to a discovery in rhesus monkeys at the Yerkes Primate Center at Emory University. Scientists there have found that a dramatic reorganization of brain cells occurs in infant monkeys in the first three weeks of life, corresponding in humans to the first three months. These neural connections turn out to be the building blocks of a healthy visual system, allowing for a baby's sudden ability to see three-dimensionally, and as the years go by, to avoid a series of irreversible visual defects.
Tobacco and pharmaceutical drug companies to compete for the hearts and lungs of nicotine-dependent consumers in emerging, multi-billion dollar, nicotine maintenance market, says U-M health policy researcher.
Busy emergency room doctors now have a new ally in their fight to save heart attack victims from dying. The ally is a computerized decision-making aid built into the standard electrocardiograph (EKG) machine that instantly prints predictions, based on the patient's EKG and other clinical information, of whether that individual is likely to benefit from potentially lifesaving treatment with thrombolytic (clot-dissolving) drugs.
The following are findings described in the September issue of Research Activities from the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research: 1) Prophylactic Mastectomy Provides Substantial Gains in Life Expectancy for Women With Cancer-Disposing Genes, 2) Amoxicillin is Often Prescribed to Prevent Middle Ear Infections in Young Children, But it is Only Marginally Effective, 3) Many Physicians Have Not Fully Adopted Recommended Cholesterol Management Practices, 4) Duration of Maternity Work Leave Significantly Affects Maternal Health
The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research and the American Association of Health Plans' Foundation today announced a joint call for studies to determine the impact of different features of health plans on the quality of care provided to patients with chronic illnesses and on outcomes. The two groups will together provide up to $7 million over a three-year period to support peer-reviewed, outcomes-focused studies.
University of Maryland researchers have confirmed the link between a calcium-handling enzyme and the strength of the heart's beat. They also have been able to enhance the heart's beating strength using a genetically altered adenovirus to give heart muscle cells extra copies of the gene that produces the crucial enzyme, ATPase.
Tips from the American Psychiatric Association -- September, Part 2: 1) Two Decades of Psychiatric Leadership: An Interview with Melvin Sabshin, M.D., 2) Meeting on Psychiatric Services Held in October, 3) Mark Your Calendars: American Psychiatric Association Calendar Listings, 4) Free APA Resources for Media
Tips from the American Psychiatric Association, -- September, Part 1: 1) Schizophrenia Tied to Complications at Birth, 2) Antidepressants in Breast Milk: No Negative Impact, 3) Homeless People with Mental Illness Find Support in the Community, 4) Mental Illness Seen in Young Adults Abusing Drugs and Alcohol, 5) Violence May Be Predictable
African Americans with higher income and education levels are less likely to suffer the consequences of hypertension because of their awareness of the benefits of a heart healthy diet.
Nick Irons swam the length of the Missisippi River, from Minneapolis to Baton Rouge, to raise awareness of the neurological disease multiple sclerosis (MS) and to raise money for MS research. His father, Dr. John Irons, has lived with MS for over a decade, and currently uses one of the latest treatments available, called AVONEX, to delay the progression of disability which normally occurs with the disease.
Tips from the American Psychiatric Association Journals - Part 3: 1) 49th Institute on Psychiatric Services Provides Dozens of Story Ideas, 2) Mark Your Calendars - APA Event Listing, 3) Free Resources for Media from the APA
Tips from the American Psychiatric Association - Part 2: 1) 10 Percent of Patients Report Insomnia, 2) Confining Sex Offenders: the Supreme Court Decision, 3) New Technique Bridges the Communication Gap for Patients with Schizophrenia, 4) Persons with Mental Illnesses Benefit from Community Care
Tips from the American Psychiatric Association Journals: 1) New Insights into Late Life Depression; 2) Screening Leads to Treatment for Depression; 3) Life Expectancy Shortened by Mental Disorders
Cornell gerontologist, Karl Pillemer, has developed a program and published a manual called "Partners in Caregiving" to improve communication between nursing home staff and families of residents.
Winston-Salem -- In what could be the most exciting advance in the treatment of AIDS to date, Bowman Gray School of Medicine scientists today reported a novel way to block the deadly HIV virus from ever invading white blood cells.
Experimental psychologists have discovered that babies as young as 8 months are quite good at learning and remembering words.
A genetically engineered thyroid-stimulating compound may be used safely and effectively to screen for recurrence of thyroid cancer after surgery and cause fewer side effects than the traditional test, according to a national study led by two Baltimore physicians.
First lady Rosalynn Carter was awarded the National Mental Health Association's "Into the Light" award for her decades of dedication to mental health advocacy. The award was presented at NMHA's annual tribute dinner in Washington, DC, September 25.
Notes in Brief: 1. A BU School of Medicine research team has deemed a transplant involving pig cells to be safe. The transplant is designed to treat symptoms of Parkinson's disease, and will shortly begin controlled trials. 2. Teenagers in Massachusetts are unlikely to seek HIV testing, although a majority believe that they are at least "a little likely" to become infected with the virus, a BU School of Public Health researcher finds.
To meet the special needs of both adoptive parents and their children, Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital has developed a new program called the Rainbow Center for International ChildHealth. Children who are adopted from overseas sometimes carry rare diseases, or have psychological or behavioral problems associated with neglect or deprivation common to institutionalization.
The American Dental Association invites you to participate in a telephone news conference highlighting some of the most dynamic areas of dentistry: trends in cosmetic dental services such as tooth whitening; new technology that improves patient's understanding of their treatment options; and recent advancements in oral care for seniors and women.
Topics: 1) Take a systematic approach to solving bedwetting; 2) LSD can produce symptoms years later, says drug rehab expert; 3) Get out and walk says a cardiologists who has answers for common excuses not to.
Once dismissed as mere padding, cells known as glia may be essential for the correct wiring of the brain. This is the conclusion of a study reported in the Sept. 12 issue of Science by researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Women suffering from a severe form of premenstrual syndrome that adversely affects relationships and work may have fewer emotional problems when treated with the antidepressant sertraline, a researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas reported Sept. 23 in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Johns Hopkins AIDS researchers have launched a multi-center study to find out if early, aggressive treatment of HIV infection can reduce virus levels or even eliminate the virus. The study also will examine the effect of this treatment approach on the immune system during the first few months of infection. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the research could lead to improved treatments and more effective vaccines.
Five times tougher and 16 times more extensible than a human tendon, the leathery, yet amazingly stretchy collagen threads produced by marine mussels might someday suggest strategies for developing better artificial skin and other biomimetic materials, say University of Delaware researchers. In the Sept. 19, 1997 issue of Science, they describe byssal threads as containing "the first known protein [with] both collagenous and elastin-like domains."
The University of Illinois at Chicago will host the Second International Symposium on Oxidative Stress and Brain Damage Sept. 26-28 at the Hotel Inter-Continental, 505 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Illinois. The focus is neuropsychiatric disorders.
Ophthalmologists at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have developed an oral vaccine that may prevent rejection of corneal transplants, the most common type of tissue transplant.
Headaches that begin during exercise and go away with rest may be a sign of heart disease, according to a report in the September issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Embargoed For Release Until Monday, September 22, 1997.
Estrogen replacement therapy used to help relieve menopausal symptoms quickly reduces the amount of lipoprotein (a), one of the "bad cholesterols" in the blood, say researchers reporting in this month's American Heart Association's journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
Through the utilization of ultrasound-assisted lipoplasty (UAL), plastic surgery procedures for body contouring are being refined and augmented, according to two studies to be presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (ASPRS), September 20-24 in San Francisco, Calf. The evolving role of UAL in body contouring and its relation to traditional suction-assisted lipoplasty (SAL) was examined in one study; another study showed the benefit of using UAL for removing contour irregularities or tightening skin in patients who previously had conventional lipoplasty.
Supplemental vitamin A may provide therapeutic benefits in the treatment of malignant melanoma, according to a study to be presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (ASPRS), September 20-24 in San Francisco, Calf. Vitamin A, which possesses both wound healing and anti-tumor actions, causes the body to encapsulate tumors which can then be removed surgically. This study of three groups of mice was designed to determine the effect of vitamin A on the presence and size of tumors.
New research confirms that breast reduction surgery may provide benefits other than a smaller size, according to two studies to be presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (ASPRS), September 20-24 in San Francisco, Calf. One study examined whether women who have breast reduction surgery are at greater or lesser risk for developing breast cancer than other women; another prospective study demonstrated that breast reduction surgery may offer significant social and psychological benefits for adolescent girls.
New custom software and computer technology allows plastic surgeons to transform CT and MRI data of actual patients into three-dimensional and stereoscopic images of bones and soft tissues, according to a study to be presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (ASPRS). With the patient's individual CT or MRI data in virtual reality, plastic surgeons now can practice surgical techniques and plan procedures before they perform surgery on the actual patient.
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