Medical News

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A research team led by a University of Iowa College of Medicine researcher has discovered a combination of laboratory tests that may help identify heavy drinkers.

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Highlighting recent heart disease treatment findings, WATTSHealth Systems, Inc. responds to a "cardiovascular crisis" by combining the interests of Black History Month and American Heart Month

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Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center are the first in the nation to use sophisticated video and computer technology to assess a stroke patientís condition during an ambulance ride, before arrival at the hospital. Two Maryland Express Care ambulances have been outfitted with digital cellular equipment that allows neurologists in their hospital office to see a stroke patient in real time video and speak to the emergency medical personnel on the ambulance as they rush the patient to the hospital.

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Stroke rehabilitation programs that include a heavy emphasis on support and social activities may lead to less depression in people who have a brain attack, according to a study in this month's Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

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Dr. Kenneth Mobily, University of Iowa professor of sports, health, leisure and physical studies, has developed a low-tech, community-based strength training program that improves the physical condition and capabilities in older folks and helps prevent falls.

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News Briefs from Mayo Clinic; 1) Endoscopic surgery for adrenal tumors is better for patients 2) Simple test predicts survival in heart failure 3) Study finds good ice hockey goalies have high heart rates and share feelings

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Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have shown that diagnostic accuracy of chest pain can be dramatically increased by using a clinical approach that combines the results of an echocardiogram with a simple blood test that measures a patient's troponin T, a protein released during cardiac cell injury.

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STANFORD ó HIV strains that have developed resistance to a wide range of antiviral drugs constitute the gravest challenge now facing AIDS researchers in the battle against this deadly virus.

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New specialty referral guidelines for people with diabetes developed, approved and adopted by a consensus conference of more than 100 practicing primary care and specialty physicians representing private practice, hospital and managed care settings were announced today by Diabetes Treatment Centers of America (DTCA).

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A study of 80,082 female nurses over a 14-year period has indicated that increased intake of two vitamins, folate and vitamin B-6, is predictive of reduced risk of coronary heart disease (heart attack or death from coronary heart disease).

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Aviron announced today that it is working with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to collaborate with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to prepare two vaccine candidates for potential use in the event of a pandemic of the "Hong Kong flu" resulting from the avian A/Hong Kong/97 (H5N1) influenza virus.

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1) For newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients initial therapy with oral medications is better and results in less reactions. 2) Heart surgery often leads to kidney problems or kidney failure. 3) Initial medical therapy is good for low-risk angina patients; angioplasty or bypass surgery is good for moderate-risk patients; and bypass surgery is reasonable for high-risk patients. 4) Firearm injury prevention should be a major public health issue for internists and other physicians.

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In light of recent allegations about public figures, APA's Division of Public Affairs has been receiving calls from journalists asking for psychiatrists to speculate on alleged addictions or disorders.

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World'S First "Blood Substitute" Receives FDA approval For Treatment For Canine Treatment Of Canine Anemia. First in a New Category called "Oxygen Therapeutics"

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A recent study investigating causes of the common cold affirms that most colds are caused by viruses, but only half are a result of infection with the rhinovirus.

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Low asthma hospitalization rates for Northern New England children may offer lessons for managing asthma that can benefit others nationwide, Dartmouth Medical School study finds.

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-- Individuals who take low-dose aspirin to stave off repeat heart attacks or strokes should substitute a higher booster dose twice a month to increase the drug's effectiveness, say researchers today reporting in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

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Viper snakes can kill, but a protein in their venom prevents the spread of tumors in laboratory mice, and a molecular 'portrait' now under development may explain why, according to a University of Delaware scientist profiled in the new issue of Cardiology Today, mailed Feb. 4.

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A coalition representing 52,000 scientists released a comprehensive analysis of federally-funded biomedical research programs and their funding. The report finds that "the dramatic discoveries of the last two decades have given researchers new tools and insightsand have created exciting new opportunities for progress."

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Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the United States District Cournt rulled that Menogen and Menogen H.S. (Helf Strength) Tablets have not been shown to be bioequivalent to Solvay Pharmaceuticals' Estratest (R) (Esterified Estrogrens and Methyltestosterone) and Estratest (R) (Helf Strength) Tablets.

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In the last 12 years, African-Americans have celebrated their heritage through focusing on their unique contributions to the history of our country. However, during the same time period, black Americans have continued to suffer from heart disease at rates significantly higher than other ethnic groups. Accordingly, WATTS Health Systems is announcing its plans to designate February African-American Healthy Heart Month, a time when all 22.7 million African-Americans should examine their heart health and their risk for cardiovascular disease.

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Adults 65 years and older who report a high degree of loneliness, tend to be admitted to a nursing home sooner than people who are not so lonel, according to University of Iowa and Iowa State University study.

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The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research released a new brochure to help women better understand and make decisions about the kinds of treatment they can choose for noncancerous uterine conditions, such as fibroids or endometriosis. The brochure, entitled Common Uterine Conditions: Options for Treatment, is designed to supplement a woman's discussion with her clinician about various treatment options including hysterectomy.

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Researchers working in a rodent model have succeeded in transplanting livers without the need for immunosuppressive drugs. In a scientific first, a gene therapy strategy was used to alter the donor liver prior to surgery so that the immune system of the recipient became permanently tolerant of the new organ. EMBARGOED: Jan. 28, 1998, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

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Research by Dan A. Oren, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine and president-elect of the Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms in Colorado, could help alleviate seasonal affective disorder (SAD)symptoms that include fatigue, sadness, weight gain and sleep problems.

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February Online Tipsheet from the American Psychiatric Association; 1) Eating Disorders: Not Just a Western Phenomenon, 2) Violence Rises When Compliance Falters, 3) Newer Antipsychotics Improve on Infertility Side Effect, 4) REM Sleep Plays Part in Detecting Depression, 5) Would-be Doctors Experience Decrease in Discrimination

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When a patient makes a request for assistance with suicide, the physician's response should not be a simple yes or no. Instead, the caregiver should engage the patient in a dialogue exploring the meanings behind the request. Only then can the physician determine whether the request is "rational" or driven by other factors, writes a Columbia-Presbyterian psychiatrist in JAMA.

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A Cleveland Clinic study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine concludes that multiple sclerosis not only destroys the protective sheath around nerves, but also cuts nerve fibers. Such a finding suggests MS may be more similar to diseases that cause irreversible neurological impairment, such as Parkinson's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, this knowledge also provides hope that new therapies can be developed to benefit patients in the early stages of MS.

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Updated labeling for CASODEX tablets recently cleared by teh FDA includes new survival data from one of the largest advanced prostate cancer research studies ever conducted.

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Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) researchers delving into the fundamental mechanisms underlying one form of leukemia have learned how to interfere with the genetic changes that lead to this potentially fatal type of cancer.

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Sea Grant Cold Weather Story Tip Sheet 1) Cold Weather Survival - First Aid For Hypothermia 2) Winter Sports Safety - Dangers of Thin Ice 3) The Right Clothing For Cold Weather

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Forget that adage about how men sweat but women perspire. We all sweat, and it's a good thing we do. Sweating controls body temperature. But some people -- about 1 percent of the population -- sweat copiously following mild stimulation or none at all. They suffer from a disorder called hyperhidrosis, a condition that that can be relieved with surgery.

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A relatively non-invasive surgical procedure, similar to balloon angioplasty, can dramatically improve the quality of life for patients who suffer from narrowed heart valves resulting from rheumatic heart disease.

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Research supports the use of natural antioxidants to prevent and treat illnesses, and improve patients' overall health, clinicians said today at a conference held before prominent international scientists.

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Physicians at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have developed an innovative treatment for patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) that results in long-term survival without cancer recurrence.

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According to a study of 34 public fitness centers in the Kansas City metropolitan area, no facilities are completely accessible for people who use wheelchairs. This is the only study published on the compliance of fitness centers to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).

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In a move that may seriously endanger the anesthesia care of millions of Americans under Medicare or Medicaid, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Care Financing Administration is proposing to do away with a 3-decade-old regulation for physician oversight of anesthesia care for surgery. If this regulatory change is enacted, nurses with as little as two years' technical training will be allowed to practice without any physician supervision when giving anesthesia to a Medicare or Medicaid patient in a hospital or ambulatory care center.

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Heart disease causes nearly half of deaths and disability in Americans between the ages of 35 and 64. In fact, twenty to forty percent of middle aged people have early or advanced coronary disease, most without knowing it. But this deadly disease can be prevented or reversed without surgery, if detected, thanks to the pioneering efforts of K. Lance Gould, M.D., a cardiovascular specialist at the University of Texas-Houston Medical School.

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Washington, D.C., Jan. 22, 1998 ó An unprecedented coalition of more than 200 public health and grassroots tobacco-control organizations today called on President Clinton and Congress to reject any legislative deal that grants special favors to the tobacco industry

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The Facts from The National Cattlemen's Beef Association about Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)

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A combination anticoagulant treatment -- low-dose aspirin and low-dose warfarin -- reduced the risk of heart attack by 34 percent in a 13-year study involving 5,499 men.

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Spitting in a cup to diagnose breast cancer may be years away, but current research makes it seem like a real possibility.

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Mississippi's first shopping mall, once all but abandoned and given up for dead, emerges January 23 as a new creation. The mall now offers one-stop shopping for health care consumers under a new banner--the Jackson Medical Mall.

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WASHINGTON -- A known metabolite of Premarin, the oldest and most widely-prescribed estrogen replacement therapy, has been found to attach to some of the basic building blocks of DNA, according to a report published January 23 in Chemical Research in Toxicology, a peer- reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.

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American College of Physicians will hold a press briefing at the National Press Club on Wednesday, January 28, 1998 to discuss the issue of firearm safety.

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A preliminary report suggests that caffeine may act as an advocate to cancer cells by inhibiting apoptosis or programmed cell death. Apoptosis is a type of cell suicide mechanism that serves to eliminate damaged or unneeded cells. When subjected to a lethal heat shock, caffeine-treated cancer cells refused to die.

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Radiation treatment for breast cancer slightly raises a woman's long-term risk for esophageal cancer, according to a study conducted by epidemiologists at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.

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Mallinckrodt Medical Inc. has licensed an invention from the Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) that could save more than 100,000 people from having additional heart surgery.

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NEW HAVEN, Conn., Jan. 21, 1998--A sizable minority of disabled older people living in the community recover their ability to perform essential activities of daily living (ADLs), such as bathing, dressing and walking, over a two-year period, according to a new study by Yale University School of Medicine researchers.

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A steroid drug enhances the ability of a vitamin D analogue to kill cancer in animals while reducing a lifethreatening buildup of blood calcium associated with this treatment, according to University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute researchers, who are now using a steroid with 1,25-D3 to treat advanced cancer in patients.