The hospital costs for treating septicemia increased by an average of nearly 12 percent each year from 1997 to 2007, increasing from $4.1 billion in 1997 to $12.3 billion in 2007.
Overwhelmed by the vials, bottles and inhalers bulging from your medicine cabinet ? Confused about which drug is which, or when to take what?
By studying the genetics of a rare inherited disorder called stiff skin syndrome, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have learned more about scleroderma, a condition affecting about one in 5,000 people that leads to hardening of the skin as well as other debilitating and often life-threatening problems. The findings, which appear this week in Science Translational Medicine, open doors to testing new treatments.
Research led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators identifies potential new targets for treatment of colitis and other inflammatory bowel diseases.
Taking vitamins or supplements to treat “adrenal fatigue” may do more harm than good, says Todd Nippoldt, M.D., a Mayo Clinic expert in hormone disorders affecting the adrenal glands.
A study of the human genome led by Cedars-Sinai researchers has now identified genes linked to ulcerative colitis, offering clues as to what causes the condition and potential avenues for new therapies to treat the disease.
A quest that began over a decade ago with a chance observation has reached a milestone: the identification of a gene that may regulate regeneration in mammals. The absence of this single gene, called p21, confers a healing potential in mice long thought to have been lost through evolution and reserved for creatures like flatworms, sponges, and some species of salamander. In a report published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from The Wistar Institute demonstrate that mice that lack the p21 gene gain the ability to regenerate lost or damaged tissue.
Of the 8 million patients who were admitted to U.S. hospitals on weekends in 2007, approximately one-third received needed major procedures on the day of admission.
A research team led by Mayo Clinic has found a national trend toward younger, more diverse patients having total knee replacement surgery.
Children with a cleft lip or cleft palate are more likely to receive recommended age-appropriate health care when that care is provided by an interdisciplinary team rather than an individual provider. In a study encompassing three states, 24% of participants were not receiving team care.
According to a U-M study, it is common for patients 65 and older to receive potentially inappropriate medications when treated in an emergency room. Nearly 19.5 million older patients, or 16.8 percent of eligible emergency visits from 2000-2006, received one or more of these medications.
The American Thoracic Society has released a new official clinical policy statement on congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS), a disorder of respiratory and autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulation. The ANS regulates reflexive acts, including heart rate and blood pressure, digestion, body temperature and pain perception.
In this one-day academy for journalists, world experts will discuss the science and business of regenerative medicine, including what treatments are on the horizon and what challenges must be overcome to make new treatments widely available.
A new home test kit based on a protein in sperm discovered by a University of Virginia Health System cell biologist can assist couples in determining if a man's sperm count is normal, low, or very low.
A Perspective piece in the New England Journal of Medicine calls for change in the way researchers and pharmaceutical companies collect and report adverse symptom information in clinical trials submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and how the FDA represents this information on drug labels.
Discovery of an antibiotic’s capacity to improve cell function in laboratory tests is providing movement disorder researchers with leads to more desirable molecules with potentially similar traits.
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered the pain caused by sickle cell disease may not occur solely from damaged tissues, but also from injured nerves.
The human body operates by a precisely regulated interplay of different cell types such as blood, nerve and muscle cells. Scientists in Vienna, Austria, and in Martinsried, Germany, have succeeded in identifying all genes of the fruit fly Drosophila that play a role in the development and function of muscles. The work has now been published in Nature.
Physicians may be able to safely lower the platelet dosage in transfusions for cancer and bone-marrow transplant patients without risking increased bleeding, according to new research involving UT Southwestern Medical Center and 28 other medical institutions.
Angela Kelle hasn't finished medical school yet, but already has published seven studies in peer-reviewed medical journals. "It is very, rare for a student to have published this many papers," said Kelle's mentor, Dr. Linda Brubaker of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
An analysis by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) has found that only 32 percent of medication studies published in top medical journals compare the effectiveness of existing treatments. These studies, known as comparative effectiveness studies, help doctors know which therapies work best and under what circumstances they are most effective.
An analysis of comparative effectiveness studies finds that few compare medications with nonpharmacologic interventions, and few examine safety or cost-effectiveness, according to a study in the March 10 issue of JAMA.
An analysis of outcomes for live kidney donors in the U.S. over a 15 year period finds they have similar long-term survival rates compared to healthy individuals who were not kidney donors, according to a study in the March 10 issue of JAMA.
Women with metal-on-metal hip implants, where both the ball of the joint and the surface of the socket are made of metal, pass metal ions to their offspring during pregnancy, according to a study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center. The ions are the result of wear and corrosion as the metal parts rub against one another.
For more than half a century, products containing ion exchange resins have been used in patients with dangerously high levels of potassium. However, there is no convincing evidence that these products are actually effective, according to an article appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). "We suspect that if ion exchange resins were introduced today, they would not be approved," comments Richard H. Sterns, MD (Rochester General Hospital, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY).
Currently, foreign-born people make up approximately 13 percent of the total U.S. population. As the immigrant population grows, understanding its disability status and employment characteristics becomes increasingly important. People, both native and foreign-born, with disabilities make important contributions to our society, and many individuals continue to work despite a wide range of impairments. A new study by researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital focuses on disability and employment among working-age immigrants in the United States.
Black and Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure appear less likely to receive hospice care than white patients with the same condition, according to a report in the March 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Normal-weight women who drink a light to moderate amount of alcohol appear to gain less weight and have a lower risk of becoming overweight and obese than non-drinkers, according to a report in the March 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Biomineralization and osteoporosis investigator Adele L. Boskey, Ph.D., the Starr Chair in Mineralized Tissue Research at Hospital for Special Surgery, has been selected the 2010 recipient of the ORS/AOA Alfred R. Shands, Jr. Award.
Dr. Marc McKee, of McGill’s Faculty of Dentistry and the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, is collaborating closely with Enobia Pharma Inc, a Quebec biotech company, to develop innovative treatments for serious genetic bone diseases. McKee’s research looks into the reasons why calcium-phosphate mineral fails to crystallize properly to form strong bones and teeth.
For the approximately 7.5 million Americans affected by psoriasis, the thick, red, scaly, itchy plaques it causes only scratch the surface when it comes to the overall implications of this disease. Now, ongoing research linking psoriasis to other serious medical conditions and the incredible toll it can take on a person’s overall quality of life are shifting the way psoriasis is viewed – from a common skin disease to a complex systemic condition.
Acne and rosacea are two seemingly different skin conditions that have one important thing in common: both are chronic and extremely common skin conditions. However, dermatologists recommend that with proper diagnosis, treatment and a healthy dose of good, old-fashioned skin care, acne and rosacea can be less of a nuisance for patients.
According to projections from the United States Census Bureau, people with skin of color will comprise approximately half of the U.S. population by 2050. This group, which includes African-Americans, Asians, Latinos and other ethnicities, are more prone to certain dermatologic problems than those with lighter skin tones due to their genetic make-up and in some cases cultural practices. For that reason, dermatologists – who understand the nuances of different skin tones – are poised to help patients of color by diagnosing and treating these conditions.
Itchy irritated skin can leave some people scratching their heads trying to determine the cause of this bothersome condition. What did they touch? Is it just dry skin gone awry? Are they allergic to something in their home or workplace? The answers to these questions could require not only a little detective work, but the help of a dermatologist who can diagnose and treat the most likely culprit – contact dermatitis.
For many women, unexplained hair loss can take a significant psychological toll on their overall quality of life. From altering their hairstyle to hide a thinning part to scaling back their hair care regimen in an effort to halt further hair loss, women try countless ways to cover up this problem – and the results are often lukewarm at best. A better option is to see a dermatologist, a physician trained in the care of skin, hair and nails, who can diagnose and, in many cases, successfully treat hair loss in women.
According to estimates from the American Cancer Society, melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, was responsible for an estimated 8,650 deaths in the United States in 2009. Of growing concern among dermatologists is the fact that melanoma is now the most common form of cancer for young adults 25-29 years old and the second most common cancer in adolescents and young adults 15-29 years old1. Early diagnosis is the key to curing this potentially deadly disease, and diagnostic tools are playing a crucial role in aiding dermatologists to spot melanomas at earlier – and more curable – stages.
The rapidly growing field of nanotechnology and its future use in cosmetic products holds both enormous potential and potential concern for consumers. Currently, major cosmetic manufacturers have imposed a voluntary ban on the use of nanoparticles in products while they await a ruling from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the safety of this technology. However, these manufacturers know that when ingredients in products such as sunscreens and anti-aging products are converted into nano-sized particles, the end product displays unique properties that can benefit the skin in ways that otherwise could not be achieved using larger-sized particles.
In the U.S. and around the world, the popularity of minimally invasive cosmetic procedures continues to increase. Soft tissue injectables, also known as dermal fillers, are popular procedures that improve the appearance of aging and sun-damaged skin by restoring lost volume and filling lines. A recent clinical study sheds light on how cross-linked hyaluronic acid, CL-HA, a widely used dermal filler, works to improve skin appearance.
If simply the thought of bedbugs, scabies and head lice makes you feel a little itchy, imagine how those affected by these common infestations feel when they learn what has been creeping around them and causing symptoms such as intense itching, red bite marks or irritated scalps. Even less comforting is the fact that some parasitic infestations are on the rise, and can strike adults and children in unsuspecting places.
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have found that using high-resolution CT-scans to screen for lymphangioleiomyomatosis, or LAM, is cost-effective in non-smoking women between 25 and 54 who come to the emergency room for the first time with a collapsed lung.
Gene therapy for inherited blindness, which produced dramatic improvements last year in 12 children and young adults, has cleared another hurdle. The same research team that conducted the human trial now reports that an animal study shows that a second injection of genes into the opposite, previously untreated eye is safe and effective.
Scientists are beginning to find out why people with Parkinson’s disease often feel socially awkward. Parkinson’s patients find it harder to recognize expressions of emotion in other people’s faces and voices, report two studies published by the American Psychological Association.
Patients with confirmed episodes of consciousness during surgery have high rates of psychological problems including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), even several years after the incident, reports a study in the March issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).
Greater use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) and more frequent use of iron at lower hematocrit levels (the proportion of the blood that consists of red blood cells) was associated with a decreased risk of death for hemodialysis patients, according to a study in the March 3 issue of JAMA.
Aggressive treatment of anemia with intravenous iron and erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) may lower the risk of death for dialysis patients with severe anemia – but also may increase the risk of death among patients with milder anemia, a new study in JAMA suggests.
Individuals who were identified as being at increased risk of cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events based on screening for low ankle brachial index, a type of pressure measurement used in the diagnosis of peripheral artery disease, did not significantly reduce their risk of these events with the use of aspirin, according to a study in the March 3 issue of JAMA.
Like any successful team effort, the best qualities of two drugs commonly prescribed for enlarged prostate yielded better results than either of the medicines alone, according to a new study from UT Southwestern Medical Center.
If you smoked cigarettes when you were a teen, new research indicates you might be more susceptible to the negative effects of alcohol withdrawal later in life.
Hopkins Nursing researchers share their latest work ranging from Haitian relief to intimate partner violence.
Susan Rausch, health educator at the University of Arkansas, offers a five-step plan for quitting smoking, even when stressed out.
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