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Forty percent of those afflicted with diabetes suffer a nerve condition, neuropathy, which can sometimes cause burning foot pain so severe it restricts a patient's activity and even his or her ability to wear shoes. A new remedy using the drug Mexiletine helps relieve this pain and allows these patients to return to their former levels of activity, according to a study presented at the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society's (AOFAS) 13th Annual Summer Meeting.

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Physicians have a new tool for treating a wide range of skin diseases.

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It sounds strange, but it works. To help eliminate pain caused by arthritic knees, Temple surgeons are intentionally fracturing patients leg bones and then letting the patients pull apart the fracture 1 millimeter a day.

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Highlights from the June issue of AHCPR's monthly publication, Research Activities: 1) Health Insurance Plans Vary Dramatically in Their Coverage of New Technologies; 2) Higher Dental Prices Often Denote Higher Quality of Care; 3) Evidence Does Not Yet Support Annual Screening of Men Over 50 to Detect Prostate Cancer; 4) Broad Exposure to Other Children and Being Poor Are Linked to Increased Risk for Childhood Middle-Ear Effusion

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Frozen concentrated orange juice generally has the highest vitamin C levels compared to other commercial orange and grapefruit juice products, but even if you favor one of the others, you're probably still getting your daily requirement of the vitamin. That's according to a new, ten-year study reported in the July 16 issue of the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

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A new study of patients with heart disease who used nicotine patches shows that the patches are a safe smoking cessation therapy for this group, and that they may also improve blood and oxygen flow to the heart.

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The $368.5 billion proposed tobacco settlement does not address the needs of communities of color. While the recent Koop-Kessler report provides a starting point for discussion among these communities, the American Lung Association encourages a comprehensive analysis of the settlement's impact on communities of color.

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The current method of surgical bunion repair is too costly. Researchers in Nebraska have discovered that the common practice of internal fixation -- using surgical screws or other hardware to hold an injured joint in place during the healing process -- does not significantly improve healing or pain reduction in certain bunion repair procedures, yet this hardware can cost in excess of $1,200.

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New information reported at the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society's (AOFAS) 13th Annual Summer Meeting will allow surgeons to treat more people with diabetes -- a population group popularly thought too risky for surgery -- normally and without fear of serious complications.

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Basic logic tells us making two surgical repairs in one operation is more cost-effective than performing each repair separately. A study presented today at the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society's 13th Annual Summer Meeting reveals that in some cases this "doubling-up" is not only cost-effective, it leads to better healing and greater patient satisfaction as well.

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Researchers have shown that radiation from radon gas does not need to hit a cell nucleau -- or even the cell itself -- to create DNA-damaging effects.

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Researhers from the UCSD School of Medicine report the first successful use of gene therapy to achieve partial recovery from spinal cord injuries.

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TipSheet from the American College of Physicians: 1) Muscle dysfunction, rather than osteoarthritis, results in weak quadriceps muscles in the knee. 2) Protease inhibitor indinavir can cause kidney problems. 3) African American women have higher heart disease rates than white women, while African-American men have a lower rate than white men.

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A twofold increased risk of heart attack was found among women who have higher than normal blood levels of the protein homocysteine and lower than normal blood levels of the vitamin folate, according to a study in today's American Heart Association journal Circulation.

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British researchers say they have demonstrated for the first time that signs of a common respiratory infection can be a useful yardstick for predicting whether survivors of heart attack will suffer another attack, which may be fatal, or need treatment to restore blood flow to their hearts. Antibiotic treatment appears to quickly nullify the risk for these heart disease problems, the scientists report in today's American Heart Association journal Circulation.

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A readily available, but underused, diagnostic test could help prevent unnecessary angioplasties, a procedure used to clean out blocked blood vessels to the heart, report researchers in today's Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association.

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A twofold increased risk of heart attack was found among women who have higher than normal blood levels of the protein homocysteine and lower than normal blood levels of the vitamin folate, according to a study in today's American Heart Association journal Circulation.

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"Younger At Last: The New World of Vitality Medicine" (Simon & Schuster), by Steven Lamm, M.D., is based on a revolutionary new program designed for a culture where success personally and professionally is increasingly linked to the attributes of youthfulness. Dr. Lamm's book features a chapter on Pycnogenol (R) French maritime pine bark extract. This supplement functions as both an antioxidant and as a circulation enhancer throughout the body.

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When Purdue University geneticist Rick Vierling first looked for ways to add value to soybeans, he didn't expect that he could help doctors diagnose AIDS in China. But that's exactly where his research is leading.

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Cornell nutritionists play key roles in calling for and constructing new international growth references for infants and children. Current standards result in too many faulty decisions.

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The hormones oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP) play a vital role in influencing complex social behaviors such as affiliation, parental care, territorial aggression and several behaviors associated with monogamy (pair bonding, paternal care, mate guarding). Scientists at Yerkes Primate Center at Emory University are examining these hormones in rodents to eventually help develop treatments for autism and schizophrenia, both of which result in social isolation and detachment.

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A nutrition project being conducted by Pauline Samuda, a University of Maine graduate student, has global implications, particularly for developing countries struggling with malnutrition and hunger. Samuda, who grew up in Manchester, Jamaica, is on leave from her job as a public health nutitionist in the Jamaican Ministry of Health. The result of her efforts will be the most accurate picture to date of the nutrients in the foods Jamaicans eat. The bottom line, Samuda says, is improved food and nutrition information to guide school lunch programs, food import policies, nutrition education and special diets for people with diabetes, heart disease and other health problems.

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University of Michigan laser performs high-precision corneal surgery not possible with current technology.

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A neonatologist in NY, using the internet, saves the life of a premature infant in Argentina.

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Antex Biologics, SmithKline Beecham, and the United States Navy today jointly announced the start of a Phase II clinical trial for Antex's Campylobacter vaccine. This study will evaluate the efficacy of this oral vaccine against infectious Campylobacter, which causes 400-500 million cases of diarrhea annually.

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Linda Alexander, who has a strong military and academic background and specializes in women's health, is the new president and CEO of the 83-year-old American Social Health Association. ASHA is dedicated to stopping sexually transmitted diseases.

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Castration has long been the primary strategy for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer. However, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified new androgen inhibitors that they believe could supplant castration as the primary method of treatment.

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The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) has released its report on graduate education in biomedical sciences.

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In a study that sheds new light on how the brain organizes language, researchers report that the organization of the brain's language-production region in bilingual individuals is directly related to whether they learned a second language as toddlers (simultaneously with their native language) or as young adults. Using a new, non-invasive imaging method called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers found that bilingual persons who acquire a second language as young adults have distinct areas in the brain associated with their native and second languages.

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Who will train today's medical students to become tomorrow's doctors and deal with the constantly-changing realities of health care? The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has overhauled its curriculum and will begin to implement Curriculum 2000, beginning with the August 1997 class. Curriculum 2000 represents the first time a major medical school has revamped its entire four-year curriculum to better train students for the future of medicine as practicing physicians.

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The consequences of genetic testing should be carefully considered by patients and health care providers before a test is administered, according to a University of Iowa nursing professor.

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Nearly one million American children under age 2 go unprotected against life-threatening, yet preventable, childhood diseases every year because they are not fully immunized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Children with HIV are living longer and staying healthier, which means more HIV-infected children can be expected to attend schools in years to come, according to a study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics on this months Pediatrics electronic pages.

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One child's eight-year ordeal as a victim of Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome (MBPS) is chronicled in a study in this month's issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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A new study of child care centers found that staff members at many child care centers are unaware of the association between infant sleep position and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and few centers have policies regarding sleep position.

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Many women may be waiting for the swollen joints, stiffness and pain typically associated with arthritis to occur before they become concerned about osteoporosis, according to an urgently issued Public Health Advisory from the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF).

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A popular theory about how a major component of vaccines works within the body has been shot down by a Purdue University study.

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Highlights Family Practice Management June 1997 1. Inner City Primary Care 2. Computerized Medical Practice 3. Embracing Alternative Medicine 4. Family Practice in Rural America 5. Cash Patients in Managed Care 6. Giving Back to the Community

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High blood pressure speeds the loss of memory and other cognitive abilities in the elderly, and actually causes their brains to shrink in size, according to a new study reported in the American Heart Association Journal Stroke.

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Boston researchers say they have evidence that supports the safety of nifedipine, a calcium channel blocker used to treat high blood pressure. Their report appears in the July issue of the American Heart Association journal Hypertension.

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Cancer patients wanting cutting-edge therapy or whose disease no longer responds to traditional treatment may find new hope on the "information super highway." The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has posted its clinical trials available for cancer patients on a World Wide Web site.

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The University of Iowa is one of two research centers coordinating a worldwide surveillance program to track the escalating spread of bacteria resistant to current antibiotics.

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The only plant-based anti-HIV agent has gone into clinical trials at Sarawak MediChem Pharmaceuticals, Inc., of Lemont, IL. The agent, (+)-Calanolide A, comes from the plant Calophyllum lanigerum, which was discovered by scientists at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University in the forest of Sarawak, Malaysia.

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As summer heats up and more people head outdoors, precautions need to be taken to avoid two tick-borne illnesses -- Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Both diseases are still carried by ticks in Texas, according to an entomologist with Texas A&M University.

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No signs of "mad cow disease" have been found in Texas by the state's only laboratory which handles bovine autopsies, the laboratory's director said.

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Study finds that following AHA recommendations for electrode placement during defibrilation allows the most current to reach the heart.

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July 1, 1997 Annals of Internal Medicine from the American College of Physicians 1) Alternative Medicine Therapies 2) Patient Preferences for Physician Communication about End-of-Life Decisions 3) Diagnosing Syncope - Part II

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Doctors may have a way to identify people with heart disease whose coronary arteries will become obstructed again after they have been propped open with tiny metal tubes called stents. The clue may be found, French scientists say, not in the individuals' diseased blood vessel but in their genes, according to a report in today's American Heart Association journal Circulation.

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Physicians might better serve their patients if they promoted physical activity as fervently as they do smoking cessation and controlling blood cholesterol levels, according to a science advisory published today in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association.

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Circulation, the American Heart Association journal will be published weekly beginning in January 1998 under a new name Circulation - Journal of the American Heart Association.