Medical News

• share
• favorite_border

By delivering medicines to specific areas of the human body, peptides are expected to be a link for dramatic breakthroughs in the treatment of many diseases and illnesses, including Alzheimer's disease and HIV-related illnesses. Researchers at the University of Kansas are leaders in the fields of peptide and peptidomimetics research, a field that is growing in importance. (Story tip package from KU)

• share
• favorite_border

Contrary to conventional wisdom, aerobic exercise is a safe and effective way to improve the strength and cardiovascular fitness of stroke patients, even if they begin exercising six months or more after their stroke.

• share
• favorite_border

Temple University School of Medicine is now in the second year of a four-year, $3 million study to investigate chronic rejection and to determine whether donor bone marrow can "trick" recipients' immune systems into coexisting without rejection of the transplanted hearts.

• share
• favorite_border

Neuroscientists at the Yerkes Primate Research Center of Emory University have discovered in the brain a novel neurotransmitter that helps control food intake and seems to be partially responsible for the feeling of satiety. The finding may eventually be used to develop medications for obesity, a life-threatening, yet common condition that often lies at the root of other serious illnesses such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The study will be reported in the journal Synapse (vol 29, No. 4), available in May on the Synapse website.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers who were looking for the reason why simple aspirin use protects some people from developing heart attacks have traced the mechanism back to a specific genetic factor present on the surface of clotting cells called platelets.

• share
• favorite_border

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) has just published an information resource about Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (classic CJD), Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and new variant CJD (nvCJD).

• share
• favorite_border

A natural supplement may provide protection from heart attacks or strokes, especially for smokers or those with a history of heart disease, according to a breakthrough study in humans to be presented during the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) annual meeting.

• share
• favorite_border

With the unlikely but invaluable help of an electron accelerator, University of Wisconsin Medical School molecular biologists have definitively shown for the first time that within the seven-some-feet of the folded chromosome in every cell nucleus, special repair proteins do their work by moving from their home bases to remote gene damage sites. The study is reported in the April 24 Science.

• share
• favorite_border

Surgeon General David Satcher and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich will address the American Occupational Health Conference April 29, Hynes Convention Center, Boston. Nation's largest occupational health conference expects 8,000 attendees.

• share
• favorite_border

WALTHAM, Mass. -- An X-ray detector technology first developed at Brandeis University for use by structural biologists is now being used to produce speedy, high-resolution digital images of breast tissue that could replace standard mammograms as a screening technique.

• share
• favorite_border

As the U.S. Department of Agriculture begins to establish new dietary guidelines for the year 2000, a new University of Michigan study suggests low fat diets' are not always the most healthy.

• share
• favorite_border

A vaccine pairing a genetically altered, harmless canarypox virus, and a genetically engineered piece of the HIV protein coat, induce immune system activity against laboratory strains of HIV better than either vaccine alone, according to a Johns Hopkins School of Public Health researcher.

• share
• favorite_border

More than one million days and $112 million are spent annually by physicians on credentialing activities. Learn more about the hidden costs of credentialing why the process is critical to managing risk and ensuring quality of care at a special briefing in Chicago

• share
• favorite_border

Guideline for Treatment of Patients with Panic Disorder published as supplement to the May issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry. Embargoed until May 1, 1998

• share
• favorite_border

American Psychiatric Association's holds its 151st Annual Meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, May 30-June 4, 1998, at the Toronto Convention Centre.

• share
• favorite_border

A rarely used surgical technique to clear plaque from the artery leading to the brain is not only three times faster than the conventional procedure, but results in a 10-fold decrease in a reclogging of the artery, according to a study by Albany Medical Center physicians.

• share
• favorite_border

Cigarette tar is deposited in the lungs of smokers, and these lung tissues are continuously bathed in an aqueous solution that can dissolve and transport the water-soluble chemicals in the tar. According to William A. Pryor, Ph.D., Director of the Biodynamics Institute at Louisiana State University, this aqueous cigarette tar (ACT) extract is a complex mixture of hundreds of compounds that can cause DNA damage.

• share
• favorite_border

A new UCLA study has revealed that many physicians may lack the training necessary to interpret CT scans and safely identify stroke patients who may benefit from "clot-busting" drug therapies.

• share
• favorite_border

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.--Geriatric rats instinctively ward off sickness by huddling in hot spots, and ongoing studies of their behavior may suggest drug-free strategies to help older people fight infections, University of Delaware researchers reported today at the Experimental Biology '98 meeting.

• share
• favorite_border

DALLAS, April 21 -- Do individuals gain progressive benefits in heart attack protection as the drugs, called statins, take cholesterol levels to "new lows?" This is the topic of three reports and an editorial appearing in today's Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

• share
• favorite_border

DALLAS, April 21 -- The stickier, or more viscous, a man's blood is, the greater his risk of developing the kind of blood vessel damage that can eventually lead to a heart attack or stroke, a study published in today's Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association reports.

• share
• favorite_border

Today at the Experimental Biology 98 conference, Dr. David Heber, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, presented the findings of the first U.S. clinical study on the cholesterol-lowering effects of Cholestin, a dietary supplement made of Chinese red yeast rice.

• share
• favorite_border

Noise is the most common hazard for American workers. This new study shows that construction workers are dashing off to work without properly protecting their hearing, thus unnecessarily placing their hearing at risk. Here are some things that can be done to raise awareness and reduce that risk.

• share
• favorite_border

STANFORD - A gene therapy technique that sends inflammation- squelching proteins directly where they're needed can help allay the symptoms of a disease resembling multiple sclerosis (MS) in mice, Stanford scientists have found.

• share
• favorite_border

A fortified orange drink given to Tanzanian children for six months significantly reduced important nutritional deficiencies and prompted almost twice as much weight gain and 25 percent more growth than children who did not get the drink.

• share
• favorite_border

Cornell University neurobiologists, studying the adrenal glands of rats, have discovered how chronic stress cranks up the intensity of thes adrenaline response. The key to this so-called molecular memory resides in a donut-shaped protein on the surface of cells that secrete adrenaline, the hormone also known as epinephrine.

• share
• favorite_border

Links between recent reductions in food stamp allowances, hunger and poor health were found by researchers at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) in Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota.

• share
• favorite_border

Preliminary findings of a multicenter international study reveal that a new form of Cyclosporine called Neoral may offer significant benefits to heart transplant recipients. Heart transplant patients receiving Neoral experienced fewer infections and a reduced number of rejections requiring antibody therapy. These findings suggest clinical advantages for Neoral which may translate into improved outcomes for heart transplant recipients.

• share
• favorite_border

Using two drugs already available, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas may have found a cure for a condition that puts 5 million Americans at risk for sudden death -- an enlarged heart, or cardiac hypertrophy.

• share
• favorite_border

Antioxidants seem to help protect lung function and prevent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among both smokers and nonsmokers, according to a new Cornell University study. Though the effects are different for smokers and nonsmokers, for both groups, the beneficial effects of high levels of antioxidants is dramatic.

• share
• favorite_border

Findings of a multicenter study indicate that Pacemaker Guided Monitoring has a high predictive value in determining heart transplant rejection. The use of an implanted pacemaker to detect heart rejection is much less invasive, more cost effective and without the major side effects associated with traditional endomyocardial biopsy.

• share
• favorite_border

Heart laser surgery termed Transmyocardial Revascularization can replace transplantation in certain patients with severe coronary artery disease. TMR patients experience survival rates of 85% which compare favorably with survival at one year post transplant. Due to the lack of sufficient numbers of donor hearts, TMR offers an alternative without the mortality associated with waiting for a transplant.

• share
• favorite_border

"When faced with counterintuitive information, don't believe it until you read the data," said American Academy of Family Physicians Board Chair Patrick B. Harr, M.D.

• share
• favorite_border

Obesity may increase the risk of asthma, suggest two new studies to be presented at the American Lung Association/American Thoracic Society International Conference in Chicago April 24-29.

• share
• favorite_border

Lung disease takes a particularly big toll on women, suggest a number of new studies being presented at the American Lung Association/American Thoracic Society International Conference April 24-29 in Chicago.

• share
• favorite_border

Even after three years, 25 patients who underwent Lung Volume Reduction Surgery (LVRS) still showed improvements in lung functioning, according to researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

• share
• favorite_border

A lighter look at breathing can be found in one of the scientific papers being presented at the 1998 American Lung Association/American Thoracic Society International Conference which is entitled: "Do Wines Breathe?"

• share
• favorite_border

Menopausal women who combine estrogen with progestin decrease their risk of developppping endometrial cancer. This is the the conclusion reached by researchers conducting a 22-year retrospective study of women 45 years of age and older.

• share
• favorite_border

Using estrogen could reduce the risk of dementia for women with Parkinson's disease, according to a new study.

• share
• favorite_border

Stroke patients treated with the new stroke drug tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) generally have better outcomes and therefore are less costly to the health care system than those not treated, according to an article published in the April issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

• share
• favorite_border

For the first time in medical history, researchers have transplanted fetal brain cells from pigs into humans to treat a degenerative disease of the brain. Fetal pig cells have been transplanted into several patients who suffer from Parkinson's Disease. Results of this research will be presented at the Annual Meeting of The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) on Monday, April 27, 1998 in Philadelphia.

• share
• favorite_border

A surgical procedure performed to remove the fatty build-up in the carotid arteries leading to the brain has proven to reduce the risk of stroke. Stenosis, or blockage, in the carotid artery narrows the pathway for blood to travel to the brain. This build up can break off and block the flow of blood to the brain completely, causing a stroke and the ensuing brain damage.

• share
• favorite_border

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) will hold its 66th Annual Meeting April 25 - 30, 1998 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The meeting will bring together more than 5,000 neurosurgeons, neurological residents, neuroscience nurses, clinical specialists, physician assistants and allied health professionals.

• share
• favorite_border

A team of University of Maine nutritionists has found new evidence which underscores the importance of manganese in the diet. As suggested by their studies with rats over the past several years, lack of this trace element may pave the way for damage to arteries and the liver.

• share
• favorite_border

1) 66 percent of families correctly predict the ultimate wishes of dying patients, 2) Early HIV infection varies widely; early virus-host interactions predict disease, 3) The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle, which conducts small scale tests in ongoing medical practices, is an effective way to improve the way medical care is administered, 4) Non-invasive testing usually successfully manages suspected deep vein blood clots, 5) New ACP position paper examines fraud and abuse in medicine.

• share
• favorite_border

New virtual reality technology is making it possible for doctors to "fly" into a body organ and to practice surgery before actually performing it, as well as plan treatments for a variety of urinary problems, a Boston study shows.

• share
• favorite_border

With the use of computers, radiologists can make more accurate diagnoses of breast cancer and reduce the number of biopsies, a new North Carolina study has found.

• share
• favorite_border

A new type of open magnetic resonance imaging system, called Magnetic Resonance Therapy (MRT), is making it possible for physicians to watch joints in motion and reach into the unit to perform joint examinations on patient during scanning, a Stanford study shows.

• share
• favorite_border

Studies ranging from ultra-fast MRI imaging of the fetal brain to virtual reality technology will be presented at the 98th Annual American Roentgen Ray Society Annual Meeting, San Francisco, April 26 - May 1.

• share
• favorite_border

A Yale University study shows that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be useful in evaluating some equivocal or abnormal mammograms. Results of the study were presented April 28 at the 98th Annual Meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society held in San Francisco.