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.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Under its Evidence-based Practice Program, HHS' Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) is awarding 12 five-year contracts to institutions in the United States and Canada to serve as Evidence-based Practice Centers.
Using the antibiotic erythromycin for treating community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in most outpatients aged 60 and under significantly reduces treatment costs compared with the use of other antibiotics and has no adverse effect on medical outcomes. This finding is from an AHCPR-funded study which provides the first objective data to compare the clinical effectiveness and costs of antibiotic therapy with clinical guidelines for community-acquired pneumonia.
The American Lung Association supports the new health standards for smog and soot announced today by the Clinton Administration, and thanked the Administration for its "steadfastness and courage" in resisting a massive polluter lobbying campaign that sought to weaken or kill the stronger new standards.
American Psychiatric Association Tips - July 1997 - 1) Research Offers Insight into Depression and Alcohol; 2) How Refugees Cope with Adversity; 3) Older People with Schizophrenia Lose Ability to Function; 4) APA Seeks Nominees for Journalism Awards -- $1,000 Honorarium; 5) Save the Date - APA Calendar of Events
Treating female stress urinary incontinence initially with surgery provides an effective long-term cure for most patients, according to treatment guidelines for this common urological disorder released here today by the American Urological Association.
A report in the July report of Nature Genetics offers new hope for families affected with the genetic disorder Alagille syndrome. Nancy Spinner, Ph.D., and a team of geneticists at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have demonstrated that mutations in a gene dubbed "Jagged 1" are responsible for the developmental disorder, which affects structures in the liver, heart, skeleton, eye, face, kidney and other organs.
A unique mouse model developed by Jackson Laboratory and Canadian researchers exhibits significantly reduced male fertility, suggesting a critical role in reproduction and early embryonic development for the knocked-out gene product known as PC4 (proprotein convertase 4).
Modern prescription medicines can help people lead longer, healthier, happier and more productive lives - if they're used properly. But studies show that up to half of all prescription drugs aren't taken correctly - leading to emergency room visits, hospitalizations, deaths and added health care costs.
A new study in this month's issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology shows that a blood test helps predict breast cancer recurrence in women previously treated for stage II and stage III breast cancer.
Long acknowledged as one of the most commonly closeted issues by women, urinary incontinence appears to be far more common than previously realized. A national Harris Poll indicates that 42 percent of women surveyed report having had urinary incontinence themselves.
Observers around the world will be watching July 1 as Hong Kong makes the transition from British to Chinese authority. To mark the occasion, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and the UI College of Medicine will take part in a worldwide teleconference convened by the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Parents spanking their children may undermine the parent-child bond enough to make youngsters tend towards juvenile delinquency. The study of 915 children will be presented at the 5th International Family Violence Research Conference.
Yale University School of Medicine has been selected as one of three universities to initiate a major research project on the neurobiology of autism, the most severe developmental disorder of childhood, and related conditions. To conduct this research the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development has awarded $5.3 million to Yale over the next five years.
In a report issued today, a presidential commission said that consumers should have improved access to useful scientific information about the benefits and need for dietary supplements and recommended a number of measures to enhance the public's knowledge about the role of supplements in health promotion and disease prevention.