Medical News

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UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researchers have uncovered what they believe is a marker of autoimmune disease activity in patients with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

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Employee obesity dramatically increases health care needs and costs of business. Overweight women over 45 face highest heatlh risks. Study suggests worker weight loss programs can reduce employer medical and short-term disability costs.

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Nearly 7,000 plastic surgeons, exhibitors, medical personnel and guests from around the world gather in Boston, October 3-7, 1998, for the 67th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (ASPRS), the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation (PSEF) and the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons (ASMS).

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Cigarette smoking has been shown to increase the risk of vasospasm following a subarachnoid hemorhhage (SAH), according to a study published in the September 1998 issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery.

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Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are currently testing 136 new weapons in the arsenal against infectious diseases, according to a new survey by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

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At the annual meeting of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery in Washington, D.C., Dr. William Rassman will perform a live follicular transplant using the carousel automated implanter, which is a new device that has the potential to cut surgery time in half.

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Research over the past 15 years, including studies at the Whitehead Institute, has been lending credence to the notion of a so-called "RNA world," an era in early evolution when all life forms were based on RNA.

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Three story ideas based on ongoing research at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center: 1.A Role for Prolactin in Breast Cancer 2.Proteins Deep Inside the Nucleus Hold Clues for Two Diseases 3.Tightly Controlled Protein Destruction Drives the Cell Cycle

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Over the past decade, knowledge about how the immune system can be used to fight cancer has greatly increased. Not only have scientists learned that the immune system can recognize certain proteins on cancer cells, but they have used this knowledge to develop vaccines that may help to prevent cancer recurrence.

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Researchers at UC Irvine's College of Medicine have found a possible new weapon for the AIDS arsenal: a chemical extracted from green coffee beans. The chemical is identical to substances found in medicinal plants that Bolivian shamans have used for more than 1,500 years to treat a variety of disorders.

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The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International and Harvard Medical School have established the JDF Center for Islet Cell Transplantation at Harvard Medical School with the goal of developing a cure for Type 1 diabetes.

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Moms and dads contribute equal amounts of DNA to their baby --almost. Each parent donates one chromosome from each of the 23 pairs humans have. But only mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the mother passes to the fetus.

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1-Physicians Often Stray From the Mark When Talking to Patients About Advance Directives 2- Doctor-Patient E-mail: Promise and Problems 3- Adhering to Complex HIV Therapy 4- Epinephrine During Cardiac Resuscitation Associated with Negative Neurologic Outcomes

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An individual with the types of injuries Howard Rutman sustained in a motorcycle accident last January would typically be confined to a wheelchair for life. But 5 months after the accident he was walking again and now walks unaided.

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Imagine an invisible hearing aid that never squeals with feedback and digitally enhances speech while silencing background noise. Such a device is under development and has been tested in animals with encouraging result.

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A MU researcher in veterinary medicine is creating an animal model to aid in studying how Lyme disease affects humans.

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Biochemists at Johns Hopkins report they have solved a major mystery surrounding the way most organisms -- including people -- get energy. Their discovery, in this month's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,caps decades of research on how cells make the common currency of energy, a molecule called ATP.

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1.Research showing how preterm infants suffered airway adverse effects from maternal smoking; 2. How maternal smoking caused increased infant airway wall thickness, which may cause SIDS death; how circadian rhythms increase nocturnal asthma, plus a helpful drug.

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Women taking low-dose estrogen oral contraceptives did not face an increased heart attack risk, according to a study. Researchers investigated whether the current generation of oral contraceptives would increase the risk of heart attack.

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A new study by researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and other institutions lends support to traditional beliefs about the importance of a good breakfast. The report in the September Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine finds that children who increase their participation in school breakfast programs tend to show improvement on a wide range of measures of social and academic functioning.

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A five-year follow-up study states acupuncture, chiropractic manipulation, and herbal therapy are among new remedies used to control the symptoms of this common disease.

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In a scientific first, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have demonstrated that allergy increases susceptibility to otitis media, the most common, recurrent ear infection in young children.

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Mayo Clinic announced the establishment of a major transplantation biology research program to be headed by one of the world's most renowned transplantation scientists. Jeffrey Platt, M.D., has joined Mayo Clinic to head the new Transplantation Biology Research Group. The program is part of Mayo Clinic's recently announced initiative in basic and clinical research into the burgeoning field of xenotransplantation.

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A recent multicenter trial shows a natural factor that encourages nerve growth may bring relief from one of the more common effects of HIV infection: sensory neuropathy. The study, led by Johns Hopkins researchers, is supported by the AIDS Clinical Trials Group at the National Institutes of Health.

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Lung cancer patients generally have a lower death rate when their surgery is performed by a thoracic surgeon as opposed to a general surgeon, according to a new study reported today in CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP).

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Arnold-Chiari malformation affects the brainstem can cause sensory loss, motor weakness, scoliosis, vocal cord paralysis and cranial nerve palsy. A team of pediatric ear, nose, and throat specialists suggests that life threatening airway abnormalities accompany neurological damage.

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Infant botulism is endemic to agricultural centers in southeastern Pennsylvania, Utah, and California. Previous treatments usually involved a tracheotomy at the advent of the disease. Now a team of Philadelphia ear, nose, and throat specialists prove that long-term intubation alone can prevent breathing failure in infants with this disorder.

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One year ago the public learned that radiofrequency energy received approval from the Food and Drug Administration as an effective treatment to reduce snoring. Now, a new research study demonstrates that the same technology is equally effective in achieving tongue base reduction, a procedure, previously done only with surgery, to alleviate obstructive sleep apnea.

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Airbags may prevent a wide range of injuries resulting from a motor vehicle accident. Unfortunately, both short and long-term health problems may result from its activation. Two Michigan ear specialists have examined patients exposed to activated airbags and have identified resulting hearing and balance problems.

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Although the death rate has declined among users of all-terrain vehicles, a new research study reveals that accidents result in maxillofacial injuries, often with severe consequences.

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A research effort finds that portable, unattended, sleep monitoring systems placed in the home can aid in the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea, a serious public health problem.

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The close anatomical and functional relationship between the vestibular function and the cochlea, or inner ear, suggests that deaf or hearing impaired children may also suffer from balance disorders. A new study confirms this analysis.

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In cancers based in unusual locations (in the lining of the lung-mesothelioma- or in lymph nodes), researchers have shown the advantages of using positron emission tomography over structural imaging, including X-Ray, magnetic resonance imaging, and computerized tomography.

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Palm oil is loaded with antioxidants, particularly vitamin E. Antioxidants protect your body from highly reactive free radicals that damage cells.

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A one-day forum to present the newest research in the field including estrogen disruptors and their role in breast and ovarian cancer, reproductive health risks, and the link between gender and the environment.

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People who don't consume zinc may become seriously anorexic, with little desire and even a repulsion for eating. For many young, weight-conscious women, and often the elderly, not eating becomes a state of mind and is considered a serious psychiatric disorder.

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Federal policies regarding residential lead poisoning favor the lead industry or economic concerns at the expense of children's health, according to an article by a physician from Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati in the September 11 edition of the journal Science.

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Nearly one in 10 female new recruits in the Army is infected with Chlamydia trachomatis, according to a study reported in today's New England Journal of Medicine.

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The American Psychiatric Association (APA) made their first patients' guide to treatment options titled, "Treatment Works: When You Choose to Stop Smoking" available on the APA Website. The guide is the first in a series to be released later this year and in 1999.

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Scientists in Texas, California and New York have found a way that HIV can kill cells it doesn't infect--and thereby prompt the downward spiral that results in AIDS. According to a study published Sept. 10 in Nature, certain strains of the AIDS virus that appear late in HIV disease may spur a mass suicide of immune cells called CD8 T cells, which normally keep HIV at bay.

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Atrial fibrillation -- a condition in which the heart beats irregularly -- significantly increases the risk of dying, particularly for women, report scientists. The risk of death was 1.9 times greater in women with AF when compared to women without AF.

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An advisory panel for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today recommended approval of the breast cancer drug Herceptin, the first cancer drug to successfully treat a specific genetic alteration. The FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee recommended Herceptin for approval as a single agent and in combination with Taxol.

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An influx of calcium into mitochondria triggers the death of neurons exposed to glutamate, which proves toxic when overproduced in traumatic brain injury and stroke. This finding, by University of Pittsburgh scientists, is in the Sept. issue of Nature Neuroscience.

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Managed Care is Here to Stay -- So How Do We Make It Work? New Book Provides Blueprint for Maximizing Humane Services in the 21st Century.

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Thanks to her own determination and the inter-disciplinary, problem-solving approach taken by her rehab team, a 27-year-old widowed tetraplegic at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has defied all medical odds and regained the ability to walk.

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EntreMed, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENMD) and CytImmune Sciences Inc. announced today the product launch of the Endostatin Protein ACCUCYTE Immunoassay Kit developed collaboratively by the companies.

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In treating dogs for a highly aggressive form of melanoma, a University of Wisconsin-Madison research team is having success with a new cancer vaccine that could benefit human cancer-fighting efforts.

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In the latest of a series of discoveries about colon cancer genes, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have discovered a connection between two of them, APC and c-MYC, that conspires to initiate almost all colon cancers. Their findings are reported in the September 4, 1998, issue of SCIENCE.