Medical News

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Until now, patients who suffered oral or facial deformities due to trauma or congenital disorders have had to wear a metal device implanted into the jaw from the outside of the face in order to correct the problem. Surgeons at Temple University Hospital are among the first to offer patients a distraction device implanted completely inside the mouth that helps to regrow destroyed bone, essentially growing a new jaw for the patient.

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Gallstones or Undissolved Pills? Study Finds That Most Pills Will Show Up on X-rays Radiation for Brain Tumors Does Not Cause Cognitive Decline Molecular Techniques Identify Dangerous Invasive Strep Bacteria

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Egg and sperm cells form through meiosis, a delicate process in which mistakes can later cause birth defects. Stanford researchers have now found that a key event in meiosis -- a genetic shuffling called recombination -- is started by the same protein in two very different organisms, yeast and worms.

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Researchers report that women who exhibit large increases in blood pressure and heart rate during mental stress may develop accelerated atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries, the vessels that carry blood to the brain.

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Aggressive, broad-based programs offering health screenings and education programs to help people lower high blood pressure show dramatically better results than more laissez-faire programs developed to achieve the same goal, scientists say.

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Recovery from stroke is a difficult road for both stroke survivors and their caregivers. A new study in an American Heart Association journal found that caregivers may experience unacceptably high levels of burden, leading to isolation and exhaustion.

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For the first time researchers have shown that estrogen -- a hormone that may protect women from heart disease -- also may be a weapon for both men and women against stroke.

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An inexpensive epilepsy drug may prove to be a highly effective pharmaceutical treatment for cocaine addiction. In addition, preliminary data suggests that it may be useful for the treatment of other addictions. That is the conclusion of animal studies published today in the journal Synapse by scientists from the U.S.

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Cardiac patients too frail for coronary bypass surgery or angioplasty may find relief through Percutaneous Transluminal Myocardial Revascularization, a new laser procedure now in phase II clinical trials at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

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Using a vaccine made from specialized white blood cells called dendritic cells spiked with cancer proteins, University of Michigan scientists have found a way to activate the immune system to attack malignant tumors and prevent the development of new tumors in mice. Clinical trial under way to test in humans.

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Efforts to battle vitamin A deficiency have been thrown a curve: Carotenoids that promote vitamin A production -- and are often consumed in mass quantities when available -- are not sufficiently stored and converted to vitamin A, according to new research.

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A press conference to announce a major scientific finding from animal studies that holds great promise for the treatment of cocaine addiction and other addictions in humans. Wednesday, August 5, 11 A.M. at New York Academy Of Sciences, 2 E. 63 St., NYC

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National Cancer Institute chooses UC Irvine as only California member of new Cancer Genetics Network

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Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are developing 156 potential medicines for diseases that disproportionately affect African Americans or are among the leading disease killers of African Americans, according to a survey released jointly today by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the National Medical Association (NMA).

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The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, in collaboration with the Hopkins Oncology Center, has received a five-year, $3.8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to establish an innovative cancer genetics network in the Mid-Atlantic region.

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Breast cancer cells exposed to a diabetes drug and the Vitamin A compund Accutane stopped multiplying and died on cue in laboratory and animal studies conducted at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

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Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are studying PTMR and VEGF Therapy -- experimental protocols for patients with end-stage cardiovascular disease who have had multiple angioplasties or other procedures such as bypass surgery.

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Assessing whether prostate cancer patients are eligible for radioactive seed implantation therapy, a preferred new treatment, can now be made in minutes rather than days, and at a fraction of the cost, using a new ultrasound imaging technology developed by researchers at the University of Washington and Seattle Prostate Institute.

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Researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and other institutions report that nearly 4 in 10 female emergency room patients have been victims of physical or emotional domestic abuse sometime in their lives, and 14 percent have been physically or sexually abused in the past year.

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Scientists have developed a new technology that sheds light on Alzheimer's disease at its origins, in the nerve cells throughout the brain that sicken and die. The team has taken the sharpest molecular snapshots yet of cells affected by the disease, simultaneously measuring the activity of 20 genes.

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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health have developed and tested a practical new way of grouping populations of adolescents into distinct health "profiles"--unique combinations of mental, physical, and behavioral problems--so that health care workers can plan for the health needs of a population of teenagers.

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Many people with diabetes develop heart disease, but a new study says that determining who has high levels of insulin in the blood -- a condition that precedes diabetes -- may better predict who is at risk for having a heart attack.

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Researchers say they may have found one reason why cocaine causes heart attacks, offering new hope for treatment. German scientists say cocaine causes the layer of cells that line the blood vessels to release endothelin, which makes vessels contract.

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Patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer receive the most benefit from "compliance interventions"--the strategies doctors use to get patients to follow orders, such as checking whether a person has lost weight, or refilled a prescription, researchers from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health have found.

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When workers believe they have been exposed to dangerous chemicals on the job, they often must provide a sample of blood or urine and wait three weeks or more to learn their fate. A breath-analyzing device developed at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory eases the uncertainty by providing immediate results of chemical exposure using a non-invasive technique.

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First-year outcomes data for participants in Diabetes Treatment Centers of America's (DTCA) comprehensive population management program, Diabetes NetCareSM, show a 12.3 percent or $50 per member per month reduction in direct health care costs, according to a study published today in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

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A study of 58 people with classic heat stroke admitted to hospital emergency departments during the 1995 Chicago heat wave found that only one patient was cooled within 30 minutes, the generally accepted time frame.

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1. Hospitals must cool overheated bodies at once; 2. Delaying treatment keeps many from benefitting from new stroke therapies; 3. Botulism: Rare but deadly and requires rapid responses; 4. Hospitalists saved one hospital money and shortened patient stays; 5. Central nervous system axis profoundly affects female reproductive system.

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A new Brain Tumor Support Group at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Neurosurgical Institute will provide patients and their families with psychological support + updates on the latest in radiation, chemotherapy, gene therapy and immunology. The new program will be launched at a special Open House on Wednesday, Aug. 5.

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Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have discovered a mechanism that creates mutations in the DNA of cancer cells. They also have identified a component of the protein machinery responsible for copying the cell's DNA that is structurally different from the same protein in normal cells.

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How the brain responds to injury -- in terms of the cellular cascade that leads to cell death -- is poorly understood. Looking at a particular pattern of cell death called apoptosis, or programmed cell death, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have discovered that in a rat model this kind of deleterious cellular destruction continues for weeks after the initial trauma.

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For most people in an emergency room, having blood available--and disease-free--is of utmost concern. To guard against shortages and potential disease transmission, blood substitutes are being developed to deliver oxygen to the brain and heart.

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Fetal surgery is being heralded by many as the latest medical miracle, but a new book raises disturbing questions about the safety of fetal surgery and the risks it poses to both mother and fetus.

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Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Skull Base Institute is successfully treating Trigeminal Neuralgia, universally considered the most painful affliction known to adults. Two patients and the director of the Skull Base Institute are available for interviews.

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The United Kingdom's plans for restrictive limits on vitamin B6 have been iced. Nick Brown, the U.K.'s new Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, announced today that the proposed legislative limit of 10 milligrams (mg) of vitamin B6 in dietary supplements has been deferred pending consideration of the whole vitamin safety issue by a new Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals.

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Recommendations for responding to chemical and biological terrorism and new studies on pain management, tuberculosis, and HIV transmission are presented in the August issue of Annals of Emergency Medicine, reflecting the broad spectrum of issues that relate to emergency medicine.

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Though many managed care systems steer patients with skin problems to primary care doctors on the supposition that they will get comprehensive care as well, a new Wake Forest study indicates patients with skin problems get no more comprehensive care than they would from dermatologists, but they would miss the dermatologist's special expertise in treating skin conditions.

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Many health food store retailers and consumers are not aware of the significant differences between natural and synthetic supplements, despite mounting evidence showing the benefits of natural products, according to noted journalist and author Jean Carper.

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Developmental biologists all over the world are earnestly studying 2,000 new mutants of zebrafish -- and adding new ones to the list -- to determine what role they play in complex biochemical pathways. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have identified new mutants important in the first steps that control the dorsoventral -- back to abdomen -- arrangement of embryonic tissues, a process called patterning.

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In the study, which is being directed by researchers Stephanie Taylor, Eddie Boyd and Leslie Shimp of the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy, two Detroit independent pharmacies are offering extra services to hypertension patients enrolled in the project.

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The nation's health continues to show record progress, but Americans with low income or less education aren't as likely as more educated or economically advantaged Americans to share in the good health news, according to HHS' comprehensive annual report on the health of the nation.

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According to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center researchers, infants (age 9-17 weeks) whose eyes cross are invited to participate in a free, nationwide, NIH-sponsored Congenital Esotropia study.

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Researchers, including UIC ophthalmologists, have found that an antiviral drug often used to suppress genital herpes also decreases the recurrence of herpes of the eye. In its most serious form, the condition can cause blindness.

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Dietary zinc supplementation may reduce morbidity due to infectious diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria, according to studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition today (AJCN 1998; 68:2-S).

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1- for better or for worse: divorce follows diagnosis; 2- marijuana abuse runs in the family in women; 3- public supports expanded insurance coverage of mental health.

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Bob Novak, prostate cancer survivor and CNN commentator, is the keynote speaker at the upcoming 1st International Prostate Cancer Symposium for the Patient, the largest-ever forum for patients and their families to learn the latest advances in both traditional and alternative prostate cancer treatments. The symposium will be held August 1-2, at the University of Michigan Power Center in Ann Arbor.

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Two new vaccines show promise in preventing tuberculosis in animals, researchers at Colorado State University report.

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University of Iowa researchers report in the July 30 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine that the drug alendronate (marketed as Fosamax) may help prevent and treat steroid-induced osteoporosis.

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Zeneca Pharmaceuticals receives FDA approval for Zoladex in combination treatment against early stages of prostate cancer. Clinical trial results show significantly increased disease-free survival among patients fighting second leading cause of cancer death in men.

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Westwood-Squibb Pharmaceuticals announced today [August 2] that it is underwriting the establishment of a center for dermatology research at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine with a five-year, $1 million research grant. The center will focus on health services research in dermatology. Embargoed until August 2, 1998.