Influenza and measles vaccinations in HIV-infected patientsTwo new studies emphasize the importance of delivering measles and influenza vaccines to HIV-infected individuals. Both studies are reported in the August 1 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.
William J. Moss, MD, and his colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University and elsewhere studied immune responses to measles vaccine in HIV-infected and uninfected children in Zambia from 2000 to 2004, when measles endemic........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/23/2007 5:47:00 PM)
Manic Depression And Brain Tissue LossPeople with bipolar disorder or manic depression suffer from an accelerated shrinking of their brain, scientists at the University of Edinburgh have found.
The study shows for the first time that bipolar disorder a condition characterised by periods of depression and periods of mania is linked to a reduction in brain tissue and proves that the changes get progressively worse with each relapse.
This discovery has implications not only........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/19/2007 10:37:35 PM)
Coaching for doctor office visitsAsking more questions during a visit to the doctor might help patients get care that is more satisfactory, but a number of patients are not sure where to start.
A new review of 33 studies observed that giving patients question checklists or providing in-office coaching can help them ask more questions of their health care provider and get more information that is useful often extending the length of the consultation as well.
For........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/19/2007 10:13:12 PM)
Elevated Leukaemia Rates Near Nuclear FacilitiesLeukaemia rates in children and young people are elevated near nuclear facilities, but no clear explanation exists to explain the rise, as per a research review reported in the recent issue of European Journal of Cancer Care.
Scientists at the Medical University of South Carolina carried out a sophisticated meta-analysis of 17 research papers covering 136 nuclear sites in the UK, Canada, France, the USA, Gera number of, Japan and Spain.
........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 7/18/2007 9:38:47 PM)
Hospital Stays Can Help Motivate Smokers To QuitHospitalized patients make a great captive audience for smoking cessation efforts, as per a new systematic review.
The scientists observed that when smokers become hospital inpatients, regardless of the reason for admission, they are receptive to efforts to help them to quit smoking after discharge and more likely succeed in the long run.
Smokers know that smoking is harmful to a persons health, but a number of of them dont really think........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/17/2007 10:40:43 PM)
Clues to future evolution of HIVMonkey viruses correlation to HIV may have swept across Africa more recently than previously thought, as per new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson.
A new family tree for African green monkeys shows that an HIV-like virus, simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV, first infected those monkeys after the lineage split into four species. The new research reveals the split happened about 3 million years ago.
Previously,........Go to the Health-articles (Added on 7/16/2007 10:11:31 PM)
On targetIn an upcoming Genes & Development paper, Dr. Christopher Counter and his colleagues at the Duke University Medical Center have identified IL6 as a new target in the battle against Ras-induced cancers.
Ras is a key intracellular messenger protein that directs, among other things, cell growth and proliferation. Over-expression of the Ras oncogene, or of its growth-promoting pathway, is an integral step in the development of many human........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 7/15/2007 9:30:38 PM)
How Hiv Interferes With Infected Cell DivisionDr. ric A. Cohen, a researcher at the IRCM (Institut de recherches cliniques de Montral), and his team will publish on Friday, July 13, in PLoS Pathogens a discovery that could lead to the development of a new class of drugs to combat HIV.
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) causes AIDS by depleting essential immune cells called CD4+T lymphocytes in infected individuals, resulting in a compromised immune system. At the center of this........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/12/2007 10:28:19 PM)
More Lethal Subtype Of AMLA new study shows that the activity of a particular gene can identify people who have a more lethal form of acute myeloid leukemia, singling out those patients who should receive more intense therapy.
The gene, called ERG (for ETS-related gene), has also been linked to chronic leukemia and to breast and prostate cancer.
The findings apply to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients with leukemia cells that have normal-looking chromosomes, a........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 7/10/2007 5:06:41 AM)
Being born in the USA may not be good for Hispanic healthMexicans-Americans born and raised in the United States are more likely to suffer from conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol than those who emigrate from Mexico, as per a new study from the University of Southern California.
The difference may be due to poor nutrition and less physical activity among native-born Mexican-Americans. Also individuals who leave Mexico for the United States may be fitter than the ones who........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/10/2007 5:04:01 AM)
Chronic fatigue: clues in the bloodScientists at UNSW think that blood may hold vital insights into what is happening in the brain of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
In a study unparalleled in its scope, a team led by UNSW Professor Andrew Lloyd of the Centre for Infection and Inflammation Research, has studied the differences in gene expression patterns in the blood of people who either recover promptly after acute glandular fever or develop the prolonged........Go to the Health-articles (Added on 7/8/2007 10:35:52 PM)
acetaminophen overdoses dropThe acetaminophen (paracetamol) overdose rate in Calgary, Canada dropped by over 40% in the decade to 2004, without a change to the smaller pack sizes that were credited with overdose reductions in the UK. The results published recently in the online open access journal BMC Public Health suggest that young women, Aboriginals and those on social security remain at greatest risk.
A University of Calgary, Canada team led by Dr. Robert Myers........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/5/2007 9:46:26 PM)
Complementary therapy may reduce chances of pregnancyComplementary therapies in assisted reproduction may diminish the effectiveness of medical therapy for infertility in women, a scientist will tell the 23rd annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Lyon, France, (Wednesday 4 July). Dr. Jacky Boivin, from the School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Wales, UK, will say that her research had also shown that women who used complementary therapies were........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/4/2007 4:53:31 AM)
Reducing the cost of sleep disordersGriffith University has been working with Queensland Health and the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) to reduce the cost of sleep disorders.
Griffith Senior Lecturer in Management Dr Don Kerr said the direct cost of sleep disorders on the Australian health system was estimated at $40 million per year.
In addition to direct costs, sleep disorders are also costing the nation a lot of money indirectly, through road accidents and........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/3/2007 9:50:27 PM)
How to manage a hospital in the future?
Have you ever been thinking about how hard (even harder, I mean) it’s going to be to manage a hospital in the future? Many more patients, physicians, policies, guidelines… Imagine a control-room from where you could get a clear overview on the whole system
who comes i
who gets a medicatio
who is in the operating roo
which room is full or emtp
Everything! How? The Digg-like example could be useful
Here is a video........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/3/2007 7:04:42 PM)
Watch surgeries ;LIVE!OR-Live is a great website created for physicians to watch surgeries live. It’s not just a webcam as the broadcasts are full of interviews and clear explanations. You can read about the surgery itself while watching it.........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/2/2007 10:55:08 PM)
A great disturbance in the Force of medical blogsWe don’t know why, but many medical bloggers have stopped blogging. Here is a list of them:Fat DoctorFlea’s blogFlea’s blogWe’ll miss these great bloggers! The best commentaries can be found Flea’s blog and at Tales from the womb.Why am I writing about it now? Let Neo of the Matrix say some words:I know you’re out there. I can feel you now. I know that you’re afraid. You’re afraid of us.........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/2/2007 10:51:10 PM)
Probiotic drinks can help reduce diarrhoeaDrinks containing probiotic bacteria can help reduce diarrhoea among older people, which may reduce length of stay in hospital and save the NHS money, say Imperial College scientists at Hammersmith Hospital as per a research findings published on bmj.com today.
Between 5% and 25% of patients experience diarrhoea, including Clostridium difficile associated diarrhoea, as a complication of therapy with antibiotics.
Scientists set out to find........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/2/2007 11:14:45 AM)
Ablation procedure proves safeMultiple-electrode radiofrequency ablation is a safe and effective way of treating patients with liver cancer that can be completed in less time than current ablation techniques, as per a recent study conducted by scientists at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
One of the biggest limitations of current radiofrequency ablation techniques is the inability to effectively treat large tumors said Paul Laeseke, PhD, lead author of the study.........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 6/28/2007 11:37:57 PM)
Autism theory put to the test with new technologyNext time you lose your car keys and enlist the family to help you search, try a little experiment. After your spouse searches an area, go and look in the same place. It will likely feel strange, even irritating to both of you - and thats because you may be fighting an ancient, hard-wired, human behaviour pattern.
The behavioural phenomenon is called inhibition of return and for our ancient hunter-gatherer ancestors it made a lot of sense.........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 6/27/2007 6:55:15 PM)
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Adult survivors of childhood leukemiaOvercoming pediatric cancer may only mark the beginning of a young survivors lifelong battle to stay healthy. While survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) face an increased risk of developing serious health complications as a result of their cancer therapy, for a variety of reasons a number of avoid simple exercise and healthy changes in lifestyle that could reverse the damage, as per a team of scientists based at Memorial........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 7/23/2007 5:44:06 PM)
Ethnicity plays a role in neonatal deathsScientists have uncovered ethnic differences in the risk of neonatal mortality and morbidity (disease) in the neonatal intensive care units (NICU). Of grave concern is the noted elevation in mortality rate in the NICU among infants of South Asian (East Indian) origin, which is over three times that of Caucasian infants. It was also observed that Aboriginal males and East Asian females had significantly greater odds of survival.
........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/23/2007 5:28:52 PM)
New Avenues For Hiv Treatment, VaccinesThe first genome-wide association study of an infectious disease, conducted by an international group of scientists through the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI), has yielded a new understanding of why some people can suppress virus levels following HIV infection. The clearer picture of host responses to the virus achieved through this examination of genomes could lead to improved HIV therapies and provides new targets for vaccine........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/19/2007 10:06:01 PM)
Reducing smoking -- mixed messages and poor markersSome people are unwilling or unable to stop smoking, but are prepared to try and reduce the numbers of cigarettes they smoke each day. After studying healthcare literature, a team of Cochrane Scientists could find only a few reports that assessed methods aimed at helping people reduce use. It is also unclear whether cutting down the number of cigarettes delivers clear health benefits.
The main effort in therapies aimed at smokers has been at........Go to the Health-articles (Added on 7/17/2007 10:53:43 PM)
Sleep Improves Huntington's disease sufferingsMice carrying the genetic mutation that causes Huntington's Disease (HD) showed marked improvements in alertness and their ability to learn after they were given drugs that put them to sleep.
Scientists at the University of Cambridge observed that daily therapys of Alprazolam or chloral hydrate, two different sedative drugs, enabled them to develop a regular sleep pattern and improved their cognitive function their ability to understand and........Go to the Health-articles (Added on 7/17/2007 10:35:03 PM)
Measles Vaccinations Need to be Repeated In HIV-Infected ChildrenHIV-infected children may require repeat measles vaccination for protection, as per new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions. The scientists observed that only half of the HIV-infected children who survived without antiretroviral treatment maintained protective antibody levels 27 months after receiving measles vaccine. By comparison, 89 percent of children without HIV maintained their........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/17/2007 10:20:00 PM)
Bak Protein Sets Stressed Cells On Suicide PathWhen a cell is seriously stressed, say by a heart attack, stroke or cancer, a protein called Bak just may set it up for suicide, scientists have found.
In a deadly double whammy, Bak helps chop the finger-like filament shape of the cell's powerhouse, or mitochondrion, into vulnerable little spheres. Another protein Bax then pokes countless holes in those spheres, spilling their pro-death contents into the cell.
"We found out Bak has........Go to the Health-articles (Added on 7/12/2007 10:31:10 PM)
Laser used to help fight root canal bacteriaHigh-tech dental lasers used mainly to prepare cavities for restoration now can help eliminate bacteria in root canals, as per research reported in the recent issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA).
The study, conducted by scientists in Austria, credits the development of miniaturized, flexible fiber tips for allowing the laser to be used in endodontic (root canal) therapy.
Dr. Ulrich Schoop and a team of........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/12/2007 10:27:10 PM)
A New Target For Muscular Dystrophy Drug TherapyScientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine report how the gene for utrophin, which codes for a protein very similar to dystrophin, the defective protein in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), puts the brakes on its own expression in muscle cells, thereby suggesting a new target for therapy. The findings were published online in Molecular Biology of the Cell, in advance of print publication.
The production of utrophin........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/12/2007 10:21:52 PM)
Depression often untreated in Parkinson's disease patientsWhile depression appears to be common in early Parkinsons disease (PD), it is often not treated or diagnosed, as per newly released research. A contingent of scientists from across North America observed that just over 27 per cent of PD subjects screened positive for depression, while 40 per cent of subjects depression went untreated.
This study, authored by Bernard Ravina, MD at the University of Rochester and funded by the National........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/10/2007 5:02:02 AM)
Andrew Wakefield, MMR, Autism and the GMCLike it not, the MMR and Autism debate is once again about to explode into the public arena. Dr Crippen does not like it for, although I cannot fault the wishes of the medical profession and many others to call Andrew Wakefield to account, the process is going to give yet another airing to his unsustainable and discredited views.The problem with Andrew Wakefield is that he is not mad.It would much easier if he were. And he is not unqualified.........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/9/2007 10:42:25 PM)
Hormone inhibitor for hard-to-treat prostate cancerFor patients with prostate cancer whose tumors have continued to grow despite medical or surgical castration, a new drug candidate that inhibits production of male hormones anywhere in the body is showing promise in early trials.
Two poster presentations at the ESMO Conference Lugano this week show that the drug, called abiraterone, reduced levels of prostate specific antigen, a marker of cancer activity, and shrank tumors in patients in........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 7/8/2007 10:15:38 PM)
Young Adults And AntidepressantsAntidepressants lower the risk of suicide attempt in adults with depression, as per a research studyreported in the recent issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry. The scientists also observed that the lower risk held true for young adults ages 18 to 25.
"The risk of suicide attempt among depressed patients treated with SSRI drugs was about one-third that of patients who were not treated with an SSRI," said the lead author Robert........Go to the Health-articles (Added on 7/5/2007 9:03:10 PM)
Germany's embryo protection lawLyon, France: Instead of preserving life, Gera number ofs embryo protection law has had the unintended consequence of increasing the number of foetuses killed after fertility therapy as per new figures presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today (Wednesday). A representative of the German IVF registry has called for the law to be changed urgently to ensure that this situation does not continue.
The German........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/4/2007 4:50:56 AM)
Cloning the male genome may help infertile menLyon, France -- Artificially replicating the male genome could help men with very low sperm counts become fathers, a scientist told the 23rd annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (Tuesday 3 July). Professor Takumi Takeuchi, of Weill Medical College, Cornell University, New York, USA, said that mouse experiments by his team, led by Professor Gianpiero D. Palermo, had shown that offspring born as a result........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/3/2007 9:46:15 PM)
Rethinking Therapeutic Cancer Vaccine TrialsOngoing therapeutic cancer vaccine trials have yet to show evidence of vaccines spurring a patients immune system to shrink tumors -- yet patients who receive these vaccines in trials tend to live longer and respond better to subsequent therapy. In the July 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, a team of National Cancer Institute scientists asks a fundamental question: are we looking at........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 7/3/2007 5:02:43 AM)
How An Enzyme Plays A Key Role In Gene Copying?Cornell scientists have answered a fundamental question about how two strands of DNA, known as a double helix, separate to start a process called replication, in which genes copy themselves.
The research, reported in the current issue of the journal Cell, examined the role of an enzyme called a helicase, which plays a major role in separating DNA strands so that replication of a single strand can occur.
Researchers have known that........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 7/2/2007 9:38:54 PM)
New Method For Screening Drug-resistant Forms Of HivA growing number of drug-resistant strains of HIV are a threat to the effectiveness of current therapys despite anti-HIV drug cocktails decreasing the number of HIV-related deaths and improving the quality of life for HIV patients. Existing methods of detecting drug-resistant forms of HIV are expensive, time consuming, and often fail to identify small populations of drug-resistant HIV. Now, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 6/29/2007 5:09:44 AM)
'modular' Leukemia Drug Shows PromiseA new type of engineered drug candidate has shown promise in treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia in both test tube and early animal tests, a new study shows.
The agent represents a new class of agents called small modular immunopharmaceuticals. Called CD37-SMIP, the agent targets a protein called CD37 on the surface of these leukemia cells.
The study shows that the agent can successfully attach to the protein on the leukemia cells and........Go to the Cancer-blog (Added on 6/29/2007 4:57:48 AM)
'Knockout' technique tested successfully on miceAllergies, like the common cold and asthma, have basically defied the best efforts of modern medicine to cure them. Now, a doctoral candidate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem School of Pharmacy has come up with a new approach that offers hope for getting rid of them.
For his efforts, Chilean-born Ido Bachelet, a first cousin of the president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, and a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Prof. Francesca........Go to the Health-blog (Added on 6/27/2007 6:53:11 PM)
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