Study highlights need for better patient-physician communication about fertility
A new study shows that concern about infertility resulting from breast cancer therapy influenced treatment decisions in nearly one-third of young patients. The study – the largest to date to examine fertility concerns among young women with breast cancer – found that the majority of the women were very concerned about the ability to have a child as well as the impact that pregnancy might have on dis
With fewer than 1 in 3 Americans with hypertension successfully controlling his or her blood pressure, medication, diet and exercise might not be enough. Now, a promising new non-drug treatment offers an additional approach.
High blood pressure was significantly decreased using a new interactive breathing device, RESPeRATE®, according to a study published in this month’s edition of the Journal of Clinical Hypertension.
The multi-center randomized controlled study of
Study suggests host environment is the critical factor in aneurysm formation
When it comes to abdominal aortic aneurysms – life-threatening bulges or weak areas in the main artery feeding blood to the lower half of the body – new research shows that it is definitely better to be female. During 2000, about 11,000 people in the United States died from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. Eighty percent of these aneurysms, which doctors call AAAs for short, occur in men. Scienti
Standards of volume that limit angioplasty procedures to more experienced hospitals and physicians will not require most patients to travel longer distances for care, according to a new study by researchers at Duke University Medical Center and Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. The findings should allay concerns about the effects of such standards on access to care for heart patients living in rural or remote areas, the researchers said.
Angioplasty opens coronary arteries c
A recent study published in Epilepsia, the official journal of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), indicates that people who have uncontrolled seizures on the left side of their brains are more likely to have learning disabilities, in comparison to people who have seizures on the right side of their brains. Epilepsy, a neurological disorder associated with recurrent seizures, affects 0.5% to 1% of the population. In theU.S., about 2.5 million people have this disorder and about 9%
Epilepsia, the official publication of the International League Against Epilepsy, recently published a one-year follow-up study that finds some post-surgical epilepsy patients have a significant decline in verbal memory. This type of memory loss is associated with learning, recall and recognition.
Three months after surgery, patients with surgery performed on either the left or right brain tissue showed signs of verbal memory loss. Initially, the resulting loss of memory was th
A novel treatment using a common anesthetic drug has shown success in reducing the severe pain caused by Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), according to a study published in the September 2004 issue of Pain Medicine. CRPS, a disorder that can be associated with chronic pain resistant to conventional therapies, affects between 1.5 and 7 million people in the United States. CRPS is sometimes also known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD).
“This pain disorder can be very dif
Researchers at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC), in Portugal, have taken a major step forward in understanding one of the fundamental questions in the field of developmental biology today: how the organs are placed in their correct positions in the body. In a study published in the 1st October issue of the journal Genes and Development, the scientists describe, for the first time, the role of the gene Cerl-2 (Cerberus-like-2), in setting up the asymmetric distribution of organs in the
A new antidepressant medication is an effective treatment for diminishing hot flashes in men who are receiving hormone therapy for prostate cancer, Mayo Clinic researchers report in the October issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
The five-week study followed 18 men who completed the therapy, illustrating that their hot flashes decreased from 6.2 per day to 2.5 per day. Hot flash scores, the frequency multiplied by the severity, decreased in the same period from 10.6 per day to 3 per d
Milestone in maize genomics
Rutgers researchers, with the support of the National Science Foundation, have pushed back the frontiers on the genetic nature and history one of the world’s most important crops – corn. This crop dominates agriculture in the United States, where approximately 9 billion bushels are produced annually at a value of $30 billion. Maize (or corn) is also an important dietary staple in much of the third world. Rutgers’ Joachim Messing and his colle
Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) type VII (also known as Sly syndrome) is a lysosomal storage disorder (LSD) characterized by a deficiency of the lysomal enzyme beta-glucuronidase. MPS VII leads to bone and joint abnormalities, enlargement of the visceral organs, cardiovascular disease and neurologic impairment. Using a MPS VII adult animal model, researchers in the Center for Gene Therapy at Columbus Children’s Research Institute (CCRI) on the campus of Columbus Children’s Hospital have demonstrat
Using modified magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, researchers at Johns Hopkins have been able to detect the early benefits of a cholesterol-lowering medication much sooner than before.
The researchers applied MRI to measure the success of simvastatin (Zocor), a widely used form of so-called statin therapy, in reducing plaque formation in patients with hardened and clogged arteries, or atherosclerosis. Reductions in plaque levels were detected within six months after thera
Respiratory therapists are at an increased risk of developing asthma and asthma-related symptoms due to their involvement in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with respiratory conditions. A new study in the October issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), showed that respiratory therapists have an elevated prevalence of asthma diagnosis after they enter into the profession and, when compared to physiotherapists, are more than twice as l
Children prenatally exposed to pollutants, such as motor vehicle exhaust, and postnatally exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) may be more likely to suffer from asthma and related symptoms early in life. A new study in the October issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians, shows that young children who are exposed to these pollutants may be significantly more likely to develop respiratory conditions at ages 12 and 24 months.
“A gr
A recent analysis of tamoxifen studies completed since 1980 revealed an increased risk of stroke in women who were randomized to tamoxifen versus placebo or other therapies. Details of the analysis and the researchers’ conclusions are reported in the October 12 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
More than 250,000 U.S. women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Breast cancer accounts for nearly one in three cancers diagnosed in th
Certain blood pressure drugs may slow the deterioration of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published in the October 12 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Called angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, or ACE inhibitors, the drugs are used to treat high blood pressure. Only ACE inhibitors that can penetrate the blood-brain barrier were shown to have the effect on Alzheimer’s. The blood-brain barrier is a natural protective
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