If a mammogram or sonogram suggests that a woman has breast cancer, an MRI should be done to help determine whether there actually is a cancer and if so, what are the woman’s best treatment options, a new study shows. The study, done in a large community hospital, found that MR images, which were acquired and analyzed in a specific way, can help identify if a lesion is benign or malignant and can show cancers that would otherwise be missed.
“This is the first time a prospective st
Researchers at the University of York are investigating a new method of organising care for some of the three million adults in the UK who suffer from clinical depression.
The innovative regime known as ’collaborative care’ has been developed over the last decade, principally in the USA, but it has never been used in the UK. It involves a case manager, supervised by experts in mental health, working alongside the general practitioner, to improve the management of patien
Three studies are underway at the NYU School of Medicine to find out whether short-term counseling can ease the psychological stress and depression of people with Alzheimer’s disease and their family members. These studies were inspired by the success of a previous trial at the NYU School of Medicine that showed that even a short period of counseling can have a long-term beneficial impact on the emotional well-being of people taking care of spouses with Alzheimer’s disease.
A study published in the February issue of the journal Radiology shows that a positron emission mammography (PEM) device designed and built by Jefferson Lab scientists is capable of imaging breast cancer tumors. In the pilot study, conducted by Duke University Medical Center researchers, the unit imaged 18 malignant tumors in 23 patients receiving additional screening due to suspicious mammograms.
For many women, regular mammograms allow physicians to spot breast cancer tumor
Brain tests at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggest that autistic children shy from eye contact because they perceive even the most familiar face as an uncomfortable threat.
The work deepens understanding of an autistic brain’s function and may one day inform new treatment approaches and augment how teachers interact with their autistic students.
Tracking the correlation between eye movements and brain activity, the researchers found that in autistic subjects, t
The use of motorbikes among children and adolescents is dangerous, on the rise and leading to a greater number of injuries, according to a new Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center study. In addition, the study shows that children often ride motorbikes on public roads and, most of the time, without wearing helmets, leading to significantly increased severity of injury.
The study, published in the March issue of Pediatrics, concludes that children should not operate m
A new study documenting the treatment of late-life depression by Canadian health professionals will be presented today at the American Psychosomatic Society Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada. The study is the first to assess whether people diagnosed with late-life depression receive ’guideline concordant pharmacotherapy’ medication recommended in guidelines issued by the Canadian Psychiatric Association.
The research, conducted by Dr. Maida Sewitch at the McGill University Hea
A study finds that forced distribution ratings systems, where a predetermined percentage of low-performing employees is fired every year, can be an effective way to improve a company’s workforce, although these benefits diminish over time.
“A significant number of organizations either already use, or are considering using, ’rank and yank’ systems of the type we studied, said Steve Scullen, one of the authors and associate professor of management at Drake University.
Gap-toothed youngsters may not be the only ones who are a little sore when they leave the orthodontist’s office. While they sport tight braces on their teeth, their doctors may be nursing tight, aching backs, according to a study from the University of Alberta.
A study of graduate orthodontic students at the university and a practising orthodontist–who’d been working for 18 years–showed that long hours of bending low and working in patients’ mouths put heavy strain
Finding could further improve understanding of disease mechanism, lead to new treatments
Researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders (MIND) have identified a gene variant that may increase the risk of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. In the March 3 New England Journal of Medicine they report that specific changes in the gene for a protein called ubiquilin-1 are associated with an increased incidence of Alzheimer’s in two large study samples
Surgery gives normal life expectancy to patients with severe mitral regurgitation; death risk for medically treated patients is five times greater
“We know from previous studies that patients with symptomatic mitral regurgitation are at increased risk of death, but for those without symptoms the picture has been murkier,” says Maurice Enriquez-Sarano, M.D., the Mayo Clinic cardiologist who led the study. “In this study we followed a large population of asymptomatic patients pros
Mistakes made by human subjects in identifying the facing direction of faces, cars or meaningless objects have yielded evidence that the brain contains nerve cells, or neurons, whose job is to encode the viewing angle of objects. It is well known that certain neurons respond to color, motion, edges and other aspects of our environment. Now, University of Minnesota researchers have found that our visual cortex contains neurons that tell us, for example, whether a face is turned in our directio
Columbia University Medical Center researchers publish JAMA study showing that clearing fatty deposits in angioplasty procedures during heart attack fails to improve patient outcomes
Interventional cardiologists from Columbia University Medical Center have shown that a commonly used procedure to remove fatty debris from blocked arteries during a heart attack does not improve patient outcomes.
The procedure, called distal microcirculatory protection, is commonly and suc
A new study finds men treated with hormone therapy for prostate cancer may experience temporary cognitive changes that can affect verbal fluency, visual recognition and visual memory. The study, published in the April 1, 2005 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, finds the degree of cognitive dysfunction appeared to be related to a decline in serum estradiol brought on by hormonal treatment.
Androgen-deprivation therapy (AD) is an effective adjuvan
ASPS study says only 5 percent of college-age women have had cosmetic surgery
Many parents worry about the potential influence the media may have on their children’s self-esteem and body image. Stories about young women having excessive plastic surgery are enough to keep any parent up at night. However, according to a study published in the March issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery® (PRS), the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), onl
Greater awareness needed to improve use of available services
Health care and related services for children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) usually depend on the medical insurance and other programs offered by their parents’ employers. A new study from researchers at MassGeneral Hospital for Children finds that many of the benefits offered by employers could address the needs of parents of children with ADHD, although they may be underutilized. Surveyed
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