Walking fitness makes a significant difference in predicting the likelihood of future disability in the elderly, according to a study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) and their collaborators found that the ability to walk 400-meters, or about a quarter mile, was an important determinant not only of whether elderly participants would be alive six years later but also how much il
A new technique devised by MIT engineers may one day help physicians detect cancerous tumors during early stages of growth.
The technique allows nanoparticles to group together inside cancerous tumors, creating masses with enough of a magnetic signal to be detectable by a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.
The work appears as the cover feature in the May issue of Angewandte Chemie International Edition, one of the world’s leading chemistry journals.
Screening for prostate cancer in older men has been problematic. While this form of cancer can be fatal, it often progresses so slowly that men are more likely to die from some other disease. Aggressive treatments such as radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy may eradicate the cancer but have negative effects on quality of life. More conservative treatments may preserve quality of life, but may not be appropriate for those cases where the disease is progressing more quickly. In the face o
The next flu pandemic: when it happens, restricting air travel won’t help
Restricting air travel from countries where there is a serious influenza outbreak will do little to hold back the spread of the infection, according to the findings of a study conducted at the UK Health Protection Agency and published in the journal PLoS Medicine.
Sometimes a new type of influeza virus appears that causes an illness that is more serious than is usually the case for flu. This ha
A group of researchers led by Dr. José López Barneo, of the University of Seville and Virgen del Rocío hospital, are taking part in European project PULMOTENSION. The aim of this research project is to fight pulmonary hypertension (PH), a serious illness. PH describes a group of chronic vascular diseases that cause lengthy disability with a fatal ending. It also causes heart failure due to high blood pressure in the lung’s blood vessels, brings shortage of breath, and decreases physical capacity in
Percutaneous image-guided biopsy of renal masses is safe and accurate, and it frequently alters clinical decision making, says a new study from the University of Michigan.
For the study, the researchers reviewed 153 kidney biopsies in 126 patients. The researchers found that more than 60% of patients had a change in their treatment–whether surgery, tumor ablation, chemotherapy or radiation–due to biopsy results, and that as many as 75 unnecessary kidney removals were potentially avoid
A new MRI guided technique known as manual interleaved MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) safely treats fibroids in 60% less time than conventional MRgFUS, according to a new study by researchers from the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, MA.
For the study, researchers analyzed the results of 14 women with symptomatic fibroids who were treated with the rapid interleaved MRgFUS. The researchers found that interleaved MRgFUS permitted up to 127 sonications–sound wave pulses that break
Duke University Medical Center researchers have developed a simple formula that will enable anesthesiologists to predict, based on individual patient characteristics, how much blood to have on hand in the operating room prior to coronary artery bypass surgery.
The new formula not only can save hospital resources and staff time, but also can lead to a more rational allocation of banked blood, according to the researchers.
Before a bypass procedure, blood typically is deliver
Asthmatic patients showed significant improvement in peak expiratory flow, airway responsiveness and number of symptom-free days after treatment with bronchial thermoplasty, a new procedure designed to reduce the ability of airway smooth muscle to narrow from inflammation.
These results appear in the May 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.
Gerard Cox, M.B., F.R.C.P.C., of the Firestone Institut
MIT brain researchers have developed a “cocktail” of dietary supplements, now in human clinical trials, that holds promise for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
For years, doctors have encouraged people to consume foods such as fish that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids because they appear to improve memory and other brain functions.
The MIT research suggests that a cocktail treatment of omega-3 fatty acids and two other compounds normally present in the blood, co
Leading academics will meet this week to explore the initial findings from research into the views of consumers around the metabolic syndrome and its perceived health risks.
The research is part of a €12.5m project entitled Lipgene, which is funded by the EU. The metabolic syndrome is the focus of the project; this disease is characterised by a number of strongly inter-related risk factors for cardiovascular disease including obesity, dyslipidemia, insulin-resistance and hyperten
Researchers at the University of Manchester are testing a secret herb in a bid to stop the severe hot flushes that besiege breast cancer patients on hormone treatment.
Professor Alex Molassiotis, of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, says the herb – one of the mint family, found in any kitchen – is thought to stop the hot flushes and night sweats which can be so bad that some women have to change their clothes three or four times a night.
It is traditionall
A study led by UCL (University College London) scientists has designed a new drug that inhibits the adverse effects of C reactive protein (CRP), a protein that contributes to tissue damage in heart attacks and strokes. The findings, published in the journal Nature, suggest that targeting CRP may produce both immediate and long-term clinical benefits following a heart attack.
CRP is normally present at trace levels in the blood but its concentration increases sharply in almost all diseas
Researchers have predicted how effective public health and medical interventions will prove in the event of an influenza pandemic.
The letter published today in Nature shows how the team from Imperial College London, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and RTI International used computer modelling to predict how a variety of interventions, including travel restrictions, school closures and antiviral treatment, would affect the spread of flu.
Professor Neil Fer
Aston University in Birmingham, UK has announced a new and unique course specifically for audiologists and other NHS workers. Comprising of six workshops, the course will begin on 4 May 2006. It is the only one of its kind that specifically teaches practitioners how to use new cognitive techniques on patients with the hearing deficiency, tinnitus.
Within the UK tinnitus is a relatively common condition, affecting approximately five per cent of the adult population. The most common sym
Henar Hevia Pérez, researcher in the area of Genic Therapy and Hepatology at the Applied Medicine Research Centre (CIMA)of the University of Navarra, has discovered the protective role of the methylthioadenosine (MTA) molecule in an in vivo inflammation model. The doctor has recently defended her PhD thesis at the Faculty of Sciences.
According to the biochemist, the inflammatory component is key in the development of many diseases, including those affecting the liver and, therefore, of
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