Putting antibacterial coatings on hip and knee implants and biomedical devices such as catheters could cut infection rates following surgery and significantly reduce health care costs and improve quality of life for patients, researchers at the University of South Australia have found.
A significant number of hip and knee implants are prone to infection after surgery and in many cases are not amenable to treatment with antibiotics, according to Hans Griesser, Professor of Surfac
People who have suffered partial paralysis from spinal-cord injury show increased activity in the part of the brain responsible for muscle movement and motor learning after 12 weeks of training on a robotic treadmill, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
Their study, which is currently online and will be published in the December issue of the journal Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, is the first to demonstrate that locomotor training can promote act
A UCLA/VA study found that irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients under age 50 who undergo a colonoscopy with normal results aren’t reassured about their condition or seem to have an improved quality life due to the procedure ruling out a more serious condition.
BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that 10 percent of all colonoscopies in the U.S. are performed for evaluation of IBS symptoms. Irritable bowel syndrome affects 15 percent of the population and is a chro
Feeling thin or fat is an illusion constructed in the brain, according to a new study published in the journal Public Library of Science Biology. The collaborative study led by UCL (University College London) used a trick called the Pinocchio illusion to scan people’s brains while they experienced the sensation that their waists were shrinking. The study reveals which parts of the brain are involved in body image and may shed some light on anorexia and body dysmorphic disorder, where suffere
“The treatment of breast cancer when the patient is pregnant does not increase the risk of congenital anomalies”, assures Dr. Guillermo López, director of the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics at the University Hospital of the University of Navarra.
Breast cancer and pregnancy
The University has had wide experience in this field, in fact, one of the widest in Europe. It is estimated that some 13% of breast cancers appears in women of fertile age. Moreover, the
People exposed to high levels of persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs), which are most likely to come from eating fatty fish such as salmon, might be at risk of developing diabetes.
A study published today in the open access journal Environmental Health reveals that exposure to high levels of POPs, a family of toxic chemicals that includes polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the insecticide DDT, is associated with a high prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in a popula
Women may not be getting the most out of vaccines and other injections, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
“Our study has demonstrated that a majority of people, especially women, are not getting the proper dosage from injections to the buttocks,” said lead author Victoria O. Chan, M.B., registrar in the clinical medicine department of The Adelaide and Meath Hospital in Dublin, Ireland.
“There is no ques
Digital tomosynthesis shows promise over conventional film mammography as a more specific breast screening technique and a more accurate diagnostic technology, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
“The results of our preliminary trial suggest that tomosynthesis may decrease false-positive screening mammography findings by half, thereby reducing the number of women who are recalled after screening mammog
Computed tomography (CT) colonography with computer-aided detection (CAD) is highly effective for finding colon polyps, according to a large-scale, multi-center study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
CT colonography, commonly called virtual colonoscopy, is a minimally invasive exam that physicians hope will encourage more people to be screened for colon cancer. Vir
Recent studies conducted at the San Francisco VA Medical Center suggest two possible mechanisms for the widely recognized link between depression and adverse outcomes in patients with coronary heart disease: lack of adherence to medication regimens and increased levels of norepinephrine, a stress hormone.
“Patients with depression are more likely to suffer heart attacks and heart failure, and more likely to die of heart disease, and no one knows why,” notes Mary Whooley, MD, a st
Findings may have implications for pandemic flu planning
Farmers, veterinarians and meat processors who routinely come into contact with pigs in their jobs have a markedly increased risk of infection with flu viruses that infect pigs, according to a study funded in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While the findings are not entirely unexpected, the strikingly higher risk of infection couple
Volunteers at the Jack and Linda Gill Heart Institute at the University of Kentucky were the first ever to receive a new anti-clotting therapy. The drug and its antidote are being developed for their effectiveness in preventing blood clots while at the same time providing physicians the ability to rapidly reverse the effects of the blood thinner to help safeguard patients against uncontrolled bleeding.
More than 12 million patients are prescribed so-called “blood thinners” each year t
Squinting at a computer screen can cut in half the number of times someone blinks each minute. And that could lead to an irritating condition called dry eye, new research suggests.
The more that the participants in this study squinted their eyes, the less they blinked. And the less they blinked, the more their eyes ached or burned, and the more they reported sensations of dryness, irritation and tearing.
Just a slight amount of squinting reduced blink rates by half
Supplements Reduce Frequency of Diarrhea Without Adverse Impact on Viral Load
Zinc-deficient children living in communities where they do not receive adequate amounts of zinc from their diet should be given supplements, even if they are HIV-infected, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions. Previously, it was not known if zinc would speed up HIV disease progression in children by increasing their viral load. Zinc
Editorial: A walk on the wild side – emerging wildlife diseases BMJ Volume 331, pp 1214-5
Emerging infectious diseases pose a global threat to human and animal health, and the problem is likely to worsen, warns an expert in this week’s BMJ.
The recent emergence of diseases, such as AIDS, SARS and avian flu, have catapulted emerging infectious diseases to the top of the medical and political agendas, and have highlighted the importance of wildlife as reservoirs or
Editorial: Human health and nature conservation BMJ Volume 331, pp 1221-2
Connecting with nature can improve your health and wellbeing, say researchers in this week’s BMJ. The theory is known as ecotherapy: restoring health through contact with nature.
Use of wildlife in some therapies is reported to improve quality of life, write the authors. Smaller animals (for example, squirrels, owls, and raccoons) have been used successfully in therapies for children with e
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