Wafer-thin coatings from diamond-like carbon can prevent dangerous biofilms of bacteria from forming on indwelling catheters in the urinary tract. What is more, the coated catheters glide into the ureter with considerably less friction, to the delight of medical staff, and even more so to that of the patients, who experience the procedure as substantially less unpleasant. The new coatings have been developed and tested by scientists in the experimental urology section of the University of Bonn in
Extremely low birth weight infants–the tiniest category of premature infants–are much more likely to experience developmental impairments if they acquire an infection during the newborn period, according to a study by the Neonatal Research Network of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, one of the National Institutes of Health. The developmental impairments were seen regardless of the type of infection–whether it occurred in the brain, blood or intestines.
Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have shown that breast cancer patients treated with taxane-based chemotherapies and radiation are not at increased risk of developing a dangerous lung condition involving the inflammation of lung tissue, pneumonitis, according to a study published in the Nov. 17 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
These results are vitally important, says Thomas Buchholz, M.D., the study’s correspondin
St. Jude scientists find that radiation and high-dose chemotherapy damage is usually transient but can mimic cancer and prompt needless additional treatment
Irradiation and high-dose chemotherapy used to treat two types of brain tumors–medulloblastoma and supratentorial PNET–can cause changes in the brain’s white matter that look like tumors when seen on MRI scans. This finding, by a team of investigators led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, is published in
Nowadays, a vial of blood taken by a family physician can sometimes forecast a person’s risk of heart disease, and cholesterol-lowering drugs as well as a daily baby aspirin may be recommended to curb the threat. But in the future, a simple finger prick also may predict which cancers are destined to develop in an individual, years, even decades, down the road.
And based on a person’s unique genetics – the milieu of factors that repair DNA damage, or push cells to grow – the pat
The age-specific prevalence of sexually transmitted human papillomavirus infection in women differs substantially from that in men who have sex with men, according to a new study published in the December 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online. The study, led by Peter V. Chin-Hong of the University of California, San Francisco, indicates a high prevalence of anal human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in all age groups of men who have sex with men. This finding contras
Prolonged abstinence, no visual problems in patients taking GVG for meth/cocaine abuse
A second, small-scale clinical trial of a proposed addiction treatment originally investigated at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory has produced favorable results in the treatment of long-term addiction to methamphetamine and/or cocaine, with no visual side effects in any of the 30 patients enrolled. This research on vigabatrin (a.k.a. gamma vinyl GABA, or GVG) was
Nuclear imaging will play an increasing role in both the detection of atherosclerosis (coronary heart disease) and, more specifically, the composition of plaque build up that can block the flow of blood through an artery, according to journal reports published by the Society of Nuclear Medicine.
A trio of articles, “Evaluation of 18F-FDG Uptake and Arterial Wall Calcifications Using 18F-FDG PET/CT,” “Molecular and Metabolic Imaging of Atherosclerosis” and “Noninvasive Imaging o
Physicians have known for decades that many premature babies suffer respiratory problems stemming from insufficiency of a lung substance called surfactant during their first few weeks of life. The standard treatment has been to provide replacement surfactant immediately after birth. A new study has found that even after infants begin producing their own surfactant, it often fails to function properly in premature infants who continue to have lung disease after their first week.
Early identification can lead to early intervention
Recent immigration, lack of partner support and pregnancy-induced hypertension are significant factors in predicting whether women will experience depressive symptoms soon after giving birth, says a University of Toronto researcher. U of T nursing professor Cindy-Lee Dennis and colleagues at the University of British Columbia have developed a model that predicts which mothers are at high risk of developing depressive symptoms in
Combining radiation therapy with surgery and chemotherapy helps patients with rare forms of thyroid cancer live longer, according to a study published in the November 15, 2004, issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of ASTRO, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.
Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is a very rare but aggressive form of the disease, afflicting less than 5 percent of those diagnosed with thyroid canc
The Tizard Centre at the University of Kent recently presented its findings from an important pilot study on early intervention for children with autism.
Funded by the National Autistic Society and The British Academy, and conducted by Dr Julie Beadle-Brown, Professor Glynis Murphy and researcher Hannah Dorey, this pilot study consisted of two parts, each examining different aspects of early intervention programmes for young children with autism.
The first part of
McMaster researcher investigates why influenza epidemics happen in the winter
Flu season is on its way to homes across Canada. But the question of why influenza epidemics take place in the few cold months of winter remains unanswered. Is it the change in the weather? The return to school? Or increased viral production under winter conditions?
The answer to the increase of flu cases may be extremely minute seasonal changes, says David Earn of the Department of Mathematics &
Many pediatricians know their patients use complementary and alternative therapies (CAM) to improve their health, yet most do not feel comfortable discussing or recommending these therapies, according to a study published in the November issue of Ambulatory Pediatrics.
The study was conducted by Kathi J. Kemper, M.D., a pediatrician at Brenner Children’s Hospital, part of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Pediatricians surveyed cited lack of knowledge about CAM
A team of researchers have developed a new method of predicting the number of drug users in the population by looking at the number of recorded overdose deaths among drug users.
In research published today in the American Journal of Epidemiology a team of researchers from Imperial College London, the Health Protection Agency, Medical Research Council and GlaxoSmithKline analysed the numbers of opiate and injecting drug users who had overdoses, to see if it was possible to mode
Scientists say that low carbohydrate diets, like the Atkins and South Beach Diets, may actually be the best option for men who want to slim. New research, published this week in the Open Access journal, Nutrition & Metabolism, shows that over 70% of men lost more weight and fat on a low carbohydrate diet, despite eating more calories.
Jeff Volek and colleagues, from the University of Connecticut, also show for the first time that a low carbohydrate diet is much more effective in
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