Blood News and Research

RSS

Diabetes-related amputations can be reduced

Using fenofibrate to lower blood fats in people with diabetes reduces the risk of a first diabetes-related amputation by 36 per cent. This is among the conclusions of the FIELD study, reported in an article in this week's diabetes special issue of The Lancet.

27 May 2009

Discovery of genetic cause for primary biliary cirrhosis

Researchers have discovered a novel molecular path that predisposes patients to develop primary biliary cirrhosis, a disease that mainly affects women and slowly destroys their livers. Primary biliary cirrhosis has no known cause.

27 May 2009

Research offers insight into why some prostate cancer returns

The majority of men who receive one of the standard treatments for localized prostate cancer - surgery or radiation therapy - have an excellent outcome.

27 May 2009

Glucose monitoring devices benefit people with type 1 diabetes

People with type 1 diabetes who have already been successful in achieving recommended blood sugar goals can further benefit from using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices, according to results of a major multi-center clinical trial by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Findings of the study were published online by the journal Diabetes Care.

27 May 2009

Boy born with half a heart survives and thrives

Rhonda Ellison was six months pregnant when she and her husband, James Gaines, got the kind of news all parents dread going into an ultrasound: something was wrong with their baby. They needed to go to the Children's Heart Center at Golisano Children's Hospital.

27 May 2009

Poor adherence to healthy lifestyle habits in U.S. adults

Despite the well-known benefits of having a lifestyle that includes physical activity, eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables, maintaining a healthy weight, moderate alcohol use and not smoking, only a small proportion of adults follow this healthy lifestyle pattern, and in fact, the numbers are declining, according to an article published in the June 2009 issue of The American Journal of Medicine. Lifestyle choices are associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease as well as diabetes.

27 May 2009

1 in 7 Australians over 25 have chronic kidney disease

The latest report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) says between 2006 and 2007 more than a million hospital admissions in Australia were due to chronic kidney disease which was also a contributing factor in one in 10 deaths in 2006.

26 May 2009

New microscopic device reveals cause of blood clots

Australian researchers have discovered a new way that blood clots can form which might explain why current anti-clotting drugs are sometimes ineffective.

26 May 2009

Cohesin protein disrupts gene function in Cornelia deLange syndrome

An international team of scientists studying a rare genetic disease discovered that a bundle of proteins with the long-established function of keeping chromosomes together also plays an important role in regulating genes in humans.

26 May 2009

Effect of the quality and outcomes framework on diabetes care in the UK

The care of patients with diabetes has improved over the last decade, but this does not seem to be a direct result of the quality and outcomes framework - the scheme that rewards UK general practices for delivering quality care.

26 May 2009

Treating pain with depression

Pain, the most common reason for adults to visit a primary care physician, and depression, the most frequent mental complaint requiring a doctor's appointment, occur together as often as half the time.

26 May 2009

Active ingredient in green tea shows promise in leukemia trials

Mayo Clinic researchers are reporting positive results in early leukemia clinical trials using the chemical epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an active ingredient in green tea.

26 May 2009

Abraxane prolongs survival in metastatic breast cancer

Research from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine has found that a less toxic, solvent-free chemotherapy drug more effectively prevents the progression of metastatic breast cancer and has fewer side effects than a commonly used solvent-based drug.

26 May 2009

Diabetes drug pioglitazone shows potential against multiple sclerosis

A drug currently FDA-approved for use in diabetes shows some protective effects in the brains of patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine report in a study currently available online in the Journal of Neuroimmunology.

26 May 2009

Discovery of entirely new mechanism that promotes blood clot formation

A Monash-led research team has discovered an entirely new mechanism that promotes blood clot formation - a major breakthrough that will impact on treatment and prevention of heart disease and stroke.

26 May 2009

Arthritis drug Abatacept may be effective in fighting the flu

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found that an approved drug for treating rheumatoid arthritis reduces severe illness and death in mice exposed to the Influenza A virus. Their findings suggest that tempering the response of the body's immune system to influenza infection may alleviate some of the more severe symptoms and even reduce mortality from this virus.

26 May 2009

Discovery of biological markers that may indicate poor breast cancer prognosis

A team of researchers has found an association between breast cancer survival and two proteins that, when present in the blood in high levels, are indicators of inflammation.

26 May 2009

The neurobiology of music perception and production related to the pathways affecting intrinsic attachment behavior?

Music is social communication between individuals - humming of lullabies attach infant to parent and singing or playing music adds croup cohesion. The neurobiology of music perception and production is likely to be related to the pathways affecting intrinsic attachment behavior, suggests a resent Finnish study. The study gives new information about genetic background of musical aptitude.

26 May 2009

New easier way to identify kids' high blood pressure

Pediatricians now have a new and simple way to diagnose a serious problem facing our nation's children - thanks to David Kaelber, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., MetroHealth System pediatrician, internist, and chief medical informatics officer and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researcher and faculty member. Nearly 75% of cases of hypertension and 90% of cases of prehypertension in children and adolescents go undiagnosed.

26 May 2009

Hospital refuses admission to young adults with thalassemia and sickle cell disease

Young adults with thalassemia and sickle cell diease have been trying for up to 10 years to gain admission to the only adult hospital program in central and southwestern Toronto specialized to treat their blood disorders. Since 1999, the Toronto General Hospital (TGH) has restricted the inherited blood disorders program to 99 patients requiring blood transfusions. As a result, about 150 young adults with complex disorders receive blood transfusions at the Hospital for Sick Children but no adult services.

25 May 2009