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UT Southwestern teaching hospital halves its rate of premature births

UT Southwestern Medical Center's primary adult teaching hospital has cut its rate of preterm births by more than half in the past 15 years, even as national rates are rising, researchers have found.

2 Mar 2009

Regular screening for colorectal cancer remains effective in preventing and detecting disease early

As the nation marks National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month this March, the American Cancer Society is encouraging Americans to get lifesaving screening tests that have been proven to reduce the risk of the third leading cause of cancer death in both men and women.

2 Mar 2009

Endovascular repair results in decrease of total aneurysm deaths

Elective repair for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) is on the rise, yet total AAA- related deaths continue to decline since the introduction of endovascular repair (EVAR), according to an ongoing, long-term research report from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

26 Feb 2009

First of kind study looks at relationship between arthritis and heart disease

Arthritis affects more than half of adults with heart disease and appears to be a substantial barrier to utilizing physical activity to help manage their condition, according to a new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

26 Feb 2009

Being overweight just as bad for health as smoking

Obese adolescents have the same risk of premature death in adulthood as people who smoke more than 10 cigarettes a day, while those who are overweight have the same risk as less heavy smokers, according to research published on bmj.com.

25 Feb 2009

Implicit licenses clinical stage antibody program from Lilly

Implicit Bioscience Ltd has announced the acquisition of the clinical-stage monoclonal antibody IC14 from Eli Lilly and Company. Implicit has paid an undisclosed consideration combining cash and stock to Lilly. Lilly will also receive a royalty on future IC14 sales.

25 Feb 2009

Researchers block immune cell rush behind deadly sepsis

Researchers have found a way to block the ability of white blood cells to sprint toward the sites of infection when such speed worsens the damage done by sepsis, the often fatal, whole-body bacterial infection, according to a study published today in the journal Blood.

24 Feb 2009

Reminders may increase colon cancer screening

Mailed reminders to patients appear to promote colon cancer screening, according to a report in the February 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

23 Feb 2009

When should PSA testing be stopped?

Although widespread Prostate-Specific-Antigen (PSA) testing has undoubtedly decreased prostate cancer mortality, is there a point of diminishing returns?

22 Feb 2009

PSA testing may be unnecessary for some older men

Certain men age 75 to 80 are unlikely to benefit from routine prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing, according to a Johns Hopkins study published in the April 2009 issue of The Journal of Urology.

22 Feb 2009

New prognostic indicator for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

There may be a new way to predict mortality in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a devastating disease that slowly petrifies the lungs.

22 Feb 2009

Cancer death rates fall among African Americans - survival rates still low

While death rates from cancer continue to drop among African Americans, the group continues to be diagnosed at more advanced stages and have lower survival rates at each stage of diagnosis compared to whites for most cancer sites.

20 Feb 2009

FDA clears new immune response claim for CryoValve SG pulmonary human heart valve

CryoLife, Inc. has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared a new claim for the CryoValve(R) SG pulmonary human heart valve.

18 Feb 2009

Anthropologist's studies of childbirth bring new focus on women in evolution

Contrary to the TV sitcom where the wife experiencing strong labor pains screams at her husband to stay away from her, women rarely give birth alone.

18 Feb 2009

White patients benefit more than blacks in surviving surgical complications at teaching hospitals

Elderly patients who undergo surgery at teaching-intensive hospitals have better survival rates than at nonteaching hospitals, but these better survival rates apparently occur in white patients, not black patients.

17 Feb 2009

Survival after surgical complications appears better at teaching hospitals for whites but not blacks

Survival after surgery appears higher at teaching hospitals than at non-teaching hospitals, but this benefit is experienced by white patients and not black patients, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Surgery.

17 Feb 2009

Tobacco marketing causes kids to smoke

Several scientific studies released today provide powerful new evidence that tobacco marketing causes kids to smoke, while anti-tobacco advertising campaigns prevent smoking.

17 Feb 2009

Experimental antiarrhythmic drug dronedarone reduces death rate in patients with atrial fibrillation

Results from the ATHENA trial, reported in the 12th February issue of the New England Journal of Medicine , suggest that the (as yet unlicensed) antiarrhythmic drug dronedarone can reduce the incidence of cardiovascular-related hospitalisation or death in patients with atrial fibrillation.

16 Feb 2009

Senior patients benefit from selective use of early revascularization

The elderly represent a growing proportion of patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction (MI) complicated by cardiogenic shock (CS).

16 Feb 2009

ViroPharma reports results of trial for Maribavir in bone marrow transplant patients

ViroPharma Incorporated has announced that its Phase 3 trial evaluating maribavir used as prophylaxis in allogeneic stem cell, or bone marrow, transplant (SCT) patients did not achieve its primary endpoint.

10 Feb 2009