Medical Research News

RSS

Sequencing-based test effectively detects many fetal genetic defects

Researchers have developed a new screening test that allows detection of fetal abnormalities in maternal blood by deep sequencing cell-free DNA extracted from plasma.

14 Jan 2013

Morphine not first choice after neonatal surgery

Neonates and infants undergoing major surgery should be treated with postoperative intermittent intravenous acetaminophen as opposed to continuous morphine, research suggests.

14 Jan 2013

Dental diversion plan eases burden in busy EDs

Hospital emergency departments may benefit from having a diversion plan in place to deal with dental patients, say US researchers writing in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

14 Jan 2013

Research scrambles previous findings on health impact of eggs

Increased egg consumption is not associated with a higher risk for coronary heart disease or stroke in the general population, research suggests.

14 Jan 2013

Monitor white blood cell count in pertussis infants

Researchers say that taking early and repeat white blood cell counts could help determine which children with pertussis are at highest risk for death.

14 Jan 2013

Targeted prostate biopsies skew proportion of high-risk cases

Image-targeted biopsy of the prostate leads to a substantial increase in the proportion of prostate cores identified as high risk compared with standard transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy, the results of a UK study indicate.

14 Jan 2013

Little to choose between catheter types for intermittent self-catheterization

Patients undertaking intermittent self catheterization for urinary retention should be offered the choice of clean noncoated, hydrophilic, or gel reservoir catheters, say researchers who found none offers a strong advantage in avoiding urinary tract infection.

14 Jan 2013

NSAID–antihypertensive combinations may risk kidney damage

Physicians should be aware that treating patients with a combination of antihypertensives along with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may cause kidney damage, say researchers.

14 Jan 2013

Smoking intensity affects course of bladder cancer

Smoking not only causes bladder cancer—it also affects its course, in that people who smoke more have greater likelihood of developing more aggressive and deadly disease. That is one of the conclusions of a new study published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The study also found that a panel of bladder cancer markers can predict which particular cases are at the highest risk for a fatal outcome.

14 Jan 2013

Human papillomavirus an etiologic factor in 6% of OCSCC cases

High-risk human papillomavirus is an etiologic factor in approximately 6% of cases of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma, according to epidemiologic research.

14 Jan 2013

Haiti cholera: less than 50% vaccination needed to halt spread

Researchers have used a mathematical model to show that a surprisingly low level of vaccination coverage would stem the spread of cholera in Haiti that has followed the 2010 earthquake.

14 Jan 2013

Neurolysis combats hip replacement sciatic nerve pain

Preliminary research suggests that neurolysis can significantly reduce neuropathic pain in patients who develop sciatic nerve palsy after total hip replacement.

14 Jan 2013

Repeat angiography worthwhile in subarachnoid hemorrhage

A second or even third attempt at catheter angiography may reveal vascular abnormalities after an initial negative result in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage, say researchers.

14 Jan 2013

Intermittent therapy may be answer to treating drug-resistant melanoma

Findings from a study carried out in mice suggest that an intermittent dosing strategy may be the answer to combating lethal tumor resistance to the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib, in patients with late-stage BRAF-mutated melanoma.

14 Jan 2013

Pill color switch disrupts medication adherence

Simply changing the appearance of a prescription medication can significantly alter patients’ compliance with treatment, study findings show.

14 Jan 2013

Biguanide mechanism discovered

Researchers have discovered a novel mechanism by which biguanides exert their glucose-lowering effect, potentially leading to new therapeutic approaches to the treatment of diabetes and insulin resistance.

14 Jan 2013

Passive smoking raises dementia risk

Researchers say that individuals exposed to passive smoking are at a significantly increased risk for severe dementia syndromes.

14 Jan 2013

Cancer risk not increased in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder

Results from a large UK study suggest that people with severe mental illness are not at increased risk for developing common cancers.

14 Jan 2013

Obesity not linked to bipolar disorder course

Obesity is not significantly associated with psychiatric disease course in patients with bipolar disorder (BD), Canadian researchers report.

14 Jan 2013

Daytime insomnia impact varies by subtype

Insomnia’s daytime impact appears to be greatest among those patients who have trouble both initiating and maintaining sleep, those with poor mental health, and those with childhood onset of the disorder, findings from the Great British Sleep Survey suggest.

14 Jan 2013