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Cancer risk from cardiac computed tomography overstated

Radiology and cardiovascular researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C., today present new data that shows the risk of cancer from exposure to radiation during computed tomography for cardiovascular disease has been overstated and that new estimates are several times lower than previously published conclusions.

3 Dec 2008

MG53 protein found to be a key initiator of membrane repair in damaged tissue

The study, released in Nature Cell Biology, is the first to specifically pinpoint a protein responsible for promoting cell repair.

3 Dec 2008

Patient photos help counteract anonymity common in radiologic exams

Including a patient's photo with imaging exam results may enable a more meticulous reading from the radiologist interpreting the images, as well as a more personal and empathetic approach, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

3 Dec 2008

Do laser printers release pathogenic toner dust into air?

We regularly hear reports that laser printers release pathogenic toner dust into the ambient air. How much of it can we believe? What kind of particles do the printers really emit, and in what quantities?

3 Dec 2008

Many seniors feel younger than they actually are

Older people tend to feel about 13 years younger than their chronological age.

3 Dec 2008

Link found between Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in healthy adults

A study published in the November issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease provides an insight into normal, physiological levels and association between proteins involved in development of Alzheimer's disease.

3 Dec 2008

New drug tasimelteon may cure jet lag

A team of researchers from Monash University, The Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston), Harvard Medical School and Vanda Pharmaceuticals has found a new drug with the potential to alleviate jet lag and sleep disorders caused by shift work.

3 Dec 2008

Fruit flies provide better understanding of human heart disease

Researchers at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research have shown in both fruit flies and humans that genes involved in embryonic heart development are also integral to adult heart function.

3 Dec 2008

Are we finally winning the war on cancer?

Improvements in behavior and screening have contributed greatly to the 13 percent decline in cancer mortality since 1990, with better cancer treatments playing a supporting role, according to new research from David Cutler of Harvard University.

3 Dec 2008

Yeast provides new insight into cholesterol-lowering drugs

Having discovered how a lowly, single-celled fungus regulates its version of cholesterol, Johns Hopkins researchers are gaining new insight about the target and action of cholesterol-lowering drugs taken daily by millions of people to stave off heart attacks and strokes.

3 Dec 2008

Escalating inequality in cardiovascular health status between rich and poor

A new paper released by The George Institute for International Health is warning a cardiovascular disease based epidemic is gaining pace among many low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), exemplified at its worst in the world's largest populated countries – China and India.

3 Dec 2008

Discovery of gene that protects against lung cancer

A study led by researchers at The University of Nottingham has identified a gene that protects the body from lung cancer.

2 Dec 2008

European research effort pushes towards cervical cancer cure

Every year, tens of thousands of women die in the EU from cervical cancer because the disease is not detected and treated at an early enough stage. A multidisciplinary European research effort plans to change that.

2 Dec 2008

More evidence on why the Mediterranean diet is good for heart

Researchers have discovered one potential mechanism by which briefly cutting off, then restoring, blood flow to arteries prior to a heart attack lessens the damage caused, according to a study published today in the journal Cardiovascular Research.

2 Dec 2008

New method improves immunotherapy

A study published by Elsevier this month in Clinical Immunology, the official journal of the Clinical Immunology Society (CIS), describes a new method that facilitates the induction of a specific type of immune suppressive cells, called 'regulatory T cells' for therapeutic use.

1 Dec 2008

Seniors with depression more likely to gain abdominal fat

Older adults with symptoms of depression appear more likely to gain abdominal fat, but not overall fat, over a five-year period, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

1 Dec 2008

Patient harm more common with patient-controlled pain medication

Intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) allows patients to control their own pain medication, but a new study published in the December 2008 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety shows that errors related to this practice are four times more likely to result in patient harm than errors that occur with other medications.

1 Dec 2008