Medical News

RSS

Chemical maps hint at drug's effects on schizophrenia

Antipsychotic drugs do most of their work in the brain, but they also leave behind in the bloodstream a trail of hundreds of chemicals that may be used in the future to direct better treatment for schizophrenia and other psychiatric conditions, say Duke University Medical Center researchers.

16 May 2007

Atypical pathogen treatment vital in hospitalized community-acquired pneumonia patients

Hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) who received treatment regimens against atypical disease-causing pathogens reached clinical stability quicker, had fewer days of hospitalization, and had lower mortality rates as a result of their disease, according to a large new study.

16 May 2007

Alzheimer's patients who gain weight show improved intellectual abilities

Swedish researchers have found a way to increase the weight of people with Alzheimer's, by improving communication and patient involvement, altering meal routines and providing a more homely eating environment.

16 May 2007

Engineered minichromosomes for medically useful proteins and metabolites

A team of scientists at the University of Missouri-Columbia has discovered a way to create engineered minichromosomes in maize and attach genes to those minichromosomes.

16 May 2007

Gender disparities in heart disease and diabetes managed care

Women with heart disease and diabetes are less likely to receive several types of routine outpatient medical care than men who have similar health problems, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today.

16 May 2007

Breakthrough in prevention of post-surgical urinary incontinence

Thousands of men facing surgical removal of the prostate due to cancer may someday have one less thing to worry about: post-surgical urinary incontinence.

16 May 2007

Primary tumors can chose different strategies to spread and form metastases

Primary tumors can spread towards distant organs as single cells, when they lose a protein called E-cadherin.

16 May 2007

Study looks at traumatic brain injury - leading cause of abusive death in children

Confronted with the same hypothetical scenarios of traumatic brain injuries to children, pediatricians and pathologists were unable to agree half the time whether the deaths should be investigated as potential child abuse, researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine found.

16 May 2007

Online heart disease education program helps patients

Patients who used the American Heart Association's online heart disease education program were more aware of treatment options than other patients, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's 8th Scientific Forum on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke.

16 May 2007

Single-tablet combination of atorvastatin and amlodipine for high blood pressure effective

Adults with high blood pressure and additional risk factors for heart disease may benefit more from taking one tablet rather than two, if their current treatment combines the lipid-lowering medication atorvastatin with the blood pressure-lowering medication amlodipine, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's 8th Scientific Forum on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke.

16 May 2007

Study reveals need for engaging primary care practices as partners in developing mental health services for older patients

Older patients with major depression whose primary care physicians team with depression care managers are 45% less likely to die within a 5-year time period than older adults with major depression who receive their care in primary care practices where there are no depression care managers.

16 May 2007

New insight into the lives of children and young people who live with, and help care for, their mentally ill parents

A new study by Loughborough University has highlighted what caring for a parent with serious mental health problems is like through the eyes of children and young people themselves.

16 May 2007

New educational tool for women who are thinking about breastfeeding

A new website featuring personal experiences of breastfeeding has gone 'live' in time for National Breastfeeding Awareness Week (May 13 - 19).

16 May 2007

Group based cognitive behavioural therapy helps overcome major CPAP problem

For the first time, a group based cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) intervention has been demonstrated to markedly increase acceptance and adherence to CPAP treatment for sufferers of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

16 May 2007

The Phi Complex as a neuromarker of human social coordination

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) have been able to identify neural signatures of effective, real-time coordination between people in one of the first studies in the field of social neuroscience to actually record, measure and analyze both behavior and brain activity simultaneously in two interacting humans.

16 May 2007

Nerves controlling muscles are best repaired with similar nerves

When repairing severed or damaged motor nerves with a donor nerve graft, surgeons have traditionally used a sensory nerve from another area of the patient's body.

16 May 2007

Fictive learning may play a role in addiction

"What might have been" or fictive learning affects the brain and plays an important role in the choices individuals make, and may play a role in addiction, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers and others in a report that appears online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

16 May 2007