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New website and environmental history tools for pediatric health care providers

The National Environmental Education & Training Foundation (NEETF) has created a new website for pediatric health care providers. The site is an on-line resource portal with user-friendly tools, including a screening and a comprehensive environmental history form, and an environmental history taking primer.

22 Jun 2005

The CMS demonstration project in oncology

The PricewaterhouseCoopers study that the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) commissioned shows that an estimated $13 billion will be saved from Medicare spending for cancer care through 2013. This is $8.8 billion more than the original intent of Congress in passing the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA).

22 Jun 2005

Determining prognosis in patients with chest pain now easier and more accurate

A new, more precise test is available to improve the accuracy of detecting coronary artery disease and risk of heart attack, and can be done right at the bedside.

22 Jun 2005

Antibiotics not effective for many coughs

In a study of more than 500 patients who were suffering from acute bronchitis or pharyngitis it was found that whether or not antibiotics were prescribed, the irritating bouts of coughing still continued for an average of almost 12 days after the visit to the doctor.

22 Jun 2005

Polio still a threat but eradication possible

The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said this week that despite more than 500 new polio cases being reported worldwide this year, and the disease still posing a threat, the goal of totally eradicating it globally is still within reach.

22 Jun 2005

Special genes enable some women to give birth over the age of 45

A genetic advantage allows some women to give birth over the age of 45, say researchers.

22 Jun 2005

Folic acid improves memory and protects the brain from aging

According to scientists in Holland high doses of folic acid might help slow the cognitive decline of aging.

22 Jun 2005

Cordis patents infringed by Boston Scientific Stents

Cordis Corporation today announced that a U.S. District Court jury in Wilmington, Delaware found that Boston Scientific's Taxus drug-eluting stent and its Liberte and Express bare metal stents infringe Cordis' pioneering Palmaz patent for balloon expandable stents

21 Jun 2005

Some men with breast cancer may be having unnecessary radiotherapy

A study carried out at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, showed that men whose cancer had not spread beyond the breast were almost six times more likely to be given radiotherapy than were women with the equivalent stage of disease.

21 Jun 2005

AAV2 has great potential to be developed as an anti-cancer agent

Six days is all it takes for a common, non-disease-causing virus to kill cervical, breast, prostate and squamous cell cancer cells in laboratory cultures, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

21 Jun 2005

Sleep studied as potential treatment for depression

Two new studies show that insomnia, far from being a symptom or side effect of depression, may instead precede it, making some patients more likely to become and remain mentally ill.

21 Jun 2005

Foxp2 gene plays an essential role in the development of social communication

The association between Foxp2 and language was first identified in a family in which half the members had severe speech and grammar impairments. Studies showed that all the affected family members had a mutation in the Foxp2 gene.

21 Jun 2005

Antibiotics show little benefit for uncomplicated lower respiratory tract infections

Patients with uncomplicated lower respiratory tract infections, such as bronchitis, who were given antibiotics had little difference in symptom relief compared to patients who did not receive antibiotics, according to a study in the June 22/29 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

21 Jun 2005

New insight into autoimmune disease

The immune system is a complex and powerful weapon that provides protection against bacteria and viruses that, if left unchecked, would wreak havoc throughout the human body.

21 Jun 2005

PNNL ScalaBLAST may be used to process complex genomic sequences

A new computational tool developed at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is speeding up our understanding of the machinery of life - bringing us one step closer to curing diseases, finding safer ways to clean the environment and protecting the country against biological threats.

21 Jun 2005

Endocarditis infection is increasing due to staphylococcal infection

An international study reveals that infective endocarditis, infection and inflammation involving the heart valves is commonly associated with health care factors and is increasingly due to staphylococcal infection, according to a study in the June 22/29 issue of JAMA.

21 Jun 2005

Danger of mixing mobile phones and motoring

The reason talking on a cell phone makes drivers less safe may be that the brain can't simultaneously give full attention to both the visual task of driving and the auditory task of listening, a study by a Johns Hopkins University psychologist suggests.

21 Jun 2005

Genetic predisposition to lung cancer exists

First-degree relatives of black individuals with early-onset lung cancer have twice the risk of lung cancer than first-degree relatives of white individuals with early-onset lung cancer, according to a study in the June 22/29 issue of JAMA.

21 Jun 2005

Researchers develop method that can help doctors choose the best combination of drugs for fighting cancer

The method is based on a mathematical model that determines when a cancer becomes drug-resistant during therapy. It does this by estimating the probability of finding drug-resistant mutant cells at different stages of cancer progression and examining the fate of individual mutant colonies during therapy.

21 Jun 2005

Chemicals found in everyday products and food have subtle but potentially damaging effects on sperm fertility

Professor Lynn Fraser told the 21st annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today (Wednesday), that her previous research had shown that certain chemicals known to mimic the female sex hormone, oestrogen, could individually affect the correct functioning of mouse sperm, but now her new research showed that when the chemicals were combined they had an even stronger effect.

21 Jun 2005