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Physicians remain negative in communicating a diagnosis of Down syndrome in newborn infants

A survey of mothers in the January issue of Pediatrics found that physicians remain overwhelmingly negative in communicating a diagnosis of Down syndrome in newborn infants.

3 Jan 2005

Minimally invasive surgery to alleviate the pain and pressure of sinusitis is a safe

Minimally invasive surgery to alleviate the pain and pressure of sinusitis is a safe, effective therapy for geriatric patients who can't be helped by medication alone, according to new research.

3 Jan 2005

Medicare: Incompetence-Based Bureaucracy

In 2002, the General Accounting Office (GAO), now known as the Government Accountability Office, published a study revealing that 85 percent of the time Medicare customer service representatives (CSRs) gave the wrong answer to questions posed by physicians regarding the proper way to bill Medicare so as to obtain payment.

3 Jan 2005

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common endocrine disorder among reproductive-age women

The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common endocrine disorder among reproductive-age women, produces a wide variety of body changes with both physical and emotional implications for sufferers.

3 Jan 2005

Extremely shy children have distinct facial expressions

Children who appear to have higher levels of shyness, or a particular gene, appear to have a different pattern of processing the signals of interpersonal hostility, according to a study in the January issue of The Archives of General Psychiatry.

3 Jan 2005

FDA clearance for laser contact bone removal

Lumenis Ltd., and OpusDent Ltd., its dental laser division, announced the FDA clearance of the OpusDuo™ Er:YAG laser system for contact bone removal during oral surgical and periodontal procedures.

From Lumenis Inc. 3 Jan 2005

The rise in over the counter drugs, why?

Switching of prescription drugs to over the counter availability is increasingly common, but what are the motives behind this trend, ask US researchers in this week's BMJ?

3 Jan 2005

Eli Lilly aware in the 1980s that fluoxetine had troubling side effects

The BMJ has turned over confidential drug company documents that went missing from a 10 year old murder case to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for review.

3 Jan 2005

New painkiller was discovered in natural form in venomous snails in 1979

The natural form of Prialt – a new drug for severe pain approved this week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – was discovered at the University of Utah in 1979 by an incoming freshman studying toxins produced by cone snails.

30 Dec 2004

Conduct disorder and alcoholism in teens

While teenagers who drink also tend to have behavior problems, there is more of a genetic basis to their conduct than there is to the lure of alcohol, a new study on 14-year-old Finnish twins reports.

30 Dec 2004

Who's to blame for obese kids?

Most Americans endorse public efforts to reduce childhood obesity but don't want to do so through taxes or regulation, a new survey reveals.

30 Dec 2004

Pegaptanib (Macugen) is an effective treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration

Results from two concurrent, prospective, double-blind, multi-center clinical trials show that pegaptanib (Macugen), an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy, is an effective treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a paper in the Dec. 30 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Macugen was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 17.

30 Dec 2004

Link between body-mass index and oral-contraceptive failure

Overweight and obese women who take oral contraceptives are 60 percent to 70 percent more likely to get pregnant while on the birth-control pill, respectively, than women of lower weight, according to new findings from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center that will be published in the January issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

30 Dec 2004

Moderate physical exercise can stave off metabolic syndrome in people age 55 to 75

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have determined that in people age 55 to 75, a moderate program of physical exercise can significantly offset the potentially deadly mix of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes known as the metabolic syndrome.

30 Dec 2004

Economic impact of migraine headaches on American businesses is staggering

With more than 28 million Americans suffering from debilitating migraine headaches each year, employers also suffer through missed days from work and reduced productivity.

30 Dec 2004

Scientists have identified genes that promote the growth and recurrence of skin cancer

Dr. Andrzej Dlugosz and colleagues at the University of Michigan and the National Cancer Institute have examined the functions of the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway in basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of cancer, and have uncovered a subset of tumor cells that are resistant to inhibition of the Hh pathway.

28 Dec 2004

Restless legs syndrome is underdiagnosed in kids

A new Mayo Clinic study has for the first time established rates of restless legs syndrome in children, finding that almost 6 percent of children seen in Mayo's sleep clinic have the disease.

28 Dec 2004

Elderly women with cervical cancer face double jeopardy

Elderly women with cervical cancer face double jeopardy. Not only does their advanced age decrease chances of survival, it also decreases the likelihood that they'll be given the most aggressive treatments for their disease, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

28 Dec 2004

Ubiquitination protects against improper Notch signaling

The Notch pathway is an important molecular signaling mechanism whose existence has been known, or at least hinted at, for nearly a century since the identification of a mutant strain of Drosophila fruit flies with "notched" wings in Thomas Hunt Morgan's lab in 1910.

28 Dec 2004

Obesity may impose a smaller healthcare cost on African-Americans than other demographic groups

Obesity may impose a smaller healthcare cost on African-Americans than other demographic groups, according to a study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) that found spending on obesity-related problems becomes progressively higher as adults grow older.

28 Dec 2004