Medical News

Spirometry valid for COPD diagnosis and assessment Posted: 13 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT The use of spirometric measures to diagnose chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is supported by quality-of-life assessments and may allow COPD to be graded by severity, say study authors.

Weight loss key to halting pulmonary function decline in asthmatics Posted: 13 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Weight loss should be a primary part of managing asthma in overweight or obese patients who have no airway obstruction, suggest findings from a large international study.

Re-evaluation of nonallergic rhinitis patients warranted Posted: 13 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Patients with nonallergic rhinitis are likely to report moderate-to-severe symptoms at the same frequency as patients with allergic rhinitis, research shows.

No observable brain changes in UHR adolescents Posted: 13 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Contrary to expectations, young adolescents at ultra high risk for psychosis do not have gross neuroanatomical changes, say Dutch scientists who suggest that any changes may be too subtle to detect on conventional imaging.

Brain activity determines risk or resilience in bipolar disorder Posted: 13 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Researchers in the UK have identified differences in brain activity and structure that may explain why some people at high risk for bipolar disorder remain mentally healthy while others develop the mood condition.

Brain activity determines risk or resilience in people at high risk of bipolar disorder Posted: 12 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Researchers in the UK have identified differences in brain activity and structure that may explain why some people at high risk of bipolar disorder remain mentally healthy while others develop the mood condition.

Daily exercise may be better than coronary procedure for stable heart disease patients Posted: 12 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Patients with stable heart disease, or angina, may benefit more from simply exercising daily than from undergoing a hospital procedure to mechanically open up a blocked coronary artery, early research suggests.

Gene variants linked to Crohn’s disease in children Posted: 12 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Canadian researchers have found that variants in a gene called interleukin-10 are associated with susceptibility to Crohn's disease in childhood.

Home-based diet and exercise programme benefits older cancer survivors Posted: 12 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT A home-based diet and exercise programme can help prevent a decline in physical function among older, overweight cancer survivors, US researchers report.

Concerns remain despite low risk for incidental prostate cancer Posted: 12 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Patients with incidental prostate cancer will often have no residual disease or favorable tumor characteristics at surgery, but it is not yet possible to predict the absence of aggressive cancer, warn German researchers.

Urinary transcript levels predict prostate cancer ‘better than serum PSA’ Posted: 12 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT In prostate cancer diagnosis, alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase and prostate cancer antigen 3 urinary transcript levels are more accurate than serum prostate-specific antigen levels, conclude US scientists.

<i>BRCA1/2</i> mutation frequencies similar in women of different ethnicities Posted: 12 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT In women referred for breast cancer 1, early onset 1 and 2 gene testing, the prevalence of disease-associated mutations is high regardless of ethnic group, a cross-sectional analysis shows.

Omega-3 fatty acids plus simvastatin significantly reduce triglycerides Posted: 12 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Results presented at EuroPRevent 2009 show that adding supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids to simvastatin treatment reduces triglycerides to a much greater extent than statin therapy alone.

Lipid altering gene variants increase risk for dyslipidemia, MI therapeutic intervention Posted: 12 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Individuals with a high number of risk alleles for genetic variants affecting low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides are more likely to need future therapy for dyslipidemia and are at higher risk for myocardial infarction than those with a low number, report scientists in the European Heart Journal.

Vildagliptin has similar effect on HbA1c to rosiglitazone, but less side effects Posted: 12 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT The thiazolidinedione rosiglitazone achieves slightly better long-term glycemic control in patients with Type 2 diabetes than the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor vildagliptin, but at the cost of increased weight, less favorable lipid profile, and higher risk for peripheral edema.

Clopidogrel may be harmful in patients with diabetic nephropathy Posted: 12 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Patients with diabetic nephropathy receiving clopidogrel have no difference in bleeding but experience significantly increased cardiovascular and overall mortality compared with those taking placebo, according to a post-hoc analysis of the CHARISMA trial.

Several online weight-loss supplements may have hidden heart risks Posted: 12 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Several non-prescription weight-loss supplements available through the internet contain ingredients with potentially life-threatening cardiac adverse events, US researchers say.

U-shaped mortality with increasing serum estradiol in systolic chronic HF Posted: 12 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Low or high levels of serum estradiol in men with systolic chronic heart failure are linked with an increased risk for death, researchers report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Low-dose continuous OC regimen effective Posted: 10 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Study results suggest that the continuous use of a low-dose oral contraceptive containing levonorgestrel 90 mcg/ethinyl estradiol 20 mcg effectively inhibits ovulation and ovarian activity with rapid return of ovulatory capacity after treatment cessation.

Preganancy probiotics, dietary counseling reduce postpartum maternal adiposity Posted: 10 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Study results presented at the 17th European Congress on Obesity show that dietary counseling in addition to probiotic supplementation initiated in early pregnancy significantly reduces maternal adiposity over 12 months postpartum.

Communication of total alcohol abstinence during pregnancy ethically dubious Posted: 10 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT The total abstinence policy advocated by the UK's Department of Health and the British Medical Association is not fully supported by scientific evidence and could be seen as paternalistic and ethically dubious, says a UK medico-legal expert.

‘No need’ to mass screen for unrecognized celiac disease Posted: 19 Apr 2009 05:00 PM PDT A reassuring Finnish study suggests that adults with unrecognized celiac disease may not be at increased risk for malignancies, and that mass screening for earlier diagnosis is therefore not necessary.

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