Popular News

Diagnosing diabetes on admission hyperglycaemia.

from Diabetes abs. - 28 Jan 12

Diagnosing diabetes on admission hyperglycaemia. Heart. 2012 Jan;98(1):3-4 Authors: Qureshi AC, Asherson AP, Grossman AB PMID: 21954227 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Long-Term Hormonal Adaptations to Weight Loss

from NEJM - 25 Jan 12

New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 366, Issue 4, Page 380-382, January 2012.

'Real World' Efficacy of Oxaliplatin for Colon Cancer

from Medscape - 25 Jan 12

Adding oxaliplatin to adjuvant 5-fluorouracil for stage III colon cancer works just as well in real-world community settings as it does in meticulously done randomized clinical trials. Medscape Medical News

Prader-Willi Syndrome - Challenge To Stop Over-Eating In Children

from MNTpaeds - 24 Jan 12

A Challenge to find new research methods for hyperphagia, or unregulated appetite, a condition prevalent in children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) - a genetic disorder of chromosome 15, has been announced by InnoCentive. Inc., and the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research. Around 6,500 children are born with the genetic disorder each year...

Lessons in Elder Care [A Piece of My Mind]

from JAMA - 17 Jan 12

A Firmer Understanding Of Muscle Fibrosis In Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

from MNTbone - 03 Jan 12

Researchers describe how increased production of a microRNA promotes progressive muscle deterioration in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), according to a study published online on January 2 in the Journal of Cell Biology*. As DMD patients age, their damaged muscle cells are gradually replaced by collagen-rich, fibrous tissue...

Research Suggests Omega-3 Fatty Acids Could Prevent And Treat Nerve Damage

from MNTneuro - 12 Jan 12

Research from Queen Mary, University of London suggests that omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fish oil, have the potential to protect nerves from injury and help them to regenerate. When nerves are damaged because of an accident or injury, patients experience pain, weakness and muscle paralysis which can leave them disabled, and recovery rates are poor...

MRI gives a 'better' view of heart disease

from Anaesthesia UK - 03 Jan 12

A major clinical trial has shown that an MRI scan is a better tool for diagnosing suspected coronary heart disease than the most commonly used alternative.

Berlin's Neuroscientists Decode Important Mechanism Of Nerve Cell Communication

from MNTneuro - 23 Dec 11

By researching fruit flies, neuroscientists of the NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence in Berlin were able to gain a better understanding of a meaningful mechanism of neuronal communication. They demonstrated the importance of a specific protein for signal transmission between nerve cells...

Can Nerve Growth Factor Gene Therapy Prevent Diabetic Heart Disease?

from MNTdiabetes - 23 Dec 11

Diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and can reduce blood supply to the heart tissue and damage cardiac cells, resulting in heart failure. New research has investigated if nerve growth factor (NGF) gene therapy can prevent diabetic heart failure and small vascular disease in mice...

In Utero Exposure to Qnexa Tied to Higher Rate of Oral ...

from Medscape - 23 Dec 11

Infants of women exposed during pregnancy to its weight-loss pill Qnexa (topiramate/phentermine) had a higher prevalence of oral clefts than a control group. Reuters Health Information

Dementia and Alzheimer's Risk In Females - Another Possible Risk Factor Found

from MNTdementia - 03 Jan 12

According to a study published Online First by the Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, a hormone derived from visceral fat called adiponectin may play a role as a risk factor for development of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease (AD) in women...

MRI scans 'best for heart checks'

from BBC - 23 Dec 11

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans should be used to assess patients with suspected heart disease, rather than standard checks, experts say.

Positive Feedback And Tumorigenesis, A Vicious Circle That Promotes Cell Proliferation

from MNToncology - 23 Dec 11

Cancer cells are essentially immortal. The acquisition of an unlimited capacity to divide the process of immortalization is a central event in the genesis of tumors. Normally, cells are subject to stringent mechanisms which control their proliferation. Together these ensure that pre-malignant cells are induced to enter a senescent, non-dividing state or to undergo apoptosis, i.e. commit suicide...

Acid Reflux 50% More Common

from MNToncology - 23 Dec 11

A long-term Norwegian study reveals the number of people who experience acid reflux at least once a week has gone up by nearly 50% in the last 10 years, with women appearing to be more susceptible to the condition than men...

Cardiac Structure and Function as Predictors of Mortality in Persons 85 Years of Age.

from Am J Cardiol - 23 Dec 11

Cardiac Structure and Function as Predictors of Mortality in Persons 85 Years of Age. Am J Cardiol. 2011 Dec 19; Authors: Leibowitz D, Stessman-Lande I, Jacobs JM, Cohen A, Ein-Mor E, Stessman J, Gilon D Abstract Individuals aged >85 years are the world's most rapidly growing age group and have a high incidence of cardiovascular mortality. The objective of this study was to prospectively determine the prognosis of abnormal cardiac structure and functi

Pelvic Exercises Help Men With Overactive Bladders

from Medscape - 16 Dec 11

A new study shows men with overactive bladder may benefit from pelvic floor exercises long known to help women plagued by the problem. Reuters Health Information

Menstrual cycles and infertility

from Dr and Patient - 23 Dec 11

There is lots of variation in menstrual periods even in normal fertile women. Sometimes the period maybe heavy; sometimes it maybe light; sometimes there may be clots or spotting ; and sometimes there maybe more cramping than usual. These are common variants, and most fertile women don't even notice them.Infertile women, on the other hand, obsess over every minor variation. Was the period too heavy ? Was there clotting ? Could that have been an early pregnancy which miscarried early because I l

Early Alzheimer's Disease - Brain's Cortex Size May Predict Risk

from MNTdementia - 22 Dec 11

People with no Alzheimer's disease signs whose brain cortex regions are smaller than normal probably have a higher risk of developing early symptoms of the disease, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts General Hospital reported in the peer-reviewed journal Neurology this week...

France alert on breast implants

from BBC - 20 Dec 11

The French authorities are to ask 30,000 women who received potentially defective breast implants to have them removed, reports say.

Temporal Trends in the Treatment and Outcomes of Patients With Non-ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction in Poland from 2004-2010 (from the Polish Registry of Acute Coronary Syndromes).

from Am J Cardiol - 23 Dec 11

Temporal Trends in the Treatment and Outcomes of Patients With Non-ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction in Poland from 2004-2010 (from the Polish Registry of Acute Coronary Syndromes). Am J Cardiol. 2011 Dec 19; Authors: Gierlotka M, Gasior M, Wilczek K, Wasilewski J, Hawranek M, Tajstra M, Osadnik T, Banasiak W, Polonski L Abstract The aim of this work was to analyze temporal trends in clinical presentation, treatment methods, and outcomes of pati

When bad things happen in the IVF lab

from Dr and Patient - 17 Dec 11

Most patients are pretty clueless about what goes on in the IVF lab.Sadly, many doctors are equally clueless too and they leave everything upto the embryologist. While this works very well when you have a full time experienced expert embryologist, the sad truth is that not all IVF labs and IVF embryologists are upto the mark. While many are extremely hard working , talented scientists, others are poorly trainedThus, some will use shortcuts, such as using donor sperm because they do not know h

Heart stem cell studies get under way

from Anaesthesia UK - 05 Dec 11

Two clinical studies investigating whether stem cell therapy can save the lives of heart attack patients are now under way.

New Design For Mechanical Heart Valves

from MNTcvs - 26 Nov 11

The heart's valves, which guarantee the unidirectional flow of blood from one chamber to another, are asymmetrical. For example, the two flaps of the heart's mitral valve - which regulates blood flow between the left atrium and the left ventricle - vary in size by up to 70 percent...

Doctor vs Doctor

from Dr and Patient - 26 Nov 11

It's true that doctors often disagree. This means that patients get confused and frustrated, because they don't know what to do ! After all, if experts cannot agree, what's the poor patient to do ?We need to remember that medicine is not an exact science - it's evolving rapidly, and recent advances can mean that there may be newer ( and better) options to solve a problem.However, the bigger problems is that doctors have large egos - and are very fond of making up their own mind - and then closin