UAE
Bahrain
Jordan
Kuwait
Oman
Qatar
Saudi ArabiaHealth News
Researchers propose touch-to-access security for implanted devices
Date: Sep-25-2013Pacemakers, insulin pumps, defibrillators and other implantable medical devices often have wireless capabilities that allow emergency workers to monitor patients. But these devices have a potential downside: They can be hacked. Researchers at Rice University have come up with a secure way to dramatically cut the risk that an implanted medical device (IMD) could be altered remotely without authorization. Their technology would use the patient's own heartbeat as a kind of password that could only be accessed through touch...
Risk-factors identified for addictive video-game use among adults
Date: Sep-25-2013New research from the University of Missouri indicates escapism, social interaction and rewards fuel problematic video-game use among "very casual" to "hardcore" adult gamers. Understanding individual motives that contribute to unhealthy game play could help counselors identify and treat individuals addicted to video games. "The biggest risk factor for pathological video game use seems to be playing games to escape from daily life," said Joe Hilgard, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychological Sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science...
Shedding light on genetic and physiological basis for metabolic diseases
Date: Sep-25-2013A new study by a team of University of Notre Dame researchers, which appears in the Sept. 2 edition of the journal PLoS ONE, is a significant step in understanding the molecular genetic and physiological basis for a spectrum of metabolic diseases related to circadian function. Obesity and diabetes have reached epidemic levels and are responsible for increased morbidity and mortality throughout the world...
Some pediatric surgeries do not require preoperative blood typing
Date: Sep-25-2013Certain pediatric surgeries carry such low risk of serious blood loss that clinicians can safely forgo expensive blood typing and blood stocking before such procedures, suggest the results of a small study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. The finding, published ahead of print in the journal Pediatric Anesthesia, was accompanied by a list of 10 operations with "zero" transfusion risk, according to the investigators who reviewed the records of thousands of pediatric surgeries performed at The Johns Hopkins Hospital over 13 months...
Treatment with NIR light can prevent the development of retinopathy of prematurity - could save the sight of premature babies
Date: Sep-25-2013Scientists at Australia's Vision Centre have made an important breakthrough that could save the sight of premature babies. The researchers found that treatment with near-infrared (NIR) light can prevent the development of retinopathy of prematurity - a disease that can cause blindness in children born prematurely. "As our sight develops, blood vessels grow at the back of our eyes to provide nutrients and oxygen to the retinas," says Dr Krisztina Valter of The Vision Centre and The Australian National University explains...
New patient-focused five minute Herceptin® (trastuzumab) jab given green light by regulators & NHS England
Date: Sep-25-2013Patients with a very aggressive form of breast cancer known as HER2-positive, could now benefit from a new faster, more efficient delivery method of Herceptin. The subcutaneous (SC) injection, given just beneath the skin, can be completed in 2-5 minutes, compared to the traditional, relatively time-consuming 30-90 minute intravenous (IV) infusion.[v] This speedier form of delivery of Herceptin is now authorised for use in the UK after a licence was granted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). In addition, NHS England has agreed to fund its use on the NHS...
ACP publishes brief guide to ACA health exchanges
Date: Sep-25-2013The American College of Physicians (ACP) has written a brief to explain how health exchanges, or health insurance marketplaces, will work when the Affordable Care Act begins to roll out late this year. By 2014, most individuals who do not have health insurance will have to acquire health insurance or pay a fine. The marketplaces were created under the ACA with the hope of enabling individuals to objectively compare private health plans that meet the minimum standards set by the government and also meet their budget and health needs...
Repairing damaged heart tissue with spring-like fibers
Date: Sep-25-2013The threat from a heart attack doesn't end with the event itself. Blockage of blood flow to the heart can cause irreversible cell death and scarring. With transplants scarce, half the people who live through a heart attack die within five years. Scientists are trying to address this problem by engineering cardiac tissue to patch up damaged areas. Now doctoral students Sharon Fleischer and Ron Feiner - under the supervision of Dr...
Low to moderate arsenic exposure linked to cardiovascular disease and mortality
Date: Sep-25-2013Chronic exposure to low to moderate levels of inorganic arsenic is associated with increased incidence of fatal and not-fatal cardiovascular disease. Inorganic arsenic in water and food (particularly rice and grain) is a major global health problem. Research has shown that high arsenic levels in drinking water increase the risk of peripheral artery disease, coronary heart disease, stroke, and carotid atherosclerosis. However, less is known about the cardiovascular effects of low to moderate arsenic levels, an issue that affects most populations around the world...
Assessing use of fingerstick blood sample with i-stat point-of-care device
Date: Sep-25-2013Researchers have determined that fingerstick cardiac troponin I assay testing using the point-of-care i-STAT device is not accurate enough to determine the exact troponin level without the application of a corrective term. The study was funded by the Department of Emergency Medicine, Loyola University Medical Center and was published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. The study was conducted by Devin Loewenstein, BS, Christine Stake, MA and Mark Cichon, DO of Loyola University Chicago, Department of Emergency Medicine...
Stay Connected
