Health News

Progress In Medical Technology Can Support The Sustainability Of The Healthcare System

Date: Jun-15-2013
The European Health Technology Institute investigated the conjecture of medical technology progress being the key driver of rising health expenditure in order to disentangle the relationship. The research demonstrated that the impact of medical technology on healthcare costs is the result of multiple, dynamic factors. Consequently the impact across technologies differs greatly in that some result in cost-increases while others, by being cost-neutral and even cost-saving, provide good opportunities to maintain the sustainability of the healthcare system...

Vitamin D Can Help Prevent Hypertension

Date: Jun-15-2013
The world's largest study to examine the link between vitamin D levels and hypertension has found that low levels of Vitamin D can be a major cause of hypertension. Researchers presented their findings at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics (ESHG). Data were gathered from 35 studies, which included more than 155,000 participants from different parts of Europe and North America. Dr. Vimal Karani S, from the Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK, led the study...

Firmer Silicon Gel Implant Gets FDA Go Ahead

Date: Jun-15-2013
The FDA has approved the firmer MemoryShape Breast Implants for breast augmentation in women aged 22 years or more, and for females of any age who require breast reconstruction. The MemoryShape Breast Implants are manufactured and marketed by Mentor Worldwide LLC, Santa Barbara, California. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) examined six years' worth of data from 955 adult females that demonstrated that the breast implant is reasonably safe and effective...

Primary Care Shortage Will Grow Unless US Reforms Graduate Medical Education System

Date: Jun-15-2013
Despite a critical shortage of primary care in the United States less than 25 percent of newly minted doctors go into this field and only a tiny fraction, 4.8 percent, set up shop in rural areas, according to a study by researchers at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS)...

The Impact Of Rheumatoid Arthritis On Joint Replacement Surgery Outcomes

Date: Jun-15-2013
Two new studies by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery have shed light on joint replacement outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). One study overturns the common belief that RA patients have worse outcomes after a total knee replacement (TKR) than patients who undergo the operation for osteoarthritis. The other study demonstrates that RA patients who undergo a total hip replacement were as likely to have significant improvements in function and pain as patients with osteoarthritis (OA), even though they did not do as well...

12.7% Of Pregnant Women Are Smokers In England

Date: Jun-14-2013
Although the number of women in England who are smokers when they give birth has dropped over the last five years, at 12.7% the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) says the figure is still too high. In the North East of England, nearly one in five women (19.7%) who gave birth in 2012-2013 classed themselves as smokers on the day their baby was born, says a new reported titled "Statistics on Women's Smoking Status at Time of Delivery". The HSCIC publishes a report every quarter and also provides an annual picture that can be compared to the year 2006-2007...

PAHO/WHO Urges Countries Of The Americas To Work Toward 100% Voluntary Altruistic Blood Donation

Date: Jun-14-2013
In Latin America and the Caribbean, only 41% of blood supplies are obtained through voluntary altruistic blood donation, the safest way to collect blood, according to the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). Today on World Blood Donor Day, June 14, PAHO/WHO is calling on countries in the Americas to work to achieve blood supplies obtained 100% from voluntary altruistic donors. In 2011, only 3.8 million (41%) of the total 9...

Leprosy Has Remained The Same Over A Millennium

Date: Jun-14-2013
Researchers have just compared reconstructed genomes of the medieval strains of Mycobacterium leprae DNA - the pathogen responsible for leprosy - to modern day strains. Leprosy, a chronic, contagious disease, is caused by a bacterium which affects mainly the skin and nerves. It was once an epidemic in Europe during the Middle Ages and wreaked absolute mayhem in the continent. Those suffering from the condition were shunned by society - even made to wear bells as a warning for others around them. However, towards the end of the 16th century the prevalence abruptly declined...

Protect Medical Devices From Cyber Attacks, FDA Urges

Date: Jun-14-2013
The FDA is urging medical device makers and health care facilities to make sure there are proper safeguards in place to protect their medical devices from cyber threats. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) said on Thursday that its warning is directed specifically at biomedical engineers, health care IT and procurements staff, medical device user facilities, hospitals and medical device manufacturers. A cyber attack may be caused when *malware is introduced into medical equipment, as well as unauthorized people gaining access to configuration settings in hospital networks and equipment...

Constella® (Linaclotide), The First Approved Prescription Therapy In A New Class Of Treatments For Adults With IBS-C, Is Now Available In Europe

Date: Jun-14-2013
Almirall, S.A. (ALM:MC) and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: IRWD) announced the launch of Constella® (linaclotide 290mcg capsules once daily), the first approved prescription therapy in a new class of treatments for adults suffering from moderate to severe IBS-C[i], in Europe. Constella® is now available in Germany, the UK and Nordic countries and is expected to be launched in several other European countries in 2013...