Health News

Gene Therapy Helps Muscular Dystrophy Patients Breathe Easier

Date: Jun-06-2013
Children with a rare form of muscular dystrophy called Pompe disease often spend their days tethered to mechanical ventilators in order to breathe. But results from a new clinical trial at University of Florida Health show that gene therapy improved respiratory function in these patients and increased the time they could spend breathing on their own without assisted ventilation...

New Analysis Confirms Government Target Missed As A&E Waiting Times Hit Nine-Year High, UK

Date: Jun-06-2013
New analysis of data for the final quarter of 2012/13 shows that nearly 6 per cent of patients waited four hours or longer in A&E, the highest level since 2004. The latest quarterly monitoring report from The King's Fund shows that 313,000 patients (5.9 per cent) spent four hours or more in A&E in the period January to March 2013, an increase of more than a third on the previous three months and nearly 40 per cent on the same quarter in 2011/12...

Blowfly Protein Key To Terror Poison Antidote

Date: Jun-06-2013
The discovery by researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) of the molecular structure of a protein that causes insecticide resistance in the Australian sheep blowfly, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars damage each year to the sheep industry, may also pave the way to an antidote for chemical warfare agents. Having a better understanding of this protein will not only benefit farmers by enabling design of more effective pesticides, but is the first step towards creating an antidote for victims of chemical warfare agents, such as sarin gas...

Osteoporosis Drug Aids Young People With Cystic Fibrosis Not Helped By Standard Treatments

Date: Jun-06-2013
The first randomised trial to investigate the treatment of low bone density in young people with cystic fibrosis (CF), published Online First in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, provides compelling evidence that alendronate (a drug that curbs bone loss) is safe and can help increase bone mineral density (BMD) in young patients with CF after standard treatment with calcium and vitamin D has failed. Improvements in treatments have increased the life expectancy of people with CF to about 40 years, putting them at high risk of long-term complications such as osteoporosis and bone fractures...

Interleukin 17F Level And Interferon Beta Response In Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

Date: Jun-06-2013
JAMA Neurology Study Highlights A study by Hans-Peter Hartung, M.D., of Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldoft, Germany, and colleagues examines the association between IL-17F and treatment response to interferon beta-1b among patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. (Online First) Serum samples were analyzed with an immunoassay from 239 randomly selected patients treated with interferon beta-1b, 250 micrograms, for at least 2 years in the Betaferon Efficacy Yielding Outcomes of a New Dose Study...

Dietary Flaxseed Supplementation Does Not Appear Effective In Management Of High Cholesterol Levels In Children

Date: Jun-06-2013
JAMA Pediatrics Study Highlight A study by Helen Wong, R.D., of The Hospital for Sick Children, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues examined the safety and efficacy of dietary flaxseed supplementation in the management of hypercholesterolemia (high levels of cholesterol) in children. (Online First) The randomized clinical trial included 32 participants ages 8 to 18 years with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels ranging from 135 mg/dL to less than 193 mg/dL. Participants were randomly assigned to either the intervention group or control group...

Vegetarian Diets Associated With Lower Risk Of Death

Date: Jun-06-2013
Vegetarian diets are associated with reduced death rates in a study of more than 70,000 Seventh-day Adventists with more favorable results for men than women, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. The possible relationship between diet and mortality is an important area of study. Vegetarian diets have been associated with reductions in risk for several chronic diseases, including hypertension, metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus and ischemic heart disease (IHD), according to the study background. Michael J. Orlich, M.D...

Emergency C-Section Rates Are Climbing, As Is The Need For Accompanying Emergency Anaesthesia

Date: Jun-06-2013
There is an increasing need for safe emergency anaesthesia as cases of emergency Caesarean section (CS) continue to rise, say experts speaking at Euroanaesthesia, the annual congress of the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA). Dr Geraldine O'Sullivan (Lead clinician for obstetric anaesthesia, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK) discusses how in the UK between 25-30% of deliveries are by CS, well above the WHO recommended rate of 15% (England 25%, Scotland/Wales 26%, Northern Ireland 30%, UK overall 25%)...

MS Treatment That Resets Immune System Shows Promise In Safety Trial

Date: Jun-06-2013
A new treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) that resets the patient's immune system was found to be safe and well tolerated in a small trial published in Science Translational Medicine this week. And, although not designed to test the effectiveness of the therapy, the trial also showed promising results in this area. Another important result is that the therapy does not appear to affect the immune system's ability to defend against infection...

Study Finds Little Evidence Supporting Use Of Bariatric Surgical Procedures For Non-Morbidly Obese Adults With Diabetes Or Glucose Intolerance

Date: Jun-06-2013
A review of more than 50 studies found limited evidence supporting the use of bariatric surgical procedures for non-morbidly obese adults (body mass index [BMI] 30-35) with diabetes or impaired glucose intolerance, according to a study in the June 5 issue of JAMA. For the limited data that was available for this patient group, bariatric surgery was associated with greater improvements in short-term weight loss, intermediate blood glucose levels, blood pressure, and high cholesterol than nonsurgical interventions such as medications, diet, and behavioral changes...