Health News

'Fear Circuitry' In The Brain Over-Active In Combat Veterans Suffering From Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Date: May-21-2013
Chronic trauma can inflict lasting damage to brain regions associated with fear and anxiety. Previous imaging studies of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have shown that these brain regions can over-or under-react in response to stressful tasks, such as recalling a traumatic event or reacting to a photo of a threatening face. Now, researchers at NYU School of Medicine have explored for the first time what happens in the brains of combat veterans with PTSD in the absence of external triggers...

New Methods For Managing Digestive Health

Date: May-21-2013
Research presented at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) explores new methods for managing digestive health through diet and lifestyle. Individuals suffering from Crohn's disease are often plagued by reduced muscle strength, fatigue and poor quality of life. These symptoms can remain even when patients are in remission. A randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study found for the first time that vitamin D supplementation corresponded to significant relief of these symptoms...

New Role For ECMO In Treating Patients With Cardiac Arrest And Profound Shock

Date: May-21-2013
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a procedure traditionally used during cardiac surgeries and in the ICU that functions as an artificial replacement for a patient's heart and lungs, has also been used to resuscitate cardiac arrest victims in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. Now, a novel study of this technique in the U.S. has been completed by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, indicating a potential role for this intervention to save patients who are unable to be resuscitated through conventional measures...

Clinical Trial Finds Fluid And Sodium Restrictions Have No Effect On Weight Loss Or Clinical Stability Among Patients Hospitalized With Heart Failure

Date: May-20-2013
A clinical trial of 75 patients hospitalized with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) suggests that aggressive fluid and sodium restriction has no effect on weight loss or clinical stability at three days but was associated with an increase in perceived thirst, according to a study published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. Sodium and fluid restrictions are nonpharmacologic measures widely used to treat ADHF despite a lack of clear evidence of their therapeutic effect, the authors write in the study background...

COPD Patients On Bronchodilators Are At Higher Risk Of Cardiovascular Events

Date: May-20-2013
Elderly patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who are treated with long-acting bronchodilators β-agonists and anticholinergics are at an increased risk of cardiovascular events, according to new research published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Over a quarter of Americans above the age of 35 suffer from COPD, it is one of the leading causes of death in the country. In fact, according to a previous study published in The Lancet, one out of four individuals aged 35 and over is likely to develop COPD at some stage of their lives...

Two Radiotherapy Treatments Show Similar Morbidity, Cancer Control After Prostatectomy

Date: May-20-2013
JAMA Internal Medicine Study Highlights Use of the newer, more expensive intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and use of the older conformal radiotherapy (CRT) after surgical removal of all or part of the prostate gland were associated with similar morbidity and cancer control outcomes, according to a study published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. Gregg H. Goldin, M.D...

Only 25% Of Sunscreens Offer Strong Protection

Date: May-20-2013
Only 25% of sunscreen products offer strong and broad UV protection and raise few health concerns, according to Environmental Working Group (EWG). The safety and efficacy of over 1,400 sunscreens, lotions, lip products, and makeups that advertise sun protection on the market in 2013 were evaluated in EWG's 7th annual Sunscreen Guide released today, May 20th...

Providing Intravenous Nutrition Within 24 Hours For Certain Critically Ill Patients Does Not Appear To Improve Survival Or Reduce ICU Length Of Stay

Date: May-20-2013
The early (within 24 hours of intensive care unit [ICU] admission) provision of intravenous nutrition among critically ill patients with contraindications (a condition that makes a particular procedure potentially inadvisable) to early use of enteral nutrition (such as through a feeding tube) did not result in significant differences in 60 day mortality or shorter ICU or hospital length of stay, compared with standard care, according to a study in the May 22/29 issue of JAMA...

Music Therapy Appears To Help Reduce Anxiety, Use Of Sedatives For Patients Receiving Ventilator Support

Date: May-20-2013
Among intensive care unit patients receiving acute ventilatory support for respiratory failure, use of patient-preferred music resulted in greater reduction in anxiety and sedation frequency and intensity compared with usual care, according to a study published online by JAMA. The study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the American Thoracic Society international conference...

Type 1 Diabetes May Be Reversible With Immune Suppressor Protein

Date: May-20-2013
A professor in Melbourne, Australia, who is on a mission to find a cure for type 1 diabetes, believes that the answer, or part of it, lies with an immune suppressor protein called CD52. And if it works for type 1 diabetes, then it may well work for other immune disorders, such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, where disruption in the balance different kinds of T cell in the immune system causes it to attack the body's own healthy tissue...