Health News

News From The Annals Of Internal Medicine: May 7, 2013

Date: May-08-2013
1. Ambrisentan Not Appropriate for Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Ambrisentan should not be used to treat patients for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). IPF is a fatal form of chronic, progressive lung disease characterized by irreversible scarring around both lungs. IPF causes about 5,000 deaths each year and currently there is no approved treatment. Researchers do not know what causes IPF, but a protein called endothelin-1 that causes the blood vessels to contract and induces lung scarring and proliferation has been associated with the disease...

Sleep Problems Double Men's Risk Of Prostate Cancer

Date: May-08-2013
Sleep problems, such as difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, double the risk of prostate cancer in men, according to new research. The study was conducted by a team at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik and was published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Lara G. Sigurdardóttir, M.D., a researcher at the University of Iceland, said: "Sleep problems are very common in modern society and can have adverse health consequences...

Nanomaterial Toxicity The Focus Of National Study To Address Health Risks

Date: May-08-2013
For the first time, researchers from institutions around the country have conducted an identical series of toxicology tests evaluating lung-related health impacts associated with widely used engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). The study provides comparable health risk data from multiple labs, which should help regulators develop policies to protect workers and consumers who come into contact with ENMs. Researchers have done a great deal of toxicological research on ENMs over the past 10 years, but the results have often been difficult to interpret...

Rapid, Accurate Diagnosis Of Tuberculosis And Other Bacterial Infections Using Portable Device

Date: May-08-2013
A handheld diagnostic device that Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators first developed to diagnose cancer has been adapted to rapidly diagnose tuberculosis (TB) and other important infectious bacteria. Two papers appearing in the journals Nature Communications and Nature Nanotechnology describe portable devices that combine microfluidic technology with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to not only diagnose these important infections but also determine the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains...

Pumpless Paracorporeal Assist Device Helps Infants With Severe Respiratory Failure Survive Until Lung Transplantation

Date: May-08-2013
Adults with end-stage respiratory failure and pulmonary hypertension requiring ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) have been "bridged" toward lung transplantation with novel lung assist devices such as the Novalung. This and related devices work based on pumpless application of oxygenators. A presentation by David M. Hoganson, MD, and colleagues from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis at the Congenital Heart Disease Session of the 93rd AATS Annual Meeting described the first time application of this technology to newborns and small children...

Better Outcomes In Anemic Surgical Patients With Fewer Transfusion-Related Complications With Single, High-Dose Erythropoietin

Date: May-08-2013
Anemia increases operative mortality and morbidity in non-cardiac and cardiac surgical procedures. Anemic surgical patients may require more blood transfusions, raising the risk of transfusion-related complications and increasing costs. For those reasons, optimizing patient readiness by correcting anemia prior to surgery is an important clinical goal. A simple new protocol has been proposed that helps correcting anemia using a single, high dose of recombinant human erythropoietin (HRE) administered only two days prior to surgery...

Detecting Recurrent Lung Cancer At An Earlier Stage Using Minimal Dose CT

Date: May-08-2013
Lung cancer is associated with very high mortality, in part because it is hard to detect at early stages, but also because it can recur frequently after surgical removal. The question arises as to what is the best way to follow lung cancer patients after surgery in order to spot problems early enough, before symptoms become obvious, so that patients may still be eligible for new interventions...

New Design Mechanical Heart Valve Requires Low-Dose Anticoagulation Therapy, Decreases Bleeding Risk

Date: May-08-2013
For more than 40 years, patients under 65 years of age requiring heart valve replacement have had to choose between a mechanical valve that offers life-long durability but requires aggressive warfarin anticoagulation or a biological (cow or pig) valve that will wear out in 10-20 years but does not require anticoagulation. Aggressive warfarin anticoagulation is accompanied by significant annual risk of bleeding, while inadequate anticoagulation of a mechanical artificial valve has been associated with high risk of clotting problems that can cause strokes...

New Cost-Effective Genome Assembly Process

Date: May-08-2013
The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) is among the world leaders in sequencing the genomes of microbes, focusing on their potential applications in the fields of bioenergy and environment. As a national user facility, the DOE JGI is also focused on developing tools that more cost-effectively enable the assembly and analysis of the sequence that it, as well as other genome centers, generates. Despite tremendous advances in cost reduction and throughput of DNA sequencing, significant challenges remain in the process of efficiently reconstructing genomes...

Higher Blood Lead Levels - Resulting In Lower IQ - Discovered In Children Living Near Toxic Waste Sites

Date: May-08-2013
Children living near toxic waste sites in lower and middle income countries such as India, Philippines and Indonesia may experience higher blood lead levels, resulting in a loss of IQ points and a higher incidence of mental retardation, according to a study presented by Kevin Chatham-Stephens, MD, Pediatric Environmental Health Fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting on May 6 in Washington, DC...