Health News

Prostate Cancer Patient Receives First Treatment Using Latest Version Of Vitesse Real-Time Brachytherapy Planning System From Varian Medical Systems

Date: Apr-19-2013
A prostate cancer patient has become the first person in the world to be treated using the latest version of Varian's Vitesse™ real time planning solution for planning and performing advanced high-dose-rate (HDR), ultrasound-guided brachytherapy treatments. The treatment took place at the Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. "Our team was very impressed overall with this treatment planning system," says Dr. Michael Haake, chief, division of Radiation Oncology at Carolinas Medical Center, Levine Cancer Institute...

In-Package Plasma Process Quickly, Effectively Kills Bacteria

Date: Apr-19-2013
Exposing packaged liquids, fruits and vegetables to an electrical field for just minutes might eliminate all traces of foodborne pathogens on those foods, according to a Purdue University study. Kevin Keener, a professor of food science, looks for new ways to kill harmful bacteria, such as E.coli and Salmonella, that contaminate foods and cause serious illnesses and deaths. His method uses electricity to generate a plasma, or ionized gas, from atmospheric gases inside the food package...

Ground-Breaking Research Streamlines Testing For Possible Heart Attack Patients

Date: Apr-19-2013
Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) Emergency Physician Associate Professor Louise Cullen and Cardiologist Dr William Parsonage are leading ground-breaking cardiology research, reducing the amount of time possible heart attack patients spend in the emergency department. The research, recently published in the influential medical journal 'Journal of the American College of Cardiology', has found a reliable and rapid process to identify a large group of patients with chest pain who are at very low risk of a heart attack...

Reduce Your Stress - Your Health Depends On It

Date: Apr-19-2013
Charles O'Dowd, MD, Highland Medical PC, Clarkstown Medical Associates and on staff at Nyack Hospital shares some tips on reducing stress Life is full of challenges, deadlines, frustrations and demands. Stress has become a part of life for children and adults alike. In some instances, limited amounts of stress can help you achieve your goals by performing better under pressure. Stress in large doses can take a toll on your mind and body, often leading to illness...

Winner Of Crowd-Sourced Breast Cancer Prognosis Challenge Offers Hope For Improved Diagnosis And Prognosis In All Cancers

Date: Apr-19-2013
Columbia Engineering researchers, led by Dimitris Anastassiou, Charles Batchelor Professor in Electrical Engineering and member of the Columbia Initiative in Systems Biology, have developed a new computational model that is highly predictive of breast cancer survival. The team, who won the Sage Bionetworks / DREAM Breast Cancer Prognosis Challenge for this work, published their results -- "Development of a Prognostic Model for Breast Cancer Survival in an Open Challenge Environment" -- in the journal Science Translational Medicine...

Balancing Benefits And Harms In Migraine Prevention

Date: Apr-19-2013
Migraine headaches are a major cause of ill health and a reduced quality of life. Some individuals suffer from a frequent and severe migraine problem which means that they require regular medication to try and prevent them. A new review¹ of the medications, which may help to prevent episodic migraines, appears in the Journal of General Internal Medicine², published by Springer...

How Well Couples Handle Disagreements Affects Adults More Than Teens

Date: Apr-19-2013
Adults who resolve and recover from conflict are known to be happier in their romantic relationships but the same does not hold true for teen romances, according to research published in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Thao Ha and colleagues from the Behavioural Science Institute of Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands. The authors observed 14-16-year olds in romantic relationships dealing with conflicts over issues such as cheating, experiencing jealousy and parental rules about dating three times over a period of several years...

The Important Role Of The Reproductive Tract In Successful Ovulation And Fertilization

Date: Apr-19-2013
Eggs take a long time to produce in the ovary, and thus are one of a body's precious resources. It has been theorized that the body has mechanisms to help the ovary ensure that ovulated eggs enter the reproductive tract at the right time in order to maximize the chance of successful fertilization. New research from Carnegie's Allan Spradling and Jianjun Sun has shed light on how successful ovulation and fertilization are brought about by studying these processes in fruit flies...

Measles Threatens Two Million Children In The UK

Date: Apr-19-2013
Up to two million children in Britain who did not receive MMR vaccines a decade ago because of Dr. Andrew Wakefield's now discredited autism scare are at risk of measles. Experts are urging health authorities to implement a national "catch-up" campaign to prevent measles, which has spread dramatically in Wales, from affecting the rest of Britain. Half of the children who were not vaccinated ten years ago live in London. Dr...

Survival Of Inpatients Following STEMI Heart Attacks Only 60 Percent

Date: Apr-19-2013
If you suffer a heart attack while walking down the street and are taken to the hospital quickly, your chances of survival are very good. But if you have a heart attack while already in the hospital for something else, you are 10 times more likely to die. That surprising finding comes from a study by University of North Carolina School of Medicine researchers...