Health News

Scarless, Surgical Procedure For Appendicitis Causes Less Pain

Date: Apr-12-2013
A scarless, surgical procedure for appendicitis, called transgastric appendicectomy, that uses a pinhole incision through the navel may be a practical alternative to standard appendectomies. The finding came from a new study that was published in British Journal of Surgery and points to a need for larger studies to test the potential of the procedure. Transgastric appendicectomy is an experimental, minimally invasive procedure which stays away from the use of external incisions and causes the patient to feel less pain than traditional procedures...

During Swine Flu Pandemic, Co-Infections Not Associated With Worse Outcomes

Date: Apr-12-2013
A study at Rhode Island Hospital has found that despite complications, patients co-infected with the pandemic 2009-2010 influenza A H1N1 (pH1N1) and a second respiratory virus were not associated with worse outcomes or admission to the hospital's intensive care unit. The study is published online in the journal PLOS ONE. "There is scant data in the literature regarding the incidence and impact of simultaneous infection by two respiratory viruses, particularly in adults," said senior investigator Leonard Mermel, D.O...

Auto Pollution Exposure May Be Linked To Some Childhood Cancers

Date: Apr-12-2013
Scientists from UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health led by Julia Heck, an assistant researcher in the school's epidemiology department and a member of UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, have found a possible link between exposure to traffic-related air pollution and several childhood cancers. The results of their study - the first to examine air pollution from traffic and a number of rarer childhood cancers - were presented in an abstract at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington, D.C...

Are Four Antenatal Visits Enough?

Date: Apr-12-2013
Reanalysis of the World Health Organization's Antenatal Care Trial (WHOACT) shows that there is an increased risk of fetal death at between 32 and 36 weeks for women who have a reduced antenatal care package, finds research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Reproductive Health. Original analysis of the WHOACT concluded that reducing antenatal visits of low risk women from eight to four was not detrimental to their or their babies' health and could cut costs. Based on this advice some countries have lowered the number of routine antenatal visits...

One In Three People With Rheumatoid Arthritis At High Risk Of Repeated Falls

Date: Apr-12-2013
One in three people with rheumatoid arthritis, regardless of their age, will fall once or more times a year, according to a new University of Manchester study. The research, funded by medical research charity Arthritis Research UK, shows those who have fallen once are at much greater risk of falling again due to previous injuries and an increased fear of falling. Over half of the falls studied resulted in injuries such as pain and bruising and one in 10 falls caused a serious head injury or fracture...

Mental Illness Follows Seasonal Trends, According To Google Searches

Date: Apr-12-2013
Google searches for information about several common mental illnesses showed that conditions followed seasonal trends, suggesting mental illness could be more significantly associated with the seasons, than originally thought. Tracking mental illness patterns has always been a challenge for doctors and scientists. Normally, telephone surveys are given to evaluate the minds of respondents, however, this method is limited because participants may be unwilling to talk honestly about their mental health. The method also has high material costs...

Tool Created To Help Patients Decide Whether To Take A Kidney Transplant Immediately Or Wait For A Better One

Date: Apr-12-2013
Johns Hopkins scientists have created a free, Web-based tool to help patients decide whether it's best to accept an immediately available, but less-than-ideal deceased donor kidney for transplant, or wait for a healthier one in the future. Historically, the researchers say, it has been difficult, if not impossible, to accurately quantify the risk of accepting a deceased-donor kidney that may have been infected by hepatitis C, as compared to waiting what could be months or years for a better organ. There is a 5 to 15 percent chance of dying every year on the waiting list...

Beneforte Broccoli Provides Reliably Higher Levels Of Healthy Compound

Date: Apr-12-2013
Field trials and genetic studies have shown that a new variety of broccoli reliably yields higher levels of a health-promoting compound. Broccoli contains a compound called glucoraphanin, which has been shown to promote health by maintaining cardiovascular health and a reduction in the risk of cancer. A long term breeding programme to increase glucoraphanin levels has resulted in the commercial release of Beneforté broccoli. Beneforté was developed by crossing standard broccoli with a wild relative derived from Sicily...

Age At Autism Diagnosis Depends On Specific Symptoms

Date: Apr-12-2013
The age at which a child with autism is diagnosed is related to the particular suite of behavioral symptoms he or she exhibits, new research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows. Certain diagnostic features, including poor nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors, were associated with earlier identification of an autism spectrum disorder, according to a study in the April issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Displaying more behavioral features was also associated with earlier diagnosis...

Brain Scan Offers First Objective Measure Of Pain

Date: Apr-11-2013
Using fMRI scans of the brain, US scientists have for the first time developed a method of "seeing" pain and suggest it may lead to reliable ways for doctors to quantify objectively how much pain patients are feeling. They also propose their study may open the route to using brain scans to measure anxiety, depression, and emotional states like anger. Lead author Tor Wager from the University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), and colleagues, report their findings online in the 11 April issue of the New England Journal of Medicine...