Health News

NEJM Paper Confirms Value Of Early Fibrinolysis In STEMI

Date: Mar-22-2013
New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) paper shows prehospital or early fibrinolysis with Metalyse® (tenecteplase) delivers comparable clinical outcomes to gold standard intervention for patients who would not have access to primary PCI within 60 minutes after the first medical contact(b) New data published in NEJM demonstrates that patients with STEMI who cannot undergo primary PCI within 60 minutes of first medical contact have similar clinical outcomes with early fibrinolysis with Metalyse® (tenecteplase, TNK-tPA) in combination with clopidogrel and enoxaparin...

Metal Stents Are Effective Treatment For Blocked Bile Ducts

Date: Mar-22-2013
Painful and Potentially Life-Threatening Benign Bile Duct Strictures Can Be Fixed with "Fully Covered Self-Expanding Metal Stents" A multi-center analysis, led by Weill Cornell Medical College and published in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, shows the use of temporary "fully covered self-expanding metal stents" (FCSEMS) can effectively fix a painful and potentially life-threatening benign biliary stricture -- a severely blocked or narrowed bile duct. "Benign biliary strictures can be managed and resolved with these new fully covered metal stents with flared ends...

Estrogen May Relieve Post-Menopausal Joint Pain

Date: Mar-22-2013
New Findings from the Women's Health Initiative Post-menopausal women, who often suffer from joint pain, could find some long-term relief by taking estrogen-only medication, according to a new study based on the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) that was released online today by the journal, Menopause. Previous studies of estrogen's influence on joint symptoms had produced mixed results, so researchers examined the findings of the WHI, the largest-ever study of the use of hormonal therapy in post-menopausal women...

Advanced Breast Cancer Patients Denied Access To Breakthrough Treatment

Date: Mar-22-2013
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issues negative draft decision for Afinitor® (everolimus) The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) today issued an Appraisal Consultation Document (ACD) recommending that Novartis' life extending advanced breast cancer treatment, Afinitor® (everolimus), should not be available to patients on the NHS. Everolimus is the sixth treatment that NICE has turned down for patients with advanced breast cancer since 20111-6...

Predicting Risk Of Operative Births In UK Women

Date: Mar-22-2013
Independent maternal demographic factors such as social status, ethnicity and maternal age can predict the likelihood of operative births in the UK, according to a new study published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The study, conducted by researchers in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York, explores which women are at an increased risk of an operative birth, including caesarean section (CS) or instrumental vaginal birth...

Adopting Plant-Based Meals Several Times Per Week Can Improve Food Security, Lower Food Costs

Date: Mar-22-2013
Researchers from The Miriam Hospital and the Rhode Island Community Food Bank report individuals who participated in a six-week cooking program and followed simple, plant-based recipes decreased their total food spending, purchased healthier food items and improved their food security. The study, published in the March issue of the Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition, is believed to be the first to show a decrease in food insecurity - or a lack of access to nutritional foods for at least some days or meals for members of a household - as the result of an intervention...

The Nursing Home Is The Last Resort: "Lessons From Abroad" On Caring For An Aging Population

Date: Mar-22-2013
In Norway, families receive public support that enables them to care for aging parents in their own homes and keep them out of nursing homes. This includes a salary for a son or daughter to provide care. They also focus on adapting houses to the needs of older people through municipal government-financed repairs and renovations. The nursing home is the last resort. In the Netherlands, older people receive a full, government-paid assessment of needs to help them live as independently as possible...

Area-Specific View Of Brain Activity Challenged

Date: Mar-22-2013
Our understanding of brain activity has traditionally been linked to brain areas - when we speak, the speech area of the brain is active. New research by an international team of psychologists led by David Alexander and Cees van Leeuwen (Laboratory for Perceptual Dynamics) shows that this view may be overly rigid. The entire cortex, not just the area responsible for a certain function, is activated when a given task is initiated. Furthermore, activity occurs in a pattern: waves of activity roll from one side of the brain to the other...

Molecular Control Switch Discovered For Lung Disorders In Preterm Infants

Date: Mar-22-2013
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have made major discoveries that could lead to new treatments for lung disorders in premature babies. In a mouse study, the team located key molecules that switch on stress pathways in preterm lung disorders, and also found that when parts of these pathways were blocked with a pain drug, lung damage was prevented or reversed. The findings are published online ahead of print in the March issue of American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology...

Benefits Of Family Meals To Mental Health Examined In A Large Community Sample Of Adolescents

Date: Mar-22-2013
Regular family suppers contribute to good mental health in adolescents, according to a study co-authored by McGill professor Frank Elgar, Institute for Health and Social Policy. Family meal times are a measurable signature of social exchanges in the home that benefit adolescents' well-being - regardless of whether or not they feel they can easily talk to their parents...