Health News

Unreported Drug Side Effects Found In Web Search Data

Date: Mar-14-2013
User behavior on the internet is increasingly being recognized as a valuable source of health information. Now a team from Stanford University School of Medicine and Microsoft Research has shown how mining rich seams of data from users' search histories yields important information on the unreported side effects of drugs. They report their findings in the 6 March online issue of the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. Co-author Russ Altman is professor of bioengineering, of genetics and of medicine at Stanford...

Potential Early Indicator Of Kidney Injury Identified

Date: Mar-14-2013
A guidance cue that helps kidneys form may also be a red flag that they are in danger, researchers report. Acute kidney injury, a common and serious complication of hospitalization, is on the increase worldwide, affecting an estimated 6 percent of all hospitalized patients and 30-40 percent of adults and children having cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. About 10-15 percent of acute injuries translate to chronic kidney damage or failure that may require dialysis or a kidney transplant, said Dr...

You Always Hurt The Ones You Love - Children's Conflicts Provide Opportunities For Moral Development

Date: Mar-14-2013
Concordia professor studies how children's conflicts provide opportunities for moral development We may not remember tormenting our younger siblings, and our schoolyard fights with friends are long forgotten. But a recent study suggests that both kinds of conflict provide opportunities for learning about right and wrong. It offers a clearer picture of the differences between disputes with friends and those with siblings, which will help parents and educators to encourage children to use these situations as teachable moments...

Steroids May Help Reduce Deaths From All Types Of Tuberculosis

Date: Mar-14-2013
The routine use of steroids to treat tuberculosis may help reduce deaths from all types of the disease, according to a new review of existing research. Each year there are 8.7million cases of TB worldwide, and it causes 1.4million deaths. The most common form of the disease (pulmonary TB) affects the lungs, but there are many other forms and it can affect almost all the body's organs. Currently, steroids are routinely used only for certain types of TB - each of which affects a different organ system - where they have been proven effective as a secondary treatment alongside anti-TB drugs...

Cervical Cancer Patients More Likely To Survive If Treated At High-Volume Medical Facilities

Date: Mar-14-2013
Patients with locally advanced cervical cancer have better treatment outcomes and are more likely to survive the disease if they receive care at a high-volume medical center than patients treated at low-volume facilities, according to research presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology's annual meeting on women's cancers in Los Angeles...

Reducing Your Risk Of Colon Cancer: Five Facts About The Number Two Cancer Killer

Date: Mar-14-2013
March Is Colon Cancer Awareness Month Colon cancer, the number two cancer killer in the United States, is often preventable and highly curable. "It's important for people to understand that with proper screening, colon cancer can not only be detected early, but often can be prevented from developing," says Dr. Felice Schnoll-Sussman, a gastroenterologist and acting director of The Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr...

Pharmacist Warns It 'May Take Celebrity Death' To Highlight Threat Of Antibiotic Resistance

Date: Mar-14-2013
A leading pharmacist based at Southampton's teaching hospitals has warned it may take the death of a celebrity to highlight the dangers of increasing antibiotic resistance in the UK. Dr Kieran Hand, a consultant pharmacist in anti-infectives at Southampton General Hospital, spoke out following the publication of chief medical officer Professor Dame Sally Davies' annual report, for which he co-authored the chapter on antibiotic resistance...

Study Reveals B Cells As Therapeutic Targets To Alter Obesity-Associated Inflammation And Type 2 Diabetes

Date: Mar-14-2013
New research from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) reveals that B cells regulate obesity-associated inflammation and type 2 diabetes through two specific mechanisms. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicates the importance of continuing to explore B cells as a therapeutic target to treat these diseases. Barbara Nikolajczyk, PhD, associate professor of microbiology at BUSM, is the study's senior author. The incidence of diabetes continues to rise at alarming rates...

High Quality CT Colonography Can Be Maintained With Reduced Radiation

Date: Mar-14-2013
A new study by a Rhode Island Hospital researcher has found it's possible to maintain high-quality CT colonography diagnostic images while reducing the radiation dose. This is important as the use of CT colonography, or virtual colonoscopy, becomes more widely used for colorectal cancer screenings. Through his research, Kevin J. Chang, M.D., of the department of diagnostic imaging, found that decreasing the tube voltage would not negatively impact the integrity of the CT colongraphy. His research is published in the current issue of the journal Radiology...

More Paired Kidney Exchanges Could Dramatically Increase Number Of Transplants

Date: Mar-14-2013
An additional 1,000 patients could undergo kidney transplants in the United States annually if hospitals performed more transplants using paired kidney exchanges, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. Also known as kidney chains, paired kidney exchanges, which allow incompatible donors to give a kidney on a loved one's behalf and ensure that their loved one gets a compatible kidney from a third party - usually a stranger - in return, have become much more common since 1999 when The Johns Hopkins Hospital pioneered the practice...