Health News

Brain Scans Show Doctors Feel Their Patients' Pain -- And Their Relief

Date: Jan-31-2013
A patient's relationship with his or her doctor has long been considered an important component of healing. Now, in a novel investigation in which physicians underwent brain scans while they believed they were actually treating patients, researchers have provided the first scientific evidence indicating that doctors truly can feel their patients' pain - and can also experience their relief following treatment...

Influx Of New Residents And Fellows In July Has A Negligible Effect On Outcomes Following Spine Surgery

Date: Jan-31-2013
The "July effect" - the notion that the influx of new residents and fellows at teaching hospitals in July of each year adversely affects patient care and outcomes - was examined in a very large data set of hospitalizations for patients undergoing spine surgery. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) and the University of Virginia Health System (Charlottesville, VA) found a negligible effect on periprocedural outcomes among patients treated by spine surgery...

Metabolism-Based Cancer Therapy May Be Useful For Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Date: Jan-31-2013
Ever since discovering a decade ago that a gene altered in lung cancer regulated an enzyme used in therapies against diabetes, Reuben Shaw has wondered if drugs originally designed to treat metabolic diseases could also work against cancer. The growing evidence that cancer and metabolism are connected, emerging from a number of laboratories around the world over the past 10 years, has further fueled these hopes, though scientists are still working to identify what tumors might be most responsive and which drugs most useful...

Late Diagnosis Of Cancer Symptoms More Likely In UK Due To Worry And Embarrassment

Date: Jan-31-2013
Embarrassment and not wanting to waste their doctors' time are more frequently reported by British people than in other countries, according to new research led jointly by King's College London and UCL (University College London). This may be holding British people back from presenting early with symptoms of cancer...

Policy Changes For A Healthier America

Date: Jan-30-2013
Some key policy changes that need to be made in the United States in order to prevent illness and improve the health of millions of Americans have just been outlined in the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) latest Healthier America report.  The report includes a range of suggestions that focus on the prevention of chronic diseases, which currently affect more than half of the U.S. population. This would also help address the health problems facing today's youth who are set to be the first generation that are less healthy than their parents...

Cancer Deaths Third Higher In Men Than Women In UK

Date: Jan-30-2013
A new report shows that men are more than one third (35%) more likely to die of cancer in the UK than women, and they are two-thirds (67%) more likely to die from the disease when sex-specific cancers such as prostate, testicular and ovarian cancers are excluded. The report, produced by Cancer Research UK, the Men's Health Forum and the National Cancer Intelligence Network, shows that in 2010, the rate per 100,000 deaths from cancer for men in the UK was 202; for women it was 147...

Erectile Dysfunction Linked To Heart Disease

Date: Jan-30-2013
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is linked to heart disease and early death in men both with and without a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The finding came from a new study conducted by researchers from the Australian National University, led by Emily Banks, and was published in PLOS Medicine. Prior research has demonstrated that erectile dysfunction is associated with heart disease risk. In fact, a study from August of last year demonstrated that erectile dysfunction is a risk factor in men aged 55 or younger for eventual heart disease...

Potential Blood Test Found To Detect Autism

Date: Jan-30-2013
A special blood marker has been found enabling further understanding of potential gut linked environmental factors to autism. The results could create blood tests for early screening of the condition. The findings came from a clinical study by researchers from Western University and the University of Arkansas, and were published in the journal Translational Psychiatry. Led by Drs. Richard Frye and Stepan Melynk of Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute, the investigators found evidence of unusual energy metabolism among a subgroup of autistic kids...

Some Antidepressants May Cause Heart Rhythm Problems, Study Confirms

Date: Jan-30-2013
SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), types of antidepressants, are associated with a long QT interval, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, reported in the BMJ (British Medical Journal). The QT interval is the duration of electrical activity of the heart muscle. A long QT interval is a marker for heart rhythm abnormalities. The researchers say that their findings support warnings by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) about citalopram (Celexa). They add that other antidepressants may have similar effects...

Antidepressant Link To Heart Rhythm Abnormalities No Cause For Alarm

Date: Jan-30-2013
Some antidepressants have been linked to a long QT, which may increase the likelihood of having a serious heart rhythm abnormality. However, as they are extremely rare, the benefits offered by antidepressant far outweigh the risks and patients should not be alarmed, says the British Heart Foundation. American scientists demonstrated an association between the antidepressants citalopram and escitalopram and a long QT interval in some patients' ECGs (electrocardiograms). They reported their findings in the BMJ (British Medical Journal)...