Health News

Lower-Extremity Indication Launched For Complete 'SE' Vascular Stent Internationally

Date: Jan-25-2013
Self-Expanding Peripheral Device Gets CE Mark for Superficial Femoral and Proximal Popliteal Arteries Expanding its role in the treatment of peripheral artery disease, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) today announced the CE (Conformité Européene) mark and international launch of its Complete SE (self-expanding) vascular stent for use in the lower extremities -- specifically, the superficial femoral arteries (SFA) and proximal popliteal arteries (PPA), which supply blood to the legs. In the United States, the Complete SE stent is approved by the U.S...

Early-Stage Trial Of NIH-Developed Candidate Dengue Vaccine Shows Promise

Date: Jan-25-2013
A candidate dengue vaccine developed by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been found to be safe and to stimulate a strong immune response in most vaccine recipients, according to results from an early-stage clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH. The trial results were published online in the Journal of Infectious Diseases...

Poll Finds Only 1 In 5 Parents Very Concerned About Children, Teens Misusing Narcotics

Date: Jan-25-2013
Despite data on rising rates of abuse and overdoses of narcotic pain medicines across all age groups, in a new poll from the University of Michigan, most parents said they are not very concerned about misuse of these medicines by children and teens. In addition, parent support was lukewarm for policies that would discourage abuse of drugs like Vicodin or Oxycontin, according to the most recent University of Michigan Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health...

Motorists Overrate Ability To Talk On Cell Phones When Driving

Date: Jan-25-2013
Most people believe they can multitask effectively, but a University of Utah study indicates that people who multitask the most - including talking on a cell phone while driving - are least capable of doing so. "What is alarming is that people who talk on cells phones while driving tend to be the people least able to multitask well," says psychology Professor David Sanbonmatsu, a senior author of the study. "Our data suggest the people talking on cell phones while driving are people who probably shouldn't...

Among Female Smokers Risk Of Lung Cancer Death Has Risen Dramatically In Recent Decades

Date: Jan-25-2013
Female smokers have a much greater risk of death from lung cancer and chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) in recent years than did female smokers 20 or 40 years ago, reflecting changes in smoking behavior according to a Special Article published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The increase in risk of death from lung cancer and COLD in female smokers has been large enough to completely offset improvements in longevity from medical advances that have reduced death rates in the rest of the population over the last 50 years...

Including More Individuals With Physical Differences In Mainstream Media May Teach Us To Be More Understanding

Date: Jan-25-2013
A new USC study finds evidence suggesting that the brain works hard to understand those who have different bodies when watching them in action. According to the study's lead author, the finding supports initiatives to include more individuals with physical differences in mainstream media - such as Sarah Herron, a contestant on ABC's The Bachelor this season, who was born with a foreshortened left arm. "Generally, it's considered impolite to stare. But what these results suggest is that we need to look...

Smoking Rates Likely To Decrease With Implementation Of Plain Packaging Of Tobacco Products, According To Experts

Date: Jan-25-2013
Experts believe that plain packaging of tobacco products would cut smoking, a new study has found. Tobacco control experts from around the world estimate that two years after the introduction of generic packaging the number of adult smokers would be reduced by one percentage point (in the UK - from 21 to 20%*), and the percentage of children trying smoking would be reduced by three percentage points (in the UK - from 27 to 24%*). The Cambridge research was published in the journal BMC Public Health...

Acute Myocardial Infarctions Reduced By 11 Percent As A Result Of Smoke-Free Legislation

Date: Jan-25-2013
Researchers participating in the REGICOR Study (Girona Heart Registry), with the participation of IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute) from Barcelona, the Josep Trueta Hospital, the Blanes Hospital and IDIAP Jordi Gol from Girona (Primary Healthcare Research Institute) have carried out a study to assess the impact of the partial smoke-free legislation passed in 2006 on the incidence of acute myocardial infarction in the province of Girona and observed it has dropped 11%...

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Has Significantly Resuscitated Activity In Damaged Brains

Date: Jan-25-2013
Stroke, traumatic injury, and metabolic disorder are major causes of brain damage and permanent disabilities, including motor dysfunction, psychological disorders, memory loss, and more. Current therapy and rehab programs aim to help patients heal, but they often have limited success. Now Dr. Shai Efrati of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine has found a way to restore a significant amount of neurological function in brain tissue thought to be chronically damaged - even years after initial injury. Theorizing that high levels of oxygen could reinvigorate dormant neurons, Dr...

In Synesthesia, Learning And Memory May Play A Central Role

Date: Jan-25-2013
People with color-grapheme synesthesia experience color when viewing written letters or numerals, usually with a particular color evoked by each grapheme (i.e., the letter 'A' evokes the color red). In a new study, researchers Nathan Witthoft and Jonathan Winawer of Stanford University present data from 11 color grapheme synesthetes who had startlingly similar color-letter pairings that were traceable to childhood toys containing magnetic colored letters. Their findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science...