Health News

Investing In Quality Of Care For Diabetic Patients Reduces Costs

Date: Aug-08-2012
University of Minnesota School of Public Health researchers have found that medical group practices can reduce costs for patients with diabetes by investing in improved quality of care. In the study, which appears in the August issue of Health Affairs, University of Minnesota researchers analyzed 234 medical group practices providing care for more than 133,000 diabetic patients...

Injuries To US Workers With Disabilities

Date: Aug-08-2012
A new study conducted by researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University compared medically attended noncccupational and occupational injuries among U.S. workers with and without disabilities. The study, appearing online in the American Journal of Public Health, found that workers with disabilities are significantly more likely to experience both nonoccupational and occupational injuries than those without disabilities. Rates of nonoccupational and occupational injuries were 16.4 and 6...

Analysis Of Hemoglobin A1C Levels In Blacks, Whites Reveals Racial Differences In Diabetes Diagnostic Thresholds

Date: Aug-08-2012
Healthcare providers should take into account differences among racial groups when using hemoglobin A1C levels to diagnose and monitor diabetes, new research from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center suggests. In a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers analyzed National Health and Nutrition Survey data from 2005 to 2008 to examine the association between hemoglobin A1C levels in black and white adults and the risk for retinopathy, an eye complication of diabetes that is detectable early in the disease and can ultimately lead to blindness...

Biomarkers Help Pinpoint Mechanisms, Predict Outcomes In Depression

Date: Aug-08-2012
Scientists have discovered a biological marker that may help to identify which depressed patients will respond to an experimental, rapid-acting antidepressant. The brain signal, detectable by noninvasive imaging, also holds clues to the agent's underlying mechanism, which are vital for drug development, say National Institutes of Health researchers. The signal is among the latest of several such markers, including factors detectable in blood, genetic markers, and a sleep-specific brain wave, recently uncovered by the NIH team and grantee collaborators...

Cattle Vaccine Works To Reduce E. Coli O157:H7

Date: Aug-08-2012
A commercial vaccine for cattle can effectively reduce levels of E. coli by more than 50 percent, a Kansas State University study has found. The vaccine is also effective using two doses instead of the recommended three doses, which can help cut costs for the beef industry. David Renter, associate professor of epidemiology, is the principal investigator on a project that researched the effectiveness of products used to prevent the shedding of E. coli O157:H7 in cattle...

Diesel Soot Re-Classified As Carcinogenic, Causing Lung Cancer

Date: Aug-08-2012
Since June 2012, it is official: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified diesel soot as a lung carcinogen. Artur Braun, a physicist at Empa and an X-ray spectroscopy expert, has made crucial contributions to analyzing the structure and composition of soot particles. Soot particles are dangerous - there is nothing new in this knowledge...

How Mood-Altering Drugs May Affect Brain Stem Cells

Date: Aug-08-2012
Working with mice, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have figured out how stem cells found in a part of the brain responsible for learning, memory and mood regulation decide to remain dormant or create new brain cells. Apparently, the stem cells "listen in" on the chemical communication among nearby neurons to get an idea about what is stressing the system and when they need to act...

Potential Therapeutic Target Discovered For Muscle Disease

Date: Aug-08-2012
The study of muscular system protein myostatin has been of great interest to researchers as a potential therapeutic target for people with muscular disorders. Although much is known about how myostatin affects muscle growth, there has been disagreement about what types of muscle cells it acts upon. New research from a team including Carnegie's Chen-Ming Fan and Christoph Lepper narrows down the field to one likely type of cell. Their work is published the week of August 6 by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...

Testing Of New Drug For Patients With Neuroendocrine Tumors

Date: Aug-08-2012
A researcher at Moffitt Cancer Center and his international team of colleagues have reported study results on a novel multireceptor-targeted somatostatin analogue called pasireotide (SOM230) manufactured by Novartis Pharma AG. The Phase II, open-label, multicenter study in patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors (NET) whose symptoms were no longer responsive to octreotide LAR therapy found that the drug was effective and well tolerated in controlling patient symptoms...

Proteins May Point Way To New Prostate Cancer Drug Targets

Date: Aug-08-2012
Two proteins that act in opposing directions - one that promotes cancer and one that suppresses cancer - regulate the same set of genes in prostate cancer, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers have found. The findings, reported recently in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, point toward potential drug targets and prognostic markers for prostate cancer...