Health News

Link Between Hospital Readmission Rates And Availability Of Care, Socioeconomics

Date: May-15-2012
Differences in regional hospital readmission rates for heart failure are more closely tied to the availability of care and socioeconomics than to hospital performance or patients' degree of illness, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care & Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2012. U.S. regional readmission rates for heart failure vary widely - from 10 percent to 32 percent - researchers found. Communities with higher rates were likely to have more physicians and hospital beds and their populations were likely to be poor, black and relatively...

Anti-Epilepsy Drugs May Cause Cognitive Deficits In Newborns

Date: May-15-2012
A brain study in infant rats demonstrates that the anti-epilepsy drug phenobarbital stunts neuronal growth, which could prompt new questions about using the first-line drug to treat epilepsy in human newborns. In Annals of Neurology EarlyView posted online, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) report that the anti-epilepsy drug phenobarbital given to rat pups about a week old changed the way the animals' brains were wired, causing cognitive abnormalities later in life. The researchers say it has been known that some of the drugs used to treat epilepsy increase the amount...

Novel Self-Adhesive Device To Diagnose Irregular Heartbeat

Date: May-15-2012
A study conducted at Scripps Health has found that a novel new heart monitoring device helped emergency room patients avoid unnecessary follow-up care. Scripps Health electrophysiologist Steven Higgins, MD, presented findings of the study titled, "Prevalence of Arrhythmias in Emergency Department Patients Discharged Using a Novel Ambulatory Cardiac Monitor",at the Heart Rhythm Society's 33rd Annual Scientific Sessions in Boston. The study focused on the use of Zio® Patch, a single-use ambulatory cardiac monitor that looks similar to a 2- by 5-inch adhesive bandage and sticks to a patient's...

In Early Stage Breast Cancer, Highly Targeted Irradiation As Good As Whole Breast Radiotherapy

Date: May-15-2012
Using a concentrated, highly targeted dose of radiation to the breast has equally good results as irradiating the whole area, with no adverse effects on survival and a much better cosmetic outcome, Hungarian researchers have found. Reporting the ten-year results of a randomised trial, Professor Csaba Polgar, MD, Director of the Centre for Radiotherapy, National Institute of Oncology, Budapest, told the World Congress of Brachytherapy [1 & 2] that he believes that accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) could be offered to many more breast cancer patients, resulting in fewer side effects...

Cancer In The Elderly: Research Fails To Keep Up With Demographic Change

Date: May-15-2012
New research showing that almost half of 13,000 patients with head and neck cancers had other health-related problems at the same time was one of the presentations in a special session at the 31st conference of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO 31) [1]. The session highlighted the effect of the demographic time bomb caused by an increasingly ageing population. Dr Charlotte Rotbøl Bøje, from the Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark, told the conference that analysis of co-morbidities - other medical conditions or diseases that exist alongside an initial cancer...

Unnecessary CT Scans Reduced In ER Patients With Abdominal Pain

Date: May-15-2012
A new electronic medical record tool that tallies patients' previous radiation exposure from CT scans helps reduce potentially unnecessary use of the tests among emergency room patients with abdominal pain, according to a study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. The new study shows that when the tool is in use, patients are 10 percent less likely to undergo a CT scan, without increasing the number of patients who are admitted to the hospital. Abdominal pain is the...

Bystanders Less Likely To Offer CPR And Defibrillation To Black Cardiac Arrest Victims

Date: May-15-2012
Black Cardiac Arrest Victims Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology Also Included In: Public Health Article Date: 15 May 2012 - 0:00 PDT  email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions    rate article  Current ratings for: 'Bystanders Less Likely To Offer CPR And Defibrillation To Black Cardiac Arrest Victims' Patient / Public: Healthcare Prof: Black cardiac arrest victims who are stricken outside hospitals are less likely to receive bystander CPR and defibrillation on the scene than white patients, according to research presented by a research team from the Perelman...

Compounds To Block Immune-Regulating Enzyme

Date: May-15-2012
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found the first chemical compounds that act to block an enzyme that has been linked to inflammatory conditions such as asthma and arthritis, as well as some inflammation-promoted cancers. The new study, published recently by the journal ACS Chemical Biology, describes new compounds that inhibit an important enzyme called PRMT1 (protein arginine methyltransferase 1). The new inhibitors will be useful to scientists who study PRMT1-related biological pathways in cells and who are developing drug treatments for PRMT1-related inflammatory conditions...

The Brain's Neuronal Circuit Excitability May Be Altered By Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Lead To Brain Network Dysfunction

Date: May-14-2012
Even mild head injuries can cause significant abnormalities in brain function that last for several days, which may explain the neurological symptoms experienced by some individuals who have experienced a head injury associated with sports, accidents or combat, according to a study by Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers. These findings, published in the May issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, advance research in the field of traumatic brain injury (TBI), enabling researchers to better understand what brain structural or functional changes underlie posttraumatic...

Education, Medication Compliance Cited In Lower Number Of ICU Admissions For Asthma

Date: May-14-2012
A review of 30 years of life-threatening asthma cases in a San Antonio intensive care unit found that annual ICU admissions for the condition have dropped 74 percent. The study, by UT Medicine San Antonio physicians who reviewed cases at University Hospital between 1980 and 2010, also showed intubation in the emergency department to help patients breathe did not result in longer hospital stays. UT Medicine is the clinical practice of the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. Faculty studied inpatient care of status asthmaticus at University Hospital....