Health News

Health gap between adult survivors of childhood cancer and siblings widens with age

Date: Mar-19-2014
Adult survivors of childhood cancer face significant health problems as they age and are five times more likely than their siblings to develop new cancers, heart and other serious health conditions beyond the age of 35, according to the latest findings from the world's largest study of childhood cancer survivors. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital led the research, results of which appear in Journal of Clinical Oncology.The federally funded Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) found that the health gap between survivors and their siblings widens with age.

More than half of public health staff have recently considered leaving their profession, says BMA report

Date: Mar-19-2014
Public health consultants[i] and trainees say the recent health reforms have failed to benefit the public's health and more than half of specialists have considered leaving the profession, according to new British Medical Association (BMA) research.The Health and Social Care Act 2012 transferred most public health responsibilities from the NHS to local authorities and the newly created Public Health England in 2013, meaning that public health professionals were no longer working within the NHS.

UK abortion charity urges that ministers act to reduce avoidable birth defects

Date: Mar-19-2014
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) is urging the UK's health ministers to implement recommendations to fortify flour with the vitamin folic acid to reduce cases of neural tube defects (NTDs) like spina bifida and anencephaly in pregnancy. There are an estimated 1,000 cases of these conditions diagnosed every year in the UK, not including miscarriages. Most of these diagnoses result in the difficult decision to end a much wanted pregnancy.Spina bifida causes lifelong disability while anencephaly, where the baby's skull and brain do not form properly, is always fatal.

Some lots of Simply Lite brand dark chocolate recalled

Date: Mar-19-2014
Testing reveals significant amounts of milk protein, potentially putting those with milk allergy at risk.Fast FactsThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns consumers that it has tested and found milk protein in 3-ounce bars of Simply Lite brand 50% Cacao Low Carb Sugar Free Dark Chocolate bearing the lot codes "Best By: 01 18 2015A" or "Best By: 01 19 2015A." Milk is a major food allergen, but it is not declared as an ingredient on the label. People who have a milk allergy or a severe sensitivity to milk may have a serious or life threatening reaction if they eat the product.

Risk of psychiatric diagnoses, medication use increases after critical illness

Date: Mar-19-2014
Critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation had a higher prevalence of prior psychiatric diagnoses and an increased risk of a new psychiatric diagnosis and medication use after hospital discharge, according to a study in JAMA. With recent advances in medical care, more patients are surviving critical illness. Critically ill patients are exposed to stress, including pain, respiratory distress, and delirium, all of which may impact subsequent mental health.

Immunology researchers uncover pathways that direct immune system to turn 'on' or 'off'

Date: Mar-19-2014
A key discovery explaining how components of the immune system determine whether to activate or to suppress the immune system, made by Kelvin Lee, MD, Professor of Oncology and Co-Leader of the Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy Program at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), and colleagues led to published findings being selected as the "Paper of the Week" by the Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC). The honor places his work among the top 2 percent - in terms of significance and overall importance - of the year's manuscripts reviewed by the journal.

Tamiflu® reduces risk of death by 25% in adults hospitalised with H1N1 pandemic influenza

Date: Mar-19-2014
Adults hospitalised with H1N1 influenza during the 2009-2010 pandemic were 25% less likely to die from the disease if they were given antiviral drugs called neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs) such as Tamiflu®, according to a large meta-analysis involving more than 29 000 patients from 38 countries, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal. The findings also indicate that treatment within 2 days of flu symptoms developing halved the risk of death compared with later treatment or no treatment."Many governments have stockpiles of Tamiflu that are close to expiry.

Statins slow the progression of advanced multiple sclerosis in clinical trial

Date: Mar-19-2014
Statins may provide doctors with an unlikely new weapon with which to slow the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS).No treatments can currently abate the advanced stage of the disease, known as secondary progressive MS, which gradually causes patients to become more disabled. In a two-year clinical trial involving 140 patients with secondary progressive MS, the drug simvastatin slowed brain shrinkage, which is thought to contribute to patients' impairments.

First guidelines for patients with pulmonary hypertension in sickle cell disease

Date: Mar-19-2014
Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) physicians have helped create the first set of clinical guidelines for treating patients with pulmonary hypertension in sickle cell disease. Elizabeth Klings, MD, director of the pulmonary hypertension inpatient and education program at BMC and associate professor of medicine at BUSM, spearheaded the development of these guidelines, which are published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

European research project aims at early diagnosis of memory disorders

Date: Mar-19-2014
The PredictND project, started by European research organisations, aims at developing and validating new procedures for the earlier diagnosis of memory disorders and for detecting individuals at high risk of developing memory disorders. Millions of Europeans who are at risk for experiencing any kind of memory loss would benefit from such a solution. The novel approach will be tested on 800 patients in four hospitals in Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy. The PredictND project is coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and funded by the EU.