Health News

Building new drugs just got easier

Date: Mar-12-2014
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed a method for modifying organic molecules that significantly expands the possibilities for developing new pharmaceuticals and improving old ones."This is a technology that can be applied directly to many medicinally relevant compounds," said Jin-Quan Yu, a professor in TSRI's Department of Chemistry and the senior author of the new report, which appears in Nature.The innovation makes it easier to modify existing organic compounds by attaching biologically active "functional group" to drug molecules.

Surgeons perform first totally endoscopic aortic valve replacement

Date: Mar-12-2014
For aortic valve replacement, cardiovascular surgeons usually have to make a large cut in the patient's chest. But this may be a thing of the past; for the first time, surgeons in France have successfully replaced the aortic valve in two patients without opening their chest during surgery.A study detailing the procedure, carried out using totally endoscopic aortic valve replacement (TEAVR), has been published in the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.The researchers, led by Dr.

Consuming animal protein could prevent functional decline in older men

Date: Mar-12-2014
The medical community has presented findings on both the pros and cons of eating a diet high in animal protein as of late. But now, researchers publishing in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggest consuming a diet high in animal protein could help older men function at higher physical, psychological and social levels.In the great animal protein debate, another series of studies recently suggested that consuming too much protein in middle age is "as bad as smoking" and recommended consuming low protein levels for a long and healthy life.

How can diagnosis for endometriosis be improved?

Date: Mar-12-2014
"Let's start with the gynecologists," begins Linda Griffith. "Many of them trained in a day when the classic endocrinology and gynecology textbooks described endometriosis as follows: 'The typical endometriosis patient is a nulliparous white woman in her 30s who is well-educated and tends to be highly anxious.' Yup, that is the profile of the patient with the persistence and resources to get diagnosed prior to the 1990s.

Even light drinking in early pregnancy raises risk of small or preterm baby

Date: Mar-12-2014
A new study suggests light alcohol consumption during the first trimester is linked to a higher risk of bearing a preterm or unexpectedly small baby, even if expectant mothers keep within the government-recommended limit of two units a week.In addition, say researchers at the University of Leeds in the UK, who report their findings in the BMJ's Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, drinking alcohol in the weeks leading up to conception is also linked to smaller fetal growth.

First device to prevent migraine headaches wins FDA approval

Date: Mar-12-2014
The US Food and Drug Administration has given its first approval for the marketing of a device for preventing migraine headaches. The federal agency says the device, which comes in the form of a headband that delivers a nerve-stimulating low electrical current, may bring relief to patients who cannot tolerate current migraine drugs."This is also the first transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation device specifically authorized for use prior to the onset of pain," they told the press.

Targeted treatment of back pain leads to 50% drop in work absence

Date: Mar-12-2014
Stratified or targeted care of back pain implemented by family doctors leads to 'significant' improvements for patients and a 50% reduction in work absence - without an increase in healthcare costs - according to new research. A team at the Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre at Keele University also found that the proportion of people receiving stratified care given sickness certificates was 30% lower than those patients receiving usual care. Researchers analysed data on 922 patients with low back pain from five GP practices in Cheshire.

Researchers propose model to understand the clinician-medical assistant relationship

Date: Mar-12-2014
Medical assisting is one of the fastest growing professions in America, and MAs are vital to new primary care practice models, yet their relationships to the clinicians with whom they work is understudied. This qualitative study on the working relationship between clinicians and MAs in five small family medicine offices finds that MAs' roles in small practices are determined by their career motivation and relationship with the clinician(s) with whom they work.

MarcoPolo Pharmaceuticals announces a positive Phase II-III study in patients with complex partial seizure for compound VLB-01

Date: Mar-12-2014
MarcoPolo Pharmaceuticals has announced results from interim analysis of the clinical study: "Double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of a fixed dose of VLB-01 as adjunctive therapy in patients with partial seizures (phase II-III)". VLB-01 has shown significant clinical and statistical results in phase II-III study in patients suffering from complex partial seizure secondary generalized or not which were not stabilized despite current antiepileptic treatment.

Importance of behavioral health care affirmed with supplement to the 2007 Joint Principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home

Date: Mar-12-2014
In the March/April issue of Annals, six national family medicine organizations outline a set of joint principles that recognizes the centrality of behavioral health care (defined as mental health care, substance abuse care, health behavior change and attention to family and other psychosocial factors) to the patient-centered medical home.