Health News

Headed for the OR? Mayo Clinic expert suggests 5 questions to ask your surgeon before the operation

Date: Mar-12-2014
The news that you will need surgery can prompt many questions and a lot of anxiety. Beyond details about your medical condition and treatment options, what should you ask your surgeon before the operation? Whatever you need to ask to be comfortable with the decisions you make about your care, says Robert Cima, M.D., a colon and rectal surgeon and chair of Mayo's surgical quality subcommittee."You are the one who has to know if it fits in with your life and your family's life to do which type of procedure when.

Nicotine patches do not appear to help pregnant smokers to quit

Date: Mar-12-2014
Nicotine patches do not appear to help pregnant smokers to quit, according to a study published on bmj.com.Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes and may have long lasting effects in offspring.In England, 26% of women smoke in the year before their pregnancy and 12% smoke through to delivery. The rate is similar or even higher in other high income countries.

Barriers to primary care physicians prescribing of buprenorphine for opioid addiction

Date: Mar-12-2014
Buprenorphine-naloxone is a highly effective outpatient treatment for opioid addiction, yet few physicians offer it. Researchers in Washington State examine barriers to prescribing buprenorphine among physicians who have been trained in its use, and they find that a lack of mental health and psychosocial support, time constraints, and a lack of specialty, institutional and partner support were commonly cited barriers. Of the 78 physicians interviewed, only 22 (28 percent) reported prescribing buprenorphine, though almost all reported positive attitudes toward the treatment.

Patients helped by poison centers had lower medical costs

Date: Mar-12-2014
Patients who received help from a poison center had shorter hospital stays and lower hospital charges among those who are the most expensive to treat, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.Poison centers provide 24-hour assistance year round to the public and to medical professionals. While studies show that poison centers reduce system-wide costs, their impact on patient outcomes at the hospital level has not been clear, the study's authors report.

Technology delivers new era of personalization to treat uncontrollable seizures

Date: Mar-12-2014
A team of researchers from the National Institutes of Health, Emory University and Cedars-Sinai - specialists in identifying and treating very rare diseases - used three innovative tools to detect a previously unknown gene mutation, test potential therapies in the lab, and initiate personalized drug treatment for a boy with a lifelong history of uncontrollable seizures that caused significant impact on his cognitive and social development.

Concession stands can benefit from offering healthy foods

Date: Mar-12-2014
In the fall of 2008, the booster club in Muscatine, Iowa took a chance. Researchers from the University of Iowa asked whether the club would add healthy foods - from apples to string cheese - to its concessions menu. And, by the way, would it also consider putting healthier ingredients in big sellers like nachos and popcorn?These were no idle requests. Booster clubs across the United States directly support schools' athletic and extra-curricular programs like band and choir. The Muskie Boosters, for instance, raise $90,000 annually for athletics and other outside school activities.

Predictors of successful ACL reconstruction identified

Date: Mar-12-2014
Researchers have found that a patient's age and the type of tissue graft have a direct impact on ACL reconstructive surgery (ACLR) outcomes, according to an exhibit presented at the 2014 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) annual meeting in New Orleans.Researchers from Cleveland Clinic and six other member institutions presented findings on surgical reconstruction of anterior cruciate ligaments from the Multicenter Orthopaedics Outcomes Network (MOON), led by Cleveland Clinic's Kurt Spindler, M.D., principal investigator of the project for over 10 years.

After joint replacement surgery, statins may lower blood clot risk

Date: Mar-12-2014
Statins have long been known to lower cholesterol and, more recently, to decrease the risk of deep vein thrombosis (blood clots) in healthy, non-surgical patients. New, first-of-its-kind research presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), found that statins, when used in conjunction with conventional blood clot prevention therapies, significantly reduced the risk for venous thromboembolic (VTE) events following total joint replacement (TJR) surgery.

Adequate doses of massage treatment necessary for relief of neck pain

Date: Mar-12-2014
Neck pain is a common and debilitating condition, and massage therapy is commonly used to treat it, yet there is little quality research on the optimal dose of therapeutic massage for neck pain. Randomizing 228 patients with chronic neck pain to five different groups receiving various doses of massage for a five-week period, researchers found the benefits of massage treatments for chronic neck pain increase with dose.

Severe genetic disease prevalent in Moroccan Jews identified

Date: Mar-12-2014
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers have unraveled the genetic basis of a hereditary disease that causes severe brain atrophy, mental retardation and epilepsy in Jews of Moroccan ancestry, according to a study published this week online in the Journal of Medical Genetics.The disease, which the researchers have called PCCA2 (Progressive Cerebello-Cerebral Atrophy Type 2), is caused by two mutations in the VPS53 gene. It results in defective circulation of vacuoles (endosomes) within patents' cells and leads to detrimental excessive storage of "junk" within the cells.