Health News

Ottawa COPD Risk Scale will help identify patients at risk of adverse events, death

Date: Feb-20-2014
A new decision tool will help emergency physicians everywhere identify patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who are at risk of serious complications or death. The Ottawa COPD Risk Scale was published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)."We expect this risk scale, once fully validated, will be used widely in emergency departments to improve patient safety by identifying those who need to be admitted to hospital and those who could safely be sent home," says Dr.

How to avoid unnecessary medical tests, procedures

Date: Feb-20-2014
Physicians and patients should talk about unnecessary medical tests, treatments and procedures so that they can make smart and effective care choices and avoid potential for harm, writes Dr. Wendy Levinson in a commentary in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).Choosing Wisely Canada is a new campaign designed to encourage awareness and discussion between doctors and patients about unnecessary tests, procedures and treatments. Choosing Wisely was launched in the United States in February 2012.

Melanoma prognosis affected by number of tumor cells spread to sentinel lymph nodes

Date: Feb-20-2014
Cancer cell spread to the sentinel node - the lymph node to which cancer cells are most likely to spread from a primary tumor - is a risk factor for melanoma death. According to a study published in this week's PLOS Medicine by Anja Ulmer, Christoph Klein and colleagues from the Universities of Tubingen and Regensburg, Germany, the prognosis of a patient largely depends on the number of disseminated cancer cells per million lymphocytes in the sentinel node. Even very low numbers were found to be predictive for reduced survival.

Predicting mercury contamination in the marine food chain, via coastal water, not sediment

Date: Feb-20-2014
A Dartmouth-University of Connecticut study of the northeast United States shows that methylmercury concentrations in estuary waters -- not in sediment as commonly thought -- are the best way to predict mercury contamination in the marine food chain.The findings raise questions about current mercury cleanup practices, and shed new light on the different ways in which the toxic metal bioaccumulates in aquatic species, from bottom-dwelling worms to forage fish to larger fish consumed by humans. Results of the study appear in the journal PLOS ONE.

Chemicals in food packaging 'may be harmful to human health'

Date: Feb-20-2014
Many of the synthetic chemicals involved in packaging and storing the food we eat can leak into it, potentially harming our long-term health, say environmental scientists in a paper published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.Although some of these chemicals are regulated, people come into contact with them almost every day through packaged or processed foods. The authors of the commentary note that exposure is low, but it is chronic, as many of us eat such foods throughout our lives.

Researchers work to unlock the mysteries behind X chromosome inactivation, a trait famously evident in calico cats

Date: Feb-20-2014
Calico cats, renowned and beloved for their funky orange and black patchwork or "tortoiseshell" fur, can thank X chromosome inactivation or "silencing" for their unique look.A team of University of California San Francisco (UCSF) researchers is striving to unlock the mystery of how one X chromosome can be rendered nearly completely inactive. They presented their latest results at the 58th Annual Biophysical Society Meeting, which took place Feb. 15-19, 2014, in San Francisco, Calif.

Malaria: 57% of African population live in high-risk infection areas

Date: Feb-20-2014
In 2010, 90% of all malaria deaths occurred in populations living in the African region of the World Health Organization. Although the past 10 years have seen major investments in malaria control in Africa, new research suggests that almost 60% of the population continue to live in moderate- and high-risk infection areas.This is according to a study recently published in The Lancet.

Multiple myeloma and myeloid leukemia therapies could be enhanced by experimental drug

Date: Feb-20-2014
A pre-clinical study led by Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and Department of Internal Medicine researchers suggests that an experimental drug known as dinaciclib could improve the effectiveness of certain multiple myeloma and myeloid leukemia therapies. The study, recently published in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, showed that dinaciclib disrupted a cell survival mechanism known as the unfolded protein response (UPR). Without the UPR, multiple myeloma and myeloid leukemia cells were unable to combat damage caused by some anti-cancer agents.

Advances in data analysis technology are proving effective weapons for controlling the billions of dollars lost to Medicare and Medicaid fraud

Date: Feb-20-2014
The annual bill for Medicare and Medicaid fraud hit 11 digits in 2012. That's tens of billions.The numbers might be daunting, but University of Cincinnati research shows that recent strategies to combat this unique form of white-collar crime are increasingly effective."Estimates show that Medicare and Medicaid fraud cost somewhere in the range of $29.8 billion to $99.4 billion in 2012," says Michael T. Czarnecki, a doctoral student in UC's College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services. "This means that every day in 2012 Medicare and Medicaid fraud averaged between $81.

How ALS moves through the body

Date: Feb-20-2014
A study led by University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute researchers has revealed how the fatal neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is transmitted from cell to cell, and suggests the spread of the disease could be blocked."This work identifies an important piece of the puzzle in determining how the disease is transmitted throughout the nervous system," says lead investigator Dr. Neil Cashman, UBC's Canada Research Chair in Neurodegeneration and Protein Misfolding.