Health News

Previous costs associated with West Nile virus disease have been substantially underestimated

Date: Feb-12-2014
In a study of the economic impact of West Nile virus (WNV) in the United States, a research team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that in the 14 years since the virus was first detected in New York, hospitalized cases of WNV disease have cost a cumulative $778 million in health care expenditures and lost productivity. The findings are the result of an analysis published online in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (AJTMH).

The severest flu cases are in young, unvaccinated adults

Date: Feb-12-2014
A snapshot of patients who required care at Duke University Hospital during this year's flu season shows that those who had not been vaccinated had severe cases and needed the most intensive treatment.In an analysis of the first 55 patients treated for flu at the academic medical center from November 2013 through Jan. 8, 2014, Duke Medicine researchers found that only two of the 22 patients who required intensive care had been vaccinated prior to getting sick.The findings were published online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Within 10 days Transcendental Meditation significantly reduced PTSD in African refugees

Date: Feb-12-2014
African civilians in war-torn countries have experienced the threat of violence or death, and many have witnessed the abuse, torture, rape and even murder of loved ones. Many Congolese living in Ugandan refugee camps are suffering from severe posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).New research shows that Congolese war refugees who learned the Transcendental Meditation® technique showed a significant reduction in posttraumatic stress disorder in just 10 days, according to a study published in the February 2014 issue of the Journal of Traumatic Stress (Volume 27, Issue 1, 112-115).

News from Annals of Internal Medicine on statins and personal genome services

Date: Feb-12-2014
1. Combo therapy with lower intensity statin may be an alternative to higher-intensity monotherapy for some patientsThe recent American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association cholesterol guidelines recommend initiating moderate or high-intensity statin monotherapy for patients with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels of 4.91 mmol/L or greater to reduce their risk for atherosclerotic cardiovacualr disease (ASCVD), the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States.

Study: 1 in 14 women sexually assaulted by someone other than a partner

Date: Feb-12-2014
New research published in The Lancet reports that 1 in 14 women (7.2%) have been sexually assaulted at least once in their lives by someone other than an intimate partner.Several recent highly publicized incidences of the rape and murder of young women in India and South Africa have put an international focus on the issue of sexual violence against women. These are extreme cases, but the authors of the report warn that "although it is tempting to view these events as isolated, they should be seen as part of a larger, daily reality of sexual violence against women.

Consensus guideline on margins for breast-conserving surgery with whole-breast irradiation issued by ASTRO and SSO

Date: Feb-12-2014
Guideline focused on reducing ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence in stages I and II invasive breast cancer The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) are pleased to announce the publication of the consensus guideline on margins for breast-conserving surgery with whole-breast irradiation in stages I and II invasive breast cancer. The guideline document represents an intensive collaboration among experts in the radiation oncology and surgical oncology fields, led by Meena S.

Should fixed retirement age be abolished?

Date: Feb-12-2014
A report led by a professor at the University of Southampton recommends the worldwide removal of the fixed or default retirement age (DRA).Professor Yehuda Baruch from the Southampton Management School, in collaboration with Dr Susan Sayce from the University of East Anglia and Professor Andros Gregoriou from the University of Hull, has found that, on a global scale, current pension systems are unsustainable.Professor Baruch comments: "We have a global problem with funding pensions, which assume people will retire around their mid-60s.

Defects in minor class splicing likely cause of developmental disease

Date: Feb-12-2014
Melbourne researchers have made a major step forward in understanding how changes in an essential cellular process, called minor class splicing, may cause a severe developmental disease.Using zebrafish, which is a popular laboratory model for studying development, the researchers discovered that the action of a protein called Rnpc3 is critical for the growth of many organs. Rnpc3 functions to regulate protein production through a process called minor class messenger RNA splicing.

After percutaneous coronary intervention, surprising trends in cause of long-term death

Date: Feb-12-2014
More people who have known coronary heart disease die from other causes - such as cancer, and lung and neurological diseases - than heart disease, compared with 20 years ago, according to a Mayo Clinic study published online in Circulation, an American Heart Association journal.The researchers evaluated the trends in cause-specific, long-term mortality from 1991 to 2008 in patients at Mayo Clinic in Rochester who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), a procedure used to open clogged heart arteries.

3-fold increase in pregnancy among young girls with mental illness

Date: Feb-12-2014
Young girls with mental illness are three times more likely to become teenage parents than those without a major mental illness, according to a first-of-its-kind study by researchers at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and Women's College Hospital.The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, is the first to examine trends in fertility rates among girls with mental illness."Research tells us that young girls are at high risk of pregnancy complications, including preterm birth, poor fetal growth and postpartum depression," said Dr.