Health News

American College of Physicians issues policy calling for tighter management of prescription drugs

Date: Dec-09-2013
In a new policy paper being published in Annals of Internal Medicine, the American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends clinical and administrative changes that will make it harder for prescription drugs, such as those prescribed for pain, sleep disorders, and weight loss, to be abused or diverted for sale on the street. ACP's Health and Public Policy Committee developed the position paper to provide guidance to prescribers and policymakers faced with the challenge of deterring prescription drug abuse while maintaining patient access to appropriate treatment.

Guidelines recommend wider statin use among adults with chronic kidney disease

Date: Dec-09-2013
Guidelines from the Kidney Disease: Developing Global Guidelines (KDIGO) organization call for wider statin use among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). KDIGO updated its clinical practice guidelines for lipid management in patients with CKD earlier in 2013. A synopsis of these guidelines being published in Annals of Internal Medicine focuses on eight specific recommendations relating to pharmacological cholesterol-lowering among adult patients with CKD. Patients recommended for statin use include adults aged 50 or older with eGFR

Study suggests overdiagnosis in screening for lung cancer with low-dose CT

Date: Dec-09-2013
More than 18 percent of all lung cancers detected by low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) appeared to represent an overdiagnosis, according to a study published by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. LDCT has been shown in recent clinical trials to be an effective screening tool in some patients, but some of the tumors it finds may be indolent (slow growing) or clinically insignificant. Overdiagnosis is the detection of a cancer with a screening test that wouldn't otherwise have become clinically apparent.

Cardiovascular complications, hypoglycemia common in older patients with diabetes

Date: Dec-09-2013
Cardiovascular complications and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) were common nonfatal complications in adults 60 years of age and older with diabetes, according to a study published by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. Nearly half of the 24 million patients with diabetes mellitus in the United States are older than 60 years and that number is expected to double in the next two decades, according to the study background. Research suggests advancing age and the duration of time a patient has diabetes can predict complication and mortality rates from the disease.

Study examines drug labeling and exposure in infants

Date: Dec-09-2013
Federal legislation encouraging the study of drugs in pediatric patients has resulted in very few labeling changes that include new infant information, according to a study by Matthew M. Laughon, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues. Neonates (infants up to 28 days of age) are at high risk of drug-related adverse events and their unique physiology makes it hard to extrapolate data on drugs from older patients.

Contact lenses can deliver glaucoma drugs for a month

Date: Dec-09-2013
Scientists from Massachusetts have created a contact lens that will deliver controlled amounts of medicine directly into the eyes of glaucoma patients continuously for up to a month. The researchers, from Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology, Boston Children's Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, believe their contact lenses could replace eye drops as a treatment for glaucoma.

One child an hour treated for high chair-related injuries

Date: Dec-09-2013
When placing a child in high chairs or booster seats, expectations are that the child is secure and safe from falls and injuries. But new research suggests that in the US, a child is taken to the hospital as a result of high chair- or booster seat-related injuries every hour. This is according to a study published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics.Researchers from the Center for Injury Research and Policy, of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio, say that many parents assume that high chairs and booster seats are safe for their infants.

Menstrual cramps relieved by erectile dysfunction drug

Date: Dec-09-2013
For many women, monthly menstrual cramps can stop them in their tracks, causing nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and dizziness. But according to researchers from Penn State College of Medicines, a common drug used to treat erectile dysfunction in men could provide some relief.In a recent study published in the journal Human Reproduction, the researchers, led by Dr. Richard Legro, studied the effects of sildenafil citrate - commercially known as Viagra - on women with primary dysmenorrhea (PD).According to the team, PD is the most common reason for pelvic pain in women.

Pre-Filled Syringes America Conference, 31st March - 1st April 2014, Iselin, New Jersey

Date: Dec-09-2013
The importance of pre-filled syringes and injection devices have never been more pertinent, especially in the US. The challenges of finding a delivery method with patient centric design that avoids leaching, requires swift and decisive decisions early in the development process to avoid unnecessary costs and delays in development.

Third-generation gene sequencing available to all in the future

Date: Dec-09-2013
DNA sequencing seems to be an eternal theme for human due to the desire of ascertaining the nature of life. Professor QIAN Linmao and his group from Tribology Research Institute, Southwest Jiaotong University were working on the optimization of the third-generation sequencing technique based on nanopore. They found that long chain DNA with low salt concentration is more conducive to the nanopore sequencing process. Their work, entitled "Effect of chain length on the conformation and friction behaviour of DNA", was published in SCIENCE CHINA Technological Sciences. 2013, Vol 56(12).