Less than 50% of patients with esophageal carcinoma are suitable for surgery at the time of diagnosis. Most of these patients present with locally advanced or metastatic disease and/or significant comorbidities. In such circumstances, the only therapeutic option is palliative care to treat dysphagia and prevent respiratory complications secondary to aspiration. Self-expanding metal stents have been proven effective for palliation of dysphagia in patients with esophageal carcinoma, tracheo-esophageal fistulas or anastomotic leaks.
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Recent studies have demonstrated that type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with high risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Insulin resistance (IR), which correlates inversely with circulating adiponectin concentration, is a consistent finding in patients with type 2 DM. Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been reported to be associated with increased IR.
A genetic pattern that predicts the likelihood of relapse in patients with one of the most aggressive forms of childhood leukemia has been discovered. Researchers publishing in the open access journal Molecular Cancer have identified a consistent pattern in five genes that has the potential to enable doctors to identify which patients would benefit from more aggressive treatment when first diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL).
The removal of financial incentives attached to measures of clinical quality is associated with slight drops in performance levels, according to research published on bmj.com today.
Since 2004, UK GPs have received payments based on a range of indicators of clinical quality, eight of which are due to be removed in 2011. While existing research indicates that financial incentives lead to improvements in quality, there are few data on the effect of their removal.
Recent changes to the NHS community pharmacy contract in England and Wales have led to a range of services, like smoking cessation and supervised methadone administration, which were once the reserve of general practitioners but which will now be provided through a private market dominated by large corporations.
But are these enhanced services value for money and what are their implications for patient care? Two public health specialists discuss the issues in a paper published on bmj.com today.
A community based falls prevention service reduced the rate of falls among older people by 55%, finds a study published on bmj.com today.
The service also led to increased levels of activities of daily living and reduced fear of falling.
Falls are a common and serious problem in older people. Many people who fall call an emergency ambulance, but are not transported to hospital and are not referred to a falls prevention service. Yet they remain at high risk of falling again.
A study to be published in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library and led by researchers at the University of Edinburgh and supported by colleagues at the Peninsula Dental School, the University of Ottawa and UCL Eastman Dental Institute, suggests that the treatment of serious gum (periodontal) disease in diabetics with Type 2 diabetes may lower their blood sugar levels.
Preventable infectious diseases cause two-thirds of child deaths, according to a new study published today by The Lancet. Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF's Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG) assessed data from 193 countries to produce estimates by country, region and the world. While the number of deaths has declined globally over the last decade, the analysis reveals how millions of children under five die every year from preventable causes.
In two articles closing out the PLoS Medicine series on Global Health Diplomacy, senior diplomats offer their perspectives on how foreign policy can make a difference to global health.
An unknown function that regulates how stem cells produce different types of cells in different parts of the nervous system has been discovered by Stefan Thor, professor of Developmental Biology, and graduate students Daniel Karlsson and Magnus Baumgardt, at Linköping University in Sweden. The results improve our understanding of how stem cells work, which is crucial for our ability to use stem cells to treat and repair organs. The findings are publishing next week in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology.
(Boston) – Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine, in collaboration with scientists from the Rotterdam Study led by professor Monique Breteler; the Cardiovascular Health Study led by professor Oscar Lopez; the AGES-Reyjavik study led by Prof.
Compared with a group of healthy study participants, adults with sickle cell anemia showed poorer performance on neurocognitive tests, which was associated with anemia and age, according to a study in the May 12 issue of JAMA.
A review of previous research indicates that there are few high-quality studies on food allergies, with limited uniform criteria for making a diagnosis and determining prevalence and effective treatments, according to an article in the May 12 issue of JAMA.
Although genome-wide analysis identified two genetic variations associated with Alzheimer disease (AD), these variations did not improve the ability to predict the risk of AD, according to a study in the May 12 issue of JAMA.
"One of every 5 persons aged 65 years is predicted to develop AD in their lifetime, and genetic variants may play an important part in the development of the disease. The apparent substantial heritability of late-onset AD is inadequately explained by genetic variation within the well-replicated genes," the authors write.
ARLINGTON, VA (May 11, 2010) – Advancement in the treatment of cocaine overdoses and a new defense in the fight against HIV are just two examples of the groundbreaking research that will be unveiled at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' (AAPS) National Biotechnology Conference (NBC). The conference takes place Sunday, May 16 -Thursday, May 20 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square in San Francisco, Calif.
A Possible Treatment for Cocaine Addiction