DALLAS July 14, 2008 Global warming is likely to increase the proportion of the population affected by kidney stones by expanding the higher-risk region known as the "kidney-stone belt" into neighboring states, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center and UT Dallas have found.
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Better treatments have improved survival in people with coronary heart disease, but the quality of those extra years may be less than ideal, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A new vision screening device, already shown to give an early warning of eye disease, could give doctors and patients a head start on treating diabetes and its vision complications, a new study shows.
The instrument, invented by two scientists at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center, captures images of the eye to detect metabolic stress and tissue damage that occur before the first symptoms of disease are evident.
Innovative North Carolina Program Improves Patient Care and Saves an Estimated $160 Million in Medicaid Costs Annually
Community physicians in North Carolina may have found a way to narrow the gap between rising health care costs and declining health outcomes. In this special report, the authors describe how an innovative system of community health networks led by local primary care physicians is improving quality of care and saving the state at least $160 million in Medicaid costs annually.
Antibodies stick to HIV particles, preventing them from infecting other cells and triggering their destruction by immune cells. This antibody response starts out strong in HIV-infected individuals but eventually peters out. To find out why, scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases examined the cells that make the antibodies, known as B cells.
Older adults who have hip or knee replacement surgery for severe osteoarthritis may take several weeks to recover but appear to have excellent long-term outcomes, according to a report in the July 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Using data from clinical encounters and drug prescriptions over three years, researchers have devised a model to predict emergency hospital admissions in the following year in individuals age 40 and older, according to a report in the July 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
More than one-third of Medicare beneficiaries appear to be accompanied by family members or companions during medical encounters, according to a report in the July 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Such medical visit companions may be associated with improved patient satisfaction, especially among beneficiaries in poor health.
Visual impairment may be associated with an increased risk of suicide through its indirect negative effect on health, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Hispanic patients with diabetes appear to have less frequent eye examinations than the national average for Hispanic individuals, and many are not aware of the potential ocular complications of diabetes, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Six-thousand year old bones excavated in Jericho may help a joint Israeli-Palestinian-German research group combat tuberculosis.
According to Prof. Mark Spigelman of the Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who is leading the Israeli team, the bones, which were all excavated by Dr. Kathleen Kenyon between fifty and seventy years ago, will be tested for tuberculosis, leprosy, leishmania and malaria. However, the primary focus will be tuberculosis.
A report published in the July 8 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) is the first to describe the principles behind the stability and electronic properties of tiny nanoclusters of metallic gold. The study, which confirms the "divide and protect" bonding structure, resulted from the work of researchers at four universities on two continents.
Optimism is good for heart health, at least among men, a new study shows.
University of Rochester Medical Center researcher Robert Gramling, M.D., D.Sc., found that men who believed they were at lower-than-average risk for cardiovascular disease actually experienced a three times lower incidence of death from heart attacks and strokes.
A less invasive test commonly used to diagnose coronary disease also may be used to detect one of the leading causes of heart failure, say researchers at the Medical College of Georgia.
By using a nuclear stress test to look at how fast blood flows into the heart's pumping chamber the left ventricle they can determine if a patient's left ventricle is having trouble.
In an Australian first, scientists at Sydney's Centenary Institute have mapped the anatomy of a membrane protein. This exciting discovery has the potential to turn the way we discover new drugs on its head and reduce the development time for new treatments.
"These membrane proteins are the target for 70% of all therapeutic drugs so an increasedunderstanding of them is vital for future drug discoveries," said Centenary Institute ExecutiveDirector, Professor Mathew Vadas.