NEW YORK (Monday, July 28 – 5 p.m. ET): Surgical patients who are placed in contact isolation after their operations are at a particularly high risk for developing life-threatening blood clots, but ensuring they move around has helped curb the occurrence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in one hospital.
Culture
A revised version of a surgical procedure to treat severe chronic migraine headaches led to significant symptom relief more than 90 percent of the time in patients treated at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Physicians from the MGH Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery report that more than half of 35 patients treated with the non-endoscopic procedure – all of whom had headaches associated with compression of craniofacial nerves – reported complete symptom relief a year later.
Dr. Nicole R. Fowler and her fellow reserachers have found that patients with dementia were more likely to receive a pacemaker then patients without cognitive impairment.
Older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia can have co-existing cardiac illnesses and that makes them eligible for therapy with devices to correct rhythm abnormalities. But the risks and benefits need to be weighed carefully with patients, families and clinicians.
PITTSBURGH, July 28, 2014 -- People with dementia are more likely to get implanted pacemakers for heart rhythm irregularities, such as atrial fibrillation, than people who don't have cognitive difficulties, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. In a research letter published online today in JAMA Internal Medicine, the researchers noted the finding runs counter to expectations that less aggressive interventions are the norm for patients with the incurable and disabling illness.
SAN ANTONIO (July 28, 2014) -- Researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the Texas Liver Institute and other institutions have identified a combination of pills that cures 9 of 10 hepatitis C patients.
The combination of the drugs sofosbuvir and simeprevir, with or without ribavirin, cured 93 percent of patients in 12 weeks, and was well tolerated by patients, according to the study published today in The Lancet.
National study conducted in the U.S.
Dallas (SMU) — Smart phones and mobile devices are on the cusp of revolutionizing health care, armed with mobile health ("mHealth") apps capable of providing everything from cardiac measurements to sonograms.
A team of researchers from Warwick Business School and Boston University have developed a method to automatically identify topics that people search for on Google before subsequent stock market falls.
Applied to data between 2004 and 2012, the method shows that increases in searches for business and politics preceded falls in the stock market. The study, 'Quantifying the semantics of search behavior before stock market moves,' was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
WASHINGTON -- A new system that sent patients to designated cardiac receiving centers dramatically increased the survival rate of victims of sudden cardiac arrest in Arizona, according to a study published online yesterday in Annals of Emergency Medicine.
New York, NY - July 24, 2014 -- Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:KERX) (the "Company") announced the publication of results from the long-term, randomized, active control Phase 3 study of Zerenex (ferric citrate), the Company's investigational oral ferric iron-based phosphate binder, for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on dialysis. The PERFECTED study (PhosphatE binding and iRon delivery with FErric CiTrate in EsrD) was published online today in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).
Heart attack patients could be treated more quickly after Manchester research
Clinical judgement, combined with an electrocardiogram (ECG) and blood test on arrival, is effective in reducing unnecessary hospital admissions for chest pain, a new study shows.
The findings of a research group in Manchester, published in the Emergency Medicine Journal, could potentially make a huge difference to a large number of patients.
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the leading pan-European association representing medical oncology professionals, has expressed concern that the proposed EU General Data Protection Regulation [1] could make cancer research impossible and add a significant burden to both doctors and cancer patients.
Washington, DC -- A medication called ferric citrate may reduce dialysis patients' need to take multiple drugs that treat complications related to kidney disease. Clinical trial results appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology indicate that the medication is safe and effective and may even help cut costs.
New York, NY - July 24, 2014 -- Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:KERX) (the "Company") announced the publication of results from the long-term, randomized, active control Phase 3 study of Zerenex (ferric citrate), the Company's investigational oral ferric iron-based phosphate binder, for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on dialysis. The PERFECTED study (PhosphatE binding and iRon delivery with FErric CiTrate in EsrD) was published online today in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).
Diabetes mellitus (DM) appears to increase the risk for head and neck cancer (HNC). Evidence suggests certain cancers are more common in people with DM, but the risk of HNC in patients with DM has not been well explored. Overall, head and neck cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer. It accounts for about 6 percent of all cases and for an estimated 650,000 new cancer cases and 350,000 cancer deaths worldwide each year.
MADISON — A multi-institutional team of researchers has developed a new nanoscale agent for imaging the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This safe, noninvasive method for assessing the function and properties of the GI tract in real time could lead to better diagnosis and treatment of gut diseases.
Illnesses such as small bowel bacterial overgrowth, irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease all occur in the intestine and can lead to serious side effects in patients with diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson's.