BOSTON -- An oral rinse of the antidepressant doxepin significantly eased pain associated with oral mucositis in patients receiving radiation therapy for cancers of the head and neck, a study led by Mayo Clinic found. The findings were presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology annual meeting in Boston.
MULTIMEDIA ALERT: A video interview with Dr. Miller is available for journalists to download on the Mayo Clinic News Network.
Health care expenditures are projected to reach almost 20 percent of the United States' GDP by 2020. Many economists consider this spending rate unsustainable. Up to 30 percent, or $765 billion, of health care costs were identified as potentially avoidable -- with many of these costs attributed to inappropriate or unnecessary services.
Smoke-free legislation was associated with substantially fewer hospitalizations and deaths from heart and respiratory diseases, according to research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
Researchers reviewed 45 studies covering 33 smoke-free laws at the local and state levels around the United States and from countries as varied as Uruguay, New Zealand and Germany and found:
BOSTON, MA—Commercial medical tapes on the market today are great at keeping medical devices attached to the skin, but often can do damage—such as skin tissue tearing—once it's time to remove them.
A research team from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) has invented a quick-release tape that has the strong adhesion properties of commercial medical tape, but without the ouch factor upon removal.
[Systematic review and meta-analyses of risk factors for childhood overweight identifiable during infancy Online First doi 10.1136/archdischild-2012-302263]
Mums who carry too much weight and/or who smoke during pregnancy increase the risk of having overweight kids, indicates a systematic analysis of the available evidence published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.
A high birth weight and rapid weight gain during the first year of life also increase the risk, indicates the study.
Two giant advertising billboard signs have been given over to exhibit a piece of art based on a vital, but little known physics equation.
The artwork appears as a 'dazzling little troupe of dancing characters' against a 'motorway blue' backdrop, and beams down on motorists and pedestrians as they make their way through West London for 14 days this November. Written in the international language of mathematics, it depicts quantum physics' Schrödinger equation.
Using peer mentors to enhance school-day physical activity in elementary aged students has been given an A+ from Nova Scotia researchers.
And the increased physical activity levels got top grades for significantly improving both academic test scores and cardiovascular fitness levels.
More rheumatologists are embracing musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) to diagnose and manage rheumatic diseases. In response, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) assembled a task force to investigate and determine best practices for use of MSUS in rheumatology practice. The resulting scenario-based recommendations, which aim to help clinicians understand when it is reasonable to integrate MSUS into their rheumatology practices, now appear online in Arthritis Care & Research.
Are you part of the 1%? If so, you can afford organic, locally grown food. Despite claims by the $29 billion organic industry that it is for everyone - and more ethical too - the reality is that it is only for rich people, especially in developed nations.
An Indiana University study that looked at consumers who buy locally grown and produced foods through farmer's markets and community-supported agriculture programs found the venues largely attract a "privileged" class of shoppers.
SAN DIEGO — A study comparing how physicians discuss clinical trials during clinical interactions with black patients versus white patients further confirms racial disparities in the quality of communication between physicians and patients.
Oncologists provided black patients with less information overall about cancer clinical trials compared with white patients, according to data presented at the Fifth AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held here Oct. 27-30, 2012.
SAN DIEGO — Women in socioeconomically disadvantaged and less affluent areas of Chicago were less likely to live near a mammography facility with various aspects of care compared with women in less socioeconomically disadvantaged and more affluent areas. This finding could be a contributing factor to the association between disadvantaged areas and late-stage breast cancer diagnosis, according to data presented at the Fifth AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held here Oct. 27-30, 2012.
CO2 emissions from US domestic energy have declined by 8.6% in the last few years - but that is suddenly not good enough and activists are complaining that more than half of the recent emissions reductions in the power sector may be displaced by coal usage overseas.
Canadian scientists have determined that routine electrocardiogram (ECG) results for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) — the most common form of irregular heart beat — can help doctors identify those at higher risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes, including death. This knowledge will help doctors improve the treatment and prognosis of atrial fibrillation.
Getting a flu shot may not only protect you from getting sick, it might also prevent heart disease.
Two Toronto-based researchers presented studies at the 2012 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress which found that the influenza vaccine could be an important treatment for maintaining heart health and warding off cardiovascular events like strokes and heart attacks.
There are thousands of silver artifacts in museum collections around the world, and keeping them shiny is a constant challenge. So scientists are using new technology to give conservators a helping hand. A team of researchers led by Ray Phaneuf, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, has partnered with The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore to investigate less labor-intensive ways to protect silver artifacts from tarnishing.