http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Suicides by psychiatric in-patients have fallen to a new low, research published today has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-psychiatric-safer-in-patient-suicide-falls.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 16 May 2012 19:00:01 EST news256406433 The Japanese Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Association (JPITA) is preparing for the nation's first transplantation of pancreatic islets from a brain-dead donor to a patient with Type 1 diabetes, it was learned Saturday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-pancreatic-islets-infusion-diabetes-patient.html Diabetes Wed, 16 May 2012 18:50:01 EST news256409395 Statin therapy safely reduces the risk of major vascular events (non-fatal heart attacks, strokes, and revascularisation surgery) by about a fifth in a wide range of individuals, including those with no previous history of vascular disease, both men and women, and the old and young, according to results of a new meta-analysis published Online First in The Lancet. These findings confirm the effectiveness of statins for primary prevention (preventing the development of vascular disease) and demonstrate that the benefits of widespread statin use greatly outweigh any known side effects, suggesting that current national and international treatment guidelines might need to be reviewed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-meta-analysis-benefit-statins-previous-history.html Cardiology Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:03 EST news256406805 A new paper published online in The Lancet challenges the assumption that raising a person's HDL — the so-called "good cholesterol" — will necessarily lower the risk of a heart attack. The new research underscores the value of using genetic approaches to test biological hypotheses about human disease prior to developing specific drugs. A team led by researchers from the Broad Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) explored naturally occurring genetic variations in humans to test the connection between HDL levels and heart attack. By studying the genes of roughly 170,000 individuals, the team discovered that, when examined together, the 15 HDL-raising variants they tested do not reduce the risk of heart attack. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-hdl-route-countering-heart-disease.html Cardiology Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:01 EST news256406298 A hormone-depleting drug approved last year for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer can help eliminate or nearly eliminate tumors in many patients with aggressive cancers that have yet to spread beyond the prostate, according to a clinical study to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), June 1-5, in Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-hormone-depleting-drug-localized-high-risk-prostate.html Cancer Wed, 16 May 2012 18:00:05 EST news256405573 The experimental drug ibrutinib (PCI-32765) shows great promise for the treatment of elderly patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to interim findings from a clinical trial. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-experimental-agent-older-people-chronic.html Cancer Wed, 16 May 2012 18:00:04 EST news256406942 A phase I clinical trial examining the safety of combining temsirolimus and capecitabine in advanced malignancies suggests the two agents can be given safely to patients. In addition, the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers conducting the study in cancer patients whose tumors have resisted multiple treatments say the combination demonstrates "promising evidence" of disease control and should be studied in a phase II trial. Their clinical findings and additional data from the study will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago, June 1 through 5, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-phase-temsirolimus-capecitabine-safe-positive.html Cancer Wed, 16 May 2012 18:00:03 EST news256406984 Radiation oncology researchers have revised the system used by doctors since the 1990s to determine the prognosis of people with glioblastoma, which is the most devastating of malignant brain tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-glioblastoma-classification-patient.html Cancer Wed, 16 May 2012 18:00:02 EST news256405780 Targeted therapies have been studied for years, but recent laboratory research is providing robust clues about drugs that might work better in combination, particularly in treating cancers that have become resistant to therapy. That kind of information is behind a novel clinical trial at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center that combines cetuximab and lapatinib. Findings from this phase I study will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago, June 1st through 5th. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-combines-lapatinib-cetuximab-resistance-egfr-driven.html Cancer Wed, 16 May 2012 18:00:01 EST news256407046 (HealthDay) -- Many parents of children with an autism spectrum disorder don't feel they can turn to their pediatricians for advice on treatments, a new study finds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-parents-kids-autism-dont-faith.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 16 May 2012 17:50:01 EST news256399336 US shoemaker Skechers is to pay $40 million to settle claims that it deceived consumers by suggesting its sports shoes could help tone their butts and lose weight, officials said Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-firm-butt.html Other Wed, 16 May 2012 17:34:44 EST news256408324 Some types of breast cancer can be successfully treated with drugs such as tamoxifen, but treatment for a type of breast cancer more common in young and black women is still limited to radiation and general chemotherapy. Called triple negative breast cancer, this type of cancer is the focus of a 20-month, $8.6-million research project that aims to find new diagnostic tools and options for drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-collaborative-clues-hard-to-treat-breast-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 16 May 2012 17:30:17 EST news256408180 iPhones and other smartphones can be a huge help to the visually impaired, but few vision doctors are recommending them to patients, according to a study co-authored by a Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine ophthalmologist. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-smartphones-big-visually-impaired.html Health Wed, 16 May 2012 17:29:11 EST news256408136 (AP) -- Authorities in California took the unusual step of jailing and charging a tuberculosis patient who they say refused to take medication to keep his disease from becoming contagious. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-tb-patient-calif-meds.html Other Wed, 16 May 2012 17:27:52 EST news256408044 (HealthDay) -- Patients with HIV/AIDS have a significantly increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD), according to a study published in the May 22 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-sudden-cardiac-death-hiv-patients.html Cardiology Wed, 16 May 2012 17:10:02 EST news256399704 The public health community has long struggled with how best to reduce HIV infection rates among black Americans, which is seven times that of whites. In a new paper in the journal PLoS ONE, a team of physicians and public health researchers report that African-American clergy say they are ready to join the fight against the disease by focusing on HIV testing, treatment, and social justice, a strategy that is compatible with religious teaching. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-clergy-hiv-faith-friendly-terms.html HIV & AIDS Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:17 EST news256405835 Multidrug-resistant pathogens are becoming more frequent, and the few "last resort" treatments available for infections with these bacteria have also shown an increase in use in recent years, according to a study published May 16 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-resort-antibiotics-increasingly-multidrug-resistant-bugs.html Medications Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:15 EST news256405963 Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a rare, but important risk posed by the antibiotic azithromycin, commonly called a "Z-pack." The study found a 2.5-fold higher risk of death from cardiovascular death in the first five days of taking azithromycin when compared with another common antibiotic or no antibiotics at all. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-common-antibiotic-azithromycin-heart.html Medications Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:13 EST news256405020 The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), long the master reference work in psychiatry, is seriously flawed and needs radical change from its current "field guide" form, according to an essay by two Johns Hopkins psychiatrists published in the May 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-experts-psychiatry-diagnostic-manual-overhaul.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:11 EST news256405395 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) generally approves drug therapies faster and earlier than its counterparts in Canada and Europe, according to a new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers. The study counters perceptions that the drug approval process in the United States is especially slow. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-drug-approval-fda-canada-europe.html Medications Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:09 EST news256405124 Boston, MA ─ A new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) found that a simple checklist-based childbirth safety program dramatically improved adherence to essential childbirth care practices at a pilot hospital in south India. Of 29 practices measured, 28 were improved after adoption of the checklist and overall adherence to essential practices was 150% better after the checklist was introduced. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-simple-low-cost-checklist-health-workers.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:05 EST news256405478 In 1848, railroad worker Phineas Gage survived a severe brain injury when a tamping rod shot through his skull, resulting in significant behavioral changes. In a new study, reported May 16 in the open access journal PLoS ONE, researchers have used CT images of his skull in conjunction with MRI and connectomic brain imaging data of living subjects to reconstruct the injury and investigate which regions of the brain were affected to result in the behavioral changes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-neurological-traumatic-brain-injury-survivor.html Neuroscience Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:04 EST news256406147 Researchers of the University of Helsinki, Helsinki University Central Hospital and Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, have discovered that a mutation in the STAT3 gene is an underlying cause for LGL leukemia. Since the STAT3 gene is also abnormally expressed in many other cancers and autoimmune diseases, this finding has roused extensive interest. The research will be published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday, May 17, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-finnish-lgl-leukemia.html Cancer Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:03 EST news256406215 (HealthDay) -- Asthma continues to take its toll on Americans, with almost 19 million adults (8.2 percent) suffering from the disorder in 2010, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-asthma-cases-affecting-millions.html Immunology Wed, 16 May 2012 16:40:01 EST news256399644 (HealthDay) -- Researchers are preparing to test an experimental drug in people genetically primed to develop Alzheimer's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-trial-drug-alzheimer.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Wed, 16 May 2012 16:10:04 EST news256399609 (HealthDay) -- Children with autism given a squirt of a nasal spray containing the hormone oxytocin showed more activity in brain regions known to be involved with processing social information, a small study found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-nasal-hormone-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 16 May 2012 16:10:02 EST news256399301 A new study suggests that head impacts experienced during contact sports such as football and hockey may worsen some college athletes' ability to acquire new information. The research is published in the May 16, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-impacts-contact-sports-college-athletes.html Neuroscience Wed, 16 May 2012 16:00:01 EST news256391926 (HealthDay) -- Researchers report that a new DNA test may be able to spot an increased risk of autism in children as young as 6 months old. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-genetic-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 16 May 2012 15:30:02 EST news256399260 Why are men generally more reluctant to try vegetarian products? According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, consumers are influenced by a strong association of meat with masculinity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-male-consumers-vegetarian-options.html Health Wed, 16 May 2012 15:10:01 EST news256399122 Each year, more than 10 million girls under the age of 18 marry, usually under force of local tradition and social custom. Almost half of these compulsory marriages occur in South Asia. A new study suggests that more than two decades of effort to eliminate the practice has produced mixed results. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-girl-child-marriages-decline-south.html Health Wed, 16 May 2012 15:09:53 EST news256399773