http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress provides the latest news from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Kidney failure affects 25 million individuals in the U.S. and many more throughout the world. Loss of kidney function means the majority of these patients must undergo dialysis treatments to remove excess fluids and waste products. Although dialysis therapy coupled with medication has improved the life expectancy for people with kidney failure, for unknown reasons, patients' risk of sudden heart failure and death remains 10 to 20 times greater than average. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-factor-heart-disease-kidney-dialysis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:00:01 EST news281797088 Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) affects more than 90 percent of the population worldwide and was the first human virus found to be associated with cancer. Now, researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have broadened the understanding of this widespread infection with their discovery of a second B-cell attachment receptor for EBV. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-reveals-clues-epstein-barr-virus.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:50:34 EST news280673425 A patient's relationship with his or her doctor has long been considered an important component of healing. Now, in a novel investigation in which physicians underwent brain scans while they believed they were actually treating patients, researchers have provided the first scientific evidence indicating that doctors truly can feel their patients' pain – and can also experience their relief following treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-physicians-brain-scans-doctors-patients.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:00:01 EST news278613656 In recent years, it has been thought that select sets of genes might reveal cancer patients' prognoses. However, a study published last year examining breast cancer cases found that most of these "prognostic signatures" were no more accurate than random gene sets in determining cancer prognoses. While many saw this as a disappointment, investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) saw this as an opportunity to design a new method to identify gene sets that could yield more significant prognostic value. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-method-genes-prognoses-cancer-patients.html Genetics Fri, 25 Jan 2013 09:06:26 EST news278327168 Genomic research is widely expected to transform medicine, but progress has been slower than expected. While critics argue that the genomics "promise" has been broken – and that money might be better spent elsewhere—proponents say the deliberate pace underscores the complexity of the relationship between medicine and disease and, indeed, argues for more funding. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-genomic-clinical-careand.html Genetics Fri, 04 Jan 2013 12:59:59 EST news276526775 Bones are resilient and heal well after most fractures. But in cases of traumatic injury, in which big pieces of bone are missing, healing is much more difficult, if not impossible. These so-called "large segmental defects" are a major clinical problem, and orthopaedic surgeons struggle to treat them, especially among the military in places like Afghanistan. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-simple-inexpensive-massive-bone-loss.html Surgery Wed, 21 Nov 2012 13:30:04 EST news272725277 While stress may be a factor in 60 to 80 percent of all visits to primary care physicians, only three percent of patients actually receive stress management counseling, say researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-stress-primary-rare.html Health Mon, 19 Nov 2012 16:00:39 EST news272541438 Many of the body's processes follow a natural daily rhythm or so-called circadian clock. There are certain times of the day when a person is most alert, when blood pressure is highest, and when the heart is most efficient. Several rare gene mutations have been found that can adjust this clock in humans, responsible for entire families in which people wake up at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. and cannot stay up much after 8 at night. Now new research has, for the first time, identified a common gene variant that affects virtually the entire population, and which is responsible for up to an hour a day of your tendency to be an early riser or night owl. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-gene-distinguishes-early-birds-night.html Genetics Fri, 16 Nov 2012 11:34:27 EST news272288055 Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), are a newly emerging cellular therapy being tested in approximately 250 clinical trials worldwide to help repair damaged tissues, such as injured heart muscle following a heart attack. The problem is that when culture-expanded MSCs are injected into the circulation, they have trouble gaining access to the inflamed tissues—exactly where their help is needed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-reveals-insights-aid-therapeutic-mesenchymal.html Medical research Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:12:21 EST news272207529 Elevated risk of miscarriage, preterm birth, neonatal health complications and possible longer term neurobehavioral abnormalities, including autism, suggest that a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) should only be prescribed with great caution and with full counseling for women experiencing depression and attempting to get pregnant, say researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Tufts Medical Center and MetroWest Medical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-ssri-usage-pregnancy.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Wed, 31 Oct 2012 03:30:01 EST news270871658 Maintaining a healthy body weight may be difficult for many people, but it's reassuring to know that our brains and bodies are wired to work together to do just that—in essence, to achieve a phenomenon known as energy balance, a tight matching between the number of calories consumed versus those expended. This careful balance results from a complex interchange of neurobiological crosstalk within regions of the brain's hypothalamus, and when this "conversation" goes awry, obesity or anorexia can result. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-clues-brain-body-weight.html Overweight and Obesity Fri, 26 Oct 2012 17:00:01 EST news270486601 Although placebos have played a critical role in medicine and clinical research for more than 70 years, it has been a mystery why these inactive treatments help to alleviate symptoms in some patients – and not others. Now researchers have for the first time identified genetic differences between placebo responders and non-responders, providing an important new clue to what has come to be known as "the placebo effect." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-genetic-marker-placebo-response-ibs.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:00:06 EST news270225268 In recent years investigators have discovered that breast tumors are influenced by more than just the cancer cells within them. A variety of noncancerous cells, which in many cases constitute the majority of the tumor mass, form what is known as the "tumor microenvironment." This sea of noncancerous cells and the products they deposit appear to play key roles in tumor pathogenesis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-discovery-reveals-important-clues-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 11 Oct 2012 13:44:38 EST news269181849 Patients with access to notes written by their doctors feel more in control of their care and report a better understanding of their medical issues, improved recall of their care plan and being more likely to take their medications as prescribed, a Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center-led study has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-patients-health-doctors.html Health Mon, 01 Oct 2012 17:00:04 EST news268329028 A new postage stamp-sized, paper-based device could provide a simple and reliable way to monitor for liver damage at a cost of only pennies per test, say researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Diagnostics For All (DFA), a Cambridge, MA nonprofit dedicated to improving the health of people living in the developing world. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-bidmc-diagnostics-low-cost-paper-based-liver.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 19 Sep 2012 14:01:02 EST news267281992