http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. In 2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) halted reimbursement for so-called "virtual colonoscopy" for routine colon-cancer screening in asymptomatic patients, in part due to concerns over how this procedure, computed tomography colonography (CTC), was being used in the elderly population. In the first study to examine appropriate utilization of the test among asymptomatic Medicare beneficiaries from 2007 to 2008, a research team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that CTC was used appropriately and may have expanded colorectal cancer screening beyond the population screened with standard ("optical") colonoscopy. The findings, led by Hanna M. Zafar, MD, MHS, an assistant professor of Radiology, are published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-virtual-colonoscopy-appropriately-screening-patients.html Cancer Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:09:03 EST news284371736 Using a telemedicine system to engage people in underserved, urban communities to measure and report their blood pressure remotely—outside of the doctor's office—appears to help them achieve blood pressure goals and improve adherence to lifestyle changes and medication recommendations, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-patient-telemedicine-result-blood-pressure.html Cardiology Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:48:54 EST news281882927 A pair of commentaries to appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy highlight a debate within the public health community surrounding Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for treatment of exposed individuals during last year's fungal meningitis outbreak. Manuscripts of the commentaries were published ahead of print today on the journal's webpage. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-scientists-debate-cdc-meningitis-outbreak.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:10:01 EST news279298626 (HealthDay)—A Hematuria Risk Index could identify cancer risk among patients with asymptomatic microscopic hematuria, according to a study published online Jan. 11 in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-hematuria-index-ids-patients-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 14 Jan 2013 13:30:01 EST news277390560 (HealthDay)—An initial watch-and-wait strategy does not have a detrimental effect on the freedom from treatment failure (FFTF) or overall survival rate in selected patients with low-tumor burden follicular lymphoma compared with patients initially treated with rituximab-containing regimens, according to research published online Sept. 24 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-watch-and-wait-low-tumor-burden-follicular-lymphoma.html Cancer Wed, 26 Sep 2012 04:30:02 EST news267851052 (HealthDay) -- Asymptomatic patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) have significantly more epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) than those without CAD, with an average EAT thickness of 2.4 mm or higher predictive of significant CAD, according to a study published online in the August issue of The American Journal of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-epicardial-fat-tissue-thickness-coronary.html Cardiology Fri, 03 Aug 2012 12:42:22 EST news263216510 Asymptomatic patients who undergo treadmill exercise echocardiography (ExE) after coronary revascularization may be identified as being at high risk but those patients do not appear to have more favorable outcomes with repeated revascularization, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. The article is part of the journal's Less is More series. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-asymptomatic-patients-coronary-revascularization.html Cardiology Mon, 14 May 2012 11:00:02 EST news256208973 (HealthDay) -- A majority of primary care physicians report ordering lung cancer screening tests for asymptomatic patients, according to research published in the March/April issue of the Annals of Family Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-asymptomatic-lung-cancer-screening.html Cancer Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:50:01 EST news250832227 Antineoplastic agents such as immunotherapies and targeted therapies that specifically target signaling pathways in cancer cells are associated with thyroid dysfunction in 20%-50% of cancer patients taking them, which can adversely affect patients' quality of life, according to a study published Oct. 18 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-antineoplastic-agents-thyroid-dysfunction.html Cancer Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:00:01 EST news238155456 A physician panel in the primary care specialty of internal medicine has identified common clinical activities where changes in practice could lead to higher quality care and better use of finite clinical resources. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-primary-doctors-wiser-clinical-decisions.html Other Mon, 23 May 2011 17:26:21 EST news225390351