http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. If you are a steak lover, enjoy your meat while you can. An article by Susan Wolver, MD, and Diane Sun, MD, from Virginia Commonwealth University in the US, and colleagues, explains why if you have been bitten by a tick, you may develop an allergy to red meat. Their article elucidates this connection and discusses the journey of the discovery. Their work appears online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-uncovers-allergic-reaction-red-meat.html Immunology Tue, 24 Jul 2012 12:31:29 EST news262351881 (Medical Xpress) -- This week the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study with unfortuate news for the millions of people who suffer from multiple sclerosis. In the large study, a therapy known as interferon beta failed to stave off the progression of the incurable disease. Albert Lo, associate professor of neurology and epidemiology, comments on what the study means for patients, why it was well-designed, and how a new effort to support research on the disease in Rhode Island could help. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-multiple-sclerosis-drug-disappoints-disability.html Neuroscience Mon, 23 Jul 2012 07:41:11 EST news262248063 Because whooping cough (pertussis) is almost as contagious as measles (affecting ~12-17 individuals with each case), clinicians are required to report cases of this bacterial respiratory tract infection to the state's department of public health. In 2010, California had the highest number of cases of whooping cough in 60 years. A new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics describes the 2010 whooping cough epidemic and details strategies to decrease the incidence of this infection. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-california-whooping-epidemic.html Pediatrics Thu, 19 Jul 2012 00:00:01 EST news261849094 People with cancer often receive fragmented and uncoordinated care, as their treatments frequently require help from multiple clinicians. However, a new review by The Cochrane Library finds no evidence that three main strategies designed to improve coordination of cancer care are effective. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 13 Jul 2012 08:13:00 EST news261385046 MADISON- A study of university students is the first evidence to refute the supposed link between depression and the amount of time spent on Facebook and other social-media sites. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-facebook-depression-wisconsin.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 09 Jul 2012 18:23:40 EST news261077009 After 10 years of debate regarding the risks and benefits of hormone therapy, 15 top medical organizations have come together to issue a statement of agreement regarding the benefits of hormone therapy for symptomatic menopausal women. It was July 9, 2002, when the controversial, highly publicized Women's Health Initiative (WHI) published its assessment of hormone therapy for the prevention of chronic disease and concluded that risks exceeded benefits. The new joint statement, prepared by The North American Menopause Society (NAMS), the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), and The Endocrine Society, concludes that hormone therapy is still an acceptable treatment for menopausal symptoms. This statement has been endorsed by 12 other leading organizations in women's health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-medical-hormone-therapy.html Other Mon, 09 Jul 2012 11:50:18 EST news261053358 The latest vaccine indications are available for doctors and other clinicians through the ACP Immunization Advisor app currently available for iPhone and iPad at http://immunization.acponline.org/app. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-acp-immunization-advisor-app-easier.html Immunology Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:07:42 EST news260449656 (HealthDay) -- The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released new guidelines Monday recommending that doctors screen all of their patients for obesity and when appropriate, refer them to a comprehensive lifestyle-management program to help them lose weight. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-task-screening-adults-obesity.html Overweight and Obesity Tue, 26 Jun 2012 03:08:55 EST news259898913 Marital discord is a significant social problem for children, sometimes leading to problems in health and well-being. A new longitudinal study finds that the impact of marital problems on children in their kindergarten years is long lasting and can lead to emotional problems that contribute to difficulties in adolescence. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-marital-problems-childhood-affect-teen.html Pediatrics Thu, 14 Jun 2012 00:00:02 EST news258816706 Roughly 3 percent of patients who undergo total hip and knee replacement surgery require critical care services before they are discharged from the hospital, according to an analysis of roughly half a million patients. The study, published online in advance of print in the July issue of the journal Anesthesiology, demonstrates that these elective surgeries are placing an increasing burden on the critical care services of the health care system and hospitals should respond proactively. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-popularity-hip-knee-surgery-extra.html Surgery Tue, 05 Jun 2012 10:21:45 EST news258110451 A close collaboration between scientists from the Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC) under the Agency for Science and Technology Research (A*STAR) and clinicians from Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) has enabled the successful development of the most comprehensive and rapid H5N1 bird flu test kit available to date. With this highly advanced kit, doctors can now rapidly detect all existing strains of the H5N1 viruses in a single test with almost 100% accuracy, within a few hours. This is a big boost to public healthcare system and a great stride forward in pandemic preparedness against this highly infectious disease worldwide. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-h5n1-bird-flu-diagnostic-kit.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 29 May 2012 08:05:29 EST news257497522 In July 2002 the publication of the first Women's Health Initiative (WHI) report caused a dramatic drop in Menopausal Hormone Therapy (HT ) use throughout the world. Now a major reappraisal by international experts, published as a series of articles in the peer-reviewed journal Climacteric (the official journal of the International Menopause Society), shows how the evidence has changed over the last 10 years, and supports a return to a "rational use of HT, initiated near the menopause". http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-women-health-hormone-therapy-.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Tue, 22 May 2012 04:15:46 EST news256878936 A Rhode Island Hospital psychiatrist and researcher explains the negative impact of broadening the diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder in the upcoming Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). In a newly published commentary in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Mark Zimmerman, M.D., explains that lowering the diagnostic threshold for bipolar disorder will likely do more harm than good for patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-rhode-island-hospital-broadening-bipolar.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:32:25 EST news254485938 Adding trastuzumab (trade name Herceptin) to the treatment offered to women who have HER2-positive breast cancer, significantly increases the chance of life being prolonged, and reduces the chance of tumours reappearing once therapy stops. This is important, because about one-fifth of women who develop early breast cancer have HER2-positive tumours that, if untreated, are associated with a worse outlook than HER2-negative tumours. At the same time, however, women given trastuzumab have a higher risk of experiencing problems with their heart. These findings are the key conclusions of a systematic review published in The Cochrane Library. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-trastuzumab-survival-benefits-heart-women.html Cancer Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:00:01 EST news253891447 More involvement by patients, clinicians and others in the health care community in developing comparative clinical effectiveness research studies will make such studies far more useful in clinical decision-making, according to the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, in an article published in the April 18 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on comparative effectiveness research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-greater-patient-clinician-involvement-clinical.html Health Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:10:01 EST news253878701 (Medical Xpress) -- A team of researchers led by University of Kansas scientist Nancy Brady has developed a new way to assess the communication capability of individuals with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities who often communicate with gestures, body movements and vocalizations instead of spoken words. The study was published in the February 2012 American Journal of Speech Language Pathology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-people-severe-disabilities.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 28 Mar 2012 05:23:27 EST news252130990 We've all heard about the stress experienced by victims of 9/11, but have we ever paused to think about the effect of those terrorist attacks on mental health clinicians who provided care to the victims? A new study by Mary Pulido, Ph.D., from the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in the US, provides a sobering account of what it was like for these professionals and reports on the lack of support they received. Her exploratory study, published in Springer's Clinical Social Work Journal, highlights the critical need to develop training and expand support systems for clinicians in order to combat secondary traumatic stress. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-mental-health-workers-overlooked-victims.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 27 Mar 2012 10:52:09 EST news252064323 Ticagrelor, a potent anti-platelet medication, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the summer of 2011 and is known to significantly reduce the risk of stroke, heart attack, vascular death and death overall in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), which are characterized by symptoms related to obstruction in coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart. Now, new research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) shows that the use of ticagrelor not only reduces the time to a first cardiovascular event (the metric used in most trials) but also significantly reduces the time to a second cardiovascular event or death, and reduces total events including cardiovascular death, heart attack, stroke, ischemic events and urgent revascularization. These findings will be presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions on March 25, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-ticagrelor-effective-recurrent-cardiovascular-events.html Cardiology Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:10:01 EST news251980805 Use of a new, simple and inexpensive checklist appears to drastically lower the likelihood of heart failure patient readmission and improve quality of care when used before patients leave the hospital, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session. The Scientific Session, the premier cardiovascular medical meeting, brings cardiovascular professionals together to further advances in the field. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-simple-heart-failure-checklist-readmission.html Cardiology Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:40:03 EST news251973200 The results of two randomized trials indicate that among intensive care unit (ICU) patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation, use of the sedative dexmedetomidine was not inferior (outcome not worse than treatment compared to) to the standard sedatives midazolam and propofol in maintaining light to moderate sedation; also, dexmedetomidine reduced the duration of mechanical ventilation compared with midazolam, and improved patients' ability to communicate pain compared with the other drugs, according to a study in the March 21 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-sedative-duration-mechanical-ventilation-comfort.html Other Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:27:03 EST news251479594 With whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing declining in price and improving in accuracy, these technologies are rapidly being integrated into clinical medicine. However, one of the most difficult obstacles to this integration is the uncertainty about searching for and reporting genetic results that are "incidental" or unrelated to the reasons the test was initially ordered. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-doctor-didnt-exploring-incidental-clinical.html Genetics Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:49:27 EST news251030956 Researchers have designed a new version of a labor-tracking tool for pregnant women that they predict could reduce the use of hormonal intervention during labor and lower the number of cesarean sections performed on low-risk, first-time mothers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-labor-tracking-tool-c-sections-first-time-moms.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:01:53 EST news250948815 (HealthDay) -- Prognostic understanding and parental attitude are significant barriers to advance care discussions (ACD) for children with life-threatening conditions, according to a study published online March 5 in Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-barriers-pediatric-advance-discussions.html Other Mon, 05 Mar 2012 12:47:01 EST news250173982 Researchers from the University of Exeter, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD), are working with clinicians from the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) and the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (RD&E) to reduce the time it takes from the start of a stroke to the administration of vital clot-busting drug treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-benefit-victims.html Other Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:56:16 EST news248529359 Gunshot injuries are typically categorized as low- or high-energy based on the weapon's missile velocity and mass. Typically, low energy injuries are treated with simple wound care, with or without antibiotics, regardless of the presence of a fracture. In contrast, high energy injuries are treated more aggressively. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-modern-low-energy-ammunition-deep-tissue.html Other Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:47:08 EST news247848416 Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) tend to be fascinated by screen-based technology. A new study by a University of Missouri researcher found that adolescents with autism spend the majority of their free time using non-social media, including television and video-games. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-adolescents-autism-free-solitary-screen-based.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:03:17 EST news246722587 (Medical Xpress) -- Much more work must be done to reduce the gap between the policy ideal and the practical reality of shared decision-making between patients and clinicians, according to new research from King’s College London. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-patient-practitioner-partnerships-realistic.html Other Fri, 16 Dec 2011 08:35:51 EST news243246909 A team of scientists and clinicians, led by researchers at King's College London and St George's, University of London, are calling for a review of penicillin dosing guidelines for children, as the current guidelines have remained unchanged for nearly 50 years. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-penicillin-doses-children-uk-experts.html Medications Fri, 16 Dec 2011 04:50:01 EST news243230743 A new study finds that patients who are moved into isolation during a hospital stay are nearly twice as likely to develop delirium, a potentially dangerous change in mental status that often affects hospital patients. Patients who began their stay in isolation were not at increased risk. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-patient-isolation-hospital-delirium.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:04:39 EST news242928273 Children who suffer from persistent or recurring chronic pain may miss school, withdraw from social activities, and are at risk of developing internalizing symptoms such as anxiety, in response to their pain. In the first comprehensive review of chronic pain in children and adolescents in 20 years, a group of researchers found that more children now are suffering from chronic pain and that girls suffer more frequently from chronic pain than boys. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-chronic-pain-children-adolescents-common.html Health Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:57:10 EST news242585819