http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay) -- Even though autism symptoms typically emerge before age 3, most children with autism are diagnosed when they're 5 or older, a new snapshot of autism in America shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-autism-age-older.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 24 May 2012 18:20:01 EST news257100705 Health care professionals do a better job helping people quit smoking when they are trained in smoking cessation techniques, a new Cochrane Library review finds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-doctors-smokers.html Health Fri, 18 May 2012 09:10:01 EST news256549194 (HealthDay) -- "Team-based care" should be used to improve patients' blood pressure control, the U.S. Task Force on Community Preventive Services recommended on Tuesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-task-issues-blood-pressure-guidelines.html Health Tue, 15 May 2012 16:50:01 EST news256316607 (HealthDay) -- Hospitals, clinics, and health care professionals should immediately discontinue using Other-Sonic Generic Ultrasound Transmission Gel due to risk of bacterial contamination in certain batches, according to a safety communication issued April 18 by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-fda-clinicians-urged-ultrasound-gel.html Health Thu, 19 Apr 2012 03:30:02 EST news254024374 An international team of researchers led by Georgia State University scientists have found a key component in the pathological process of pulmonary fibrosis, a fatal disease for which there is currently no cure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-critical-tightly-deadly-pulmonary-fibrosis.html Immunology Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:20:28 EST news253275595 Researchers estimate nearly 800,000 preventable adverse drug events may occur in nursing homes each year. Many of these incidents could be prevented with safety practices such as medication reconciliation, a process in which health care professionals, such as physicians, pharmacists and nurses, review medication regimens to identify and resolve discrepancies when patients transfer between health care settings. In nursing homes, both registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) often are responsible for this safety practice. A recent study by a University of Missouri gerontological nursing expert found, when observed, these nurses often differed in how they identified discrepancies. Recognizing the distinct differences between RNs and LPNs could lead to fewer medication errors and better patient care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-collaboration-nursing-home-rns-lpns.html Health Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:38:01 EST news250951074 Many health care professionals (HCPs) have easy access to controlled medications and the diversion and abuse of drugs among this group may be as high as 10%. Controversy surrounds the safety of allowing addicted HCPs to return to clinical practice while undergoing medical treatment with opioid substitution therapy such as buprenorphine. In the March issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Heather Hamza, CRNA, MS, of the Department of Anesthesiology, Los Angeles County Medical Center at the University of Southern California, and Ethan O. Bryson, MD, of the Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychiatry, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York, review the evidence and call for abstinence-based recovery instead. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-hcps-pharmacotherapeutic-treatment-opioid-addiction.html Addiction Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:45:22 EST news249907511 Today, heterosexuals in Europe are at particular risk of carrying HIV for so long that they remain undiagnosed until their immune system starts to fail and they become ill. An international study under the leadership of the HIV in Europe initiative has now revealed that a number of diseases, including herpes zoster and certain forms of cancer, should be on the list of indicators for having HIV - and thus serve to prompt health care professionals to suggest an HIV-test to their patients. The new results and guidelines are to be debated at a major international HIV conference in Copenhagen on 19th-20th March. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-indicator-diseases-reveal-hidden-hiv.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:14:52 EST news249819277 The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it is revising safety information on the labels of some statins (cholesterol lowering drugs). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-american-heart-association-comment-fda.html Cardiology Wed, 29 Feb 2012 09:11:08 EST news249729060 In Denmark, implementing a national fast track system for cancer patients reduced the waiting time between a patient's initial meeting with a health care provider and their first treatment by four weeks when comparing 2010 to 2002, according to a study presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-danish-health-fast-track-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:20:01 EST news246795533 The life expectancy of a person born in Japan is among the highest in the world (82.9 years) yet tobacco smoking and high blood pressure are still the major risk factors for death among adults in Japan, emphasizing the need to reduce tobacco smoking and to improve ongoing programs designed to help people manage multiple cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, according to a study published in this week's PLoS Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-tobacco-high-blood-pressure-biggest.html Addiction Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:00:02 EST news246643765 Although significant progress has been made in treating chronic myeloid leukemia, the disease cannot yet be eliminated in all patients, and that challenge must be addressed, states a commentary in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-chronic-myeloid-leukemia-won.html Cancer Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:24:10 EST news246547439 While global attention to HIV/AIDS remains strong, a lack of focus on prevention strategies is stonewalling health experts in many developing nations, specifically in the Caribbean. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-revamping-hiv-prevention-caribbean.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:59:02 EST news246214735 A new clinical Standard Reference Material (SRM) from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will help health care professionals more accurately diagnose and treat cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common pathogen that is particularly dangerous for infants and persons with weakened immune systems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-nist-standard-diagnosis-treatment-cytomegalovirus.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:42:46 EST news245493758 Oregon's groundbreaking Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment program (POLST) is featured in the latest edition of the Journal of The American Medical Association. The program, which was created by health care professionals two decades ago in an effort to ensure the wishes of those with advanced illness are followed, has now spread to 34 states around the country. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-oregon-advanced-illness-highlighted-jama.html Health Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:29:30 EST news244830550 The first study to examine patterns of emergency care for an entire state has found that 40 percent of emergency department visits in Indiana over a three-year period were by patients who visited more than one emergency department. This finding challenges conventional wisdom that patients are tightly bound to health care systems and tend to repeatedly visit local facilities. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-emergency-entire-state-isnt-local.html Health Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:23:18 EST news243598988 Families of hospitalized children can provide valuable information about adverse events relating to their children's care that complements information documented by health care professionals, states a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-families-adverse-events-hospitalized-children.html Other Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:39:33 EST news241101566 The nation's preterm birth rate slipped under 12 percent for the first time in nearly a decade, the fourth consecutive year it declined, potentially sparing tens of thousands of babies the serious health consequences of an early birth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-preterm-birth-percent-lowest-decade.html Health Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:16:21 EST news240765375 The genetic predisposition to obesity due to the 'fat mass and obesity associated' (FTO) gene can be substantially reduced by living a physically active lifestyle according to new research by a large international collaboration, led by Ruth Loos from the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit, in Cambridge, UK, and published in this week's PLoS Medicine. The researchers found that the effect of the FTO gene on obesity risk is nearly 30% weaker among physically active than in physically inactive adults. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-physical-effect-obesity-gene.html Health Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:45:43 EST news239388293 While smoke-free policies on hospital grounds make sense for the objective of clean air, managing the tobacco withdrawal symptoms of hospitalized patients must also be addressed, states an article in CMAJ. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-hospital-smoke-free-policies-patient.html Health Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:29:37 EST news239282970 Parents of children in the palliative stage of cancer favour aggressive chemotherapy over supportive care compared with health care professionals, states an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-pediatric-cancer-palliative-parental-health-care.html Health Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:42:25 EST news238074136 Canada needs to adopt a national suicide prevention strategy, and physicians can play a key role in the strategy, states an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-canada-national-suicide-strategy.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:23:26 EST news238072992 The Hastings Center is exploring the ethical challenges that clinicians and organizations face when providing medical care to undocumented immigrants in the United States. The project is supported by a grant from the Overbrook Foundation Domestic Human Rights Program. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-medical-safety-net-undocumented-patients.html Health Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:56:17 EST news237567165 (Medical Xpress) -- At the site of a car crash, in an emergency room or at an operating table: The seconds it takes to get a medical device to work properly or to understand the packaging on a device can be a matter of life and death. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-medical-packaging-difference.html Health Fri, 30 Sep 2011 08:30:01 EST news236587408 Talking with doctors about cancer and cancer treatments can feel like learning a new language, and people facing cancer diagnoses often need help to understand their treatment options, and the risks and benefits of each choice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-ways-decisions-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:37:48 EST news235741038 How doctors, nurses and other health care professionals can be better prepared to reduce medical mistakes and improve patient care is the focus of several studies published in a special issue of the American Psychological Association's Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-cognition-aims-medical-errors.html Other Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:34:56 EST news235049592 Scientists from the Monell Center report that approximately one third of patients with unexplained body malodor production test positive for the metabolic disorder trimethylaminuria (TMAU). A definitive diagnosis offers relief to these individuals, as symptoms of TMAU can hinder social and workplace interactions and cause psychological distress. But once the disease is identified, these debilitating symptoms can be ameliorated using changes in diet and other approaches. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-undiagnosed-trimethylaminuria-cases-personal-malodor.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:37:04 EST news234009403 More and more, patients show up to appointments with hypertension expert John Bisognano, M.D., Ph.D. carrying bags full of "natural" products that they hope will help lower their blood pressure. And like most physicians, Bisognano doesn't always know if these products will do any good, or if they will cause any harm. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-pills-cardiologists-alternatives-halt-high.html Cardiology Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:28:53 EST news233922485 Rates of HIV have increased in Pakistan's general population, as the virus has spread beyond at-risk groups to women and their children, according to an international team of researchers, including a University of Florida scientist. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-hiv-pakistan-benefit.html HIV & AIDS Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:30:33 EST news233415019 Pain care management needs to be improved, with health care professionals committing to improve care as well as a retooling of the health care system to help people who are suffering, states an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-chronic-pain.html Health Mon, 15 Aug 2011 13:20:02 EST news232633178