http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. The drinking water at one-third of migrant farmworker camps in eastern North Carolina failed to meet state quality standards, according to a new study from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-quality-state-migrant.html Health Fri, 14 Sep 2012 09:45:02 EST news266834659 The legacy of the 9/11 attacks in 2001 goes beyond the resultant war on terror and continued fighting in Afghanistan to include lies about public health threats at the time, ongoing health problems today, and a public health system that may be less secure in the present and future, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author said Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-ongoing-health-issues-opportunities.html Health Tue, 11 Sep 2012 08:31:47 EST news266571100 (Medical Xpress)—For years policymakers have attempted to replace Medicare's fee-for- service payment system with approaches that pay one price for an aggregation of services. The intent has been to reward providers for offering needed care in the most appropriate and cost-effective manner. But many of these programs have known pitfalls, says Stuart Altman, an economist and the Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-alternatives-medicare-fee-for-service-payment.html Health Wed, 05 Sep 2012 17:16:32 EST news266084186 Spouses of people who suffer a sudden heart attack (an acute myocardial infarction) have an increased risk of depression, anxiety, or suicide after the event, even if their partner survives, according to new research published online today in the European Heart Journal. They suffer more than spouses of people who die from, or survive, other conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-spouses-people-heart-depression-suicide.html Cardiology Tue, 21 Aug 2012 19:00:01 EST news264783160 In the United States, clinicians are struggling to provide better and more affordable health care to more people—while keeping up with new scientific developments. The idea of a "learning health system" is one proposed solution for rapidly applying the best available scientific evidence in real-time clinical practice. In the August 7 Annals of Internal Medicine, a Group Health Cooperative team describes the experience of turning this intriguing concept into action. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-health-idea-action.html Health Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:00:02 EST news263489226 (HealthDay) -- For patients with residual or recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma who undergo salvage nasopharyngectomy using a maxillary swing approach, postoperative quality of life is generally good, according to a study published in the Aug. 1 issue of Cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-quality-life-good-salvage-nasopharyngectomy.html Cancer Fri, 27 Jul 2012 15:16:35 EST news262620987 Justin M. Brown, MD, reconstructive neurosurgeon at UC San Diego Health System, is one of only a few specialists in the world who have pioneered a novel technique to restore hand function in patients with spinal cord injury. In a delicate four-hour procedure, Brown splices together tiny nerve endings, only one millimeter in width, to help restore hand mobility. Most patients return home 24 hours after surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-surgical-technique-reverse-paralysis.html Surgery Mon, 18 Jun 2012 06:40:01 EST news259219765 There is growing evidence of the need for a separate approach to men's and women's health, according to a men's health expert at the University of Adelaide. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-stronger-focus-gender-specific-health.html Health Wed, 13 Jun 2012 07:29:30 EST news258791359 Around 2.6 million Australians are obese. Obesity causes contribute to diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obstructive sleep apnoea, infertility, depression and cancer. The strength of the causal link between obesity and these diseases means that obesity is now considered at least equal to smoking as a preventable cause of premature death. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-bariatric-surgery-safe.html Surgery Fri, 08 Jun 2012 07:02:17 EST news258357713 (AP) -- A powerful health advisory agency says Britain should extend free fertility treatments to women up to age 42 as well as same-sex couples, recommendations likely to be followed by many of the U.K.'s medical centers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-uk-ivf-older-women-same-sex.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Tue, 22 May 2012 12:46:57 EST news256909609 South Australians suffering from the most common fatal lung disease face an ongoing struggle with health services, according to new research from the University of Adelaide. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-lung-disease-falling-radar.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:12:45 EST news254645302 On Monday, April 9, 2012, Santiago Horgan, MD, chief of minimally invasive surgery at UC San Diego Health System implanted the new FDA-approved LINX device in a 29-year old patient suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a chronic digestive disease that can lead to severe inflammation, stricture, Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-case-fda-approval-magnetic-device-heartburn.html Cardiology Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:12:48 EST news253350757 (HealthDay) -- The United States needs to spend more on its chronically underfunded public health system and use that money more efficiently, according to an Institute of Medicine report released Tuesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-health.html Health Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:47:11 EST news253288025 People with a history of high cholesterol who come from higher income countries or countries with lower out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, as well as those from countries with high performing healthcare systems, defined using World Health Organization (WHO) indices, tend to have lower subsequent cholesterol rates, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-countries-economy-health-care-linked-cholesterol.html Cardiology Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:00:04 EST news253189402 (Medical Xpress) -- Patients seeking a weight-loss surgery that does not require an implanted device or permanent change to their anatomy, have a new clinical trial option at UC San Diego Health System. Santiago Horgan, MD, chief of minimally invasive surgery, and his team, now offer gastric plication, a novel surgery that folds the stomach into a smaller, more compact size. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-weight-loss-surgery-stomach-smaller.html Surgery Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:48:54 EST news250764419 International funding cuts threaten to deepen an HIV crisis in Myanmar, where tens of thousands of people are denied lifesaving treatment, an aid agency said Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-two-thirds-myanmar-hiv-patients-untreated.html HIV & AIDS Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:28:12 EST news249110867 In this week's PLoS Medicine, Dejan Zurovac and colleagues from the Kenya Medical Research Institute/Wellcome Trust Research Program, Nairobi, Kenya discuss six areas where text messaging could improve the delivery of health services and health outcomes in malaria in Africa, including three areas transmitting information from the periphery of the health system to malaria control managers and three areas transmitting information to support management of malaria patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-text-messaging-malaria.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:00:01 EST news249054447 Of 190 million obese Americans, approximately 10-15 percent engage in harmful binge eating. During single sittings, these over-eaters consume large servings of high-caloric foods. Sufferers contend with weight gain and depression including heart disease and diabetes. A new clinical trial, called Regulation of Food Cues, at UC San Diego Health System, aims to treat binge eating by helping participants to identify real hunger and to practice resistance if the stomach is full. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-clinical-trial-binge-eaters-toss.html Health Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:17:54 EST news248077030 In a cross-sectional analysis of WHO-AIMS data published in this week's PLoS Medicine, Ryan McBain of Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA and colleagues investigated the associations between health system components and access to psychotropic drugs in 63 low- and middle- income countries (LAMICs). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-health-factors-affect-access-psychotropic.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:00:05 EST news247248879 (AP) -- India will celebrate a full year since its last reported case of polio on Friday, a major victory in a global eradication effort that appeared to be stalled just a few years ago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-india-milestone-polio.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:22:32 EST news245560945 A team led by Dr. Alan Hemming, transplant surgeon at UC San Diego Health System, has successfully performed the West Coast's first ex-vivo liver resection, a radical procedure to completely remove and reconstruct a diseased liver and re-implant it without any tumors. The procedure saved the life of a 27-year-old mother whose liver had been invaded by a painful tumor that crushed the organ and entangled its blood supply. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-radical-surgery-life-young-mom.html Surgery Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:33:49 EST news245068420 On Tuesday (Dec. 20), Dr. Santiago Horgan, chief of minimally invasive surgery at UC San Diego Health System, was the first surgeon in the United States to remove a diseased gallbladder through a patient’s belly button with the aid of a new FDA-approved da Vinci Si Surgical System. With one incision, Horgan removed the gallbladder in 60 minutes. The patient returned home five hours after the groundbreaking surgery and reported minimal pain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-robotic-surgery-small-incision.html Other Thu, 22 Dec 2011 08:13:38 EST news243763979 Fatal snakebites are a bigger-than-acknowledged global health problem that has been vastly under-reported, according to research presented today at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's (ASTMH) annual meeting. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-snakebite-victims-absent-health-traditional.html Other Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:48:46 EST news242297315 In a development that could pave the way for treatment for rare neurological diseases and clues to more common ones, physician-scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital for Einstein, have secured a grant to establish a clinical site for the Network for Excellence in Neuroscience Clinical Trials (NeuroNEXT). One of only 25 such federally-funded centers in the country, the Einstein-Montefiore site was created in partnership with Einstein affiliates Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan and the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. The NeuroNEXT network and its centers were established with grants from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-newly-neuroscience-clinical-trials-center.html Medical research Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:49:34 EST news241976928 Public health should focus not only on reducing the burden of common diseases but also address the needs of people with blood disorders , experts say in a supplement to December's American Journal of Preventive Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-blood-disorders-health-issue.html Health Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:19:19 EST news240643150 Adding a nurse practitioner (NP) to a busy hospital staff can decrease unnecessary emergency department (ED) visits, according to a study published in the latest issue of Surgery by researchers at Loyola University Health System. Researchers found that the nurse practitioner reduced ED visits by improving the continuity in care and troubleshooting problems for patients. The addition of an NP also resulted in an improved use of resources and financial benefits for the health system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-loyola-nurse-practitioner-unnecessary-emergency.html Health Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:20:01 EST news239622720 (AP) -- Pregnant women in Britain, where the government provides free health care, may soon be able to get a cesarean section on demand thanks to a rule change that critics describe as the health system caving into the "too posh to push" crowd. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-posh-c-sections-demand-uk.html Health Fri, 04 Nov 2011 08:55:29 EST news239615716 The U.S. health care system scored 64 out of 100 on key measures of performance, according to the third national scorecard report from the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System, released today. The scorecard finds that—despite pockets of improvement—the U.S as a whole failed to improve when compared to best performers in this country, and among other nations. The report also finds significant erosion in access to care and affordability of care, as health care costs rose far faster than family incomes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-commonwealth-fund-commission-national-health.html Health Tue, 18 Oct 2011 11:42:42 EST news238156952 A new set of strategies released today by the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System could dramatically improve how the U.S. health care system serves vulnerable populations—those in the U.S. who are uninsured, low-income, or members of racial and ethnic minority groups. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-strategy-health-uninsured-low-income-minorities.html Health Fri, 07 Oct 2011 04:21:03 EST news237180053 "Too busy," and "too complicated." These are the typical excuses one might expect when medical professionals are asked why they fail to use online error-reporting systems designed to improve patient safety and the quality of care. But, Johns Hopkins investigators found instead that the most common reason among radiation oncologists was fear of getting into trouble and embarrassment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-survey-reveals-doctors-online-error-reporting.html Other Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:53:49 EST news237027222