http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. 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 Researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute have, for the first time ever, made a connection between tiny genetic molecules called microRNAs and the imminent threat of a heart attack, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-first-ever-link-tiny-genetic-imminent.html Cardiology Sun, 25 Mar 2012 15:30:01 EST news251904285 (HealthDay) -- Obesity is associated with reduced memory and thinking skills in adults aged 60 to 70, especially those with greater amounts of abdominal fat, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-obesity-linked-poorer-mental-skills.html Health Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:29:01 EST news251634523 A team of academic researchers has identified the intracellular mechanisms regulated by vitamin D3 that may help the body clear the brain of amyloid beta, the main component of plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-scientists-vitamin-d-amyloid-plaques.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:01:19 EST news250261269 (HealthDay) -- The majority of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) patients who take twice-daily proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy, are able to successfully step down to management of heartburn with a daily dose of dexlansoprazole modified release (MR), according to a study published in the March issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-heartburn-daily-therapy.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 27 Feb 2012 16:29:58 EST news249582587 Hospitals, health insurers and patients often rely on patient death rates in hospitals to compare hospital quality. Now a new study by researchers at Yale School of Medicine questions the accuracy of that widely used approach and supports measuring patient deaths over a period of 30 days from admission even after they have left the hospital. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-death-hospital-quality.html Health Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:53:03 EST news244821177 Treatment remains controversial for patients diagnosed with a low-risk, low-grade glioma (LGG) brain tumor. These patients have significantly better prognosis than patients diagnosed with more aggressive high-grade glioma, and their clinical care often involves ongoing observation for tumor changes with imaging studies. Because low-risk LGG are slow growing tumors, concerns about the potential adverse effects of early treatment on patients' neurocognitive function (NCF) and quality of life (QOL) may outweigh treatment benefits in patients who are frequently young and highly functional. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-rtog-treatment-strategies-patients-glioma.html Cancer Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:38:32 EST news243171501 Health authorities in south China said Friday they were investigating a hospital medical team for mistakenly diagnosing a stillbirth and disposing of a baby that was alive. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-china-hospital-disposes-baby.html Other Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:03:30 EST news239637792 Sir Iain Chalmers, coordinator of The James Lind Initiative, will use his plenary lecture at the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology meeting to highlight the need for the research community to be more effective in serving the information needs of patients and professionals. He will state there are currently large inefficiencies in the way health research is carried out, with the result that the needs of consumers of research results - patients and clinicians - are not being met effectively. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-clinical-attuned-patients-clinicians.html Other Wed, 28 Sep 2011 03:56:26 EST news236400269 Subtle and unspoken clues exchanged by patients and doctors exert an influence on medical care, according to a new study by the University of Michigan Health System. Researchers analyzed video recordings of routine checkups and conducted follow-up interviews with participants to help elucidate signals sent and received on both sides of the examination table. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-non-verbal-clues-doctor-patient-relationships-clinical.html Health Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:26:41 EST news236229981 Smokers who also have alcohol, drug and mental disorders would benefit greatly from smoking cession counseling from their primary care physicians and would be five times more successful at kicking the habit, a study by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-smokers-comorbid-conditions-doctor.html Health Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:44:25 EST news233315014 Limiting use of drug-eluting stents to a selected group of patients is cost efficient and did not increase risk of death or heart attack within a year, according to a new analysis published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-drug-eluting-stents-millions-health-dollars.html Cardiology Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:00:08 EST news232641946 A new study suggests that the relationship between brain shrinkage and memory loss in Alzheimer's disease changes across the age spectrum. The research is published in the August 10, 2011, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-alzheimer-disease-symptoms-subtle-people.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:08:07 EST news232214857 Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts said Thursday it had reached a deal to buy its competitor Medco Health Systems for $29.1 billion, ahead of looming changes in the US healthcare system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-pharmacy-giant-rival-billion.html Medications Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:21:29 EST news230484079 A new study finds that the cancer care provided by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) for men 65 years and older is at least as good as, and by some measures better than, Medicare-funded fee-for-service care obtained through the private sector. The study, reported in the June 7 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, was led by Nancy Keating, an associate professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-veterans-health-administration-similar-private.html Health Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:54:31 EST news226601659 (Medical Xpress) -- The cost of cancer care is threatening to bankrupt our healthcare system. New drugs are prolonging life, but at staggering costs. This coupled with aging baby boomers and an increasing population mean the U.S. will spend $173 billion annually on cancer care by the year 2020. This trend is not sustainable; however, there are evidence-based ways to maintain or improve the quality of care while saving money for the new therapies being discovered every day. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-oncologists-key-curbing-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 26 May 2011 08:30:02 EST news225615153 Wealth, population size, race and age associate with the supply of hospice care available in a county, according to a study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management this month. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-hospice-strongly-local-area-median.html Health Mon, 09 May 2011 13:09:52 EST news224165354 Doctors at the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System are testing a new kind of clinical trial that's not only less costly but guides doctors to switch to the best treatment even before the trial is completed. The new approach — called a point-of-care clinical trial — was developed by Stanford University biostatistician Philip Lavori, PhD, and a Boston-based team as an alternative to expensive, lengthy, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials to compare drugs and procedures that are already in regular use. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-clinical-trial-approach.html Other Fri, 08 Apr 2011 12:42:16 EST news221485316