http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. As baby-boomers age and the number of people with serious chronic illnesses continues to rise, the demand for experts in palliative medicine is sure to outstrip the supply, according Timothy E. Quill, M.D., professor of Medicine, Psychiatry and Medical Humanities in the Center for Ethics, Humanities and Palliative Care at the University of Rochester Medical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-involving-palliative-demand.html Health Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:00:08 EST news281808128 A pioneering study in Tayside working with community nurses and terminally ill patients has produced a standardised care package which researchers say could be a valuable aid for the NHS and other health systems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-pathway-dignity-patients.html Health Fri, 01 Feb 2013 08:27:53 EST news278929668 (HealthDay)—Early palliative care (PC) clinic visits, integrated with standard oncologic care for patients with metastatic lung cancer, emphasize symptom management, coping, and psychosocial aspects of illness, according to research published online Jan. 28 in JAMA Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-early-palliative-lung-ca-focuses.html Health Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:23:47 EST news278781819 Investment in end-of-life care has made Ireland a world leader in advancing palliative and hospice care but regional inequities persist, according to an evaluation report just published by the Dean of Health Sciences at Trinity College Dublin, Professor Mary McCarron and colleagues at the School of Nursing and Midwifery. The Trinity report examined The Atlantic Philanthropies funded 'End of Life programme' – which aimed to improve the care and quality of life for patients dying from an incurable illness and to ensure they and their families received excellent end-of-life care and services.  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-palliative-hospice-ireland.html Health Wed, 23 Jan 2013 06:21:48 EST news278144495 (Medical Xpress)—We've all read about the severity of the current flu season. Boston declared an emergency, hospitals are seeing patients in tents outside their emergency departments and we all probably know someone who has been laid up for a week with fever and aches and generally feeling lousy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-flu-extra-precautions-older-people.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 18 Jan 2013 06:32:18 EST news277713119 (HealthDay)—Although the overall use of radiation treatment among elderly end-stage cancer patients is low during their final month of life, many receive more than 10 days of treatment, according to a study published in the Jan. 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-therapy-end-stage-cancer.html Cancer Sun, 13 Jan 2013 15:00:01 EST news277310398 (HealthDay)—For patients with advanced cancer, nurse-led monitoring and optimized treatment of physical symptoms significantly improves cancer-related fatigue, according to research published online Jan. 2 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-nurse-led-cancer-related-fatigue.html Cancer Fri, 04 Jan 2013 14:30:02 EST news276529913 Seniors in long-term care experienced a significant reduction in emergency room visits and depression when receiving palliative care services, according to a recent collaborative study by researchers at Hebrew SeniorLife's Hebrew Rehabilitation Center (HRC) and Institute for Aging Research, both affiliated with Harvard Medical School (HMS). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-palliative-outcomes-seniors.html Health Mon, 10 Dec 2012 11:52:06 EST news274362719 (HealthDay)—The management of pain outcomes for terminally ill cancer patients varies widely between inpatient palliative care centers and is affected by organizational factors such as human resources adequacy, according to a study published in the Nov. 15 issue of Cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-pain-varies-palliative-centers.html Cancer Mon, 05 Nov 2012 18:40:01 EST news271358523 (Medical Xpress)—Breathlessness is one of the most distressing symptoms of lung cancer for both the patients and their carers, but QUT researchers are developing techniques to help patients effectively manage it themselves, and help ease their fear and anxiety. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-lung-cancer-self-manage-breathlessness.html Cancer Thu, 01 Nov 2012 10:25:13 EST news270984305 Almost one-third of older adults received care in a skilled nursing facility in the last six months of life under the Medicare posthospitalization benefit, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-high-medicare-skilled-nursing-benefit.html Health Mon, 01 Oct 2012 16:00:01 EST news268315800 Governments around the world are leaving hundreds of millions of cancer patients to suffer needlessly because of their failure to ensure adequate access to pain-relieving drugs, an unprecedented new international survey reveals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-global-pandemic-untreated-cancer-pain.html Cancer Sat, 29 Sep 2012 05:31:03 EST news268115442 (Medical Xpress)—A drug which for decades has been widely used to treat pain related to cancer has no net clinical benefit, researchers in the Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative (PaCCSC) based at Flinders University have found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-ketaminean-cancer-pain-drugmay-good.html Cancer Tue, 25 Sep 2012 07:57:44 EST news267778658 The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has awarded ESMO Designated Center of Integrated Oncology and Palliative Care accreditation to 16 new oncology centers. The centers will receive the acknowledgment at the ESMO 2012 Congress, in Vienna, Austria, 28 September – 2 October. The ESMO 2012 Congress will also highlight two new Italian studies demonstrating how palliative care works in practice in Italy. The first study explores use of analgesics; the second looks at different models for organization of the integration of palliative care with oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-urgent-oncology-palliative.html Cancer Mon, 24 Sep 2012 03:42:31 EST news267676928 Cancer and chronic disease account for almost half of gradual deaths in European Union countries, suggests research published online in BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-cancer-chronic-disease-gradual-deaths.html Health Mon, 17 Sep 2012 18:30:01 EST news267098775 (Medical Xpress)—A child is desperately ill, and a family faces a stark choice: Should they try to save the child's life with therapeutic treatments, or ease the pain through hospice and other pain-relief services? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-small-mercies-children-life-threatening-conditions.html Health Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:41:41 EST news265538464 Almost half of adults with type 2 diabetes report acute and chronic pain, and close to one quarter report neuropathy, fatigue, depression, sleep disturbance and physical or emotional disability, according to a study of more than 13,000 adults conducted by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, the University of California, San Francisco and the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif. The researchers also found significant rates of shortness of breath, nausea and constipation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-diabetes-patients-acute-chronic-pain.html Diabetes Wed, 08 Aug 2012 10:20:09 EST news263640002 Children with trisomy 13 or 18, who are for the most part severely disabled and have a very short life expectancy, and their families lead a life that is happy and rewarding overall, contrary to the usually gloomy predictions made by the medical community at the time of diagnosis, according to a study of parents who are members of support groups published today in Pediatrics. The study was conducted by Dr. Annie Janvier of the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center and the University of Montreal with the special collaboration of the mother of a child who died from trisomy 13, Barbara Farlow, Eng, MSc as the second author. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-children-trisomy-families-happy.html Pediatrics Mon, 23 Jul 2012 04:22:32 EST news262235977 Soaring numbers of older, sicker prisoners are causing an unprecedented health care challenge for the nation's criminal justice system, according to a new UCSF report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-elderly-prisoners-medical.html Health Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:00:03 EST news258900657 What is the best way to talk to someone about prognosis and quality of life when serious illness strikes? It turns out that no one had studied that question through direct observation, until the University of Rochester Medical Center audio-recorded 71 palliative care discussions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-end-of-life.html Other Thu, 31 May 2012 11:00:40 EST news257680815 Recent studies have shown that palliative care interventions aimed at addressing patients' emotional, spiritual and social needs have a significant impact on cancer patients' quality of life and may even improve cancer patients' overall survival. Despite this, most cancer patients being cared for in their communities do not have access to these services. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-nurse-practitioner-driven-palliative-intervention-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 18 May 2012 12:50:49 EST news256564234 Palliative care for cancer patients in the UK is well established – but the situation is starkly different for those suffering from heart failure. A recent service evaluation led by the University of Hull and Hull York Medical School (HYMS) shows this doesn't have to be the case – particularly if clinicians have the courage to talk about death with their patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-dont-dodge-difficult-conversation.html Cardiology Thu, 17 May 2012 05:10:01 EST news256449400 An interactive toolkit created by a team from the University of Alberta helps palliative care patients and their care providers to deal with the physical, emotional and relationship changes that come with terminal and chronic illnesses. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-palliative-resource-ease.html Health Tue, 08 May 2012 13:05:05 EST news255701085 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 (Medical Xpress) -- To provide elderly, hospitalized patients with the best care possible, the medical community needs to reevaluate its reliance on medical technologies, says Bruce J. Naughton, MD, associate professor of medicine at the University at Buffalo and a specialist in geriatrics, which deals specifically with the problems of aging. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-elderly-patients-intervention-geriatrics-specialist.html Health Mon, 16 Apr 2012 06:31:19 EST news253776647 The antiangiogenic drug pazopanib has demonstrated clinically meaningful activity in patients with refractory urothelial cancer, according to results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4. The results also revealed that increases in interleukin-8 levels early after treatment with pazopanib may predict a lack of tumor response to the therapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-biomarker-drug-response-refractory-urothelial.html Cancer Sun, 01 Apr 2012 06:05:21 EST news252479112 Selected patients 90 years and older who experience an acute heart attack, or ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), have reasonable outcomes with coronary stenting, and should be considered for reperfusion therapy, based on a scientific poster being presented at the 61st annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific session. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-year-old-heart-patients-excellent-outcomes.html Cardiology Sun, 25 Mar 2012 14:26:01 EST news251904328 The number of children with conditions such as muscular dystrophy, neurodegenerative disorders or severe cerebral palsy who are surviving into adulthood has been underestimated, a new study shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-children-life-limiting-conditions.html Health Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:20:01 EST news250691056 Patients with advanced heart failure should have ongoing conversations with their healthcare providers to make informed decisions about treatment options that match their personal values, goals and preferences, according to a scientific statement published in the American Heart Association journal, Circulation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-difficult-discussions-ease-decisions-patients.html Cardiology Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:00:26 EST news250167056 (HealthDay) -- For patients with advanced esophageal cancer, use of an individualized, multimodal approach with palliative intention achieves an acceptable mean survival time, with initial use of photodynamic therapy (PDT) offering significantly longer median survival compared to other modalities, according to the results of a single medical center study published online Feb. 14 in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-multimodal-palliative-approach-advanced-esophageal.html Surgery Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:39:51 EST news249579573