http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Prostate screening tests detect prostate cancer early, but questions about whether the tests do more harm than good have made them one of the most hotly debated areas of medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-doctors-differ-prostate-screening.html Cancer Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:40:02 EST news289823966 New research has found that routine screening using a non-invasive test that analyzes fetal DNA in a pregnant woman's blood can accurately detect Down's syndrome and other genetic fetal abnormalities in the first trimester. Published early online in Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, the results suggest that the test is superior to currently available screening strategies and could reshape standards in prenatal testing. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-non-invasive-trimester-blood-reliably-syndrome.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Fri, 07 Jun 2013 00:00:01 EST news289756504 Even if Australians with newly diagnosed bowel cancer were routinely tested for a genetic predisposition to further cancers, one in three people would still not take the necessary steps to use that information to prevent further disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-good-prognosis-eye-genetic-screening.html Cancer Mon, 03 Jun 2013 16:00:10 EST news289490530 A newly developed, single-step Raman spectroscopy algorithm has the potential to simultaneously detect microcalcifications and enable diagnosis of the associated breast lesions with high precision, according to data published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-method-breast-lesions-cancer-money.html Cancer Fri, 31 May 2013 00:10:02 EST news289153513 Women in their 40s continue to undergo routine breast cancer screenings despite national guidelines recommending otherwise, according to new Johns Hopkins research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-women-40s-routine-mammograms.html Cancer Wed, 15 May 2013 13:17:01 EST news287842613 For adults with no apparent symptoms of depression, routine screening is not recommended in primary care settings because of the lack of high-quality evidence on the benefits and harms of screening for depression, according to new evidence-based guidelines from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (CTFPHC) published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-routine-screening-depression-adults-apparent.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 13 May 2013 12:00:01 EST news287657021 Researchers from the Indiana University Center for Aging Research and the Regenstrief Institute are conducting the nation's first randomized controlled dementia screening trial to weigh the benefits and risks of routine screening for dementia. The results of the five-year trial will help policy-makers, individuals and families weigh the pros and cons of routine screening of adults age 65 and older. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-iu-regenstrief-nation-randomized-dementia.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:35:48 EST news284294140 Researchers at the University of Southampton are planning to investigate tests for a breathing disorder that affects babies and children who have Down syndrome while they sleep. They aim to provide the missing evidence so that doctors can introduce affordable and simple routine screening. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-screening-problems-affect-children-syndrome.html Sleep apnea Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:50:07 EST news282472289 Colonoscopy is one of the most effective cancer screening procedures available. Colon cancer grows very slowly and can be treated if caught early through screening. But, perhaps because of this success, older Americans are undergoing screening colonoscopies despite recommendations against screening in adults aged 76 and older. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-colonoscopies-medicare-patients-potentially-inappropriate.html Cancer Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:09:03 EST news282409737 A survey of women undergoing routine screening mammography found that many of them would be interested in pursuing additional screening tests if notified they had dense breast tissue, despite the possibility of false positives, invasive procedures, and out-of-pocket costs, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-women-dense-breasts-additional-screening.html Cancer Tue, 27 Nov 2012 00:00:08 EST news273174661 Offering routine HIV testing to the general population rather than only to high-risk individuals will significantly reduce illness and death, argues Dr. Julio Montaner and coauthors in an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-canada-routine-hiv.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 26 Nov 2012 13:41:34 EST news273159613 Testing women to see if they are cured of HPV (the virus that can cause genital warts and cervical cancer) following treatment for abnormal cells on the surface of the cervix is more effective and cheaper than cytology testing (cervical screening) alone, suggests a study published on BMJ today. A second study published today, finds that the risk of cervical cancer after treatment and cytological follow-up for abnormalities remains about four times higher than in women with normal cytology tests, regardless of age and stage of abnormality. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-cheaper-effective-women-pre-cervical-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 01 Nov 2012 18:30:03 EST news271001000 Routine screening for type 2 diabetes in adults at low and moderate risk is not recommended, although it is recommended for people at high and very high risk of the disease, state new diabetes screening guidelines published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) http://www.cmaj.ca/content/184/15/1687.full. The guidelines suggest using a risk calculator and then screening based on the predicted risk of diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-diabetes-screening-guidelines.html Diabetes Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:37:43 EST news269613147 (Medical Xpress)—Routine screening for psychiatric, cognitive and social problems could enhance the quality of care and quality of life for children and adults with epilepsy, according to a study by UC Irvine neurologist Dr. Jack Lin and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Amedeo Avogadro University in Italy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-potential-quality-life-epilepsy-patients.html Neuroscience Fri, 28 Sep 2012 13:12:27 EST news268056739 Routine screening for ovarian cancer is ineffective and at times can do more harm than good, a panel of cancer specialists has concluded. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-routine-screening-ovarian-cancer-failure.html Cancer Tue, 11 Sep 2012 13:16:59 EST news266588211 An uncommon mutation of the BRAF gene in melanoma patients has been found to respond to MEK inhibitor drugs, providing a rationale for routine screening and therapy in melanoma patients who harbor the BRAF L597 mutation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-uncommon-braf-mutation-melanoma-sensitive.html Cancer Mon, 16 Jul 2012 13:09:14 EST news261662921 (HealthDay) -- Routine newborn screening failed to identify about one-fifth of infants with an adrenal gland disorder called congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a new study has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-newborn-screening-adrenal-gland-disorder.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 12 Jun 2012 18:20:01 EST news258741794 Routine screening with echocardiogram can detect three times as many cases of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) as clinical examinations, offering a novel approach in preventing this common disease, according to a new study in Circulation. The study, conducted by cardiologists from Children's National Medical Center, is the largest single-population study in Africa. The August issue of Nature Reviews - Cardiology features a summary of the article in its Public Health feature. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-echocardiogram-screenings-effective-rheumatic-heart.html Cardiology Tue, 12 Jun 2012 00:20:01 EST news258658302 A new model of care for screening and treating women around the time of childbirth for mental health disorders shows promise according to researchers from South Africa reporting in this week's PLoS Medicine as part of the newly launched series in global mental health practice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-approach-screen-pregnant-women-mental.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 29 May 2012 17:00:04 EST news257522327 (Medical Xpress) -- Recent recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) advising elimination of routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer in healthy men are likely to encounter serious pushback from primary care physicians, according to results of a survey by Johns Hopkins investigators. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-prostate-cancer-screening-guidelines-tough.html Cancer Fri, 25 May 2012 08:33:48 EST news257153617 (HealthDay) -- Colonoscopies helped doctors detect a high rate of curable cancer in elderly people who had the screening for the first time, a new study indicates. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-colonoscopy-curable-cancer-elderly.html Cancer Tue, 22 May 2012 18:30:02 EST news256929286 There is a very high prevalence of osteopenia/osteoporosis among male patients with pulmonary disease, according to a new study from researchers in California. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-high-prevalence-bone-disease-patients.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sun, 20 May 2012 16:26:31 EST news256749921 False-positive mammograms could be an indicator of underlying pathology that could result in breast cancer, according to a study published April 5 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-breast-cancer-false-positive-mammography-results.html Cancer Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:00:02 EST news252860118 Drug dispensing robots designed to quickly prepare intravenous medications in a sterile environment can harbor dangerous bacteria, according to a report in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-bacterial-contamination-pharmacy-robots.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:20:23 EST news252757209 The American Cancer Society (ACS), the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP), and the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) have released new guidelines for the prevention and early detection of cervical cancer. The guidelines generally advise a reduction in the number of tests women get over their lifetime to better ensure that they receive the benefits of testing while minimizing the harms, and include a preference for co-testing using the Pap test and HPV test for women age ages 30 to 65. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-health-groups-issue-cervical-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:00:07 EST news250954657 Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) have found that women with breast pain who receive imaging (mammograms, MRIs or ultrasounds) as part of breast pain evaluation, undergo follow-up diagnostic testing, but do not gain benefit from these additional studies. These findings currently appear on-line in Journal of General Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-benefit-breast-imaging-women-pain.html Cancer Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:25:42 EST news250334737 A new study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society reveals that brief cognitive screenings combined with offering further evaluation increased new diagnoses of cognitive impairment in older veterans two to three fold. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-cognitive-impairment-older-adults-unrecognized.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:50:01 EST news248325774 (Medical Xpress) -- Children exposed to HIV before birth are at risk for language impairments, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-hiv-exposed-children-high-language.html HIV & AIDS Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:50:01 EST news245406211 Two studies available in the December issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, have uncovered limitations in screening for primary liver cancer, also known as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The first study found that, if given the choice during a clinical trial, most patients with cirrhosis prefer surveillance over the possibility of non-screening, therefore making a randomized study of HCC screening not feasible. A second study determined that ultrasonographic screening at three monthly versus six monthly intervals did not improve the detection of small liver cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-patients-cirrhosis-uncover-limitations-liver.html Cancer Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:20:05 EST news241963900 (AP) -- Men finally may be getting a clearer message about undergoing PSA screening for prostate cancer: Don't do it. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-panel-prostate-cancer-screening.html Cancer Fri, 07 Oct 2011 04:10:42 EST news237179019