http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Lifestyle factors, lack of awareness by both patients and physicians, hesitancy in initiating and intensifying drug treatment, and healthcare structural deficiencies are amongst the reasons for the increasing problem of high blood pressure in Europe, according to new joint Guidelines issued today by the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The Guidelines, which recommend several significant changes to hypertension treatment, are launched* today at the European Society of Hypertension congress in Milan, Italy, with simultaneous online publication in the peer-reviewed journals Journal of Hypertension, the European Heart Journal, and Blood Pressure . http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-eshesc-guidelines-arterial-hypertension.html Cardiology Fri, 14 Jun 2013 11:47:04 EST news290429217 (HealthDay)—A lack of research makes it impossible to recommend how primary care doctors can prevent abuse and neglect of children who show no signs or symptoms of maltreatment, according to a new U.S. Preventive Services Task Force statement. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-primary-docs-child-abuse.html Health Mon, 10 Jun 2013 18:20:03 EST news290104890 (HealthDay)—All women should be screened for gestational diabetes after 24 weeks of pregnancy regardless of whether they have symptoms of the condition, according to a new draft recommendation statement issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-task-screen-gestational-diabetes-weeks.html Diabetes Mon, 27 May 2013 17:03:12 EST news288892984 (HealthDay)—Primary care doctors should screen all adults for drinking problems, and offer them counseling if needed, new guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force suggest. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-guidelines-doctors-screen-adults-risky.html Health Mon, 13 May 2013 17:43:39 EST news287685812 (HealthDay)—The drugs tamoxifen and raloxifene (Evista) could reduce the risk of breast cancer among women who are at high risk of developing the disease, a new report confirms. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-drugs-breast-cancer-task.html Cancer Tue, 16 Apr 2013 05:40:01 EST news285308237 (HealthDay)—Not enough evidence exists to recommend that primary care physicians perform oral cancer screenings on adult patients who have no signs or symptoms of the condition, an expert panel says. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-primary-docs-shouldnt-screen-patients.html Cancer Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:50:02 EST news284919061 (AP)—The Army has more than doubled its number of military and civilian behavioral health workers in the past five years, but a new report says a litany of shortcomings plagues the force when it comes to diagnosing and treating soldiers for post-traumatic stress disorder. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-flaws-army-ptsd.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 08 Mar 2013 10:52:22 EST news281962336 For many of us, having our genomes in hand today isn't likely to make any profound difference in our lives, at least not when it comes to our health. But for children and their families affected by rare and mysterious genetic diseases, early indications are that it's a completely different story, thanks to the efforts of two teams of geneticists at Duke Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-rarest-diseases-genomes-yield.html Genetics Tue, 15 Jan 2013 08:53:40 EST news277462401 New recommendations from a task force of allergy experts advise people with an egg allergy to get a flu vaccine, and not to delay with allergy testing before the vaccine. Patients had previously been cautioned about vaccination because of concerns about adverse reactions to egg protein in the vaccine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-advice-egg-allergic-patients-flu-vaccine.html Immunology Tue, 15 Jan 2013 06:50:02 EST news277454145 (HealthDay)—A U.S. task force suggests that people at high risk for the hepatitis C virus should be screened, which includes those with a history of intravenous drug use and those who received blood transfusions before 1992. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-task-baby-boomers-hepatitis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:30:01 EST news273173066 (HealthDay)—Postmenopausal women should not use hormone replacement therapy to prevent chronic medical conditions such as heart disease, according to updated recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-panel-hrt-chronic-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 22 Oct 2012 17:30:02 EST news270144785 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 (AP)—Rebuffing an intensive lobbying campaign, a task force of the American Psychiatric Association has decided not to list the disputed concept of parental alienation in the updated version of its catalog of mental disorders. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-psychiatric-group-parental-alienation-disorder.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 21 Sep 2012 13:45:41 EST news267453925 (HealthDay)—A leading U.S. government panel has recommended against ovarian cancer screening for women who are not at high risk for the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-panel-ovarian-cancer-screens-low-risk.html Cancer Mon, 10 Sep 2012 18:40:01 EST news266517402 (HealthDay)—An updated universal definition of myocardial infarction (MI) includes detection of a rise and/or fall in cardiac biomarker values, preferably cardiac troponin (cTn), according to a statement published online Aug. 26 in Circulation to coincide with presentation at the annual European Society of Cardiology Congress, held from Aug. 25 to 29 in Munich. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-diagnostic-definition-myocardial-infarction-issued.html Cardiology Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:22:01 EST news265375290 (HealthDay) -- A top U.S. advisory panel has recommended against preventive electrocardiography (EKG) screening for people at low risk of heart disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-guidelines-screening-ekgs-low-risk-patients.html Cardiology Mon, 30 Jul 2012 18:14:30 EST news262890855 An international expert task force is calling on health care providers to aggressively identify and provide care for the millions of people who have suffered their first osteoporosis-related fracture, in order to prevent subsequent fractures. In an extensive review of possible solutions to prevent these so-called "secondary fractures," the task force identified the most effective solution – a system of patient care coordination called "fracture liaison services" that research has shown to significantly improve follow-up assessment and treatment after an initial fracture occurs, thereby reducing the likelihood of additional bone breaks. The most significant barrier to widespread use of the model is the lack of insurance coverage, according to the task force report which appears online in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-asbmr-task-urges-fracture-liaision.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 26 Jul 2012 04:54:07 EST news262497241 A report from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Task Force on Treatment of Gender Identity Disorder (GID) recommends the development of clinical practice guidelines for psychiatrists caring for patients who are transgender. The report also encourages the development of position statements regarding the health care and civil rights of people who are gender variant or transitioning gender. The task force report is available online in Springer's journal Archives of Sexual Behavior¹. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-apa-task-treatment-guidelines-position.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 02 Jul 2012 11:22:46 EST news260446954 (HealthDay) -- The sudden death of a growing number of college athletes during conditioning sessions has prompted a task force, led by the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA), to issue new safety recommendations for these workouts. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-college-athlete-deaths-workouts-spur.html Health Wed, 27 Jun 2012 19:30:01 EST news260040263 Preventive mammography rates in women in their 40s have dropped nearly 6 percent nationwide since the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended against routine mammograms for women in this age group, a Mayo Clinic analysis shows. That represents a small but significant decrease since the controversial guidelines were released, the researchers say. Their findings are being presented at the Academy Health Annual Research Meeting, June 24-26, in Orlando, Fla. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-mammograms-decline-task.html Cancer Tue, 26 Jun 2012 15:40:59 EST news259944049 A lung screening and surveillance task force, established by the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) and led by medical professionals from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), is strongly recommending new guidelines for lung cancer screening. The guidelines were published this week in the online edition of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (JTCVS). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-task-lung-cancer-screening-guidelines.html Surgery Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:21:39 EST news259507257 (HealthDay) -- A leading U.S. government advisory panel has proposed that postmenopausal women not take low-dose calcium and vitamin D supplements daily to ward off bone fractures. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-older-women-calcium-vitamin-d.html Health Tue, 12 Jun 2012 18:00:01 EST news258741705 (HealthDay) -- Updated evidence on hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women presents good news for those at risk of osteoporosis, but a mixed bag of results regarding breast cancer and other chronic diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-hrt-therapy-fractures-boost.html Medical research Mon, 28 May 2012 17:33:20 EST news257445154 (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 The uproar that began last year when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force stated that doctors should no longer offer regular prostate-cancer tests to healthy men continued this week when the task force released their final report. Overall, they stuck to their guns, stating that a blood test commonly used to screen for prostate cancer, the PSA test, causes more harm than good — it leads men to receive unnecessary, and sometimes even dangerous, treatments. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-psychological-science-uproar-prostate-cancer-screenings.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 22 May 2012 17:45:27 EST news256927520 (Medical Xpress) -- A new recommendation issued today by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force against routine PSA testing for healthy men age 50 and older goes too far, says a prostate cancer expert at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-psa-drastic-wu-expert.html Cancer Tue, 22 May 2012 07:10:01 EST news256888279 Healthy men shouldn't get routine prostate cancer screenings, says updated advice from a government panel that found the PSA blood tests do more harm than good. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-advice-panel-routine-prostate.html Cancer Mon, 21 May 2012 18:18:52 EST news256843126 Following a period for public comment, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released its final recommendation for prostate cancer screening. The Task Force now recommends against PSA-based screening for all men, regardless of age. The final recommendations are being published early online in the May 22 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians (ACP). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-word-task-psa-based-screening-prostate.html Cancer Mon, 21 May 2012 17:00:01 EST news256823670 New recommendations on devices, drugs and diagnosis in heart failure were launched at the Heart Failure Congress 2012, 19-22 May, in Belgrade, Serbia, and published in the European Heart Journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-esc-heart-failure-guidelines-feature.html Cardiology Sat, 19 May 2012 17:42:22 EST news256668134 The Center for Identity at The University of Texas at Austin has launched a new Child Identity Protection Task Force, which will be led by Texas Comptroller Susan Combs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-comptroller-center-task-child-identity.html Health Tue, 01 May 2012 05:13:53 EST news255068029