http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. The bacterium M. pneumoniae is carried at high rates in the upper respiratory tracts of healthy children and usual diagnostic tests cannot differentiate between such asymptomatic carriage and actual respiratory tract infection, according to a study by Dutch researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-asymptomatic-carriage-pneumoniae-common-children.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 14 May 2013 17:25:38 EST news287771110 Scientists from the Max F. Perutz Laboratories (MFPL) of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna have provided insights into how much harm bacteria can cause to the lung of people having the flu. An infection with both the flu and bacteria can be a fatal combination. The results could prompt the development of alternative treatments for flu-related bacterial infections, to improve patient outcome and prevent permanent lung damage. The study is published in the renown journal Science. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-flu-bacteria-prognosis-potentially-fatal.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:55:06 EST news286196099 A genetic analysis of the avian flu virus responsible for at least nine human deaths in China portrays a virus evolving to adapt to human cells, raising concern about its potential to spark a new global flu pandemic. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-bird-flu-strain-mammals-humans.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:14:26 EST news285002047 (HealthDay)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration late Friday approved three new medications to help people battle type 2 diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-fda-drugs-diabetes.html Medications Sat, 26 Jan 2013 07:00:01 EST news278401620 (HealthDay)—The first medication to treat diarrhea in people with HIV/AIDS who take antiretroviral drugs has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-fulyzaq-art-related-diarrhea-hivaids.html Medications Thu, 03 Jan 2013 10:32:00 EST news276431502 (HealthDay)—Gattex (teduglutide) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat nutritional problems caused by short bowel syndrome. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-gattex-short-bowel-syndrome.html Medications Sat, 22 Dec 2012 17:30:01 EST news275416457 Nobody wants the common cold as a guest, but the upper respiratory infection keeps knocking at the door, never more frequently than during the winter holiday season. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-cold-flu-myths-facts.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 17 Dec 2012 10:40:01 EST news274961834 Exposure to cigarette smoke has long been associated with increased frequency of respiratory infections—which are harder to treat in smoke-exposed people than in those who lack such exposures. Now Ritwij Kulkarni of Columbia University, New York, NY, and colleagues show that cigarette smoke actually boosts virulence of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Their study appears in the November 2012 issue of the journal Infection and Immunity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-cigarette-boosts-virulence-staphylococcus-aureus.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 08 Nov 2012 15:45:02 EST news271611884 (HealthDay)—Xeljanz (tofacitinib) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) among people who can't tolerate, or haven't been helped by, the drug methotrexate. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-xeljanz-rheumatoid-arthritis.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Wed, 07 Nov 2012 15:08:08 EST news271523281 Changes in the ability to smell and taste can be caused by a simple cold or upper respiratory tract infection, but they may also be among the first signs of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Now, new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has revealed an association between an impaired sense of smell and myasthenia gravis (MG), a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease characterized by fluctuating fatigue and muscle weakness. The findings are published in the latest edition of PLOS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-association-rare-neuromuscular-disorder-loss.html Neuroscience Wed, 17 Oct 2012 17:00:08 EST news269705411 Researchers plan to see if a higher dose of a pneumococcal vaccine will create a stronger immune response in older adults who received an earlier generation vaccine against pneumonia and other pneumococcal diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-pneumococcal-vaccine-older-adults.html Medications Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:03:22 EST news269521385 A new study from a team of researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the Monell Chemical Senses Center, and the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, reveals that a person's ability to taste certain bitter flavors is directly related to their ability to fight off upper respiratory tract infections, specifically chronic sinus infections. The new research is published in the latest edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-bitter-receptors-upper-respiratory-defense.html Medical research Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:00:05 EST news268909368 Although some data have suggested a possible inverse association between serum vitamin D levels and the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections (colds), participants in a randomized controlled trial who received a monthly dose of 100,000 IUs of vitamin D3 did not have a significantly reduced incidence or severity of colds, according to a study in the October 3 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-vitamin-d-supplementation-severity-colds.html Health Tue, 02 Oct 2012 16:00:08 EST news268404181 (HealthDay) -- Instead of reaching for a commercial medicine when your child is coughing through the night because of a common cold, Israeli researchers suggest giving honey a try. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-honey-sweet-treatment-kids-night-time.html Pediatrics Mon, 06 Aug 2012 10:49:23 EST news263468943 India accounted for 56 percent of the world's new leprosy infections in 2010 despite declaring itself free of the nerve-destroying disease five years earlier, a report said Saturday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-india-world-leprosy-infections.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sat, 28 Jul 2012 10:59:10 EST news262691941 (HealthDay) -- Several factors, including sporting activity, physical workload, and smoking habits, affect the sonomorphologic characteristics of peripheral lymph nodes (LNs) in patients with a history of invasive cutaneous melanoma, according to research published online Feb. 29 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-affect-lymph-node-involvement-melanoma.html Cancer Fri, 09 Mar 2012 05:10:01 EST news250490672 A team of UCLA scientists has found that the pathogen that causes leprosy has a remarkable ability to avoid the human immune system by inhibiting the antimicrobial responses important to our defenses. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-stealthy-leprosy-pathogen-evades-critical.html Immunology Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:00:20 EST news247033527 The overuse of health care services in the United States appears to be an understudied problem with research literature limited to a few services and rates of overuse varying widely, according to an article published in the January 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. This article is part of the journal's Less is More series. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-overuse-health.html Health Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:00:03 EST news246555557 Emissions from livestock farms cause asthma and COPD patients living nearby to experience more exacerbations, according to research presented today at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Amsterdam. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-environmental-health-livestock-farming.html Health Tue, 27 Sep 2011 07:20:01 EST news236324765 Examination of lung tissue and other autopsy material from 68 American soldiers who died of respiratory infections in 1918 has revealed that the influenza virus that eventually killed 50 million people worldwide was circulating in the United States at least four months before the 1918 influenza reached pandemic levels that fall. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-earliest-evidence-influenza-pandemic.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:00:54 EST news235662152 Taking probiotics seems to provide both children and adults with a mild degree of protection against many upper respiratory tract infections including the common cold, according to a new systematic review. People who consume probiotics are also less likely to end up taking antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection, the review found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-probiotics-slight-effect-colds.html Health Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:50:01 EST news235384066 Children who have their adenoids surgically removed do not get fewer upper respiratory tract infections such as sinusitis and colds, finds research published in BMJ today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-children-adenoids-upper-respiratory-infections.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 07 Sep 2011 04:21:10 EST news234588051