http://medicalxpress.com/health-other-news/ en-us PhysOrg Team Medical Xpress provides the latest news on health, cancer, medications, medicine, psychology and genetics. For critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation, early tracheostomy (within the first 4 days after admission) was not associated with an improvement in the risk of death within 30 days compared to patients who received tracheostomy placement after 10 days, according to a study in the May 22/29 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-early-tracheostomy-mechanically-ventilated-patients.html Other 2013-05-21T16:00:06-07:00 The decision to limit life support in patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) appears to be significantly influenced by physician practices and/or the culture of the hospital, suggests new findings from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 21. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-decisions-forgo-life-heavily-icu.html Other 2013-05-21T14:00:02-07:00 Knee replacement surgery is a very common procedure. However, it does not always resolve function or pain in all the recipients of new knees. A study by Robert Barrack, MD and his colleagues from the Washington University School of Medicine wanted to determine if any socioeconomic factors were associated with less successful outcomes of knee replacement surgery. Their study, which appears in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, published by Springer, found that lower-income individuals reported higher levels of dissatisfaction and poorer function than those with higher incomes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-people-higher-incomes-happier-knees.html Other 2013-05-21T11:50:36-07:00 Doctors are trained to think "common disease" when they meet patients in their practices, and as they rarely or never meet a rare disease, it often takes many years to reach the right diagnosis. A new search tool called FindZebra developed at the Technical University of Denmark can dramatically reduce this time in many cases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-rare.html Other 2013-05-21T11:32:37-07:00 Delayed transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU) in hospitalized patients significantly increases the risk of dying in the hospital, according to a new study from researchers in Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-icu-death-hospital-patients.html Other 2013-05-21T10:00:02-07:00 Researchers from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), and the Research Institute of Electrical Communication (RIEC) of Tohoku University have jointly developed an auditory orientation training system for the visually impaired. This technology artificially reproduces the clues to auditory orientation used by a visually impaired person during walking, such as the movement and reflection of sounds, by using three-dimensional acoustic technology. Through downsizing and cost reduction, the researchers have developed it into a practical training system that allows a visually impaired person who has just started orientation and mobility (O&M) training to receive auditory orientation training safely and effectively. Starting on April 11, 2013, the software for the training system is available for free to people and organizations concerned with the visually impaired. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-free-auditory-visually-impaired.html Other 2013-05-21T09:03:41-07:00 Vermont became on Monday the third US state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-vermont-state-legalize-suicide.html Other 2013-05-20T17:48:28-07:00 Food microbiology laboratories continue to submit false negative results and false positive results on a routine basis. A retrospective study of nearly 40,000 proficiency test results over the past 14 years, presented today at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, examined the ability of food laboratories to detect or rule out the presence of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, and Campylobacter. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-food-laboratory-accuracy.html Other 2013-05-20T12:50:01-07:00 Siemens has presented the world's first ultrasound system with wireless transducers. The system's transducers, which can be easily operated with one hand, transmit ultrasound images via radio waves to the screen on the base console. The elimination of cables is particularly helpful in operations or during invasive procedures in which the needle visualization needs to be monitored using ultrasound technology. That's because transducer cables can obstruct the people who operate the machines, and despite their sterile protective coverings, the cables can pose a risk in terms of infections. The wireless Acuson Freestyle system transducers function reliably up to three meters from the console and are equipped with remote control buttons for adjusting the image settings. To make wireless data transmission possible, Siemens engineers sharply reduced the amount of data that must be transferred between the transducer and the console. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-wireless-ultrasound-transducers-physicians.html Other 2013-05-20T08:00:01-07:00 (AP)—A woman who lost both hands, her left leg and right foot after contracting a flesh-eating disease has been fitted with prosthetic hands. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-flesh-eating-disease-victim-prosthetic.html Other 2013-05-18T01:54:25-07:00 (AP)—Medical marijuana use in Illinois is now in Gov. Pat Quinn's hands after the state Senate approved legislation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-illinois-senate-medical-marijuana-bill.html Other 2013-05-17T15:10:01-07:00 A Nigerian court on Friday sentenced two officials from a pharmaceutical company to seven years in prison over the sale of an adulterated teething drug which killed 84 babies in 2008. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-nigerian-court-killer-teething-drug.html Other 2013-05-17T14:31:29-07:00 (HealthDay)—Many Americans feel that keeping out-of-pocket health care costs is more important than staying with the same primary care physician. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-patients-doc-health.html Other 2013-05-17T12:50:01-07:00 (AP)—China is phasing out its reliance on executed prisoners for donated organs, but an architect of the country's transplant system said Friday that ingrained cultural attitudes are impeding the rise of donations among the general population. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-cultural-attitudes-impede-donations-china.html Other 2013-05-17T09:59:50-07:00 Maurizio Porfiri, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly), is best known for his work on biologically inspired robots that mimic the movement of schooling fish so convincingly that real fish are enticed to follow them. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-lessons-animal-herd-behavior-alcohol-related.html Other 2013-05-16T09:00:02-07:00 Researchers at the University of Twente's MIRA research institute have developed a system which may drastically reduce the use of laboratory animals in science. The system, which is designed to be implanted in laboratory animals, contains a series of tiny "compartments". A single specific condition can be investigated in each separate compartment, so the system can significantly reduce the number of laboratory animals needed for a study. Details of the study in which these scientists first demonstrated the use of this system are being published today in the scientific journal Integrative Biology. The system is being marketed by Screvo, a University of Twente spin-off company. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-case-laboratory-animals.html Other 2013-05-16T08:25:57-07:00 Minimally invasive autopsies, using a combination of MRI scans and other techniques, such as blood tests, can accurately determine the cause of death in fetuses and babies nearly as well as conventional autopsies, according to new research published in The Lancet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-mri-autopsies-alternative-conventional-techniques.html Other 2013-05-15T18:30:02-07:00 Potatoes and other white vegetables are just as important to a healthy diet as their colorful cousins in the produce aisle, according to the authors of a scientific supplement published yesterday in the peer-reviewed journal, Advances in Nutrition. Although green, red and orange veggies are often promoted as top nutrient sources, white vegetables are nutrient powerhouses in their own right and deserve a place on your plate. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-dont-nutrient-content-white-vegetables.html Other 2013-05-15T08:06:32-07:00 A French prosecutor on Tuesday called for the founder of a firm whose faulty breast implants sparked a global health scare to be given a four-year prison sentence on fraud charges. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-prosecutor-urges-year-sentence-faulty.html Other 2013-05-14T13:30:14-07:00 An elderly Swiss woman who would rather end her life now than decline further in health found sympathy Tuesday from the European Court of Human Rights, which called on the Swiss to clarify their laws on so-called passive assisted suicide. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-eu-court-swiss-suicide-laws.html Other 2013-05-14T09:43:41-07:00 (AP)—Higher prices for its multiple sclerosis drug Rebif helped German pharmaceutical and high-tech materials company Merck KGaA post a 54 percent rise in first-quarter profit. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-higher-prices-ms-drug-firm.html Other 2013-05-14T06:30:01-07:00 Two severely disabled men are to go to the Court of Appeal to try to change laws governing the right to die. But Dr Brassington says there's little chance they will succeed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-uk-analyst-die-law.html Other 2013-05-13T08:40:02-07:00 (HealthDay)—While hospital rapid response teams are effective in managing patients at risk or in crisis, team members need teamwork and good communication, according to a study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Critical Care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-hospital-rapid-response-teams.html Other 2013-05-11T04:00:01-07:00 A physician's choice of words when talking with family members about whether or not to try cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if a critically ill patient's heart stops may influence the decision, according to a study by University of Pittsburgh researchers in the June edition of Critical Care Medicine and now available online. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-doctor-choice-words-family-decision.html Other 2013-05-09T16:06:56-07:00 Research indicates pregnant same-sex couples are facing systemic challenges with maternal healthcare because of policies, procedures and practices that assume parents are heterosexual couples. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-nursing-explores-pregnant-same-sex-couples.html Other 2013-05-07T08:52:23-07:00 Eminent Belgian scientist Christian de Duve, a winner of the Nobel prize for medicine, died Saturday aged 95 after committing euthanasia, which is legal in Belgium, his family said. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-belgian-nobel-winner-commits-euthanasia.html Other 2013-05-06T09:15:02-07:00 At first blush, the health-care and nuclear-power industries don't appear to have much in common. But in a unique, two-day workshop in July 2012, leaders from these two industries met to discuss their similarities and differences, including technologies and human factors that affect risk and reliability. The result is a 120-page monograph, "Risk and Reliability in Healthcare and Nuclear Power: Learning from Each Other," recently released by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-nuclear-power-industry-lessons-health.html Other 2013-05-06T08:40:01-07:00 Double-amputee Jason Koger used to fly to visit a clinician when he wanted to adjust the grips on his bionic hands. Now, he's got an app instead. Koger this week demonstrated the i-limb ultra revolution, a prosthetic developed by the British firm Touch Bionics. Using a stylus and an iPhone, Koger can choose any of 24 grip patterns that best suit his needs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-app-amputees-bionic.html Other 2013-05-03T13:40:26-07:00 A US doctor has created a website to make it easier for the world's sickest people to connect with research that could potentially save their lives. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-website-clinical-trials-easy.html Other 2013-05-02T05:50:01-07:00 (AP)—French drug maker Sanofi said Thursday its net profit was slashed in the first quarter from a year earlier as falling sales and patent losses on key drugs combined to hammer earnings. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-sanofi-slashed-quarter.html Other 2013-05-02T05:30:02-07:00