Testosterone replacement makes Type 2 diabetic men more sensitive to insulin
Findings demonstrate that testosterone is a metabolic hormone as well as a sex hormone, University at Buffalo researchers say.
Studies
Article • Mortality
Death risk rises over weekends
New studies reveal the heightened risk of death that patients face if admitted to hospital over a weekend. Researchers have studied what effect the day of hospital admission has on death rates across England in 2013-2014, as well as on hospitals in other countries, such as Australia, the USA and The Netherlands. Report: Mark Nicholls
Article • Infection
Trial pitches MGB-BP-3 against clostridium difficile
Scientists at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow have been working to identify compounds with important anti-infective activity and suitable for treating serious infectious diseases caused by bacteria and parasites, such as Clostridium difficile. Their work has led to the creation of the new drug known as MGB-BP-3 (MGB = minor groove binder). Report: Mark Nicholls
News • Detection
QuantiPlasma antibodies for early lung cancer diagnostics licenced
Randox Laboratories and Biosystems International have announced the beginning of clinical validation of a lung cancer early detection test.
Article • Telecardiology
Home monitoring in fast action
Every year, worldwide, over a million patients have a pacemaker or defibrillator implanted. Home monitoring systems can significantly improve the safety and quality of life for these patients, says Professor Gerhard Hindricks, head physician in the rhythmology department at Leipzig’s Heart Centre. Report: Sascha Keutel
Digital and Computed Radiography: cost-efficiency is the key
Large patient volumes and a shrinking pool of skilled resources in the European healthcare industry are creating the need for efficient workflow solutions. Hence, hospitals will increasingly invest in digital radiography (DR) as the revival of the regional economy picks up pace. While the saturated computed radiography (CR) segment is declining in terms of both unit shipment and revenue, the…
News • Hematology
Flowing toward red blood cell breakthroughs
A team of researchers from Brown University, ETH Zurich, the Universita da Svizzera Italiana (USI) and Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) is using America’s most powerful supercomputer to help understand and fight diseases affecting some of the body’s smallest building blocks.
News • Social Media
Twitter offers insights into the experience of MRI patients
Tweets can give medical professionals a window into the minds of patients, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences.
High-grade DCIS detection rates increase in older women
The mammography detection rate of an early-stage but potentially invasive type of breast cancer rises with age, according to a large new study from Germany published online in the journal Radiology.
News • Lung cancer
Immunotherapy superior to chemotherapy?
Researchers compared an immunotherapy and a chemotherapy drug in patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease continued to progress after first-line chemotherapy. They found that nivolumab improved overall survival and was generally well tolerated. The results are significant because options for patients whose lung cancer progresses after initial treatment are…
News • Mystery solved
Key Element of cellular organization found
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have discovered evidence of a mechanism at the heart of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and related degenerative diseases. The research highlights a possible new treatment strategy for the devastating disorders.
News • Popeye was rigth
Beet juice boosts muscle power in heart patients
Scientists have evidence that Popeye was right: Spinach makes you stronger. But it’s the high nitrate content in the leafy greens — not the iron — that creates the effect.
Knowledge gap over effects of some diabetes drugs
A gap in scientific knowledge about a family of drugs that are used to treat Type 2 diabetes has been highlighted in a new study.
New clinical segments revitalize the mature ultrasound market
Ultrasound is finding relatively new applications across various clinical specialties and points of care, from image-guiding interventions, biopsies and non-invasive diagnosis to imaging in war and sports fields. Cost effectiveness, safety, high accessibility and clinical value in preliminary diagnosis are strengthening the technology’s value proposition. It is seen as the definitive diagnostic…
Scan may identify best candidates for fetal spina bifida surgery
Fetuses with enlarged ventricles--the fluid-filled cavities inside the brain--may be less likely than their counterparts to benefit from surgery in the womb to treat spina bifida, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health.
An antibody that can attack HIV in new ways
Proteins called broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) are a promising key to the prevention of infection by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, say researchers at California Institute of Technology.
Needle exchange program prevented 120 new cases of HIV in 2 years
The District of Columbia's needle exchange program prevented 120 new cases of HIV infection and saved an estimated $44 million over just a two-year period, according to a first-of-a-kind study published today by researchers at the Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) at the George Washington University.
Arabs or Jews, children who need pain relief in the ER get it
Children with broken bones or joint dislocations in northern Israel emergency departments received equal pain treatment, regardless of their ethnicity or the ethnicity of the nurses who treated them, even during a period of armed conflict between the two ethnic groups.
New mechanism discovered behind infant epilepsy
Scientists at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden have discovered a new explanation for severe early infant epilepsy. Mutations in the gene encoding the protein KCC2 can cause the disease, hereby confirming an earlier theory. The findings are being published in the journal Nature Communications.
Spinal manipulation works for back pain -- in some people
Researchers at the University of Alberta have found that spinal manipulation--applying force to move joints to treat pain, a technique most often used by chiropractors and physical therapists--does indeed have immediate benefits for some patients with low-back pain but does not work for others with low-back pain.
News • bacterial communities
What’s lurking in your lungs?
With every breath you take, microbes have a chance of making it into your lungs. But what happens when they get there? And why do dangerous lung infections like pneumonia happen in some people, but not others? Researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School have started to answer these questions by studying the microbiome of the lungs – the community of microscopic organisms that are…
Liver damage in hepatitis C patients significantly underestimated
The number of hepatitis C patients suffering from advanced liver damage may be grossly underestimated and underdiagnosed, according to a study led by researchers at Henry Ford Health System and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tetris can block cravings
Psychologists from Plymouth University and Queensland University of Technology, Australia, found that playing Tetris interfered with desires not only for food, but also for drugs, including cigarettes, alcohol and coffee, and other activities.
News • Pediatrics
Spines of boys and girls differ at birth
Looking at measurements of the vertebrae – the series of small bones that make up the spinal column – in newborn children, investigators at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles found that differences between the sexes are present at birth. Results of the study in the August issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, suggest that this difference is evolutionary, allowing the female spine to adapt to the…
News • Genetic Disorder
How to predict development of autism or psychosis
Doctors and researchers have long known that children who are missing about 60 genes on a certain chromosome are at a significantly elevated risk for developing either a disorder on the autism spectrum or psychosis — that is, any mental disorder characterized by delusions and hallucinations, including schizophrenia. But there has been no way to predict which child with the abnormality might be…