Feature Channels: Story Ideas: Medicine

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A unique nerve-stimulation treatment for epilepsy developed at UCLA offers a potential new alternative for tens of thousands of individuals unable to control their seizures with medication and ineligible for surgery. A study published in the July edition of the peer-reviewed journal Epilepsia reports that four of seven subjects who used an external stimulator for at least three months in a pilot human clinical trial enjoyed a 50 percent or better reduction in seizure frequency.

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U-M researchers have discovered three genes that are over-expressed in rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, that were not known to be associated with the disease before. They also found that non-genetic factors influenced the expression of these genes and that the expression patterns varied between identical twins where only one twin had RA.

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Teens at risk of developing diabetes can prevent or delay its onset through strength training exercise, a University of Southern California study has found.

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Using gamma radiation to inactivate bacteria for the preparation of vaccines, instead of traditional heat or chemical methods of inactivation, appears to create a vaccine that is more effective than so-called "killed" vaccines against disease, and has the added advantage of a longer storage life than "live" vaccines, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

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he growing interest in a more natural approach to hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms has focused attention on bioidentical hormones. Bioidentical hormones are identical in molecular structure to the hormones women make in their bodies. Are these "natural" hormones safer or more effective than traditional hormone medications? The August issue of Harvard Women's Health Watch explains.

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Intravenous drug users are likely to experience or witness a drug overdose, but they don't know how to deal with one when it happens. A study of IV drug users in Baltimore found that more than two-thirds had witnessed an overdose. But only two-thirds of those called 911 for emergency medical help, and even then, they delayed making the call by five minutes or more.

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According to a new study, men transmit multiple sclerosis (MS) to their children 2.2 times more often than women in families where the father or mother and a child have multiple sclerosis.

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Although acupuncture has been used in China for hundreds of years and more frequently in Western countries to treat chronic stroke, there is no clear proof that the therapy improves patients' rehabilitation, a new review has found.

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Children with asthma who keep track of their daily symptoms with a written plan take significantly fewer trips to the emergency department than children who use plans based on peak-flow monitoring, according to a recent review.

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At the center of the story is Jose Daniel (Danny) Lozano, a teenager from Tijuana, Mexico who is recovering from reconstructive craniofacial surgery. Danny is one of many children who have received medical care made possible by a highly specialized medical team at Cedars-Sinai and a $5 million dollar gift to the hospital from actor/director Mel Gibson.

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A new systematic review shows that in type 2 diabetes, exercise helps regulate blood glucose levels, increases the body's sensitivity to insulin and decreases blood lipids while also helping to burn body fat.

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Many conservative methods used to treat work-related complaints of the upper body have only limited effectiveness, according to an updated systematic review. Exercise, however, emerged as "a very good thing to do." As for expensive ergonomic equipment. little scientific evidence currently exists to support its use.

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There's an inequity in returning Canadian soldiers' health care, a Thompson Rivers University researcher has found.

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Teens who feel that they can be effective anti-smoking spokespeople in their communities are less likely to be smokers themselves, according to a new survey of Texas high school students.

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Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center have discovered a protein in nerve cells that acts as a switch for chronic pain, and have applied for a patent to develop a new class of drugs that will block chronic pain by turning this switch off. The discovery is published on the website of Neuroscience, and will appear in the publication's Aug. issue.

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With diabetes disease-management programs becoming more commonly used among physician groups, the question arises: Just how effective are they at improving patient care? The answer is that they lead to better examination and testing"”but not to better control of key factors associated with diabetes complications.

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Sugar substitutes receive a strong endorsement this month from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has issued a fact sheet on sugar substitutes, and published it in the July/August issue of FDA Consumer magazine, carrying the headline, "No Calories"¦ Sweet!"

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While passions flare on all sides of the language debate, the sad truth is that the language barrier negatively impacts health care for 50 million (19 percent) U.S. residents who do not speak English at home and the 22 million (eight percent) with limited English proficiency.

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Data from a 15-year period show that the prevalence of a particular type of heart failure "” heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, also known as diastolic heart failure "” is increasing.

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Mayo Clinic investigators have discovered a gene mutation causing chaotic electrical activation of the heart muscle and atrial fibrillation (AF), a common heart-rhythm disturbance affecting millions of Americans. Atrial fibrillation can lead to heart failure and stroke.

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Scientists at Johns Hopkins have successfully blocked the advance of retinal degeneration in mice with a form of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) by treating them with vitamin E, alpha-lipoic acid and other antioxidant chemicals.

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A new study provides support for the combined therapy of inhaled corticosteroids and antileukotriene drugs in the treatment of asthma.

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For decades, parents and pediatricians have relied on humid air to relieve the barking cough and noisy breathing of croup, a common childhood condition that sometimes sends worried families to the emergency room. Now a new review of evidence suggests that the long relied-on remedy has little medical benefit.

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Intrauterine devices that contain higher doses of copper are more effective in preventing pregnancy than IUDs with lower copper doses, according to a new systematic review of studies. Increasing the copper content does not cause an increase in side effects prompting removal of the device, such as bleeding and pain.

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Patients coming out of anesthesia after surgery may experience nausea or vomiting, and are frequently given drugs to prevent this. But the majority of patients won't benefit from these drugs, according to a new review of 737 studies involving 103,237 patients.

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In the first 24 hours after birth, nearly every newborn in the United States is subjected to a heel prick or needle stick to screen the blood for disease or rare genetic disorders. In most cases that needle stick is administered without pain relief. But a new review of evidence suggests that breastfeeding can ease the pain of such routine newborn procedures.

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Clean water can prevent diarrhea and save lives, but, among the world's most susceptible populations, it is cleaned best at its point of use rather than its source, researchers report in a large new review of studies. The review compared interventions that treat water at its source "” such as wells, boreholes and communal tap stands "” to those that treat water where it's actually consumed.

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Expectant mothers may be able to prevent potentially serious medical problems in themselves and their babies simply by boosting their daily calcium intake, says a new systematic review. Not only that, but pregnant women at greatest risk for these problems may benefit most from the extra calcium..

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A new analysis of existing research offers confirmation that taking a break from AIDS drugs is a bad idea for HIV patients with uncontrolled cases of the disease. AIDS drug treatment interruptions "” or "holidays" "” have been topic of much debate in the HIV treatment community over the past several years.

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Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs, while effective, are not the be-all and end-all in psychosocial treatments for alcohol dependence, according to new review of studies. Evidence about the supremacy of these programs was inconclusive.

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For the first time, scientists have shown that a protein in the nucleus of victims' cells triggers progression of smallpox-related illnesses, a finding that could help prevent use of such viruses as bioterrorism weapons.

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Researchers at the University of California, Davis, M.I.N.D. Institute have discovered that the brains of males with autism have fewer neurons in the amygdala, a part of the brain involved in emotion and memory.

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Digital mammography saves technologists' time, but increases physician time compared to film screen mammography, a new study shows.

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A UMass Medical School study describes a troubling trend of decline in the mental, physical and financial health of homeless women over the past decade, placing nearly one million homeless children in the US at great risk of compromised developmental and behavioral outcomes.

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Orthopaedic surgeons at UT Southwestern Medial Center are the first in North Texas to use knee implants specifically designed to fit a woman's anatomy.

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Scientists at the Harvard Department of Ophthalmology's Schepens Eye Research Institute and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) are the first to learn why the cornea, the clear window of the eye, is free of blood vessels--a unique phenomenon that makes vision possible. The key, say the researchers, is the unexpected presence of large amounts of the protein VEGFR-3 (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3) on the top epithelial layer of normal healthy corneas.

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A Study in the July 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, reporting the results of a 5-1/2 year-long trial of more than 10,000 postmenopausal women with a history of heart disease or at high risk for heart disease, shows that patients given raloxifene therapy had a reduced incidence of vertebral fractures and breast cancer, but an increased incidence of blood clots and fatal strokes.

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Two studies of immigrant farmworker families in North Carolina and Virginia found evidence of pesticide exposure in young children, and prompted researchers to call for pesticide safety training for workers' spouses.

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Penn researchers have published a group of papers that, taken together, show proteins that function as molecular motors are surprisingly flexible and agile, able to navigate obstacles within the cell.

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An FDA-approved drug for diabetes is showing promise in early clinical trials in treating people with Alzheimer's Disease.

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According to a new study, the drug donepezil measurably slows the rate of brain shrinkage in some patients with mild cognitive impairment, a pre-Alzheimer's disease condition.

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Mayo Clinic researchers have found that women who develop dementia experience a decline in weight as many as 10 years prior to the onset of memory loss, compared to peers who do not develop dementia.

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A study by a University of South Carolina College of Nursing researcher shows that regular phone calls from psychiatric nurses are a lifeline for mothers who often are isolated because of their child's illness and overwhelmed by the mental healthcare system.

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When family members smoke, children are often a "captive audience," one that's especially vulnerable to health effects. Now, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston identify another problem: a greater risk for respiratory complications during outpatient surgical procedures.

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Two recent studies offer new evidence suggesting an alternative form of natural vitamin E can be taken by mouth and will reach the blood in humans at levels determined to protect against stroke and other diseases.

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For smokers with asthma, quitting smoking can improve lung function test scores by more than 15 percent in less than two months.

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Most teenaged construction workers in North Carolina are doing jobs that are considered risky or are prohibited by federal and state labor laws, according to a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study published this week in the journal Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

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John Houle, Ph.D., Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy at Drexel University College of Medicine, has demonstrated in a lab animal how a nerve removed from the leg and transplanted across a spinal cord injury, in combination with enzyme digestion of scar material, leads to regeneration of injured nerve endings and recovery of arm movements.

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Medical and pharmacy costs rise steadily for employees with above normal body weight, reports a study in the July Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

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According to Vanderbilt infectious disease experts Timothy R. Sterling, M.D., and David W. Haas, M.D., treatment should be provided to health care workers with latent TB infection as indicated by a positive tuberculin skin test, particularly if they meet certain high-risk criteria.