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ST. PAUL, Minn. – A new guideline from the American Academy of Neurology recommends using plasma exchange to treat people with severe relapses in multiple sclerosis (MS) and related diseases, as well as those with certain kinds of nerve disorders known as neuropathies. The guideline is published in the January 18, 2011, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Performing polysomnography (sleep study) prior to pediatric adenotonsillectomy (surgical removal of the tonsils and adenoids) may help identify children at a higher risk of developing postoperative respiratory complications, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Otolaryngology - Head Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

A follow-up program for patients at high risk of developing skin cancer appears to be associated with the detection of melanomas at early stages and with good prognosis, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the May print issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Time constraints, other illnesses and patient embarrassment may prevent dermatologists, internists and family practitioners from conducting full-body skin examinations, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. However, dermatologists are significantly more likely than internists and family practitioners to conduct such screenings.

A procedure involving only one small incision and no major modifications to bone can be used to transpose a tendon and appears helpful in reanimating the lower face after paralysis, according to a report in the January/February issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Do you want that in a pill or a shot? A pill, thank you, but most patients never have that choice. The problem with administering many medications orally is that a pill often will not dissolve at exactly the right site in the gastrointestinal tract where the medicine can be absorbed into the bloodstream. A new magnetic pill system developed by Brown University researchers could solve the problem by safely holding a pill in place in the intestine wherever it needs to be.

Scientists have identified the first DNA sequence variant common in the population that is not only associated with an increased risk of heart failure, but appears to play a role in causing it.

The variant, a change in a single letter of the DNA sequence, impairs channels that control kidney function.

Mixing commonly used antibiotics with common blood pressure medications may cause hypotension (abnormally low blood pressure) and induce shock in older patients, requiring hospitalization, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100702.pdf.

High birth weight in First Nations (North American Indian) babies are linked to a higher risk of postneonatal death (infant deaths that occur from 4 weeks to 1 year of age), according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100837.pdf.

Binge drinking, an activity that many young people engage in, has associated adverse health risks and we need to do a better job of controlling overall alcohol usage, states an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj110029.pdf.

In three papers in the January and February issues of the Journal of General Physiology (JGP), Don Hilgemann and colleagues have extensively characterized a previously unidentified process by which up to 75% of the cell plasma membrane can be reversibly endocytosed. This massive endocytosis ("MEND") can be elicited in a variety of cell types with a range of different experimental manipulations, including internal calcium transients in the presence of ATP, membrane treatment with sphingomyelinase, and introduction of various amphiphiles into the membrane bilayer.

STANFORD, Calif. – Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, in collaboration with BioParadox, Inc., have published data supporting the use of platelet-rich plasma as a promising biologic treatment for myocardial infarction (heart attack).

The findings were published online in Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine and will be presented at The Sixth International Conference on Cell Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease at Columbia University Medical Center, New York City, on January 20, 2011.

The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity and invited the world to take action to safeguard the variety of life on earth. Unfortunately, though, it is seldom completely clear what should be safeguarded. An example is provided by the cheetah, which conventional wisdom tells us does not vary much throughout its wide (if shrinking) range.

Wetter, cooler summers can have a detrimental effect on the milk we drink, according to new research published by Newcastle University.

Researchers found milk collected during a particularly poor UK summer and the following winter had significantly higher saturated fat content and far less beneficial fatty acids than in a more 'normal' year.