Body

A fundamental principle of medicine is: "first, do no harm." However, for doctors who treat breast cancer, this is easier said than done. Every year, almost 22,000 Canadian women are diagnosed with breast cancer — their treatment usually involves surgery to remove a tumour and then chemotherapy to reduce the risk of cancer returning. But studies show that for most patients with early stage breast cancer, chemotherapy following surgery is totally unnecessary and therefore does more harm than good.

Alexandria, Va., USA – It is well known that oral infection progressively destroys periodontal tissues and is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults. A major goal of periodontal treatment is regeneration of the tissues lost to periodontitis. Unfortunately, most current therapies cannot predictably promote repair of tooth-supporting defects. A variety of regenerative approaches have been used clinically using bone grafts and guiding tissue membranes with limited success.

Using proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and antiplatelet drugs (thienopyridines) together is an appropriate way of treating patients with cardiovascular (CV) disease who are at high risk of upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeds, despite recent concerns about an adverse interaction between these two types of drugs, according to an Expert Consensus Document released jointly today by the American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF), the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), and the American Heart Association (AHA).

Beginning dialysis therapy earlier in the development of advanced kidney disease appears to be associated with a greater risk of death for some patients in the following year, according to a report posted online today that will be published in the March 14 print issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Long delays between developing symptoms and going to the hospital are common among patients with a certain type of heart attack, according to a report in the November 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Long-term, regular use of vitamins E and C has no apparent effect on the risk of age-related cataract in men, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Corneal arcus, a condition in which a ring of lipids builds up around the cornea, appears common among middle-age and older adults and may be associated with elevated eye pressure, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

A new solar-powered device to measure blood pressure may help slow the worldwide increase in cardiovascular disease by providing affordable and reliable blood pressure testing in low income countries, according to research published in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The solar powered device — 94 percent in agreement with the standard blood pressure testing method for systolic blood pressure — is in field testing in Uganda and Zambia, Africa.

A small study suggests women with multiple sclerosis have lower vitamin D levels during pregnancy and breastfeeding, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the March 2011 print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. However, these vitamin D levels were not associated with a greater risk of multiple sclerosis relapse after childbirth.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Door-to-balloon time has dropped dramatically as hospitals rush heart attack patients into treatment, but a five-year study released Monday shows quicker hospital care has not saved more lives.

Heart attacks are a medical emergency and hospitals race against the clock to open the clogged artery causing the attack in 90 minutes or less.

Door-to-balloon time is the amount of time between a heart attack patient's arrival at the hospital to the time he or she receives an intervention, such as a balloon angioplasty, to open the artery.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Suppressing cancer cells' ability to replicate damaged DNA could dramatically enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs such as cisplatin, according to a new pair of papers from MIT biologists.

In studies of mice, the researchers found that slowing down a specific system for tolerating DNA damage not only prolonged survival but also prevented relapsed tumors from becoming resistant to chemotherapy, and made tumors much less likely to spread to other parts of the body.

Chapel Hill - A new discovery by UNC scientists describes how cells infected by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) produce small vesicles or sacs called exosomes, changing their cellular "cargo" of proteins and RNA. This altered exosome enters cells and can change the growth of recipient cells from benign to cancer-producing.

In this way, virus-infected cells can have wide-ranging effects and potentially manipulate other cells throughout the body. The findings are reported in the November 8, 2010 early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Durham, NC —Many plants can pollinate themselves and reproduce without the aid of a mate, thanks to having both male and female parts. But the short-term perks of being able to go it alone come with long-term costs, says a new study in the journal Science. The reason is because plants that can pollinate themselves are more prone to extinction, scientists say.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Common foot disorders such as flat feet, corns and bunions are more prevalent among African Americans than in whites, a new study by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers has found.