Body

Bring back Robin Hood brand, says study

Shopping was the next most popular answer in the survey, carried out last month by researchers from Nottingham University Business School.

On a scale of zero to 10, Robin scored an average of 8.2 for visitors and 8.6 for locals in terms of the importance of his links to the city — and most agreed he was a "hero".

Yet tourism experts say neither Nottinghamshire nor Yorkshire, which stakes a rival claim to the legend, has made the most of Robin — despite fighting over his origins.

Plantar fasciitis? Stretching seems to do the trick

According to a new study from the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS), patients with acute plantar fasciitis who perform manual plantar fasciitis stretching exercises, as opposed to shockwave therapy, had superior results and higher patient satisfaction.

Study details and findings:

Postoperative vomiting

Vomiting is unpleasant. Nearly 30% of all patients suffer from nausea and vomiting after surgery. The financial repercussions of this are longer patient stays in the recovery room, with increased need for personnel. Appropriate prophylaxis and treatment can prevent postoperative nausea and vomiting. In a systematic review of the literature, Dirk Rüsch and co-authors investigate how treatment recommendations for nausea after general anesthesia can be improved (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107[42]: 733 741).

Insufficient vitamin D levels in CLL patients linked to cancer progression and death

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Researchers at Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.org/) have found a significant difference in cancer progression and death in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients who had sufficient vitamin D (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vitamin-d/NS_patient-vitamind) levels in their blood compared to those who didn't.

Beneficial effects of testosterone for frailty in older men are short-lived

Chevy Chase, MD—The beneficial effects of six months of testosterone treatment on muscle mass, strength and quality of life in frail elderly men are not maintained at six months post-treatment, according to a study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

Americans less healthy than English, but live as long or longer, study finds

Older Americans are less healthy than their English counterparts, but they live as long or even longer than their English peers, according to a new study by researchers from the RAND Corporation and the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London.

Teens of epileptic moms display poor school performance

A large population-based study revealed that multiple antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) used by pregnant women to control seizures may cause poor school performance in their teenagers. The research team from Karolinska University Hospital and the University of Lund in Sweden confirmed that exposure to AEDs in utero may have a negative effect on neurodevelopment. Their findings now appear online in Epilepsia, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the International League Against Epilepsy.

Experts issue recommendations for treatment of post-bariatric surgery patients

Chevy Chase, MD—Today, The Endocrine Society released a new clinical practice guideline for the nutritional and endocrine management of adults after bariatric surgery, including those with diabetes mellitus. The guideline features a series of evidence-based clinical recommendations developed by an expert task force. The guideline is published in the November 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), a publication of The Endocrine Society.

Armed antibody triggers remissions for Hodgkin's lymphoma

HOUSTON ― An antibody loaded with an anti-cancer agent produced complete or partial remissions in 38 percent of patients with relapsed or therapy-resistant Hodgkin lymphoma enrolled in a phase I clinical trial, investigators report in the Nov. 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Study shows drop in unnecessary care after Medicare reimbursement cut

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — When Medicare policy changes led to reductions in reimbursement for hormonal treatment of prostate cancer, there was a sharp decline in its use among patients not likely to benefit from the treatment. But among patients for whom the therapy is clearly beneficial, doctors continued to prescribe it at the same rate, according to a new study.

This finding suggests that financial reform of health care can reduce unnecessary care without impacting care to those patients most likely to benefit from a treatment.

Recombination hotspot stacks the DNA deck in finding a new diabetes susceptibility gene

November 4, 2010 – The autoimmune disease type 1 diabetes (T1D), also known as juvenile diabetes, is diagnosed in approximately 70,000 children worldwide per year. Genetics is increasingly being recognized as playing a significant role in susceptibility to the disorder, but outside a handful of genes, a clear understanding of the genetic architecture that underlies T1D has remained elusive.

Asthma drug prevents spread of breast cancer: study

TORONTO, Ont. — November 1, 2010 — A drug commonly used in Japan and Korea to treat asthma has been found to stop the spread of breast cancer cells traditionally resistant to chemotherapy, according to a new study led by St. Michael's pathologist Dr. Gerald Prud'homme.

Prostate cancer's multiple personalities revealed

NEW YORK (Nov. 3, 2010) -- Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have taken an important step toward a better understanding of prostate cancer by uncovering evidence that it is not one disease, as previously believed, but rather several factors which can be measured and, in the future, destroyed by targeted therapy.

Half of those travelling internationally not aware of potential health risks

More than 30 million people in the United States travel to resource-limited areas of the world each year. This global mobility may contribute to the spread of infectious diseases – such as influenza, measles, and meningitis – and may also put individual travelers at risk for malaria, typhoid, dengue fever and hepatitis.

New lymphoma therapy may be more effective with fewer side effects

NEW YORK (Nov. 3, 2010) -- Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a type of aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that accounts for approximately 40 percent of lymphomas among adults. If left untreated, it is fatal. The existing treatments have a cure rate that is slightly over 50 percent but destroy healthy cells along with the cancer cells.