Almost a year's treatment with a vitamin D compound did not alleviate key structural and functional cardiovascular abnormalities in patients with kidney disease and cardiac enlargement. In a paper in the February 15 Journal of the American Medical Association, an international research team reports that daily doses of a vitamin D compound did not reduce enlargement or improve impaired functioning of the heart's main pumping chamber.
Culture
CHICAGO – Treatment with the antibiotic amoxicillin for patients with acute uncomplicated rhinosinusitis (inflammation of the nasal cavity and sinuses) did not result in a significant difference in symptoms compared to patients who received placebo, according to a study in the February 15 issue of JAMA. Antibiotics are commonly used to treat this condition even though there is limited evidence supporting their effectiveness.
Vitamin D therapy does not improve certain cardiac measures for patients with chronic kidney disease
CHICAGO – Patients with chronic kidney disease who received the vitamin D compound paricalcitol for up to 48 weeks did not show improvement on measures of cardiac structure, function, or left ventricular mass, compared to patients who received placebo, according to a study in the February 15 issue of JAMA.
Imagine a smart sensor customized to provide vital, real-time information about a patient's recent orthopaedic surgery. Instead of relying on X-rays or invasive procedures, surgeons will be able to collect diagnostic data from an implantable sensor. A study presented at the Orthopaedic Research Society 2012 Annual Meeting in San Francisco outlined this remarkable technology that promises to make post-surgical diagnosis and follow up more precise, efficient, and cost-effective.
New research from Western University, Canada, has demonstrated the benefits of performing Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) in cases where patients have been resuscitated after Sudden Cardiac Death or enter hospital suffering from ventricular arrhythmias (abnormal heartbeat rhythm). Cardiologist Dr. James White and his colleagues at Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, found CMR is a highly effective diagnostic imaging tool, identifying a cardiac diagnosis in 75 per cent of cases compared with only 50 per cent in all other testing.
Mental state can play a crucial role in physical health — medical professionals have long known about the connection between anxiety and the immune system, for example. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University have found that mental health can also interfere with the heart.
Large college athletics departments talk the talk when it comes to concern for the environment and environmental sustainability, but only a small percentage of these departments actually walk the walk in making their operations "greener."
CHICAGO --- What protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youths from considering suicide and, conversely, what makes them most vulnerable to it?
The question is of paramount concern because these youths are at least twice as likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual youths, prompting the national "It Gets Better Project" with encouraging video messages from such public figures as Lady Gaga and President Barack Obama.
San Diego, CA, February 14, 2012 -- New research has found that the US government and schools have made mixed progress to comprehensively address food and beverage marketing practices that put young people's health at risk. A comprehensive review published in the March issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine finds that public sector stakeholders have failed to fully implement recommendations from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to support a healthful diet to children and adolescents.
Results from a Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute clinical trial show that treating heart attack patients with an infusion of their own heart-derived cells helps damaged hearts re-grow healthy muscle.
Patients who underwent the stem cell procedure demonstrated a significant reduction in the size of the scar left on the heart muscle by a heart attack. Patients also experienced a sizable increase in healthy heart muscle following the experimental stem cell treatments.
BOSTON – Air pollution, even at levels generally considered safe by federal regulations, increases the risk of stroke by 34 percent, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center researchers have found.
People with strabismus (misalignment and limited movement of one or more eyes) are often teased about their crossed-eye appearance; those with more complex, disfiguring strabismus can become socially isolated and develop neck and back problems from having to turn their head to see properly. While surgery can correct eye position, it may require operation on several muscles, causing lengthy recovery, and sometimes overcompensates for the problem, requiring repeat operations.
WASHINGTON—Feb. 13, 2012—Research!America Chair, former Congressman John Edward Porter says President Obama's budget is a mixed bag for science and innovation, increasing investment in some areas while shortchanging other key agencies.
"The president's recommendation for NIH fails to capitalize on the power of this funding to drive new businesses, new jobs and new treatments," said Porter. "We simply cannot freeze investments in biomedical research. The consequences would be disastrous as global competition intensifies."
Washington, DC – The Science Coalition supports President Obama's commitment to scientific research and innovation as outlined in his FY 2013 budget submitted to Congress today. The President's budget request, coupled with strong funding of science agencies in the FY 2012 appropriations process, underscores the bipartisan recognition that basic scientific research is an essential part of the nation's infrastructure and economy.
"Despite the increasing number of people affected, the prognosis for patients with heart failure has steadily improved," said Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D, chairman of American Heart Association Hospital Accreditation Science Committee and professor of cardiovascular medicine of the University of California, Los Angeles. "This is testament in part to better therapies and systems for treating this condition. There has been so much research and advancement in this area that what used to be a very dismal diagnosis is no longer the norm.