Body

San Diego, CA, November 13, 2012 – Health warning labels (HWLs) on cigarette packages that use pictures to show the health consequences of smoking are effective in reaching adult smokers, according to the results of a new study published in the December issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

OAK BROOK, Ill. – A new three-dimensional (3-D) digital mammography technique has the potential to significantly improve the accuracy of breast cancer screening, according to a study published in Radiology.

Two-dimensional (2-D) x-ray mammography, the current primary screening method for early detection of breast cancer in women, is a valuable tool but has some limitations. Surrounding normal tissue can mask lesions, and 2-D views do not provide direct information about the volumetric appearance—meaning the three-dimensional physical shape—of a detected lesion.

There are substantial inequalities in the stage at which cancer patients receive their diagnosis – a critical factor for cancer survival – a new study by the University of Cambridge reveals. The researchers found that age, sex and income as well as the type of cancer influenced the risk of a patient being diagnosed at an advanced stage of the disease. Eliminating these inequalities would help improve the chances of a cure for up to 5,600 patients with seven common cancers each year. The research was published today in the Annals of Oncology.

High-dose vitamin D supplementation may have a positive effect on persistent musculoskeletal pain among vitamin D-deficient patients.

A small study of 84 non-Western immigrants in Western Europe, a population prone to vitamin D deficiency and musculoskeletal problems, revealed a small positive effect on pain six weeks after supplementation with 150,000 IU of Vitamin D3 on vitamin D-deficient patients.

In a 12-country study, approximately one-fifth of adult patients without an established diagnosis of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease consulting their family physician for acute cough showed subsequent airway obstruction or bronchodilator responsiveness, both of which are suggestive of undiagnosed asthma or COPD.

Sciatica is a common type of low back pain characterized by intense unilateral leg pain, tingling or numbness, and shooting pain that radiates below the knee.

Since symptoms of sciatica can be debilitating and persistent, patients are nearly four times more likely to have back surgery compared with those who have persistent low back pain only. Conservative treatment options often offer little relief, so more invasive procedures such as epidural corticosteroid injections have become increasingly popular.

Two studies published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine examined the cost of delivering the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to primary school girls in Tanzania. Both studies found that the cost of HPV vaccine delivery to adolescent girls may be substantially higher compared with the cost of delivering a new vaccine to an infant where the delivery schedule matches the existing infant immunization schedule.

Prophylactic use of probiotics can reduce Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD).

Clostridium difficile is a bacterium that can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening inflammation of the colon. CDAD most commonly affects older adults in hospitals or in long term care facilities and typically occurs after use of antibiotics. Probiotics are microorganisms thought to counteract disturbances in intestinal flora, and thereby reduce the risk of Clostridium difficile infection.

MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) investigators found that a majority of interviewed smoking parents exposed their children to tobacco smoke in their cars, even though many had smoke-free policies at home. The study that will appear in the December 2012 issue of Pediatrics and has been released online, suggests that parents may not recognize the dangers of smoking in their cars with a child present.

CHICAGO – Fasting prior to blood lipid tests appears to have limited association with lipid subclass levels, suggesting that fasting for routine lipid level determinations may be unnecessary, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

CHICAGO – A dance intervention program improved the self-rated health of Swedish girls with internalizing problems, such as stress and psychosomatic symptoms, according to a report of a study published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

Exercise is considered a strategy to prevent and treat depression in school-aged youth and has been shown to promote positive feelings, enhance confidence to cope with problems, and increase confidence and self-control, the authors write in the study background.

ANN ARBOR---About 115,000 women lose their private health insurance every year in the wake of divorce, according to a University of Michigan study.

And this loss is not temporary: women's overall rates of health insurance coverage remain depressed for more than two years after divorce.

Tumor cells circulating in a patient's bloodstream can yield a great deal of information on how a tumor is responding to treatment and what drugs might be more effective against it. But first, these rare cells have to be captured and isolated from the many other cells found in a blood sample.

Many scientists are now working on microfluidic devices that can isolate circulating tumor cells (CTCs), but most of these have two major limitations: It takes too long to process a sufficient amount of blood, and there is no good way to extract cancer cells for analysis after their capture.

BOSTON, MA—A research team at Brigham and Women's Hospital has developed a novel device that may one day have broad therapeutic and diagnostic uses in the detection and capture of rare cell types, such as cancer cells, fetal cells, viruses and bacteria. The device is inspired by the long, elegant appendages of sea creatures, such as jellyfish and sea cucumbers.

The study will be published online on November 12, 2012 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

China's endangered wild pandas may need new dinner reservations – and quickly – based on models that indicate climate change may kill off swaths of bamboo that pandas need to survive.