Body

According to a study in the Sept. issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology, overall non-invasive diagnostic imaging (NDI) costs to Medicare Part B dropped 21 percent from 2006 to 2010. The study reveals that medical imaging is not a driver of escalating Medicare costs.

Philadelphia, PA, September 4, 2012 – Cardiac injury leads to significant structural changes in the heart, including enlargement, excess formation of fibrous growth tissue, and abnormalities of the coronary vasculature. While associated factors have been targeted for therapeutic intervention, the results have been conflicting. Most studies have investigated these changes after six days of injury. However, advanced stages of remodeling have already begun by day seven following injury.

While Australia has recently passed legislation to ban logos from cigarette packages and to make plain packaging mandatory, other countries are still considering whether or not to take similar measures. New research published in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Public Health provides a report on the appeal of plain cigarette packs, compared to branded packs, among women in Brazil, and finds that plain packs reduce the appeal of their contents.

Reconstructing the spread of killer diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) from person to person using DNA sequencing quickly identifies the origin and movement of pathogens. This approach is directly informing public health strategies to control infectious disease outbreaks, says a scientist speaking at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn Conference at the University of Warwick.

A novel antimicrobial catheter that remains infection-free for up to twelve weeks could dramatically improve the lives of long-term catheter users. The scientists who have developed the new technology are presenting their work at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn Conference at the University of Warwick.

STANFORD, Calif. — You're in the supermarket eyeing a basket of sweet, juicy plums. You reach for the conventionally grown stone fruit, then decide to spring the extra $1/pound for its organic cousin. You figure you've just made the healthier decision by choosing the organic product — but new findings from Stanford University cast some doubt on your thinking.

CHICAGO – A study based on information collected from 920 parents suggests an estimated 46.3 percent of adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder were the victims of bullying, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

CHICAGO – Exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a manmade chemical used in the manufacture of some common household products, appears to be associated with cardiovascular disease and peripheral arterial disease in a study of 1,216 individuals, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

CHICAGO – A study that used a Utah genealogic database and a statewide cancer registry to examine the relationship between Parkinson disease (PD) and cancer suggests an increased risk of prostate cancer and melanoma in patients with PD and their relatives, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Neurology, a JAMA Network publication.

Neurodegenerative diseases, in particular PD, may share common pathogenic mechanisms with some cancers, according to the study background.

RICHLAND, Wash. -- Combining two well-established analytic techniques and adding a twist identifies proteins from blood with as much accuracy and sensitivity as the antibody-based tests used clinically, researchers report this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition online. The technique should be able to speed up development of diagnostic tests and treatments based on proteins specific to certain diseases.

A new study, by scientists from the Universities of York, Glasgow and Leeds, involving analysis of fossil and geological records going back 540 million years, suggests that biodiversity on Earth generally increases as the planet warms.

Hospitals can dramatically reduce the number of life-threatening central line infections in pediatric cancer patients by following a set of basic precautions, by encouraging families to speak up when they observe noncompliance with the protocol and by honest analysis of the root cause behind every single infection, according to a new Johns Hopkins Children's Center study.

In a report in the October issue of Pediatrics, published online Sept. 3, the researchers say this triple-threat approach has prevented one in five infections over two years.

Stargardt macular dystrophy is a genetic disease that causes juvenile blindness. In the most common form of the disease, a mutation occurs in the ABCA4 gene, which encodes for a protein that is expressed in the eye's photoreceptor cells and is required for the removal of lipofuscin, a toxic byproduct of the visual metabolic cycle.

In patients with mutant ABCA4, lipofuscin accumulates in the photoreceptors, leading to retinal degeneration. Replacement of the defective ABCA4 gene could rescue the photoreceptors and provide a cure for Stargardt's disease.

Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have restored the ability to smell in a mouse model of a human genetic disorder that causes congenital anosmia—the inability to smell from birth.

Genetic disease risk differences between one individual and another are based on complex aetiology. Indeed, they may reflect differences in the genes themselves, or else differences at the heart of the regions involved in the regulation of these same genes.