Britain streamlines fertility treatment checks
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Couples seeking fertility treatment will undergo fewer, fairer and faster checks under new guidelines to see whether they will be suitable parents, Britain’s fertility watchdog said on Thursday.
British law requires all clinics to make an assessment of the welfare of any child born using fertility services before a woman can receive IVF treatment.
Shortness of Breath without Chest Pain Can Signify High Risk Heart Disease
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While most people know that chest pain can signify the presence of heart disease, it is less well known that shortness of breath can also be a serious cardiac symptom.
Now, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have found that patients with shortness of breath can have a higher risk of dying from cardiac disease than patients without symptoms, and even than patients with typical cardiac pain.
Roche looking to step up Tamiflu output
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Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG has given assurances it is talking to other firms to raise output of its Tamiflu, seen as the most effective anti-viral drug currently available for bird flu, an EU spokesman said on Thursday.
However Roche Chief Executive Franz Humer and EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou agreed during talks that the process of ensuring that all EU states had sufficient quantities of the treatment was a gradual one, he added.
Diabetic black men have lower amounts of atherosclerosis than diabetic white men
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In a surprising outcome, investigators at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center found that diabetic black men have dramatically lower amounts of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, than diabetic white men.
Barry I. Freedman, M.D., and colleagues report in the December issue (Volume 48, No. 12) of Diabetologia that African-American men had significantly lower levels of calcified atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary (heart) arteries and the carotid arteries in the neck that supply blood to the brain.
When Hearing Is Lost, Surgery May Be Treatment of Choice
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Special education, loss of productivity, and the need for medical treatments associated with hearing loss cost an estimated $30 billion a year, yet hearing loss seems well outside the embrace of mainstream medicine.
For example, when Donna R. Halloran, M.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, analyzed results of hearing screenings done in pediatricians’ offices she found that 59% of children who failed the hearing test had no further evaluation.
Alcohol may help preserve brain health
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Elderly men and women with a history of mild-to-moderate drinking may experience less mental decline over time than seniors who do not consume alcoholic drinks, study findings suggest. The findings imply that mild-to-moderate alcohol consumption may play a role in helping preserve cognitive function.
“Health professionals have generally paid more attention to alcohol abuse and dependence and their adverse consequences,” said study author Dr. Mary Ganguli, of the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Diabetics at higher risk of colon cancer
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A new study confirms that individuals with diabetes are much more likely to develop colon cancer than individuals without diabetes. This makes abiding by colorectal cancer screening guidelines especially important for diabetics.
Investigators reported the study findings this week at the 70th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Honolulu.
Drug company proposes FDA check all drug advertising prior to marketing
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Drug company AstraZeneca has proposed that it should be a mandatory requirement for pharmaceutical companies to submit all direct-to-consumer advertising to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for review prior to its use.
Apparently the Anglo-Swedish company has made the recommendation in letter submitted to the FDA’s public hearing on consumer-directed promotion of regulated medical products.
New treatments improve lymphoma survival
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New treatments incorporating immunotherapy - strategies that boost the immune system—have significantly improved overall survival of patients with a blood cancer called follicular lymphoma, according to a new report.
Emerging data suggest that for patients with follicular lymphoma “initial treatment choices may matter,” Dr. Richard I. Fisher from University of Rochester in New York told Reuters Health.
School program helps kids control asthma
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Asthmatic children who learn about their condition at school seem to have a better handle on their symptoms, according to a new study.
The study of 26 Canadian elementary schools found that children in schools with an asthma education program were more confident in their ability to manage their symptoms. They also reported a better quality of life than asthmatic children in schools without an education program.
Flu Shots May Prevent Respiratory Failure in Kids With Chronic Diseases
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Children with neurological and neuromuscular diseases are at increased risk for respiratory failure when they catch the flu, and they should be vaccinated before every influenza season, researchers here suggested.
They characterized their finding as new but not surprising “given that these children often have compromised pulmonary function and ability to handle secretions, which are further exacerbated in the setting of influenza infection and resultant pneumonias,” Ron Keren, M.D., M.P.H. and colleagues of the Children’s Hospital of Philadephia reported in the Nov. 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Discovery could lead to new malaria drugs
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Unusual “wiring” in the cells of the malaria parasite could be a key to developing new treatments for the disease that kills millions of people each year, scientists said on Wednesday.
Two teams of researchers in the United States have discovered that sets of proteins, which are essential for cells to function and communicate with each other, interact differently in the Plasmodium falciparum parasite than in other organisms.
Lipid-lowering drug delays diabetes in the obese
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Treatment with bezafibrate to lower cholesterol curbs the incidence and delays the onset of type 2 diabetes in obese individuals, doctors in Israel report.
In comments to Reuters Health, sudy leader Dr. Alexander Tenenbaum from Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Tel-Hashomer noted that obesity has reached “epidemic dimensions worldwide” and is clearly associated with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome—a cluster of conditions including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
Australia says regional bird flu exercise likely
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Asia-Pacific leaders will be asked to approve a plan to hold simulated bird flu exercises next year to prepare nations for an avian flu pandemic, Australia said on Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum bird flu meeting in Australia this week had agreed on a set of proposals to combat bird flu, including a simulation exercise.
Ginseng product may lessen misery of cold season
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A cold remedy derived from the popular herb ginseng could help make the cold season a bit shorter and sweeter, new research suggests.
In a study that pitted the ginseng product against a placebo, Canadian researchers found that adults who took the botanical everyday for 4 months developed fewer and less-severe colds than did those on the placebo.
