For emergency department patients with shortness of breath and a risk of heart failure, physicians usually grab one thing first: a stethoscope. It allows them to hear the S3, an abnormal third sound in the heart’s rhythm strongly associated with cardiac disease and heart failure. However, the low-frequency, low-pitch sound is notoriously very difficult to hear with a stethoscope alone……..
Improved drug coverage under Medicare Part D has led to an increase in the use of antibiotics by seniors, especially of brand-name and more expensive drugs, as per a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health study. Reported in the Aug. 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine and the first to explore spending on antibiotics under Medicare Part D, the study suggests recent changes in drug coverage improved the use of antibiotics for pneumonia, but could lead to unnecessary spending on expensive broad-spectrum antibiotics and the overuse of inappropriate antibiotics……..
Scientists are reporting this week newly released study results they say provide further evidence of the therapeutic potential of stem cells derived from bone marrow for patients suffering from acute lung injury, one of the most common causes of respiratory failure in intensive care units. Led by Drs. Michael A. Matthay and Jae W.
Lower outdoor temperatures are associated with an increase in the risk of heart attacks, as per a newly released study by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). For the study (reported in the British Medical Journal and released online today at bmj.com), the researcher, led by Krishnan Bhaskaran of LSHTM observed that each 1 degree C reduction in temperature on a single day is linked to around 200 extra heart attacks……..
A study reported in the journal Science Translation Medicine proposes that preventative therapy with affordable and safe antibiotics in people living in areas with intense malaria transmission has the potential to act as a ‘needle-free’ natural vaccine against malaria and may likely provide an additional valuable tool for controlling and/or eliminating malaria in resource-poor settings……..
(MedPage Today) — Rapid and profound changes in the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis over the past two decades has led to a revision of classification criteria for the disease by the major North American and European rheumatology organizations working together.
(MedPage Today) — The World Health Organization has released the names and affiliations of the previously anonymous members of the emergency committee that has been advising the agency on pandemic H1N1 influenza.
(MedPage Today) — Use of oral bisphosphonates did not increase the risk of esophageal or gastric cancer in a large cohort of patients followed for more than four years.
(MedPage Today) — Physicians continue to shy away from prescribing finasteride to prevent prostate cancer, despite evidence from a large clinical trial showing that the drug significantly reduced the risk, a survey showed.
(MedPage Today) — Both the duration and composition of hormone therapy (HT) significantly influenced breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women, long-term follow-up in almost 3,000 women showed.