Latest Conference Articles

With the US population growing older and heavier, chronic knee pain is becoming common, and total knee replacement surgery is on the rise. Some 40% of women age 60 to 70 and 25% of men that age have such pain, and many turn to total knee replacement surgery. New studies suggest denervation of the nerves responsible for knee pain could be an alternative.

An expert on both flight and medical safety, author John Nance tells physicians the recent crash of a German Wings jet holds lessons for medicine as well as aviation.

Interventional pain management-the field of helping patients with acute or chronic pain without doing major surgery--is a both a growing specialty and one that is under assault. As the annual meeting of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians got underway in Orlando, FL today, group leaders outlined the organization's political agenda.

One of the hottest topics in medical science today is the role of the gut microbiome and its affect on various aspects of a person's health. A recent study looked at whether it can help predict the likelihood of a child having health issues linked to allergy and asthma.

For children going to school, their time in the classroom is a time of learning but also a time when germs can be spread on a wide scale basis. For asthma patients this can often mean several causes of their condition becoming worse without having done much to cause it.

New potential guidelines for peanut allergies may not apply to all patients but it could go a long way in treating what has become a growing problem in the healthcare field.

Joseph V. Pergolizzi, MD discusses the integral role his background in physical chemistry and drug development plays in pain medicine research.

It was only a few short years ago that pediatricians were advising new parents to avoid giving their children peanuts for fear of triggering an allergic reaction. That may not be the case anymore thanks to recent detailed studies on the topic.

Skin prick tests may be the most common method of determining skin allergies, but a recent test looked at their efficacy in diagnosing asthma in young patients as well.

There seems to be an ever growing list of items people are allergic to, and allergies that would only last a matter of months now stretch throughout the calendar for many. How best to handle these patients has become a focal point of care for allergists.

Seasonal allergies may be a common problem for patients, but for those who have allergies all year long, their treatment provides its own set of challenges for allergists.

Changing the dosage of an asthma patient does not come without its fair share of risks, but when done properly it can both help their quality of life and keep them safe from other complications at the same time.

While some exacerbations of asthma require trips to the doctor or emergency room, work is being done to help patients control their condition better in the comfort of their own home.

For patients who develop wheat allergies later in life the changes they need to make are difficult to do. There are, however, steps that can be taken to make those changes in less dramatic ways.

While not as widely discussed as other food allergies like peanuts, wheat allergies can present in a variety of ways and affect patients different depending on their age.

In the inner cities some children do not have the resources at their disposal to get the care they needed. Recently considerable effort has been made to helping keep them healthy and able to function in their daily lives.

Pollution can be a major problem no matter where patients live, and reversing its effects can be a difficult process. However, with the right approach small steps can be taken that can eventually make a big difference.

Along with the issues pollution poses for asthma and allergy patients, developing research shows it can also affect cardiovascular health as well.

Pollution in different parts of the world can affect a person's breathing in different ways. For people in the healthcare field, work must now focus on how to overcome those issues to ensure the health of their patients.

Making the transition from transfemoral to transradial access may provide longterm benefits for acute coronary syndrome patients, but changing years of training to the newer method also figures to be a longterm project for the cardiac community.

For patients with acute coronary syndrome there has been one longstanding treatment method which doctors have used for many years. In recent years interventional cardiologists have been looking at whether a fresh approach might be best for this patient group.

After studying the reasons for evacuation from theater, between 2004 to 2007, Steven P. Cohen, MD, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, found that the number one reason each year revolved around muscular skeletal injuries.

The US had been found to have a higher percentage of opioid use than in any other country.

Recent studies have shown strong links between patients who are obese and also have issues with sleep as part of their diabetes diagnosis.

Doctors around the world face their own individual challenges depending on where they are working with patients. In Africa those challenges include not only difficulty affording medication, but in some cases having proper ways to properly store them.

The field of medical technology is constantly expanding and changing requiring new equipment to be used in a variety of ways. That effort has been brought under one roof at Massachusetts General Hospital thanks in part to the efforts of one generous and appreciative patient.

While several new treatment options for plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis have launched in recent years, there is still much work to be done in the field to help patients through long stretches of care.

The array of medications and treatments for plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis continues to expand, giving doctors and patients more choices when deciding on a management plan.

A lot of work goes into a medication being approved for the public including many rounds of trials and adjustments along the way. For a new plaque psoriasis medication that work is well underway and the developers hope to have it to patients in the near future.

The development of new medications to help patients with plaque psoriasis seems to take steps forward on a daily basis. Results presented at a recent conference showed at least one could help provide much needed relief for this patient group.