News

Studying vision impairments and their effects on quality of life in multiple sclerosis patients is a developing field.

Researchers will adapt an existing video game therapy for multiple sclerosis patients to slow progression of motor decline.

Physicians treating patients with fever, aching joints, and other viral symptoms might want to ask about patients' travel history. If these patients have been to the Caribbean or other places with hot climates they could be infected with Chikungunya virus, known also as CHIK-V. The disease has been reported in all but 3 US states.

A new, free mobile application that could potentially detect skin cancer, was made available on World Cancer Day, February 4, 2015, for physicians and dermatologists in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.

A woman successfully treated with fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for recurrent Clostridium difficile(C. difficile) from an overweight donor's stool found herself quickly gaining weight afterward to the point of obesity, reported a case published in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Five cases of measles in a suburban Illinois infant care center have added to concerns the preventable but highly contagious illness is spreading. The children, all under 12 months old, are too young to be vaccinated, but they appear to have contracted the illness from an unvaccinated adult. Meanwhile, bucking a trend, a New York legislator wants to make philosophical objections to mandatory vaccination legal in that state.

Youth football season is just around the corner and as a new group of young football players prepare to strap on a helmet questions continue to be raised about the neurological safety of children playing the sport.

Cross magnesium sulfate off the list of potential treatments to prevent post-stroke brain damage. Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, Jeffrey Saver, MD and colleagues reported on FASTMAG, a test in which paramedic ambulance crews administered magnesium sulfate to apparent stroke patients at the site of the 911 call. The treatment was shown to be safe, with no difference in mortality between the treatment group and patients who got a placebo. But there was no significant shift in 90-day disability outcomes.

In the February issue of MD Magazine, our cover story takes a look at the growing world of so-called "concierge medicine." In this preview video, Princeton, NJ internist Simon D. Murray, MD, discusses the business model behind retainer-based care.

Dalfampridine extended release was evaluated for any links to renal impairments and seizures in multiple sclerosis patients.

Increased consumption of sugary drinks has been found to potentially trigger early onset of menstrual cycles in young girls.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed to expand Medicare coverage to include routine HIV testing.

Colorectal cancer survivors who smoke cigarettes were found to face more than twice the risk of death than non-smoking survivors, corroborating existing evidence that cigarette smoking is associated with colorectal cancer-specific mortality.

Mortality and diagnosis rates associated with HIV were staggeringly higher in southern US states than in the rest of the country, according to researchers who called for the prioritization of prevention programs in this region.

An unlikely remedy, beetroot juice, was found to improve chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients' exercise performance.

Challenging previous research, John Hopkins University investigators claimed race, poverty, and ethnicity - not residing in urban areas - were greater forecasters of asthma. However, they cautioned their study did not determine whether location is linked to a worsening in symptoms.

Using an innovative predictive model, researchers at the University of Adelaide in Australia discovered that urban sprawl increased the transmission of parasitic worms found in rats and the parasites to humans and other forms of wildlife.

As the tally of measles cases linked to a California outbreak continues to climb, the issue of vaccinations has once again become a topic of heated discussion, prompting even the president to weigh in.

While many women (and men) with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have experienced some level of sexual dysfunction, according to recent data, only less than one in 10 female patients revealed their physicians speak with them about this issue.

The new formulation of Zohydro ER uses technology that provides abuse-deterrent properties without changing the release properties of hydrocodone when the medication is used properly.

A new minimally invasive cell sampling device, Cytosponge-TFF3, coupled with assessment of trefoil factor 3 expressions, can successfully identify patients with reflux symptoms who warrant endoscopy to diagnose Barrett's esophagus.

As the National Institute of Health's National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) institutes a new strategic plan, the group also welcomes a new leader who is familiar with the goals of the program.

An optimal cessation treatment gauged how quickly a smoker metabolized nicotine after quitting, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new medication to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes.

For individuals with hereditary hemochromatosis, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers believe increased vulnerability to deadly bacteria is due to their lack of a hormone called hepcidin.

A study conducted by SUNY Downstate Medical Center found people moving to forested areas cause increases in African animal to human Ebola transmissions.

Following similar approvals in the United States and Canada, AbbVie has been granted marketing authorization by the European Commission for an all-oral, interferon-free combination drug for the treatment of genotypes 1 and 4 chronic hepatitis C infection.

The CDC has deemed the 2014-2015 flu season as reaching epidemic proportions. In part 2 of our flu series interview with Rob Pedowitz, DO, from CentraState Healthcare System, discusses what makes it an epidemic as well as issues with the current flu vaccine.

When diagnosing patients with the flu many doctors go with their instincts and symptoms over tests that have not always been able to diagnose various strains of the virus.

The 2014-2015 flu season has been one of the worst in recent years due to several factors. Robert Pedowitz, DO, of the CentraState Healthcare System explains some of the issues facing patients and doctors during the most recent epidemic.