News

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst will investigate if a blood test can predict breast cancer.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a polypill for hypertension, a combination of perindopril arginine and amlodipine (Prestalia/ Symplmed Pharma-Servier).

Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, WA, had recently discovered the correlation between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the steady increase in the diversity of viruses.

The optimal treatment time for slowing the progression of rheumatoid arthritis is earlier in the course of disease, researchers said in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.

The progression of aging can be tracked – and even slowed – by a blood test that can also possibly detect early warning signs of more serious illnesses.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved ferric pyrophosphate citrate (Triferic/Rockwell) for use as an iron replacement therapy in patients with end-stage renal disease, the company announced. It is also indicated for chronic kidney disease. The drug is for adults.

A new test will aim to determine if vibrating soles can prevent falls in patients with multiple sclerosis, by training them to strengthen muscles and balance.

Facial fractures are a frequent cause for emergency department (ED) visits, costing the US economy about $1 billion every year. These fractures can occur due to a variety of traumas, including motor vehicle accidents, sports injuries, person-to-person violence, and falls. Identifying trends could help ED personnel and surgeons anticipate common problems.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Bexsero, a Novartis vaccine to prevent meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitides serogroup B. It is meant for children age 10 and up and young adults through age 25.

Researchers recently used a 3-D printer to create case-specific models that can aid in accurate, extensive preoperative planning.

Handwritten prescriptions will soon be illegal in New York. The Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) and 18 national and NY State medical organizations are trying to delay for a year the onset of a law that would require electonic prescriptions, ban prescription pads, and drastically restrict phoned-in prescriptions. The measure, due to take effect March 27, would require electronic prescriptions for all medications-not just for controlled substances but antibiotics, allergy medications or anything else that requires a prescription.

Patients can develop symptoms of both COPD and asthma, and the percentage increases as patients age.

Breast cancer patients who believed acupuncture would reduce their joint pain demonstrated significant pain reduction, no matter if they received real or placebo acupuncture.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients may get relief from a selective cannabinoid receptor agonist, according to findings published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders.

Study shows that regular acetaminophen use may be associated with an increased risk of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and that long-term NSAID use may be associated with an increased risk of PsA.

A commonly used sensitive Troponin detection test to confirm heart attacks is often not being used in a way that will consistently detect these events, a UK research team has found. Writing in the British Medical Journal, Zhivko Zhelev PhD, a diagnostics research fellow at the University of Exeter and colleagues reported on their meta-analysis of studies that assessed the accuracy of a widely used diagnostic test, the Elecsys Troponin T high-sensitivity assay.

Study results show patients with psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriasis are at higher risk for myocardial infarction, stroke, and other adverse cardiovascular events.

The hospital shooting death of Boston cardiac surgeon Michael Davidson, MD, 44, has shocked the cardiology world-far beyond his colleagues at Brigham and Women's Hospital where he was director of endovascular cardiac surgery. On a remembrance page and in formal statements, tributes are pouring in. Davidson, a respected innovator in heart valve replacement, died late Jan. 20, hours after he was shot by the son of a former patient who then turned his gun on himself.He leaves his wife Teri Davidson, who is 7 months pregnant, and 3 children ages 2 to 9.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved secukinumab (Cosentyx/Novartis) for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. The European Commission approved the same drug on Jan. 19. Its active ingredient is an antibody that binds to interleukin-17A and interferes with inflammation. The binding prevents that protein from triggering the inflammatory response that results in psoriasis patches.

Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction-or the Tommy John procedure as it's known to sports fans-has come a long way since its invention in 1974. It's not only a more refined procedure today, it's more popular.

Laparoscopic colorectal surgery (LCS) using multiple ports has become commonplace in colorectal surgery, offering a safe alternative to open surgery with similar surgical results. In other types of surgery, single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) and natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) are growing in popularity.

In the wake of Joan Rivers' untimely death last year, ambulatory surgery centers have come under increased scrutiny. Several recent articles in the literature look at this complicated area of surgical practice.

Though research on the possible medical uses and benefits of marijuana in ongoing Colorado physicians are seem some unexpected consequences. Those include severe accidental burns, pediatric poisonings, and toxic reactions to eating too many marijuana-laced cookies.

Autologous human stem cell transplantation can apparently reset the immune systems of patients with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) and lead to improvements in their degree of disability, according to a JAMA study. Richard Burt MD and colleagues looked at 123 patients with RRMS and 28 with secondary progressive MS, 85 of whom were women.All were treated at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL with peripheral blood stem cells between 2003 and 2014 and followed for 5 years.The authors also said that 80% of patients were relapse-free at the 4-yr point.

Older adults hospitalized with pneumonia show an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) according to a JAMA study. Researchers at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Canada looked at the health histories of 5,888 patients enrolled in the Cardiovascular Health Study and 15,792 enrolled in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. Patients in the first groups were 65 or older and those in the second group were 45 to 65. Of 591 who were hospitalized in the first group, 206 had CVD events within the next decade. In the second group, of 680 hospitalized with pneumonia, 112 had CVD events in the next 10 years.

Patients misunderstood onset causes, progression, and treatments for rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis, according to research published in PLOS One.

Study shows ustekinumab more effective at certain doses and in treatment-naïve patients. Several factors associated with diminished treatment response also identified.

An analysis of medical records from 5,311 people indicates that even mildly elevated blood pressure may indicate a dramatically elevated risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF). Many studies have shown that patients with hypertension - defined as blood pressure above 140/90 mm Hg - are more likely to develop AF than patients with healthy blood pressure, but the new paper may be the first to document a significant association between AF and blood pressure between 120/80 mm Hg and 139/89 mm Hg.

New research suggests that strategically timed injections of testosterone may significantly extend the lives of some men with prostate cancer. Doctors at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center provided such injections (along with 14 days of the oral chemotherapy etoposide) to 16 men whose tumors had become resistant to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). A pair of those patients experienced side effects and dropped out of the study. The rest received at least 2 more 400 mg injections, spaced at 28-day intervals, while they kept taking chemicals designed to suppress natural androgen production.