News

For patients diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis the pain associated not only with the condition but also the potential knee replacement surgery can be excruciating. A recent study looked at ways to minimize the pain after the operation to get people back on their feet as quickly as possible.

A Dutch trial that compared the effectiveness of treating acute ischemic stroke patients with tPA with that of using tPA plus mechanical clot removal and/or other clot-busting agents showed the more aggressive therapies got better results. Dubbed MR CLEAN, the 500-patient 16-center study also found that such measures gave treating physicians more time-up to 6 hours after a stroke vs. the 4.5 hours that is the accepted treatment window for tPA.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Wednesday that workers in a lab in their Atlanta headquarters may have been exposed to a live strain of the Ebola virus.

Waiting lists for donor organs are shorter in some parts of the US, creating a geographic disparity that The US Department of Health and Human Services would like to eliminate. There are currently 58 Donor Service Areas in 11 US regions and donor organs go first to patients within each one. That has created a system where transplant patients often travel to regions where the waits are shorter, a hardship for them and a barrier to poor patients.

The identification of a gene mutation could provide an added boost to the research into treatments for conditions like Cushing's syndrome, according to a recent European study.

A new virus has reportedly been discovered in the Midwest, with scientists looking at how the tick-borne illness claimed the life of one person in Kansas.

Postextubation dysphagia is a common but often unrecognized problem in critically ill patients who've been intubated for 2 days or more. Its causes include mechanical abrasion, cognitive disturbances, and the residual effects of narcotics and anxiolytic medications.

The entrepreneur who founded Napster and secured Facebook some of its first venture capital money has donated $24 million to fund an allergy research center at Stanford University.

As many as 15% of diabetics may be misdiagnosed with simple diabetes mellitus (DM) types 1 or 2. But DM presents as more than 50 unique types, and even among correctly diagnosed type 2 patients, 60 predisposing genetic variants exist.

A experimental device designed to replace medications such a warfarin in the treatment of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation may have taken another step closer to market earlier this month.

An article published electronically in JAMA Facial and Plastic Surgery discusses what happens when ears have been stretched beyond the body's ability to heal.

Saxenda (liraglutide [rDNA origin] injection) 3 mg has been approved as an adjunct to a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity for chronic weight management in obese and overweight adults who have at least one weight-related comorbidity.

A longstanding policy of the US Food and Drug Administration could be coming to an end as Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg released a statement with proposed changes to the blood donor deferral for homosexual men.

Soolantra (ivermectin) Cream, 1% has been approved for the once-daily topical treatment of inflammatory lesions, or bumps and pimples, of rosacea.

Around 10% of elders experience some form of elder abuse (physical, sexual or emotional abuse; neglect, exploitation, or abandonment), and elders who are abused appear to have a high level of comorbidity. Evidence suggests that patients who have experienced elder abuse are at higher risk of cardiovascular-related mortality.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) published a 2013 guideline addressing the number of embryos to transfer. Its guideline relied on empiric data to individualize patient care while minimizing the risk of high-order multiple births.

Variations of an enzyme could help health care professionals identify patients more likely to be diagnosed with a rare rheumatologic condition.

A new analysis of Medicare data has found that prostate cancer patients who use testosterone replacement therapy live just as long as those who don't and do not have greater need for androgen deprivation therapy.

Results from a small trial indicate that radiofrequency ablation can be an effective treatment for atrial fibrillation in patients with atrial septal defects.

The Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) will hear arguments in the King v. Burwell case on March 4, according to information posted today on its calendar. The viability of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) hangs in the balance. The case focuses on language in the ACA that plaintiffs charge makes it illegal for people to get federal subsidies for health insurance purchased on state exchanges if they live in states where the federal government runs those exchanges.

A new study has given some doubt to the long-held belief that patients with type 1 diabetes no longer produce insulin even long after their diagnosis.

Rapivab (peramivir injection) is an intravenous neuraminidase inhibitor approved for the treatment of acute uncomplicated influenza in patients 18 years and older.

Patients with mild hypertension may not be getting the care they need, according to 2 studies and an editorial due to be published Dec. 23 in Annals of Internal Medicine. In the second of the 2 studies in the journal, done for the US Preventive Service Task Force, researchers find office-based blood pressure readings are often less accurate than ambulatory blood pressure screening.

A new antibacterial drug has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of complicated intra-abdominal infections and complicated urinary tract infections.

Atherosclerotic internal carotid artery disease is a major contributor to ischemic stroke. Surgeons use a combination of carotid artery and brain imaging to determine if patients have symptomatic carotid stenosis. However, there remains widespread disagreement on the threshold, timing, and best technical approach to carotid revascularization in symptomatic patients.

Slightly more than 6.8 million community-dwelling Americans use assistive devices (eg, canes, walkers, crutches) to help them with mobility and, of these, 1.7 million people use wheelchairs or scooter riders. These Americans at risk for unique musculoskeletal problems, especially rotator cuff injuries.

The FDA has cleared a blood test that can screen patients, especially black women, for coronary heart disease.

The chemical compound indazole chloride (Ind-Cl) initiated long lasting relief in mice models of multiple sclerosis.

The US Food and Drug Administration has announced the approval of a new combination treatment for hepatitis C virus.

The Journal of the American College of Cardiology named its biggest hits in 2014, based on papers most frequently accessed from its site. A blood test to rule out heart attack, an advisory about guidelines for preventing high blood pressure, cutting edge research on a new class of cholesterol drugs, and a study that found benefits in early surgery for mitral regurgitation were among the winners.