News

A new set of guidelines from the American College of Physicians (ACP) advises physicians to prescribe exercises and behavioral therapy-not drugs-as first-line treatment for many patients with urinary incontinence (UI).

Using an experimental and highly sensitive test for cardiac troponin, a team of Johns Hopkins researchers found undetected signs of heart muscle damage in people with diabetes and pre-diabetes. That may suggest that hypoglycemia directly damages the heart.

As reported in the EMBO Molecular Medicine journal, researchers have discovered there are several types of dendritic cells within human skin that play a role in both the earlier and more advances stages of psoriasis.

Taking human pluripotent stem cells, reprogramming them to act like embryonic stem cells, and then getting those cells to create neurons has enabled researchers to create a "brain in a dish." In a dramatic demonstration of this technique's potential in neurological research, scientists recently took some of these neurons and reprogrammed them by using genetic material in skin cells taken from people with schizophrenia.

A new blood test said to predict Alzheimer's disease up to 10 years before its onset will be available to researchers and pharmaceutical companies this fall, according to NanoSomiX, the company that developed it.

Medication commonly used to reduce cholesterol could also be used to help patients with diabetes reduce their risk of serious complications like blindness and amputations.

People who smoke and have more sodium in their diets than others could also be more likely to eventually develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a recent study.

Moderate disability due to multiple sclerosis could be treated with yoga, according to research from Rutgers investigators.

The US Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new algorithm that will enable many smart phones to detect signs of atrial fibrillation.

As the Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues to intensify and widen, the collection of obstacles in the way of the people trying to help those so desperately in need also seems to constantly be growing.

The quest for a non-pharmaceutical therapy for hypertension suffered a setback recently with the publication of two studies on renal denervation (RDN). Both articles appeared in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and both reported on trials that showed the procedure did not lower blood pressure. But in an accompanying editorial, Vivek Reddy, MD, and Jeffrey Olin, DO, said they have critical questions about those studies that need to be answered before RDN therapy is written off.

Contrave (naltrexone hydrochloride and bupropion hydrochloride extended-release tablets) is a treatment option for chronic weight management in addition to a reduced-calorie diet and physical activity.

Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center recently announced a breakthrough in the development of a replacement kidney.

A new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines the agency's recommendations concerning human papillomavirus vaccination and associated diseases.

Doctors may be undertreating patients for sickle cell disease, a US National Institutes of Health (NIH) panel said. A group of experts convened by the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute issued new guidelines Sept. 9, calling for more aggressive treatment of these patients including periodic blood transfusions for pediatric patients. They also called strongly for greater use of hydroxyurea, a drug that promotes production of one type of healthy hemoglobin and thus dilute the amount of the faulty hemoglobin that causes the symptoms of sickle cells disease.

Breast feeding can potentially protect premature babies from a toxic gastrointestinal disease, according to a recent study published in in the American Journal of Pathology.

Investigators have found that many autoimmune diseases are implicated in the surge and development of eating disorders, according to a study published in PLoS One.

Vaccination coverage among US children ages 19 to 35 months in 2013 increased relative to 2012 data from the National Immunization Survey for some vaccines (rotavirus, Hep B birth dose, and ≥ 1HepA dose).

Psoriatic arthritis may be difficult to distinguish from other types of arthritis. According to results of a new study, assessing a patient's sense of balance and hearing ability may be an aid in the diagnosis.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is showing no signs of slowing down. As more people become infected and die from the virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) is looking for international help to bring the medical emergency under control.

Public health researchers have long believed that if patients could take one pill instead of several they would be more likely to comply with the drug regimens prescribed by their physicians. The US Food and Drug Administration's cardiovascular and renal drugs advisory committee is evaluating the "potential clinical utility" of a single pill that would contain an anti-hypertensive drug, aspirin, and a statin. The goal would be to prevent strokes and heart attacks in patients with a history of cardiovascular disease.

The makeup of a person's brain chemistry could play a role in their environmental food cues, according to the results of a new study.

Researchers from Stanford University are nearing the end of a decade-long bioengineering project in which yeast creates painkillers without the use of poppies' opium.

A study finds that new national guidelines can improve the way statins are prescribed to patients at risk for cardiovascular disease, and produce only a modest increase in the number of patients being given the medication.

The damage that results from oxygen deprivation to the brain during sleep apnea can be reversed by using a continuous positive airway pressure therapy (CPAP) device, an Italian study found.

Emergency department treatment for severe headache usually means a prescription for painkillers. But a Minnesota doctor has come up with a non-prescription, low-tech way of treating severe headache pain-immersing the back of the patient's head in a basin of gradually cooling water.

A recent study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology cites the efficacy and safety of resuming infliximab therapy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients following a drug holiday.

The first accurate measurements of ideal growth and developments from conception to birth depicting a healthy pattern of growth desirable for all fetuses and newborns regardless of ethnic origin have been published in The Lancet.

Staff scientists at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have concluded that there's no "convincing evidence" linking testosterone replacement therapy with adverse cardiovascular events.

A new study showing significant negative correlation between phthalate absorption and testosterone levels adds considerably more weight and significant new details to a growing body of research.