News

Patients with irritable bowel syndrome experience less effective pain treatments, according to research from the University of Adelaide in Australia.

Hypertension has long been linked to obesity, but a new study shows that where that fat is matters. A team of researchers at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX conclude that when that fat is in the viscera-as opposed to accumulating under the skin-there is a strong chance patients will develop hypertension.

Psoriasis, plaguing patients with its seemingly incurable symptoms, may have met its match. Skylit Medical, a startup in San Diego, is developing a phototherapy device to use as treatment for psoriasis as well as eczema and vitiligo.

AstraZeneca's beleaguered anti-platelet drug ticagrelor (Brilinta) may get a boost from a French study published online Sept. 3 in the New England Journal of Medicine. In findings also reported at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Gilles Montalescot, MD, found that in a group of 1862 patients, the drug appeared to offer greater protection from stent thrombosis when administered by ambulance personnel than when given later in a cardiac cath lab.

Having seen firsthand the damage done by the Ebola virus outbreak, US Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, said that while a lot of work had been put in to help those in need, there was still a lot more work to be done.

Patients diagnosed with type 1 diabetes are at higher risk for developing major health complications but up until now there had been no reliable way to determine which complications a patient might develop or how severe they might be.

Multiple sclerosis rates are rising in what are generally considered low-risk areas because of population and ethnicity changes, according to researchers.

Insurers and disaster relief organizations are still tallying the bill for Super Storm Sandy, the weather disaster that caused an estimated $68 billion in damage in the Northeastern US on Oct. 2012.

Results of a large international study known as SIGNIFY showed ivabradine offered no benefit to patients who had stable coronary artery disease without clinical heart failure (CHF).

Novartis plans to soon file a new drug application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its investigational heart failure drug LCZ696. A report showing the drug works better than enalapril to prevent adverse cardiac events was released at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona, Spain Aug. 30 and published online in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

Researchers at the University of Leicester have developed a highly sensitive "electronic-nose" to identify the infectious bacteria Clostridium difficile that causes diarrhea, stomach cramps, and fever in patients.

Monitoring patients' own intestinal immune responses, researchers at Yale University have identified some of the bacterial culprits driving inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

New research suggests that oral immunotherapy may trigger anaphylaxis in an unusually high percentage of asthmatic teenagers with high-risk food allergies who failed to adhere to their management plan.

A 3-year study of a product meant to help patients dealing with a wide range of conditions including diabetes, hypertension, and weight loss showed positive results according to manufacturer EnteroMedics, Inc.

As national and international health agencies and other groups shift their focus during the current outbreak of the Ebola virus from treatment of those patients with the virus to preventing further large scale events, a team of researchers has reported some success in looking at how Ebola compromises an infected person's immune system.

For many patients with chronic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, medication adherence is often one of the most challenging aspects of the treatment process, especially when the medications prescribed by their health care professional are prohibitively expensive. A study from Manchester University recently showed that many patients with rheumatoid arthritis are not taking some of their most critical medicines due to rising drug costs.

Patients who do not have coronary artery disease but have fat around their hearts appear more likely to develop atherosclerosis, a team of researchers in Germany found.

Even though the active ingredient in marijuana can be associated with memory impairment, it may slow or halt Alzheimer's disease.

Peripheral neuropathy was found in a third of HIV patients in a recent study of 58 men with a median age of 36 years.

Revised guidelines recommend athletes to drink when they are thirsty and to supplement post-training fluids with "recovery foods."

Gastroparesis, or delayed gastric emptying, remains misunderstood despite rising prevalence, according to a news release from the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD), a nonprofit research and education organization addressing issues surrounding gastrointestinal and motility disorders.

The European Commission (EU) has granted Bristol-Myers Squibb's Daklinza (daclatasvir) approval for an all-oral drug regimen for the treatment of four genotypes of chronic hepatitis C infection.

A new multi-step skin testing protocol effectively determines the presence of isosulfan blue allergy, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia.

A common treatment for opioid addiction significantly reduces testosterone levels in many male patients; researchers suggest that supplementary testosterone might improve outcomes.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues to expand and around the world researchers are striving to learn more about the disease and how to stop it to ensure that any future outbreaks of the virus are not nearly as severe.

Analysis of fatal cases of anaphylaxis in Canada uncovers several trends that point to a need for more effective monitoring and treatment strategies in high-risk patients.

GlaxoSmithKline's Arnuity approved for patients over the age of 12 as part of treatment options

Surgeons transplanted a kidney from a donor who had hepatitis C to a recipient who also has the disease in what is believed to be the first of its kind in the state of Utah.

Among married couples who smoke marijuana, there is an inverse relationship between frequency of marijuana use and likelihood of a domestic violence occurrence.

Opioid treatment suppressed testosterone levels in men, yet the therapy left women's testosterone levels unaltered, according to a study in Scientific Reports.