In 2008, roughly 14.3 million Americans were taking antipsychotics—typically prescribed for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or a number of other behavioral disorders—making them among the most prescribed drugs in the U.S. Almost all of these medications are known to cause the metabolic side effects of obesity and diabetes, leaving patients with a difficult choice between improving their mental health and damaging their physical health.
Culture
Eyes :: Surgical errors rare but serious in ophthalmic procedures
Surgical confusions—for instance, operations involving the wrong site, the wrong patient or the wrong procedure—occur infrequently in eye surgery procedures, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Although most surgical confusions cause little or no permanent injury, they may involve serious consequences for the patient, physician and profession, yet could often be prevented.
Healthcare :: Promote India as the new emerging medical value travel destination abroad, says Ambika Soni
The Tourism and Culture Minister Smt. Ambika Soni has stressed the need to promote India as the new emerging Medical Value Travel destination abroad. She was speaking at the 4th India Health Summit here. Smt. Soni said the way medial tourism has developed in recent times is largely linked to economics and technology and India is positioning itself as the primary medical destination for the most complex medical procedures in the world.
HIV :: HIV-TB spreads in Africa, undermines control of world’s 2 deadliest infectious diseases
The largely unnoticed collision of the global epidemics of HIV and tuberculosis (TB) has exploded to create a deadly co-epidemic that is rapidly spreading in sub-Saharan Africa. However, health systems cannot adequately diagnose, treat, or contain the co-epidemic due to unanswered scientific and medical questions, according to a report issued today by The Forum for Collaborative HIV Research and amplified by experts from leading global health organizations.
Liver :: A new chemotherapeutic target for hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major health problem worldwide. Currently, the only chance for obtaining a cure in patients with HCC is by either a surgical resection or liver transplantation. However, many HCCs with scattered tumors cannot be operated on. In such patients, effective alternative therapies need to be discovered in order to treat patients in the early stages of this disease.
Autism :: Autism Consortium releases data on genes involved in autism to researchers worldwide
The Autism Consortium, a group of researchers, clinicians and families dedicated to radically accelerating research and enhancing clinical care for autism, announced that it has completed the first genome scan for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) through its Autism Gene Discovery Project and has released the reference data set to a database that autism researchers around the world can use. The scan was conducted using new, high resolution technology developed by Affymetrix on genetic data from more than 3,000 children with ASD and their families.
Breast Cancer :: Enhanced DNA repair mechanism can cause breast cancer
Although defects in the “breast cancer gene,” BRCA1, have been known for years to increase the risk for breast cancer, exactly how it can lead to tumor growth has remained a mystery. In the October 15, 2007, issue of the journal Cancer Research, scientists from the University of Chicago and Kyoto University, Japan, suggest that a mechanism that normally repairs damaged DNA may function abnormally in BRCA1 carriers leading to one type of poor-prognosis breast cancer.
Mental Health :: Ban Ki-moon calls for scaling up resources for mental health services
More than 60 per cent of people globally who suffer from mental disorders are not receiving treatment, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, urging an increase in resources devoted to mental health care.
Transplant :: Researchers create system to build transplant tissue
Cornell University engineers say they have developed a microvascular system that can nourish growing tissues, a step that may one day allow laboratories to grow synthetically engineered tissues for transplants.
Tuberculosis :: Space technology harnessed to search out tuberculosis TB
Technology developed for the Beagle 2 and Rosetta space missions could soon be harnessed to provide a cost-effective, rapid and accurate tool for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB).