A study published in the journal “Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases” refutes the frequently repeated claims that a comprehensive salt reduction would not produce any overall health benefits, or would even increase diseases and shorten the life-span.
Seeing the funny side of things and realising that other people are worse off than them are the two top coping strategies used by people caring for someone over 75, according to research in November issue of Journal of Clinical Nursing.
Researchers have developed a simple, noninvasive way to measure right ventricular function in the heart to predict survival of adults who suffer from pulmonary hypertension. The research appears in the first issue for November 2006 of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.
A single dose of sildenafil, a blood vessel widening vasodilator, prevented rebound pulmonary hypertension and significantly reduced the duration of mechanical ventilation in intensive care unit (ICU) infants being withdrawn from inhaled nitric oxide therapy.
Teenagers with reading problems are at significantly higher risk for suicide and for dropping out of school than typical readers, according to a study by Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center researchers.
Psychological and behavioral therapies produce reliable changes in several sleep parameters of insomniacs, and are, therefore, considered an effective treatment for insomnia. This finding confirms a review paper published in 1999 by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) regarding the efficacy of psychological and behavioral treatments for insomnia.
The highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been detected in at least 55 countries in Asia, Europe, and Africa. This often fatal disease is of pressing concern because it can be transmitted from birds to humans, although such transmissions have been rare so far. Unfortunately, according to a Roundtable article in the November 2006 BioScience, the journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), critical information about incidence of the disease in wild birds–even the species of the infected bird–is often recorded inaccurately or not recorded at all. The deficiencies in data collection, the authors write, “can lead to unwarranted assumptions and conclusions that in turn affect public perceptions, practical control and management measures, and the disposition of resources.”
The best initial cervical cancer screening tool for younger women is still the traditional Pap smear. However, a large Danish study has found that for older women (age 40 and older), a test for human papillomavirus (HPV) is a much more effective way to screen for potential cancer.
Providence, RI ?V Breast cancer awareness month may have passed, but researchers remain focused on the disease with a new study showing that a unique estrogen receptor found in breast cancer tumors is a predictor of tumor size and metastases. The study, led by researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown Medical School, is published in the November 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.
Because individuals can react differently to antidepressant medications, regular follow-up is important during the first few weeks of treatment, according to an editorial by Group Health psychiatrist and researcher Greg Simon, MD, MPH.