Heart Disease :: Single genetic defect causes early heart disease
A team of researchers from the United States and Iran has identified a genetic mutation that causes early onset coronary artery disease in members of a large Iranian family.
Medical
Care :: Chronic disease management quality improvement efforts yield better care delivery
A national series of interventions designed to improve the quality of care in health centers for three prevalent chronic conditions has improved processes of care for these conditions but did not improve intermediate clinical outcomes, according to results of a study collaboratively supported by the HHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and Health Resources and Services Administration and complemented by a grant from the Commonwealth Fund.
Diabetes :: A specific fat type can protect against weight gain and diabetes
A new study from Joslin Diabetes Center may shed light on why some people can eat excessive amounts of food and not gain weight or develop type 2 diabetes, while others are more likely to develop obesity and this most common form of diabetes on any diet.
Addiction :: Addiction breakthrough may lead to new treatments
Scientists at the University of Cambridge have discovered why some individuals may be predisposed to drug addiction and believe it may lead to better treatments for this brain disorder.
Infertility :: Steroid use fails to boost pregnancy rates in infertility treatments
There is no clear benefit from a hormone commonly prescribed to enhance the effectiveness of infertility treatments, according to a new review of studies.
Infertility :: Treating male infertility with stem cells
New research has examined the usefulness of bone marrow stem cells for treating male infertility, with promising results. The related report by Lue et al, “Fate of bone marrow stem cells transplanted into the testis: potential implication for men with testicular failure,” appears in the March issue of The American Journal of Pathology.
Healthcare :: Universal rules needed for medics responding to calls for help in public
Universal rules are needed for doctors playing the “Good Samaritan” to members of the public who fall ill outside hospital, says an experienced medic.
Cirrhosis :: Improving quality of life for patients with cirrhosis
A study on patients with cirrhosis who had minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE), a condition in which behavioral, psychological and neurological changes are associated with advanced liver disease, found that cognitive function and health related quality-of-life improved when they took lactulose.
Kidney Cancer :: A new pharmaceutical drug that halts progress of metastatic kidney cancer
Research has shown the efficacy of a pharmaceutical drug known as sunitinib which halts progress of metastatic kidney cancer. The work was published recently in the prestigious international medical journal, the New England Journal of Medicine.
Meditation :: Transcendental meditation reduces congestive heart failure
A widely practiced, stress-reducing meditation technique significantly decreases the severity of congestive heart failure, according to a first-of-its-kind randomized study published in Ethnicity & Disease (Winter 2007).