Fifty U.S. hospitals, including NYU Medical Center, have been named to the first Leapfrog Top Hospitals list, based on results from the Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey, a national rating system that offers a broad assessment of a hospital?s quality and safety.
A research team has identified a key enzyme responsible for triggering a chain of events that results in allergic reaction, according to new study findings published this week in Nature Immunology. The work by researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University, the Hospital for Special Surgery and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York sets the stage for development of new strategies and target therapies that control allergic disease – the sixth leading cause of chronic disease in the United States.
Breast cancer survivors might one day avoid the prospect of invasive breast reconstruction surgery, opting instead for an approach that would involve using stem cells derived from their own fat, suggest University of Pittsburgh researchers who are studying the potential these cells may have for regenerating new breast tissue.
A consortium of American and Canadian researchers report in Science Express, a rapid online publication by the journal Science, the discovery of a new genetic link to Crohn’s disease. While most of the mutations in the gene, which codes for a receptor in a major inflammatory pathway, are strongly associated with Crohn?s, surprisingly, one type of mutation appears to confer significant protection. The finding, say the researchers, points to a crucial target for drugs that might better manage Crohn?s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Schering-Plough reported data from EPIC3, a large ongoing clinical study, showing that retreatment with PEG-INTRON(R) (peginterferon alfa-2b) and REBETOL(R) (ribavirin, USP) combination therapy can result in sustained virologic response(1) (SVR) in patients with chronic hepatitis C who failed previous treatment with any alpha interferon-based combination therapy, including peginterferon regimens. In this study, 56 percent of patients who had undetectable virus (HCV-RNA) after 12 weeks went on to achieve SVR with a 48-week course of therapy. Of the first 1,354 patients retreated, approximately 38 percent had undetectable virus at week 12. Importantly, patients who did not have undetectable virus at 12 weeks had little chance of achieving SVR. Overall, 23 percent of patients achieved SVR.
New data suggest that Strattera? (atomoxetine HCl) improved ADHD symptoms in children and adolescents who had both ADHD and a reading disorder, like dyslexia. Results were announced at a meeting of child and adolescent psychiatrists.
In an essay published urgently in the international open access journal PloS Medicine, Pulitzer Prize winning author Laurie Garrett warns that if Libya proceeds with the executions of six foreign health workers accused of infecting children with HIV, the appalling injustice will threaten health workers worldwide and endanger their patients in the poorest parts of the world.
There is new hope of succour for women suffering from pregnancy diabetes with the European Commission (EC) approving the use of insulin drug ”NovolRapid,” as the first modern insulin that has a label stating can be used in pregnancy.
Even healthy men may benefit from a drink or two daily to help lower the risk of heart attack, that can be like other lifestyle interventions such as regular physical activity, weight loss and quitting smoking.
In the wake of growing number of mumps cases in the US, the American medical authorities have updated their vaccination recommendations & asked for utilizing every opportunity to provide immunization to high-risk populations.