This week’s New England Journal of Medicine reported that annual chest computed tomography (CT) scans on those at risk for lung cancer can detect it earlier, at a more treatable stage. In the study, more than 31,000 people in the United States and overseas underwent spiral CT scans of their chests at the beginning and again in seven to 18 months unless something was detected on the first scan.
There is new hope for some of the most seriously ill colon cancer patients today, following the release of a consensus statement by 72 leading oncology surgeons from 14 countries, including the United States. The Peritoneal Surface Malignancy Group (PSMG) has concluded that surgery, followed by heated chemotherapy delivered through the lower abdomen of the patient before leaving the operating room, may significantly increase the life expectancy for patients with Stage IV colorectal cancer.
Preliminary findings from a University of Florida study show there is little difference in the dose of general anesthesia needed to anesthetize patients in weightless or normal gravity environments. It’s a step forward, but just one of many hurdles researchers face in trying to establish proper medical protocols in space.
University of Manchester researchers are recruiting people with backache caused by nerve root pain — commonly known as sciatica — in the first ever study to discover if therapeutic ultrasound can help their condition.
Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Ohio State University, have identified a cellular protein that acts as a regulator for blood flow by blocking blood vessel relaxation induced by nitric oxide (NO). This mouse study appears in the November 2, 2006, online issue of Blood*.
A new stretch is proving quite effective to help treat and potentially cure plantar fasciitis, a condition that affects nearly 2.5 million Americans each year. In a study recently published in Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, researchers found that patients suffering from the painful heel spur syndrome had a 75 percent chance of having no pain and returning to full activity within three to six months of performing the stretch. In addition, patients have about a 75 percent chance of needing no further treatment.
Breakthroughs in Sensitivity and Resolution Benefit Patients, Fundamentally Change How Doctors Will Diagnose and Treat Cancer and Heart, Brain Diseases, Notes Article in November Journal of Nuclear Medicine – Imagine a new world of detecting and diagnosing diseases sooner?even before any symptoms are present. Consider the possibility of receiving individualized, targeted molecular, cellular or genetic medical treatment as soon as possible and of undergoing scanning that can quickly tell your doctor whether your treatment is working. Continued advances in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging are key to this future, according to Simon R. Cherry, professor of biomedical engineering at the University of California, Davis.
A Durham GP is calling for people to be routinely screened for B12 deficiency as he believes that this is the cause of symptoms that are often ascribed to other conditions.
The Commonwealth Government will add two drugs for the treatment of breast cancer to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). From 1 December, exemestane (Aromasin?) and letrozole (Femara?) will be listed for the treatment of hormone-dependent early breast cancer in post-menopausal women.
Last week, in one of TV ad Actor Michael J. Fox appeared with his disturbingly uncontrolled movements. And, his opponents in the stem-cell debate accused him of either acting or purposefully not taking his medications, in an effort to gain sympathy, quoted by news agencies worldwide. Nothing could be further from the truth, according to Parkinson’s experts. In fact, Fox’s disordered movement — a condition called dyskinesia — was mainly due to his taking medication to help control his Parkinson’s, they said.