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.
It’s flu season, but it may not be the best time to schedule your child’s flu shot, according to one Penn State physician and researcher. Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center pediatrician Ian M. Paul recently studied vaccination records of two high-risk pediatric groups — infants less than age 2 years and children with asthma — and found that year-round scheduling of flu shot appointments contributes significantly to better vaccination rates.
Bringing hope to hundreds of children in one of the countries hardest hit by HIV/AIDS, the Abbott Fund, Baylor College of Medicine and the Government of Malawi have joined forces to build the country’s first pediatric HIV clinic. The First Lady of Malawi, Madame Ethel Zvauya Mutharika and other dignitaries at Kamuzu Central Hospital officially opened the new clinic today in the city of Lilongwe.
Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Pfizer Inc today announced the formation of Balance It Out: Arkansas, a new school-based community program to reduce the number of children who are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, effectively diminishing their risk of developing chronic illness. In December 2006, the program will begin in Little Rock, AR, with a health fair for state employees designed to increase awareness of health risk factors and steps to prevent disease. Beginning in early 2007, the program will reach children and their families in the Dollarway (Pine Bluff), Harrison and Paragould school districts.
Clinical data demonstrated continued efficacy and tolerability of LEVITRA in men with ED and high blood pressure, diabetes and/or dyslipidemia, including high cholesterol. LEVITRA(R) (vardenafil HCl), is effective at first dose with continued success in treating erectile dysfunction (ED) in men with associated medical conditions that affect the cardiovascular system. These conditions included high blood pressure, diabetes and/or dyslipidemia, which includes high cholesterol and other lipid abnormalities. These data were presented today at the Sexual Medicine Society of North America (SMSNA) Fall meeting and published in the November issue of the International Journal of Clinical Practice.
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.
In a knowledge economy, people work increasingly with their heads instead of their hands. This makes mental health a crucial component of economic growth. However, the knowledge economy leads to high levels of stress and mental health problems. By damaging its “mental capital” the knowledge economy undermines the basis for its own success. These are some of the conclusions of the report “Mental Capital” by Rifka Weehuizen, researcher at UNU-MERIT in the Netherlands.
A pediatric oncologist at Brenner Children’s Hospital is evaluating whether a drug typically used to treat Alzheimer’s patients will help brain cancer survivors avoid the learning and memory problems that are common after radiation therapy.
A growth factor known to be important for the survival of many types of cells stimulates rapid extension of corticospinal motor neurons — critical brain cells that connect the cerebral cortex with the spinal cord and that die in motor neuron diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease).
One hundred years after the first diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease Nov. 3, 1906, researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, are focusing on neuroscience, immunology and vaccine research to better understand how AD develops and progresses as well as to advance the treatment and prevention of this progressive brain disorder. AD, which currently affects 20 million Americans, gradually destroys memory and the ability to learn, reason, make judgments and communicate.