ATS 2011, DENVER – Workplace smoking bans are gaining ground globally, and one study has shown that they may have significant health effects. The study, conducted by researchers in Dublin, found that emergency room admissions due to respiratory illness dropped significantly in Ireland after the implementation of a workplace smoking ban, compared to admissions that took place before the ban went into effect. The study will be presented at the ATS 2011 International Conference in Denver. The nationwide workplace smoking ban was introduced in Ireland in March 2004. Although ...

ATS 2011, DENVER – Results from C91 "Late-Breaking Clinical Trials" on Tuesday afternoon, May 17, will bring new light to clinical problems and potential treatments. While five examine possible new therapies for people with asthma (pregnant women), emphysema, lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), TB and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a sixth looks at the safety of physician- vs. nurse-led transport teams for critically ill patients, In one, researchers from Australia identified a way for pregnant women with asthma to avoid exacerbations. This randomized, controlled ...

What are partial dentures? Partial dentures are removable teeth that can be used to restore function and beauty to your smile. Using your natural teeth for support, partial dentures offer a quick, nonsurgical solution for missing teeth. Why have partial dentures instead of full dentures? The natural teeth in your mouth provide support for your jaw. When even one tooth is left in place, the structure of your jaw can maintain some of this support. Partial dentures attach to your natural teeth, allowing for your missing teeth to be replaced without further compromising ...

ATS 2011, DENVER – Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are more likely to increase physical activity on a day-to-day basis when exercises classes are combined with a confidence-building program, according to researchers from Michigan and Illinois. Those improvements, however, are only short-term and patients return to their original levels of activity once the confidence-building program ends, the study found. The results of the study will be presented at the ATS 2011 International Conference in Denver. Patients with COPD often have significant ...

ATS 2011, DENVER –A new study links the intermittent interruption of breathing that occurs in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to enhanced proliferation of melanoma cancer cells and increased tumor growth in mice, according to researchers in Spain. The study also found tumor cells of OSA mouse models tended to contain more dead cells, indicating a more aggressive type of cancer. The results of the study will be presented at the ATS 2011 International Conference in Denver. "To our knowledge, this study is the first one providing experimental evidence that ...

If you are experiencing any type of chronic jaw pain, your first impulse is probably to schedule a visit with your primary doctor. Unfortunately, in many cases the type of treatment you need to obtain lasting relief cannot be provided by a general doctor. In order to target the source of your jaw pain, you may need to see a neuromuscular dentist. Neuromuscular dentists are specially-trained to diagnose and treat pain caused by the displacement of a delicate jaw joint called the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). When this single joint is even slightly out of place, all of ...

In this week's PLoS Medicine, Riitta Luoto and colleagues from the UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, and University of Tampere, Finland, evaluate whether lifestyle interventions can reduce the risk of high birthweight babies and gestational diabetes amongst pregnant women at high risk for these outcomes. They report the results of a cluster randomized trial in which groups of maternity clinics in 14 municipalities in Finland were randomized to an intervention. The intervention comprised physical activity and dietary counselling, and was compared with a control ...

Despite the recognition of stroke as a major contributor to disability and mortality worldwide, little is known about the long-term outcomes among individuals who survive a stroke. In a research study reported by Charles Wolfe from King's College London and colleagues, the researchers examine outcomes for up to ten years in a cohort of people surviving their first-ever stroke in an inner city area of London, UK. The researchers show that this cohort of stroke survivors experience ongoing poor outcomes in the long term, with high levels of disability experienced immediately ...

In this week's PLoS Medicine, Groesbeck Parham from the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia, and colleagues describe their Cervical Cancer Prevention Program, which has provided services to over 58,000 women over the past five years. The authors share lessons learned from the program's implementation and its integration with existing HIV/AIDS programs, aiming to help other cervical cancer prevention initiatives succeed in the developing world and avoid placing additional burdens on health systems. The authors say "By integrating a setting-appropriate protocol ...

Recently the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health released a study indicating that older employees as a group have a heightened risk of work-related injuries and illnesses. The study also found that workers age 55 and older are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. workforce. Therefore, employers and employees should recognize these risks and proactively guard against occupational injury. NIOSH Study The study performed by the NIOSH, in conjunction with other agencies, analyzed occupational injury and illness data from 2009 for workers age 55 and ...

Over the last 20 years, the number of hospital emergency departments in nonrural areas in the U.S. has declined by nearly 30 percent, with for-profit ownership, location in a competitive market, low profit margin and safety-net status associated with an increased risk of emergency department closure, according to a study in the May 18 issue of JAMA. "As the only place in the U.S. health care system that serves all patients, emergency departments (EDs) are the 'safety net of the safety net.' Federal law requires hospital EDs to evaluate and treat all patients in need of ...

In an evaluation of contemporary antireflux therapies for chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), most patients who received treatment with either the proton pump inhibitor esomeprazole or laparoscopic antireflux surgery achieved and remained in disease remission for 5 years, according to a study in the May 18 issue of JAMA. "GERD is a highly prevalent disorder caused by the reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus. It is a chronic, relapsing disease that negatively affects patients' health-related quality of life and reduces work productivity," according ...

Today the Court appointed Keefe Bartels as co-lead counsel in the DePuy ASR hip implant litigation for the State of New Jersey. The Court's Order ratified Keefe Bartels's election to the post by participating lawyers from New Jersey and other parts of the country. Previously the New Jersey Supreme Court had assigned all pending and future New Jersey state-court hip implant litigation to Bergen County for centralized management by the Honorable Brian R. Martinotti. DePuy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, headquartered in New Brunswick, NJ. DePuy Orthopedics ...

Use of newer-generation antiepileptic drugs, which are also prescribed for bipolar mood disorders and migraine headaches, during the first trimester of pregnancy was not associated with an increased risk of major birth defects in the first year of life among infants in Denmark, according to a study in the May 18 issue of JAMA. Older-generation antiepileptic drugs are associated with an increased risk of birth defects. "Epilepsy during pregnancy is a therapeutic challenge. Since the 1990s, the number of licensed antiepileptic drugs has substantially increased, but safety ...

Although some evidence suggests that prevention of vitamin A deficiency among women in developing countries may improve maternal and infant survival, pregnant women in rural Bangladesh who received vitamin A or beta carotene supplementation in a randomized trial did not have a lower rate of all-cause maternal, fetal, or infant death, compared to women who received placebo, according to a study in the May 18 issue of JAMA. Maternal vitamin A deficiency appears to be widespread in low-income countries, with the World Health Organization estimating that nearly 20 million ...

Boston, MA – Men who regularly drink coffee appear to have a lower risk of developing a lethal form of prostate cancer, according to a new study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers. What's more, the lower risk was evident among men who drank either regular or decaffeinated coffee. The study will be published May 17, 2011, in an online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. "Few studies have specifically studied the association of coffee intake and the risk of lethal prostate cancer, the form of the disease that is the most critical ...

The National Trust has announced that over GBP500,000 has been donated just one month after it launched an appeal to secure the future of one of Snowdonia's most precious landscapes. The campaign to raise GBP1 million to secure Llyndy Isaf was given an extra boost as Welsh Hollywood actress Catherine Zeta Jones declared her support: "The National Trust plays a key role in protecting and managing the Welsh countryside, the beauty and landscape of Snowdonia is truly unique and we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to protect Llyndy Isaf in this stunning part of ...

Boston, Mass. -- Studies in institutionalized Romanian children have found that the length of time spent in conditions of social deprivation and neglect correlates with lower IQ and behavioral problems. A new study, led by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Tulane University, shows that early adversity even affects children's chromosomes – prematurely shortening the chromosome tips, known as telomeres, and hastening how quickly their cells "age." The study, published online this week in Molecular Psychiatry, is the first to find an association between adversity ...

Every 30 seconds, infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis kill as many people as Jack the Ripper did in his entire career. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal International Journal of Health Geographics demonstrates how the mathematical model of geographic profiling, used in the hunt for serial killers, can help combat infectious diseases. Geographic profiling is a statistical technique which uses the locations of crimes to identify areas in which the serial criminal is most likely to live and work, and was originally ...

Admiral research has shown there are a staggering 405,000 rear-end bumps in the UK each year*, accounting for one in four of all road accidents.  Leading car insurance expert, Admiral looked at data from more than 200,000 of its accident claims in 2010 and found 27% of them occurred when one car hit another from behind. This is a 9% increase in the percentage of these types of accidents from 2009. Many rear-end accidents result in whiplash for the occupants of the car, and whiplash alone costs insurers GBP1.9billion a year and accounts for 75% of all bodily injury ...

During the last thirty years there has been an increase in the number of babies born by Caesarean section. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Public Health shows that there has also been a change in the social and economic status of the mothers involved and that advantaged mothers are more likely to have their babies by Caesarean section than mothers living in more difficult circumstances. Birth by Caesarean section can be a lifesaver for both mum and baby, however there are risks involved in such a major abdominal surgery and increased ...

17 May 2011 -- A reduction by half in the radiation dose to which cardiac patients are exposed during diagnostic perfusion imaging is now "feasible", according to an Israeli study. Results from the study will be presented as a late-breaking trial at the International Conference of Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Imaging (ICNC) in Amsterdam (15-18 May). ICNC is now one of the world's major scientific events in nuclear cardiology and cardiac CT imaging. The various modalities of modern perfusion imaging - such as single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) - allow ...

npower has confirmed plans to launch Britain's first bespoke Electric Vehicle (EV) tariff. Rob Harper, group project manager at npower said: "As an energy company, we have a major responsibility to assist the UK Government to meet its climate change targets and sustainability goals. We have already made significant inroads in reducing emissions from our power stations and we are experts in helping our customers reduce their consumption, and therefore bills, through energy efficiency measures. The time has now come to help decarbonise the transport sector. "We ...

Embargo: 17 May 2011 18:00 CET -- The coronary arteries of Princess Ahmose-Meryet-Amon - as visualised by whole body computerised tomography (CT) scanning - will feature in two presentations at the International Conference of Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Imaging (ICNC) this week in Amsterdam (15-18 May). ICNC is now one of the world's major scientific event in nuclear cardiology and cardiac CT imaging. The Egyptian princess Ahmose-Meryet-Amon, who lived in Thebes (Luxor) between 1580 and 1550 BC and who is now known to be first person in human history with diagnosed coronary ...

OTTAWA – May 17, 2011 – Researchers at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) have identified a novel gene in the nucleus of muscle and brain cells that affects heart development and the aging process. Their investigation brings the promise of new treatments for an old, failing heart. "We know that aging is the greatest predictor of cardiovascular disease and heart failure. So we have been working backward in time, looking at the fetal heart to understand changes in the process as it ages, grows frail and fails," said molecular biologist Patrick Burgon, PhD. ...