ATS 2011, DENVER – Removing enlarged tonsils and adenoids may help prevent high blood pressure and heart damage in children who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), according to a study conducted at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. In some children with OSA, adenotonsillectomy can result in significantly lower blood pressure within 24 months of the procedure. The results will be presented at the ATS 2011 International Conference in Denver. Children with enlarged tonsils and adenoids are particularly prone to developing OSA, said study lead author ...

ATS 2011, DENVER--Researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center attempting to identify the vital signs that best predict those hospitalized patients at greatest risk for cardiac arrest found that a composite index used in some hospitals to activate a rapid response team and by emergency room physicians to assess the likelihood of a patient dying was a better predictor of cardiac arrest than any single vital sign. However, because the composite index known as Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) included vital signs that are poor predictors of cardiac arrest, ...

Cigarette smoking, forest fires and woodburning can release a chemical that may be at least partly responsible for human health problems related to smoke exposure, according to a new study by NOAA researchers and their colleagues. Using a custom mass spectrometer designed by the researchers, the NOAA-led team was able get the first look at levels of the chemical, isocyanic acid, in the atmosphere. Isocyanic acid has been difficult to detect with conventional measurement techniques. "We found isocyanic acid in a number of places, from air in downtown Los Angeles and ...

Using a technique that silences genes promoting infection, researchers have developed a novel, topically-applied molecular microbicide capable of preventing HIV transmission. The microbicide is predicted to have long-lasting effects in mice, opening the door to developing an intravaginal microbicide that could protect women against HIV infection potentially for weeks at a time and bolster public health efforts to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS. The study, led by Lee Adam Wheeler and Judy Lieberman, MD, PhD, of the Immune Disease Institute and the Program in Cellular and ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (May 16, 2011) – Whitehead Institute researchers have found that depriving human melanoma cells of the essential amino acid leucine can be lethal to the cells, suggesting a possible strategy for therapeutic intervention. The researchers observed the effect in melanoma cells with a mutation in the RAS/MEK signaling pathway—the most common mutation found in the deadliest form of skin cancer. Leucine is one of nine essential amino acids humans must ingest, as we are unable to synthesize them. These nine, along with 12 non-essential amino acids, are the ...

Patients who undergo a procedure to unblock a coronary artery are more likely to survive longer if they participate in structured follow-up care, according to research in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. In their 14-year analysis, researchers discovered a 46 percent relative reduction in death from all causes in patients who participated in cardiac rehabilitation following angioplasty. The study focused on patients treated with percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), commonly known as angioplasty. Using data from a Mayo Clinic registry of PCI ...

A team of researchers — led by Sang-Hun Lee, at Hanyang University, Republic of Korea, and Kwang-Soo Kim, at Harvard Medical School, Belmont, — has now compared the ability of cells derived from different types of human stem cell to reverse disease in a rat model of Parkinson disease and identified a stem cell population that they believe could be clinically relevant. Parkinson disease results from the progressive loss of a specific subpopulation of nerve cells. Current treatments provide only relief from the symptoms of the disease and cannot reverse the nerve cell loss. ...

The HIV epidemic is continuing spread and efforts to develop a vaccine that protects against infection are still showing limited promise. Therefore, researchers are seeking to develop alternative approaches to block HIV transmission. One such strategy is vaginal application of an agent known as a microbicide, which works to kill the virus at the site of entry into the body. A team of researchers, led by Judy Lieberman, at Harvard Medical School, Boston, has now developed a new agent that they hope could be used as the active ingredient in a microbicide to prevent HIV transmission. HIV ...

EDITOR'S PICK: Stem cells reverse disease in a model of Parkinson disease A team of researchers — led by Sang-Hun Lee, at Hanyang University, Republic of Korea, and Kwang-Soo Kim, at Harvard Medical School, Belmont, — has now compared the ability of cells derived from different types of human stem cell to reverse disease in a rat model of Parkinson disease and identified a stem cell population that they believe could be clinically relevant. Parkinson disease results from the progressive loss of a specific subpopulation of nerve cells. Current treatments provide only ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- University of Florida researchers have described a new species of land crab that documents the first crab extinction during the human era. The loss of the crab likely greatly impacted the ecology of the Hawaiian Islands, as land crabs are major predators, control litter decomposition and help in nutrient cycling and seed dispersal. Their disappearance was caused by the arrival of humans to the islands and resulted in large-scale changes in the state's ecosystem. Researchers said the full impact of the extinction on Hawaii is unknown, but they are ...

Contact: Jeff Haskins jhaskins@burnesscommunications.com ILRI Scientists identify livestock genes to unlock protection against one of Africa's oldest animal plagues NAIROBI, KENYA (16 May 2011)—An international research team using a new combination of approaches has found two genes that may prove of vital importance to the lives and livelihoods of millions of farmers in a tsetse fly-plagued swathe of Africa the size of the United States. The team’s results were published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The research, aimed at ...

Intensive care units (ICUs) that implemented a telemedicine intervention that included offsite electronic monitoring of processes and detection of nonadherence to best practices had lower hospital and ICU mortality, lower rates of preventable complications, and shorter hospital and ICU lengths of stay, according to a study that will appear in the June 1 issue of JAMA. The study is being published early online to coincide with its presentation at a meeting of the American Thoracic Society "Patient needs and societal costs of adult critical care have increased as predicted ...

BOSTON – May 16, 2011 – The road to type 2 diabetes is paved with insulin resistance, a condition often associated with obesity in which the hormone begins to fail at its job helping to convert sugars to energy. Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have now identified an enzyme called PKC-delta as an important molecular modifier for development of insulin resistance, diabetes and fatty liver in mice. They also have found evidence suggesting a similar role for the enzyme in humans, making PKC-delta a promising new target for drugs for diabetes and related ailments. Investigators ...

By analyzing complex interactions of the immune system in an animal study, pediatric researchers have found potential tools for controlling a life-threatening condition called a cytokine storm that may strike children who have juvenile arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. In a cytokine storm, the body's immune system rages out of control, resulting in overwhelming inflammation, rapid organ failure and death if not quickly diagnosed and treated. In addition to children with juvenile arthritis, patients with lupus or Epstein-Barr virus infection may also suffer this ...

T'ai chi has particular health benefits for older people, including helping to prevent falls and improving mental wellbeing, reveals a review published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. But the Chinese martial art widely practised for its health benefits does not help improve the symptoms of cancer or rheumatoid arthritis and the evidence is contradictory for many other health conditions and symptoms. The effectiveness of t'ai chi for a variety of medical conditions and symptoms has been assessed in several studies and reviews, but their findings ...

Most medical students feel they lack the skills and legal knowledge required to challenge poor clinical practice and promote better patient care, reveals research published ahead of print in the Journal of Medical Ethics. This suggests more time and emphasis needs to be put on legal skills in the formal medical curriculum and that these need to be practised and honed during clinical training, the authors say. The authors surveyed 1,154 first, second and final year medical students at two UK medical schools on their knowledge and understanding of medico-legal rules and ...

Young adults who take risks when driving are more likely to experience psychological distress, including mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, reveals research published ahead of print in Injury Prevention. Young drivers have more accidents and are more likely to be involved in a crash in which someone dies than older drivers, and risky behaviour is known to contribute to crashes involving young novice drivers. Psychological distress, such as depression and anxiety, has been linked to risky behaviour in adolescents, including unprotected sex, smoking ...

Obese patients undergoing colon surgery are 60 percent more likely to develop dangerous and costly surgical-site infections than their normal-weight counterparts, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. These infections, according to findings published in the journal Archives of Surgery, cost an average of $17,000 more per patient, extend hospital stays and leave patients at a three-times greater risk of hospital readmission. "Obesity is a leading risk factor for surgical-site infections, and those infections truly tax the health care system," says Elizabeth C. Wick, M.D., ...

Obese patients appear to have a significantly increased risk of developing a surgical site infection after colectomy (procedure involving either partial or full removal of the colon), and the presence of infection increases the cost associated with the procedure, according to a report published online today that will appear in the September issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Surgical site infection (SSI) is considered to be one of the best available measures of quality in surgery, and health care centers are starting to be financially penalized ...

Among patients referred by non-dermatologists to dermatologists for evaluation of skin lesions suspected of being malignant, only apparently one-fifth were found to be cancerous, although dermatologists identified and biopsied other incidental lesions, approximately half of which were malignant, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "More than one million skin cancers are diagnosed annually in the United States , with one in five Americans developing skin cancer during their lifetime," the authors write as ...

Surgical house staff and attending physicians who are reminded about the charges for ordering daily blood drawing for routine blood work appear to reduce the amount of routine blood tests ordered and the charges for these laboratory tests, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "The use of laboratory tests has been rapidly increasing over the past few decades to the point where phlebotomy is a substantial proportion of hospital expenditure, and much of it is unwarranted," state the authors. As background, they ...

Among patients with a diagnosis of delusional skin infestation, neither biopsies nor patient-provided specimens provided objective evidence of skin infestation, according to a report posted online today that will be published in the September issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Delusional infestation is a condition in which patients steadfastly yet mistakenly believe that pathogens are infesting their skin. Sometimes, patients believe their skin is literally crawling with bugs, worms, or germs, which is also known as "delusions of parasitosis." ...

The beta-blocker propranolol appears to be associated with reducing the size and color of hemangiomas of the head and neck in a pediatric population, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. According to background information in the article, hemangiomas are tumors that appear by the age of 2 months, affecting up to 10 percent of full-term white infants. These lesions can be benign, or can affect functions such as the ability to see or on occasion can be life-threatening if they occur ...

For patients with eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD), steroids administered by a nasal spray may be ineffective, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The eustachian tubes connect the middle ear, the upper part of the throat and the ends of the nasal passages. Eustachian tube dysfunction may contribute to fluid collection in the middle ear (otitis media with effusion, or OME) or negative middle ear pressure (NMEP). Presently there is no gold-standard single treatment for this condition, ...

Toronto - Why isn't knowledge transfer happening more often in companies spending money on it? Maybe it's because their staff don't always want to share. "We've had years of research in organizations about the benefits of knowledge-sharing but an important issue is the fact that people don't necessarily want to share their knowledge," says David Zweig, a professor of organizational behaviour and human resources management at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management and the University of Toronto at Scarborough. His paper, co-authored with Catherine ...