Mixing commonly used antibiotics with common blood pressure medications may cause hypotension (abnormally low blood pressure) and induce shock in older patients, requiring hospitalization, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100702.pdf. "Macrolide antibiotics (erythromycin, clarithromycin and azithromycin) are among the most widely prescribed antibiotics, with millions of prescriptions dispensed in Canada each year." writes Dr. David Juurlink, Scientist at the Sunnybrook Research ...

High birth weight in First Nations (North American Indian) babies are linked to a higher risk of postneonatal death (infant deaths that occur from 4 weeks to 1 year of age), according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100837.pdf. High birth weight or infant macrosomia is defined as a child being born above the 90th percentile relative to a fetal growth standard. Maternal obesity, impaired glucose tolerance and gestational diabetes can all contribute to infant macrosomia and these ...

Binge drinking, an activity that many young people engage in, has associated adverse health risks and we need to do a better job of controlling overall alcohol usage, states an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj110029.pdf. "Given the many stakeholders involved in the sale and consumption of alcohol, we need a national strategy for controlling overall alcohol use," write Drs. Ken Flegel, Noni MacDonald and Paul Hébert in the editorial. "Public health agencies, the hospitality industry, liquor ...

A review of research evidence produced by researchers from the Peninsula Technology Assessment Group, part of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, has played a pivotal role in the decision by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to extend the availability of donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine and memantine for Alzheimer's disease announced today (18th January 2011). A previous appraisal by NICE of these drugs in 2004 approved the use of donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine for people with moderate Alzheimer's disease, while ...

Medicare Preventive Services Coverage Not Aligned with USPSTF Recommendations Evaluating the alignment of Medicare preventive services coverage with the recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, researchers find that of the 15 USPSTF recommended interventions for adults aged 65 years and older, Medicare reimburses fully for only one.* For most preventive services (60 percent), Medicare reimburses fully for the service or test, but only partially for the coordination of obtaining that service. For four services (27 percent), Medicare reimburses clinicians ...

Do you want that in a pill or a shot? A pill, thank you, but most patients never have that choice. The problem with administering many medications orally is that a pill often will not dissolve at exactly the right site in the gastrointestinal tract where the medicine can be absorbed into the bloodstream. A new magnetic pill system developed by Brown University researchers could solve the problem by safely holding a pill in place in the intestine wherever it needs to be. The scientists describe the harmless operation of their magnetic pill system in rats online the week ...

Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are the first to develop a curvilinear camera, much like the human eye, with the significant feature of a zoom capability, unlike the human eye. The "eyeball camera" has a 3.5x optical zoom, takes sharp images, is inexpensive to make and is only the size of a nickel. (A higher zoom is possible with the technology.) While the camera won't be appearing at Best Buy any time soon, the tunable camera -- once optimized -- should be useful in many applications, including night-vision ...

Warfarin use may be associated with a significant increase in the risk of death after traumatic injuries, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the May print issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "The prevalence of warfarin use in the United States is unknown, but the Food and Drug Administration estimates that more than 31 million prescriptions for warfarin were written in 2004," according to background information in the article. "Warfarin is a commonly used anticoagulant [prevents the formation of blood clots] for ...

A significant portion of the U.S. population does not have access to trauma care within an hours' drive, with certain vulnerable groups at higher risk of worse access, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Trauma centers are a key component of the infrastructure of the U.S. health care system because they have been shown to decrease morbidity and mortality [illness and death] for injured patients of all age ranges, from children to the elderly," the authors write as background information in the article. ...

As many as one in 16 surgeons reported having suicidal thoughts in the previous year, but few sought help from a mental health clinician, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Death from suicide is more common among physicians than among the general population or among other professionals, according to background information in the article. "Although suicide is strongly linked to depression, the lifetime risk of depression among physicians is similar to that of the general U.S. population," the authors write. ...

Performing polysomnography (sleep study) prior to pediatric adenotonsillectomy (surgical removal of the tonsils and adenoids) may help identify children at a higher risk of developing postoperative respiratory complications, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Otolaryngology - Head Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Pediatric adenotonsillectomy is a safe outpatient procedure; however, there is a subset of patients who do not meet the criteria for outpatient surgery," according to background information in the article. Guidelines for ...

A follow-up program for patients at high risk of developing skin cancer appears to be associated with the detection of melanomas at early stages and with good prognosis, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the May print issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Efforts to improve melanoma prognosis have focused on identifying and closely monitoring individuals at high risk, according to background information in the article. "Fair-skinned persons, persons who tan with difficulty, blond or red-haired persons and persons ...

Time constraints, other illnesses and patient embarrassment may prevent dermatologists, internists and family practitioners from conducting full-body skin examinations, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. However, dermatologists are significantly more likely than internists and family practitioners to conduct such screenings. Skin cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in the United States, according to background information in the article. "It is critical for patients to adhere to primary ...

A procedure involving only one small incision and no major modifications to bone can be used to transpose a tendon and appears helpful in reanimating the lower face after paralysis, according to a report in the January/February issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "The primary goal of all facial reanimation protocols is to restore facial movement that is controlled, symmetrical and spontaneous," the authors write as background information in the article. Previously, researchers reported a method of transferring the temporalis ...

Health care reform should be able to mend a disconnect that has existed between the recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a task force charged by the government to review clinical preventive health services for older adults, and Medicare coverage for those services, a new UCLA-led study finds. In particular, there is a need to improve coordination between assessing the risk for certain illnesses and ensuring the patient receives the appropriate tests and follow-up medical services, according to the study, which is published in the January/February ...

In three papers in the January and February issues of the Journal of General Physiology (JGP), Don Hilgemann and colleagues have extensively characterized a previously unidentified process by which up to 75% of the cell plasma membrane can be reversibly endocytosed. This massive endocytosis ("MEND") can be elicited in a variety of cell types with a range of different experimental manipulations, including internal calcium transients in the presence of ATP, membrane treatment with sphingomyelinase, and introduction of various amphiphiles into the membrane bilayer. MEND ...

Heart failure patients admitted to general wards are twice as likely to die as those admitted to cardiology wards, shows a national audit of the treatment of the condition, published online in the journal Heart. Women fared worse than men when it comes to appropriate investigations and treatment, the findings suggest, although death rates were similar. In 2006/7, heart failure accounted for more than a quarter of a million hospital deaths and discharges in England and Wales, equating to around 2.5 million bed days a year and at an annual cost to the NHS of £563 million. The ...

Smoking accounts for up to 60% of the gender gap in death rates across Europe, and kills twice as many men as alcohol, reveals research published online in Tobacco Control. The reasons why women have been outliving men in developed European countries since the mid to late 18th century, in some cases, have been hotly contested. The gender gap in death rates has sometimes been put down to simple biology, or the fact that women seek out health care more readily than men. But the magnitude and variability of the trends suggests a rather more complex picture, say the authors, ...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, U.S.A. (Jan. 17, 2011) — Eating less during early pregnancy impaired fetal brain development in a nonhuman primate model, researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio reported today. The researchers found decreased formation of cell-to-cell connections, cell division and amounts of growth factors in the fetuses of mothers fed a reduced diet during the first half of pregnancy. "This is a critical time window when many of the neurons as well as the supporting cells in the brain are born," said Peter Nathanielsz, M.D., Ph.D., ...

Sakhalin Energy Investment Company – part owned by Shell – has announced plans to build a major oil platform near crucial feeding habitat of the Western North Pacific gray whale population. Only around 130 whales of the critically endangered Western population exist today, and their primary feeding habitat – off Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East – is already besieged by multiple oil and gas exploration and development projects. The construction and operation of an additional off-shore platform could have numerous negative impacts on the whales, potentially ...

Scientists have identified the first DNA sequence variant common in the population that is not only associated with an increased risk of heart failure, but appears to play a role in causing it. The variant, a change in a single letter of the DNA sequence, impairs channels that control kidney function. "It's not a heart gene," says Gerald W. Dorn II, MD, the Philip and Sima K. Needleman Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and a lead investigator on the study. "It's a kidney gene. This protein is not even expressed in the heart. ...

STANFORD, Calif. – Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, in collaboration with BioParadox, Inc., have published data supporting the use of platelet-rich plasma as a promising biologic treatment for myocardial infarction (heart attack). The findings were published online in Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine and will be presented at The Sixth International Conference on Cell Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease at Columbia University Medical Center, New York City, on January 20, 2011. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been identified as a novel ...

DURHAM, N.C. – Researchers from Duke University Medical Center have identified how nanoparticles from diesel exhaust damage lung airway cells, a finding that could lead to new therapies for people susceptible to airway disease. The scientists also discovered that the severity of the injury depends on the genetic make-up of the affected individual. "We gained insight into why some people can remain relatively healthy in polluted areas and why others don't," said lead author Wolfgang Liedtke, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Duke Department of Medicine and an ...

Women, nonwhites, and people in the southern United States who were newly infected with HIV and followed for an average of four years experienced greater HIV/AIDS-related morbidity compared to men and people of other races living in other regions of the country. The findings, published in the February 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, underscore the urgent need to improve the health of these populations in order to reduce HIV-related morbidity and mortality in the U.S. (Please see below for a link to the embargoed study online.) The researchers did not ...

These events will be open to H/U/M special guests and House Members of The Cornell Club - New York and to members of New York's Ivy League Clubs including Columbia, Harvard, The University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Yale, and Williams College. This event includes a formal evening of cocktails, dinner, networking and learning from a panel of financial experts. Since the event is sold out- We also will be livestreaming the event on http://www.huntingtonbuzz.tv. The second panel in the series, "Should Women Rule the Investment World?" will be held Tuesday, January 18, ...