There may be a link between receiving industry funding for speaking, consulting, or research, and the publication of apparently promotional opinion pieces on menopausal hormone therapy. Furthermore, such publications may encourage physicians to continue prescribing these therapies to women of menopausal age. These are the key findings of a study by Adriane Fugh-Berman from Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington D.C., USA, and colleagues, published in this week's PLoS Medicine. Over the past three decades, menopausal hormones have been heavily promoted for preventing ...

The standard retreatment regimen for tuberculosis has low treatment response rates and is associated with poor long term outcomes in certain subgroups of patients, particularly those infected with both HIV and multi-drug resistant TB. These findings from a study by Edward Jones-López from Boston University Medical School, Boston, USA, and colleagues and published in this week's PLoS Medicine, indicate that the standard retreatment approach to TB as implemented in low and middle-income settings, with a high prevalence of HIV, is inadequate and stress the importance of a ...

This week PLoS Medicine publishes the Genetic RIsk Prediction Studies (GRIPS) Statement, a checklist and guidance to help strengthen the reporting of genetic risk prediction studies. Because progress in gene discovery for complex diseases is fuelling interest in the application of genetic risk models for clinical and public health practice, the number of studies assessing predictive ability is steadily increasing, but the quality and completeness of reporting varies. The GRIPS Statement (and accompanying explanation document) provides guidance to enhance the transparency ...

Not all auto accidents are caused by negligent driving. Sometimes dangerous roadways are to blame. Poorly marked construction zones, poorly maintained roads, and other hazardous road conditions cause many accidents each year in Texas. At any given time, the Texas Department of Transportation may list over one hundred major work zones involving lane closures and detours throughout the state. Add hundreds of county and city road construction projects, and you could encounter construction zone hazards wherever you drive. It happens more often than most people realize. Construction ...

In this week's PLoS Medicine, K. Srinath Reddy from the Public Health Foundation of India discusses new research published last week by Malavika Subramanyam, S V Subramanian, and colleagues that found no link between economic growth and child undernutrition rates in India, concluding that direct investments in appropriate health interventions may be necessary to improve child health in India. Dr. Reddy (not involved in the research study) emphasizes that poor health is not only the result of poverty but also of inequality, which manifests in many ways. He says that "developing ...

When Professor Henry Higgins instructed Eliza Doolittle that it was "Ay not I, O not Ow, Don't say 'Rine,' say 'Rain'", he was drawing on years of experience as a professor of phonetics. But research funded by the Wellcome Trust and the European Commission suggests that Higgins's ability to differentiate expertly between similar sounds may have stemmed from birth. Neuroscientists at UCL (University College London) have shown that the brain structure of expert phoneticians differ from those of the general public. However, whilst some of these changes can be explained by ...

Current projections regarding the eventual size and extent of the cholera epidemic in Haiti may greatly underestimate the potential number of cases, according to a report that will appear in The Lancet and has been released online. A mathematical model based on current knowledge about the transmission and course of the diarrheal disease arrives at estimates of new cases through November 2011 that almost double those currently projected by the United Nations. The model also reflects the probable impact of public health measures designed to combat the epidemic. "Our ...

CHICAGO – From 1965 to 2007, the population prevalence of persons who smoked 20 or more cigarettes per day declined significantly, and there was also a decrease in the prevalence of smoking 10 or more cigarettes a day, with these declines greater in California than in the rest of the U.S., according to a study in the March 16 issue of JAMA. Throughout much of the early history of cigarette smoking in the United States, consumption was typically 1 pack (about 20 cigarettes) each day. Since the first surgeon general's report on smoking and health (1964), there has been ...

CHICAGO – Modifying a patient's dosage of the antiplatelet drug clopidogrel for 6 months depending on the patient's level of platelet reactivity did not result in combined lower rates of nonfatal heart attack, stent thrombosis (clot) and cardiovascular death in patients who had a procedure such as balloon angioplasty and received a drug-releasing coronary stent, according to a study in the March 16 issue of JAMA. Current guidelines recommend treating patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedure such as balloon angioplasty used to open narrowed ...

CHICAGO – An examination of data for more than 5 million Medicare beneficiaries finds that hospital regions that have a greater frequency of diagnoses have a lower case-fatality rate for chronic conditions such as coronary artery disease and kidney failure, according to a study in the March 16 issue of JAMA. According to background information in the article, disease diagnoses are considered a critical factor in risk-adjustment policies designed to reward efficient and high-quality care. "Ideally, a diagnosis would be solely an attribute of the patient, unaffected by ...

Scott Greenhalgh, DDS is proud to announce that it has joined the B2B Green Alliance, an industry group that seeks to promote eco-conscious business practices among dentists and other medical and legal professionals. The B2B Green Alliance is an environmental outreach initiative from web marketing firm Page 1 Solutions, as part of its Page 1 Green Solutions program. Page 1 Solutions strives to further reduce its environmental impact by encouraging its clients to pursue their own eco-friendly business practices and hopes to facilitate the exchange of ideas for eco-conscious ...

CHICAGO – Even though clinical practice guidelines for patients with chronic kidney disease recommend specific treatment target levels for serum phosphorus, parathyroid hormone, and calcium to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, an analysis of data from previous studies did not find a strong association between these biomarkers and the risk of death and cardiovascular events, except for higher serum phosphorus levels, according to an article in the March 16 issue of JAMA. "Nephrology guidelines recommend targets and treatment strategies to correct serum levels ...

The standard approach to re-treating tuberculosis (TB) in low and middle income settings is failing, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust. In a study published today in the open access journal PLoS Medicine, researchers call for improved access to rapid diagnostics for drug resistant TB, second-line TB treatment and antiretroviral HIV therapy. Each year, between one in ten and one in five patients treated for TB see their disease return after failing, interrupting or relapsing from treatment. This results in an estimated one million people in ninety countries ...

A new study conducted at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Harvard Medical School predicts that the cholera epidemic in Haiti this year will be far worse than United Nations' projections, which had estimated 400,000 cases of the diarrheal disease over the course of the epidemic. The study, to be published March 16 in the journal Lancet, is predicting instead that there could be nearly twice that number – perhaps 779,000 cases of cholera – between March and November this year alone. U.N. projections are key because they determine how resources are ...

Enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions, such as laundry detergent digesting protein stains, which are otherwise very difficult to remove. A research team led by Professor Kam-bo Wong of the Centre for Protein Science and Crystallography, School of Life Sciences at The Chinese University of Hong Kong demonstrated a fundamental principle in changing the activity of enzymes by means of protein engineering. The findings provide potential insights into the future design of biotechnologically important enzymes, and will be published in next week's issue of the ...

The wispy arms of the Tarantula Nebula were originally thought to resemble spindly spider legs, giving the nebula its unusual name. The part of the nebula visible in this image from Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys is criss-crossed with tendrils of dust and gas churned up by recent supernovae. These supernova remnants include NGC 2060, visible above and to the left of the centre of this image, which contains the brightest known pulsar. The tarantula's bite goes beyond NGC 2060. Near the edge of the nebula, outside the frame, below and to the right, lie the remains ...

It is important for you to know the possible risks associated with breast augmentation before undergoing the procedure. With the placement of a foreign object into your body, breast augmentation carries an additional set of possible complications not found in other surgical procedures. Surgical Risks Just like any other surgical procedure, breast augmentation carries risk factors that pose an unlikely but serious threat to your health. Some serious surgical complications include: - Allergic reaction to anesthesia - general anesthesia carries rare but potentially ...

Wealthy, well educated people who choose to drink bottled water rather than water from public supplies may be no less exposed to potentially cancer-causing water contaminants, according to new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health. As part of the EPICURO national bladder cancer study, researchers from all over Spain quizzed 1,270 individuals about their water use and consumption in an effort to discover whether social class has any bearing on exposure to common water disinfection byproducts. High levels of trihalomethanes (THM), ...

Cell phone use is on the rise. The incidence of driving and talking or texting is too. Distracted driving and youthful drivers are two factors that have always impacted accident statistics. The combination of these two factors with the advent of the cell phone has added to an increasingly dangerous trend. Many states have already enacted legislation that place additional restrictions on youthful drivers and cell phone use. There are no such laws in the state of Georgia so even with the number of teen drivers in the greater Atlanta area no restrictions exist. The statistics ...

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) such as Prozac are regularly used to treat severe anxiety and depression. They work by immediately increasing the amount of serotonin in the brain and by causing long term changes in brain function. However it can take weeks of treatment before a patient feels any effect and both beneficial effects and side effects can persist after treatment is stopped. New research published by BioMed Central's open access journal Molecular Brain investigates physiological changes within the brain that may be caused by SSRI treatment. The ...

A new laser device created at the University of Central Florida could make high-speed computing faster and more reliable, opening the door to a new age of the Internet. Professor Dennis Deppe's miniature laser diode emits more intense light than those currently used. The light emits at a single wavelength, making it ideal for use in compact disc players, laser pointers and optical mice for computers, in addition to high-speed data transmission. Until now, the biggest challenge has been the failure rate of these tiny devices. They don't work very well when they face ...

U.S. Department of Transportation has issued a new rule aimed at preventing occupant ejections in passenger vehicles. The rule, issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), is designed to help reduce the number of people partially or completely ejected through side windows during rollover crashes, and will be phased in from 2013 to 2018. New side curtain airbags will be used to contain passengers inside the vehicle, though the standards require the airbag to prevent ejection even if the widow is open. The agency has also upgraded the roof ...

A new theory suggests an equation for identifying the cause and level of our responses to any humorous stimuli: h = m x s The theory argues that human beings are more reliant for their behavioural instruction on culturally inherited information than any other species, and that the accuracy of that information is therefore of unparalleled importance. Yet the individual is exposed to the continual threats of error and deception, which can seriously affect their chances of survival and success. To compensate, humour rewards us for seeing through misinformation that has ...

Research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows, that a specific inflammatory factor may be important in the development of the heart valve disease aortic stenosis. The results suggest that anti-inflammatory medication could be a possible new treatment. Aortic stenosis is the most common heart valve disease, which is caused by calcium deposits and a narrowing of the aortic valve. This is typically seen in the elderly, but can also be caused by a congenital defect. Aortic stenosis is currently treated by surgical replacement of the diseased valve, but research is on-going ...

The Philadelphia law firm of Silvers, Langsam & Weitzman, P.C., known throughout the area as MyPhillyLawyer, is launching a brand new informational birth injury website. The website, www.birthinjuryinfo.org, will be a resource for families and parents of babies and children who suffered a birth injury as a result of negligent care during pregnancy or childbirth. The birth injury lawyers at MyPhillyLawyer are committed to providing relevant and up-to-date information about birth injuries, such as Erb's Palsy, Cerebral Palsy, brain injuries and other serious and life-threatening ...