Family Practice News articles from August 2006

Family Practice News archives from August 2006

Steroid injections backed for hip OA.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)
August 1, 2006... AMSTERDAM -- Radiologically guided corticosteroid injections brought marked symptomatic improvement to patients with advanced hip osteoarthritis in a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial, Dr. Walter P. Maksymowych reported at the...

Early pregnancy NSAID use tied to malformation risk: cardiac defects are 3.3 times more likely.(Women's Health)
August 1, 2006... TUCSON, ARIZ. -- Mothers who take NSAIDs during the first trimester of pregnancy face a 2.2-fold increased risk of giving birth to infants with congenital malformations, results from a large, long-term population study show. In addition,...

Guidelines: hit type 2 diabetes hard and early.(News)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... Metformin therapy should be prescribed along with lifestyle intervention as soon as patients are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, according to the authors of a new consensus algorithm endorsed by the American Diabetes Association. Based on...

Lipitor tops list of branded drugs prescribed by family physicians in 2005.(VITAL SIGNS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... VITAL SIGNS Lipitor Tops List of Branded Drugs Prescribed By Family Physicians in 2005 Millions Lipitor 21,714 Synthroid 10,574 Norvasc 10,258 Toprol-XL 10,231 Zoloft ...

Rx error costs exceed $3.5 billion a year.(News)
August 1, 2006... Each year, patients in the United States experience at least 1.5 million preventable injuries due to medication errors, according to the findings of an Institute of Medicine analysis. The report, released in July, estimated that these...

Antiseizure drug reduces chronic headache days.(News)
August 1, 2006... LOS ANGELES -- The anticonvulsant drug topiramate significantly eased chronic daily headaches, one of the most intractable forms of headache to treat, in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial conducted at 46 U.S. centers. Although...

One question opens doors in migraine treatment.(News)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... Los ANGELES -- Health care providers asked lots of questions during videotaped, real-life office visits with migraineurs, but almost always failed to ask the one question that would indicate whether they should prescribe a preventive...

ACIP: second varicella vaccine dose advised.(News)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... ATLANTA -- A second dose of varicella vaccine should be given to all children at ages 4-6 years, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted at its June meeting. The second dose...

Drug, behavior therapy combat teen obesity.(News)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... A Yearlong study of nearly 500 obese adolescents found that combining the weight loss drug sibutramine with behavioral therapy resulted in statistically significant improvements in body mass index and several metabolic risk factors, compared...

No smoke is 'safe' smoke, says surgeon general.(News)
August 1, 2006... The science is now anything but hazy: Secondhand tobacco smoke causes premature death and disease in children and adults who don't smoke--and there is no safe exposure level, the U.S. surgeon general warned in a comprehensive report released in...

Vitamins tied to gestational events.(News)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... LISBON -- A metaanalysis of results from two major trials of prenatal supplementation with high dosages of vitamins C and E has raised concern about possible adverse effects, such as an increased risk of stillbirths and of gestational...

What is the most appropriate surgery for obese adolescents?(Point/Counterpoint)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... Gastric banding is reversible and safer. Laparoscopic placement of an adjustable gastric band is a safe and effective alternative to laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery in the obese adolescent. The vast adult experience in gastric...

HT report based on 'flawed study'.(Letters)
August 1, 2006... Imagine my consternation at your advising against hormone therapy on your front page, based on the Women's Health Initiative now discredited as a flawed study ("Risks of Hormone Therapy Dwarfed Benefits in WHI," March 15, 2006, p. 1). A...

Aspirin may offset NSAID-related heart risks.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(Drug overview)
August 1, 2006... AMSTERDAM -- Concomitant aspirin use may fully reverse the increased atherothrombotic risk associated with cyclooxygenase-2 selective NSAIDs, Dr. Gurkirpal Singh reported at the annual European Congress of Rheumatology. In addition,...

Obstructive sleep apnea found a cardiac arrhythmia risk factor.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... BOSTON -- Obstructive sleep apnea is a risk factor for cardiac arrhythmias, and cardiologists should consider the diagnosis and treatment of this sleep disorder in terms of cardioprotective benefit, according to Dr. Maria Teresa La Rovere. ...

Bypass patients are at increased risk of AAA.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(abdominal aortic aneurysm)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... PHILADELPHIA -- Patients who have undergone coronary bypass surgery have an increased risk of also having an abdominal aortic aneurysm, according to results from a single-center study with 752 patients. Based on this finding, screening for...

CPAP lowers blood pressure in patients with sleep apnea.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(continuous positive airway pressure)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... SAN DIEGO -- Two weeks of continuous positive airway pressure significantly reduced the blood pressure of hypertensive obstructive sleep apnea patients in a small randomized controlled trial presented in a poster at the International Conference...

Delays can be deadly in young athletes with SCA.(Cardiovascular Medicine)
August 1, 2006... ATLANTA -- Automated external defibrillators can be a lifesaver in sudden cardiac arrest, the No. 1 cause of death in young athletes, but planning, preparation, and education are essential. "The single most important determinant of survival...

Imaging methods unveil rupture-prone plaque.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... CHICAGO -- A furiously competitive race is on to develop new imaging methods capable of identifying vulnerable coronary plaques. The first of these technologies to undergo evaluation in prospective clinical trials are virtual histology,...

Nontraditional plasma markers fill in LDL's predictive gaps.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... SPARKS, NEV. -- Many patients with "normal" levels of LDL cholesterol go on to develop heart disease. "LDL cholesterol is an okay, but not great, predictor of coronary risk," Dr. James A. Underberg said at the annual meeting of the American...

Test thyroid function in thrombocytopenia.(Metabolic Disorders)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... CHICAGO -- Immunologic thrombocytopenia was associated with an increased prevalence of thyroid disease in a retrospective longitudinal study. The finding argues for routine screening for thyroid disease in patients with immunologic...

Maternal thyroid disease possible risk factor for craniosynostosis.(Metabolic Disorders)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... TUCSON, ARIZ. -- Maternal thyroid disease or its treatment may increase the risk of craniosynostosis in offspring by nearly threefold, preliminary results from an ongoing study suggest. The finding is important because thyroid disease is...

IV ibandronate rivals oral drug on BMD improvement.(Metabolic Disorders)(body mass index)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... BOSTON -- Intermittent intravenous ibandronate is at least as effective as daily oral ibandronate for increasing bone mineral density and may be preferable to oral dosing in patients with esophageal disease or compliance problems. There...

Hormone elevated in daughters of PCOS patients.(Metabolic Disorders)(polycystic ovary syndrome)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... BOSTON -- The daughters of women with polycystic ovary syndrome have elevated levels of antimullerian hormone from infancy to the perimenarchal period, suggesting that the underpinnings of PCOS may be present long before clinical symptoms...

PCOS symptoms may resolve with gastric bypass.(Metabolic Disorders)(polycystic ovary syndrome)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... BOSTON -- Bariatric surgery may resolve symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome in obese women with the condition, Dr. Hector Escobar-Morreale reported at the annual meeting of the Androgen Excess Society. "In some women, the syndrome is so...

Metformin urged for PCOS, despite lack of data: current knowledge of the risks of insulin resistance and the disadvantages of OCs deemed convincing.(Metabolic Disorders)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Insulin resistance is such an integral and dangerous feature of polycystic ovary syndrome that metformin should be favored over oral contraceptive pills for treatment of the syndrome, said physicians in annual scientific sessions...

Liver disease may accompany polycystic ovary syndrome.(Metabolic Disorders)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... CHICACO -- Women with polycystic ovary syndrome can have fairly advanced liver disease, Dr. Tracy L. Setji of Duke University, Durham, N.C., and colleagues said in a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association of...

Some turning to gastric bypass in adolescents.(Metabolic Disorders)
August 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Early evidence suggests that the health benefits of bariatric surgery offset the risks for severely obese adolescents, according to the results of small studies reported at the annual scientific sessions of the American Diabetes...

Weight loss after banding varies among ethnic groups.(Metabolic Disorders)
August 1, 2006... SAN FRANCISCO -- Affican American patients, especially women, appear to lose a smaller percentage of excess weight after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding than their white counterparts, despite similar resolution of comorbidities, Dr....

Hybrid type diabetes found in 18% of obese kids.(Metabolic Disorders)
August 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- A preliminary look at the children referred for participation in a large treatment trial of type 2 diabetes in overweight and obese youth shows that the children not only have a high prevalence of hypertension and dyslipidemia,...

Shorter, simpler TB regimen considered a priority.(Infectious Diseases)(Tuberculosis)
August 1, 2006... LISBON -- Tuberculosis experts now generally agree that the main priority for improving TB therapy is to shorten and simplify the regimen for active disease, Dr. Ann Ginsberg said at the 12th International Congress on Infectious Diseases. ...

Jury out on West Nile's possible role as a teratogen.(Infectious Diseases)
August 1, 2006... TUCSON, ARIZ. -- Recent published data suggest a risk of birth defects among live-born infants of mothers infected with West Nile virus, but much more work is needed to confirm the association, Dr. Dawn M. Wesson said at the annual meeting of...

Steroids gain traction for severe pneumonia.(Infectious Diseases)(Clinical report)
August 1, 2006... LISBON -- The use of corticosteroids to reduce the morbidity and mortality of severe bacterial pneumonia is supported by results from two positive randomized trials, multiple observational studies, and animal models, Dr. Antoni Torres said at...

Advise siblings on melanoma.(melanoma patient education has improved rate of self screening)(Clinical report)
August 1, 2006... Providing telephone counseling and targeted educational materials to the siblings of recently diagnosed melanoma patients can help improve the rate and quality of skin self-screening, according to the results of new research. In a...

New topical antifungal roots out onychomycosis.(Skin Disorders)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... PHILADELPHIA -- A novel broad-spectrum topical antifungal for the treatment of onychomycosis is now in early-stage clinical trials, and so far the data look favorable. Several papers covering various aspects of the new drug, AN2690, were...

Melanoma care varies by region, insurance type.(Skin Disoders)
August 1, 2006... ATLANTA -- A review of more than 60,000 melanoma patients found that they were more likely to have a sentinel node biopsy and receive adjuvant therapy with a biologic response modifier if they had commercial insurance and were treated at a...

Telepsychiatry's time has come for rural patients.(Mental Health)
August 1, 2006... BOCA RATON, FLA. -- Telepsychiatry is a valid and reliable way to extend depression treatment to rural settings, according to a study from researchers at the University of California, Davis. "Telepsychiatry has been hot and cold, hot and...

Short scale assesses child, adolescent depression.(Mental Health)
August 1, 2006... BOCA RATON, FLA. -- Major depression in children and adolescents can be assessed quickly using a 10-item scale designed for adults. Results correlate well with a standard 45-minute pediatric measure, according to a study presented at a meeting...

Web-based therapy for depression will target adolescents.(Mental Health)
August 1, 2006... SAN ANTONIO -- Primary care physicians may be able to quickly and accurately assess and stratify an adolescent's 1-year risk of developing new-onset major depression using a 20-item checklist, Dr. Benjamin W. Van Voorhees said at the annual...

Pregnancy doesn't alter breast cancer outcomes.(Women's Health)(Clinical report)
August 1, 2006... ATLANTA -- Young women who became pregnant after breast cancer treatment were significantly less likely to have a recurrence or to die of the disease than were those who did not become pregnant, according to a French retrospective study...

HER2+ breast Ca mortality is lowered with trastuzumab.(Women's Health)
August 1, 2006... ATLANTA -- New results from the international Herceptin Adjuvant (HERA) trial show that taking trastuzumab for 12 months after standard chemotherapy significantly reduced the risk of death for early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer patients....

Early epidurals don't increase risk of operative delivery.(Women's Health)(Brief article)(Clinical report)
August 1, 2006... HOLLYWOOD, FLA. -- Epidural analgesia given in early labor has been shown to have no significant effect on the risk of operative delivery in patients with spontaneous labor, and the same appears to hold true for patients with induced labor,...

A clinician's approach to anticonvulsants.(bipolar disorder treatment with lithium)
August 1, 2006... Historically, lithium has been a mainstay of treatment for bipolar disorder. However, over the last decade, anticonvulsant drugs such as sodium valproate and lamotrigine (Lamictal) have become more widely used to treat this disorder. The...

Patient selection, patience key to pessary success.(Women's Health)(Clinical report)
August 1, 2006... TUCSON, ARIZ. -- A randomized crossover trial suggests that symptom relief and satisfaction can be obtained by either of two commonly used pessary types, but that patient selection and patience are both key to success. The multicenter...

Familial trend detected in Barrett's esophagus.(Digestive Disorders)
August 1, 2006... CHICAGO -- Family history plays a larger role in Barrett's esophagus and associated cancers than was previously recognized, according to Dr. Amitabh Chak. "There's clearly an inheritance pattern that suggests an autosomal dominant...

In-office, unsedated transnasal esophagoscopy shows promise.(Digestive Disorders)
August 1, 2006... CHICAGO -- Transnasal esophagoscopy easily identified esophageal abnormalities without sedation in an office-based setting during a small, prospective study. The procedure, which allows endoscopic visualization of the aerodigestive tract...

Ethnicity matters in GI lesions with iron-deficiency anemia.(gastrointestinal)(Clinical report)
August 1, 2006... LOS ANGELES -- In patients with iron-deficiency anemia, significant ethnic differences were found in the frequency, type, and distribution of clinically important gastrointestinal lesions, Dr. Bani Chander reported during a poster session at...

Half of elderly may have prescription errors.(Geriatric Medicine)
August 1, 2006... SEATTLE -- Nearly half of a sample of elderly persons in Los Angeles were taking medications that they probably should not have been, and the likelihood of such a problem rose sharply with the number of medications they were taking, Gretchen E....

Elective, major bowel surgery well tolerated.(Geriatric Medicine)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... SEATTLE -- Elderly persons who undergo major bowel operations on an elective basis fare much better than those who have emergency surgery, Dr. Demetrios J. Louis said at the annual meeting of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons....

Fatty liver is underdiagnosed in obese children.(Obesity)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... ATLANTA -- Obese children are at risk for developing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, which can lead to fibrosis and cirrhosis, speakers said at a meeting sponsored by the American Association for the Study of...

Overweight, obese teens are not being screened for comorbidities.(Obesity)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... BOSTON -- Overweight and obese adolescents are not being sufficiently screened for weight-related comorbid conditions, and the failure to do so can have enduring health implications, Dr. Margaret Stager said at the annual meeting of the Society...

Breakfast-obesity link is stronger than thought.(Obesity)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Patients who regularly skip breakfast have as high a risk of obesity as patients who have a family history of type 2 diabetes, a cross-sectional study of adolescents has shown. Regularly skipping breakfast has been linked to...

Nighttime device eases rotator cuff tendinopathy.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)
August 1, 2006... DENVER -- Asimple device seems to ease nighttime shoulder pain, according to study findings presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine. Dr. Michael Carroll, a Traverse City, Mich.-based family physician in...

Shoulder pain unappreciated in ankylosing spondylitis.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... GLASGOW, SCOTLAND -- Shoulder involvement is often overlooked in ankylosing spondylitis, despite patients' reports that upper body pain interferes with their daily activities, Dr. Charlotte E. Page reported in a poster session at the annual...

Punch biopsies flag those at risk for neuropathy.(Clinical Rounds)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Analysis of skin punch biopsy specimens may help predict diabetic neuropathy in at-risk patients, diagnose the condition earlier, and assess treatment response, Dr. Michael Polydefkis said at the annual scientific sessions of the...

Sleep apnea's effects on brain activation worsen with age.(Clinical Rounds)(Disease/Disorder overview)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... SALT LAKE CITY -- The combination of obstructive sleep apnea and advanced age may have an overwhelming effect on the brain's compensatory mechanisms, and early diagnosis and treatment of OSA in older patients may be important for preserving...

Structured sleep eases transformed migraines.(Clinical Rounds)
August 1, 2006... Los Angeles -- A structured sleep modification program significantly reduced the frequency and intensity of headaches in women with transformed migraines, University of North Carolina researchers reported at the annual meeting of the American...

Foot procedure gets diabetics back on their feet.(Clinical Rounds)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. -- Amputation of the diabetic foot can be avoided by surgical reconstruction using an anterolateral thigh perforator flap, according to a 4-year retrospective study reported by Dr. Joon pio Hong at the annual meeting of the...

Fitness measures identify candidates for aneurysm repair.(Clinical Rounds)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... PHILADELPHIA -- Some patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms are too sick to safely undergo aneurysm repair, by open surgery or with an endovascular procedure, and new methods are emerging to identify such patients. A small percentage of...

ACIP: postpartum Tdap vaccine recommended.(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... ATLANTA -- The recently licensed adolescent/adult formulation of tetanus-diphtheria acellular pertussis vaccine should be given routinely to women after delivery and before hospital discharge if they haven't already received a dose of that...

Digital rectal exam key to early prostate diagnosis.(Clinical Rounds)(Disease/Disorder overview)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... ATLANTA -- Omitting a digital rectal exam from prostate cancer screening can compromise treatment outcomes because many of the cancers detected by the exam alone are potentially curable, but may not remain so by the time PSA levels are high...

Zoledronic acid slows bone loss in prostate cancer.(Clinical Rounds)(Disease/Disorder overview)
August 1, 2006... ATLANTA -- An annual dose of zoledronic acid can prevent bone loss in men who may be at risk of osteoporosis and who undergo androgen-deprivation therapy for nonmetastatic prostate cancer, Dr. M. Dror Michaelson reported at the annual meeting...

Suspected child abuse goes unreported by MDs.(Clinical Rounds)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... SAN FRANCISCO -- Primary care physicians frequently fail to report possible child abuse, even when they strongly suspect that an injury may have been caused by abuse, Dr. Emalee Flaherty reported at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic...

Atripla, Lucentis.(New & Approved)
August 1, 2006... Atripla (efavirenz 600 mg/emtricitabine 200 mg/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 300 mg, GlaxoSmithKline and Gilead Sciences) A fixed-dose antiretroviral drug combination pill for use alone or with other antiretroviral agents for treating...

Pay for performance hits pay dirt ... sometimes: New York's program paid off, but in California and Massachusetts, clinical outcomes have yet to improve.(Practice Trends)
August 1, 2006... SEATTLE -- When the physicians of Rochester, N.Y., first had a pay-for-performance program imposed on them, they ignored it. "At the beginning of our program, most people would not acknowledge it existed," said Dr. Howard B. Beckman, the...

Fragmented care poses challenges.(Practice Trends)(Survey)
August 1, 2006... Pay-for-performance schemes may be thwarted by patients seeing too many doctors, making it difficult to assign any one patient's care to a particular physician, according to a study presented at the annual research meeting of AcademyHealth. ...

Humana, Medicare rank well on payer measures.(Practice Trends)(Industry ranking)
August 1, 2006... In an assessment of performance by one of the nation's largest physician revenue management companies, Humana and Medicare were rated highest when it came to paying quickly and being easy to work with. The data were tabulated and made...

End-of-life treatment intensity all over the map.(Practice Trends)
August 1, 2006... Los ANGELES -- End-of-life spending for Medicare beneficiaries varies widely based on geographic location, but individual patient preferences do not drive these regional variations, Dr. Amber E. Barnato reported at the annual meeting of the...

CMS tests chronic disease care approaches.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
August 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Medicare has a number of demonstration projects underway to help chronically ill beneficiaries get better care, and is developing more, Linda Magno said at a meeting of the Practicing Physicians Advisory Council. ...

IM/FP demand up again.(Internists)(Family Physicians)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Internists and family physicians top hospital and medical groups' list of most-requested doctors, according to a new report from physician search firm Merritt, Hawkins & Associates. The company tracked close to 3,000 of its permanent, full-time...

New drugs: confidence drops.(safety of new drugs drives consumers to older drugs)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Physicians, pharmacists, and consumers are losing confidence in the safety of new drugs and are developing a preference for older ones, a study conducted by Forrester Research on behalf of Medco, a pharmacy benefit management company, has...

Pick a card.(Policy & Practice)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Medical practice administrators are seeking more uniformity in the information, appearance, and technology of patient identification cards, in an effort to eliminate errors and reduce claim rejections. A machine-readable card is the goal, and...

Clinical trial participation.(Policy & Practice)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Physicians who participate in a pharmaceutical company--sponsored trial are more likely to prescribe the sponsor's drug than are physicians who did not participate, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Southern...

CVS buying MinuteClinic.(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... MinuteClinic, a company that provides certain primary care services to customers at pharmacies and other retail outlets, has been acquired by CVS Corp., parent company of CVS/pharmacy. Currently in 83 locations nationwide (66 of which are in...

Hairline recedes, and then some.(Indications)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... An electrician in Calcutta, India, who lost a large section of his scalp after suffering a severe burn while repairing a high-voltage wire, subsequently lost the portion of skull under the area after the bone was deprived of its blood supply....

Lifting burns calories!(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Tired of seeing your progeny lift nothing that doesn't have a microchip in it while they ignore your threats that slothfulness will lead to a Chris Farley physique? Well, now you have evidence to back your claims, thanks to researchers at...

Tufts weaves tangled web.(replacement bone tissue through newly invented protein)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Not content with radar-evading aircraft and bunker-busting missiles, the U.S. Air Force and Tufts University, Boston, are one step closer to synthetic spider webbing. Rajesh Naik, Ph.D., of the Air Force Research Laboratory, along with David L....

This may sting just a bit.(scorpion venom for cancer treatment)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... As if brain cancer weren't bad enough, a team of doctors has discovered that scorpion venom looks to be a promising treatment. Researchers at Transmolecular Corp. in Cambridge, Mass., created a radioactive version of the venom containing a...

George Hamilton's lungs look great.(facial wrinkling due to smoking likely to have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease )(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Still looking for bona fide medical evidence to complement some backward logic and help you justify getting a little work done on those wrinkles? Dr. Bipen Patel of Royal Devon and Exeter (England) Hospital and colleagues assessed lung function...

The FDA: it's a jungle in there.(Indications)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... One hundred years ago, the health of Americans was at risk with each bite they took of their kielbasas or sauerbraten. The meat industry was unregulated, and the only person with the stomach to look closely at the resulting product was Upton...

TB assays poised to join 21st century.(Infectious Diseases)(control of tuberculosis all over the globe)
August 15, 2006... Lisbon -- Better diagnostic tests are seen as essential in the campaign to control the global tuberculosis epidemic--and help is on the way. The archaic, nearly 100-year-old tuberculin skin test was until recently the sole tool available...

Vital signs.(authors of medical journals)(Statistical table)
August 15, 2006... Percentage of Female Lead Authors in U.S. Medical Journals Still Lags First author Senior author 1970 6% 4% 1980 8% 4% 1990 17% 10% 2000 28% ...

Glycemic control lessens dementia risk in diabetics: highest Hb[A.sub.1c] levels elevate risk by 78%.(Metabolic Disorders)
August 15, 2006... Madrid -- Tight control of blood glucose levels may decrease the incidence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease among patients with diabetes, and even among those with borderline diabetes, researchers reported at the 10th International...

Depression responds to host of Tx, primary care.(Mental Health)(treatment for mentally ill persons)
August 15, 2006... Santa Fe, N.M. -- Whether patients with major depressive disorder are treated by primary care physicians or psychiatrists makes no difference in terms of treatment outcomes, according to the findings of the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to...