Health & Medicine Week articles from January 2001

Health & Medicine Week archives from January 2001

Researchers Explore What Causes Therapy-Resistant Itching.
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- How the sensation of itch arises might seem purely academic for those whose experience is confined to mosquito bites, but it is much more important for patients suffering from therapy-resistant itch, a frequent...

Many Cases May Go Undetected By Afternoon Tests.(diabetes may go undiagnosed)
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- If current diagnostic criteria for diabetes are applied to patients tested in the afternoon, about half of cases of undiagnosed diabetes may be missed, according to an article in the December 27, 2000, issue of The...

Researchers Use Ultraviolet Light to Zap Bacteria in Ballast Water.
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- Two researchers say they have found a cheap, effective way to kill harmful microorganisms being spread by ships traveling around the world: zap them with concentrated ultraviolet light (UV). The technique...

Post-Hurricane Incidences of Asthma Studied in North Carolina.
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- A North Carolina (NC) state study will try to determine whether the number of asthma cases has increased since hurricane Floyd and whether the flood caused any increases in the disease. The Post-Flood...

New Test May Predict Fall Risk for Diabetic Retinopathy and Other Eye Diseases.(Activities of the Daily Vision Scale)
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- Patients who suffer from one or more eye diseases that frequently occur in older age may soon be able to take a test that predicts their risk for suffering a fall. The test is called the Activities of the Daily...

Many Terminally III Patients Not Referred for Hospice Services.
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- About 45% of terminally ill patients are not receiving hospice services, even though many are eligible for the care, Yale researchers reported in the December 22, 2000, issue of the Journal of Palliative Care. ...

Custom-Made Dentures Can Improve Chewing Ability.(for Parkinson's disease patients)
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- Patients suffering from Parkinson's disease can improve their ability to eat with specially constructed dentures. "Parkinson's disease...often affects the oropharyngeal musculature, leading to problems with...

Virtual Reality Proven Effective to Combat Fear of Flying.
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRE) is a potentially efficient and cost-effective treatment for fear of flying, according to a study conducted by researchers at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. The study...

Under-Used Form of Vitamin E May Be the Most Protective.(against prostate cancer)
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- Scientists at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health have found that higher blood levels of gamma-tocopherol, a form of vitamin E not usually included in vitamin supplements, is associated with a lower risk of...

Reduction May Not Produce Health Benefits.(smoking)
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- Heavy cigarette smokers who cut back their smoking - rather than quit - might not see any health benefits, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in the December 15, 2000, issue of Nicotine and Tobacco...

Widespread Golf Problem May Have Physical/Psychological Causes.(causes of tremors, jerking or freezing movements while putting researched)
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- A phenomenon in golf known as the "yips" - an acquired problem of sudden tremors, jerking or freezing while putting - may have both physical and psychological causes, according to a summary of current Mayo Clinic...

Intoxicated Emergency Room Patients Likely to be Alcoholic.
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 -- (NewsRx.com) -- Doctors should not assume that patients admitted to emergency rooms (ER) with high blood alcohol levels are moderate drinkers, according to a study published in the January 2001 American Journal of Psychiatry. ...

Motion Sickness Predictive of Longer Hospital Stay.
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 -- (NewsRx.com) -- Patients with a history of motion sickness or of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONY) are substantially more likely to require overnight observation following outpatients tympanomastoidectomy, according to...

Children and Teens with ADHD Need Medical Care More Often.(attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder)
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- Children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely to need clinical care for injuries, asthma, and other medical problems. The cost of that medical care is...

Emergency Room Crisis Worsening.
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- A winter backup has begun at emergency rooms across the area, and new figures show that hospitals closed their ERs to ambulance patients more often last month (November 2000) than at the height of last winter's flu...

Giving Volunteers Pollutants Plays a Controversial Role in Debate.(on medical research ethics)
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- Kimberly Wood pedals a stationary bicycle in a refrigeratorsized chamber and breathes into various tubes as she watches researchers monitor information about the air pollution levels inside. A contraption...

Medicare Errors Will Soon Be Released to Patients.
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- Federal health officials say they will soon allow Medicare beneficiaries to obtain information about doctors who may have made errors, a move that reverses a policy that has kept medical mistakes secret for more...

Incidence of Unpowered Scooter-Related Injuries Reported.
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- Injuries associated with unpowered scooters have increased dramatically since May 2000, states data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These scooters are a new version of the...

Widely Used Medication Not Effective for Most Patients.(inhaled corticosteroids ruled not effective for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients)
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- A recent study, conducted at Mayo Clinic and published in the December 28, 2000, edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, has found that patients who suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)...

Small Survival Benefit for Those Who Have Surgeries at High-Volume Hospitals.
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- Hospital experience is one of many important factors patients must consider when deciding where to have their surgery. New evidence published in the December 19, 2000, issue of the Journal of the American...

Risk Higher for Children with Personal Exemptions from Immunization.(higher risk for measles and pertussis)
January 15, 2001... 2001 JAN 15 - (NewsRx.com) -- Children who are exempt from immunization for religious or philosophical reasons have a higher risk of measles and pertussis, according to an article in the December 27, 2000, issue of The Journal of the American...

Vagus Nerve Stimulation May Worsen Condition.(sleep apnea)
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Neurologists warn that vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), used primarily for the treatment of epilepsy and some forms of neuropathic pain, should be used with caution in...

Homeless People Have a High Rate of Acute Care Use.
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- Homeless people in the U.S. report high rates of acute hospital-based care, low rates of ambulatory care, and difficulty accessing care, according to an article in the January 10, 2001, issue of the Journal of the...

Infants Show Paradoxically Reduced Airway Nitric Oxide.(acute wheezy bronchitis complication)
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- Infants who suffer from acute "wheezy" bronchitis have reduced nitric oxide levels in their respiratory passages, which runs counter to conventional assumptions about the role of nitric oxide in inflammatory...

Condition May be Associated with Additional Health Problems.(chronic fatigue syndrome)
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- Having chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) appears to be associated with an increased risk of developing other physical health problems, suggested the results of a small study of identical and fraternal twins. ...

Study Estimates One-Third of Cases are Undiagnosed.(diabetes)
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22- (NewsRx.com) -- A new study in Canada has determined that prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes, in which a person with undiagnosed diabetes has not had the condition diagnosed by a physician but still has plasma glucose levels that...

Deaf Children Who Get Cochlear Implants Early in Life Get Best Results.
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- The younger deaf and hearing-impaired children are when a cochlear implant awakens their hearing, the better they will do on speech recognition tests Later in life, according to the new results of the largest and...

Isocyanates Cause Asthma.
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- Exposure on the job to isocyanates (the radical -N=C=O from isocyanic acid, a highly reactive chemical) may cause asthma. S.K. Meredith and associates of the MRC in London reported such risk in the December...

Preventive Therapy Helps Seniors Remain Independent.(occupational therapy)
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- Preventive occupational therapy can aid older people in staying healthier and more independent by helping them to assimilate health-promoting changes in their life activities, according to an article in the January...

Periodontal Disease Isn't Always Your Parents' Disease.
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- When you are 26, tooth loss is not likely to be a major concern in your life. However, based on results of a new study published in the Journal of Periodontology, about one in seven 26-year-olds already has...

Diabetes/High Blood Pressure Can Lead to Cognitive Decline.
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- Middle-aged people with diabetes and high blood pressure are more likely to lose mental agility than their healthy counterparts, according to a study in the January 9, 2001, issue of Neurology, the scientific...

Cigar and Pipe Smoking as Dangerous as Cigarettes.
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- According to a study published in the Journal of Periodontology, cigar and pipe smoking may have nearly the same adverse effects on periodontal health and tooth loss as cigarette smoking. Celebrities have...

Old Power Plants Contribute to Hundreds of Deaths Yearly.(soot from coal-burning power plants)
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- Soot from old, coal-burning power plants in northern Illinois contribute to about 300 early deaths every year, concluded a study by the Harvard School of Public Health. Researchers looked at soot from nine...

Risk of Contracting Sexual Diseases Can Be Predicted by Psychological Evaluation.
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- Psychological evaluations can be as useful as tracking people's sexual behavior in predicting their likelihood of contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD), researchers at the University of Virginia (U.Va.)...

European Orphan Drug Designation Received for rhASB for MPS-VI.(BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.)
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22- (NewsRx.com) -- BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN), Novato, California, announced that the Committee for Orphan Medical Products of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (COMP/EMEA) has rendered a positive...

Women More Likely to Contract RTIs, and to Manage Illness More Aggressively.(respiratory tract infections)
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- Women are more likely than men to say they take care of themselves while they have a respiratory tract infection (RTI), and men are almost twice as likely as women to report that their spouse takes care of them...

Viagra Increases Nerve Activity Associated with Cardiovascular Function.
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- The drug sildenafil citrate - better known as Viagra - causes a dramatic increase in the nerve activity associated with cardiovascular function, especially during physical and mental stress, bolstering...

EPA to Set New Standard for Arsenic in Drinking Water.
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to set a new drinking water standard that would reduce the acceptable levels for arsenic by 80% while backing off from a more ambitious proposal. The...

Combination of Two Widely Used Pesticides Linked to Disease.(paraquat and maneb linked to Parkinson's disease)
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- Scientists have shown that the combination of two widely used agricultural pesticides - but neither one alone - creates in mice the exact pattern of brain damage that doctors see in patients with Parkinson's...

Surgical Treatment Draws Criticism.(sleep apnea treatment)
January 22, 2001... 2001 JAN 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- A study raising questions about surgical treatment of sleep apnea was published in the January 2001 issue of the European Respiratory Journal by a team of researchers in Spain. The doctors have found...

High Rate of Occupational Risk Uncovered.
January 29, 2001... 2001 JAN 29 - (NewsRx.com) -- Investigators who performed a population-based, cross-sectional study in six communities in Canada found that approximately one in three cases of adultonset asthma could have been caused by occupational exposure....

Garlic Powder More Effective than Oil Against Bacteria.
January 29, 2001... 2001 JAN 29 - (NewsRx.com) -- Garlic might be good for your health, but it appears that garlic powder works better than garlic oil in fighting bacteria, according to researchers from the United Kingdom. The antimicrobial effects of garlic...

Hospitalization Might Be Distressing for Psychiatric Disorder Patients.
January 29, 2001... 2001 JAN 29 - (NewsRx.com) -- Being hospitalized for a medical illness night have long-term negative effects on those with psychiatric conditions, according to a one-year study of male veterans. "The findings in this study indicate the need...

Asthmatic Children Show Lung Function Deficits from Maternal in utero Smoking.
January 29, 2001... 2001 JAN 29 - (NewsRx.com) -- University of Southern California researchers have shown that school-aged children with asthma have large deficits in lung function associated with exposure to maternal smoking in the womb. These deficits...

Newborn Lung Treatment Poses Risk of Intestinal Perforation.
January 29, 2001... 2001 JAN 29- (NewsRx.com) -- A treatment commonly prescribed to reduce the risk of chronic lung disease in extremely premature infants does not reduce the risk of death or chronic lung disease in these infants and might increase the risk for...

Increased Cost-Sharing for Prescription Drugs May Contribute to Avoidable Illnesses.
January 29, 2001... 2001 JAN 29 - (NewsRx.com) -- Increased cost-sharing for prescription drugs in the Canadian province of Quebec was followed by reductions in the use of essential drugs and a higher rate of serious adverse events and emergency department...

Alcoholism: Drinking and Drugging Can Be Painful.
January 29, 2001... 2001 JAN 29 - (NewsRx.com) -- Alcohol alone is known to be a factor in 60% to 70% of homicides, 40% of suicides, 40% to 50% of fatal motor vehicle crashes, 60% of fatal burn injuries, 60% of drownings, and 40% of fatal falls. Additional studies...

Researchers Study Compound Used for Fatal Drug.
January 29, 2001... 2001 JAN 29 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, have found that a substance used for its advertised effects on, among other things, bodybuilding, depression, and enhancement of...

Two Tests Allow Pediatricians to Identify Adolescent Smokers.
January 29, 2001... 2001 JAN 29- (NewsRx.com) -- Northwestern University Medical School, Illinois, researchers have developed a simple method to enable pediatricians to identify adolescents smokers and teens who are experimenting with smoking before they become...

Researchers Question Drug to Treat CFS.(fludrocortisone, chronic fatigue syndrome)
January 29, 2001... 2001 JAN 29 - (NewsRx.com) -- Fludrocortisone, a drug prescribed to treat low blood pressure, has little or no effect on symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome in adults when it is used as the only form of treatment, according to a joint study by...

CDC Adds Another Vaccine to Children's Schedule of Shots.
January 29, 2001... 2001 JAN 29 - (NewsRx.com) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has added pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) to its recommended immunization schedule for children. The vaccine protects against infection by the bacterium...

Strategic Precautions Against Fatal Falls on the Job Recommended.
January 29, 2001... 2001 JAN 29 - (NewsRx.com) -- Once the third leading cause of work-related death across all industries, falls have surpassed workplace homicide to become the second leading cause after motor vehicle crashes. In 2000 alone, some 717 workers...

Fatty Acid Consumption Lowers Risk Among Some Middle-Aged Women.(stroke )
January 29, 2001... 2001 JAN 29 - (NewsRx.com) -- Higher consumption of fish and n3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is associated with a reduced risk of some types of stroke among middle-aged women, and primarily among women who do not take aspirin regularly. ...