USA TODAY articles from February 2009

USA TODAY archives from February 2009

Is there a doctor in the house?(demand for more surgeons)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As early as next year, there may not be enough surgeons in U.S. hospitals to treat the critically injured or chronically ill, as a study by Ohio State University, Columbus, suggests that the number of available...

Can public plan keep private policy costs in line?
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A new public health insurance plan that competes directly with private insurers is essential to controlling health care costs and improving the quality of care, according to a report released by the Institute for...

Obama promises aside, no revolution in sight.(Barack Obama and the health care system)
February 1, 2009... A study involving health care systems in 21 countries--and the prospects for change in response to such common pressures as rising costs and aging populations--casts doubt on the possibility of major overhauls of any of these systems because of...

E-prescribing measure will cut costs.(Prescriptions)
February 1, 2009... A Federal measure that encourages using electronic systems for prescriptions will help deliver safer and more efficient care to patients while also cutting costs, posits Vincent Duffy, a Purdue University professor of industrial engineering and...

Nicotine addiction reaches 15-year high.
February 1, 2009... Nicotine dependence has reached a 15-year high, with nearly 75% of people currently seeking tobacco-dependence treatment categorized as highly nicotine dependent. Re search from the American College of Chest Physicians, Northbrook, Ill.,...

Numbness or paralysis.(transient ischemic attack)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Numbness or paralysis on one side of the body, blurred or decreased vision, and difficulty speaking are classic signs of a transient ischemic attack (TIA), a ministroke that lasts only minutes, warn physicians at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester,...

Advanced age.(carotid-artery surgery)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Advanced age (80 or older) increases the odds by 30% of having a stroke or dying within 30 days of undergoing carotid-artery surgery--one of the most common types of vascular operations performed in the U.S.--according to a study by the...

Girls in urban neighborhoods.(HEALTH BEAT)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Girls in urban neighborhoods are less likely to be physically active than boys or children of either sex living in the suburbs, suggests a study by the University of North Carolina School of Public Health and Nutrition, Chapel Hill. ...

A calcium-sensing enzyme.(arrhythmia)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... A calcium-sensing enzyme already known to play a role in irregular heartbeats and other critical functions contributes to arrhythmia in an extremely rare disease called Timothy syndrome-which can cause a malformed heart, autism, and various...

Despite performing equally to their male peers.(female medical student)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Despite performing equally to their male peers in the classroom and clinic, female medical students consistently report decreased self-confidence and increased anxiety, particularly over issues related to their competency, relates a study from...

Patients treated for prolonged seizures.(HEALTH BEAT)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Patients treated for prolonged seizures with the sedative propofol may be at high risk for complications and even death, caution doctors at the American College of Chest Physicians, Northbrook, Ill. The drug is more commonly used for sedation...

Cancer patients who receive stereotsctic radiosurgery.(HEALTH BEAT)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Cancer patients who receive stereotsctic radiosurgery (SRS) and whole brain radiation therapy for the treatment of metastatic brain tumors have more than twice the risk of developing learning and memory problems than those treated with SRS...

Smoking enhances other experiences.(Nicotine Addiction)
February 1, 2009... There may be a very good reason why coffee and cigarettes often seem to go hand in hand. Research suggests that nicotine's power may be in how it enhances other day-to-day experiences. For a smoker who enjoys having coffee, the nicotine may...

Barcode chip faster and cheaper.(innovative blood test device)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... A "barcode chip" developed by researchers at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, promises to revolutionize diagnostic medical testing. In less than 10 minutes, and using just a pinprick's worth of blood, the chip can measure the...

Error rate high for anticoagulant therapy.(Blood Thinners)
February 1, 2009... A number of recent high-profile errors related to commonly used blood thinners highlights a safety issue that too frequently results in harm or even death to patients, according to an alert issued by The Joint Commission, Oakbrook Terrace,...

Umbilical stem cells provide safe blood.
February 1, 2009... Taking blood stem cells collected from an umbilical cord into the lab and expanding their number before transplanting them to replace a patient's blood supply is as safe as a standard cord blood transplant, report researchers at the University...

Best way to treat blunt trauma injuries.
February 1, 2009... Endovascular repair--fixing an injury to a blood vessel from inside that vessel--is a better option for individuals who receive highly lethal injuries from falls or high-speed collisions (together referred to as blunt trauma) and is shown to...

"Old blood" linked to infection.(Transfusions)
February 1, 2009... Blood stored for 29 days or more, nearly two weeks less than the current standard, is associated with a higher infection rate in patients who received transfusions with the blood, according to a study by the American College of Chest...

EPA finally sets new standards.(Environmental Protection Agency )
February 1, 2009... For the first time since 1978, the Environmental Protection Agency has revised the national air ambient quality standard for lead air pollution, a toxin threatening the health of millions of children and adults. The revised standard of 0.15...

As temperatures dip virus concerns rise.(prevention of respiratory syncytial virus )(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is not the flu, but its cold- and flu-like symptoms are surging in children, suggest infectious-disease specialists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. RSV is the leading cause of...

Best ways to prevent outbreaks.
February 1, 2009... Employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees, which can be a challenge in the height of the flu season, points out the American Industrial Hygiene Association, Bethesda, Md. By following guidelines...

New bacterium just as deadly.(Leprosy)
February 1, 2009... A new species of bacterium that causes leprosy has been identified through intensive genetic analysis of a pair of lethal infections in the U.S., reports a research team from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. All...

Is virus cure in the offing?(Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome's cure)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... A compound that prevents replication of the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and could lead to a treatment for the disease has been created by Arun Ghosh, professor of organic and medicinal chemistry at Purdue...

National Library of Medicine has four for the road.(exhibitions)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The National Library of Medicine, on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., is the world's largest medical library, collecting materials in all areas of biomedicine and health care, as well...

Government comes up short in funding.(pain research finance)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Federal funding for pain research has declined more than nine percent a year since 2003, according to a study by the American Pain Society, Glenview, Ill., and now accounts for 0.6% of all grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health,...

HPV shot for girls remains controversial.
February 1, 2009... The opinions of mothers concerning sexual matters do not play a significant role in their decisions about whether their daughters should receive a vaccine against a sexually transmitted virus, according to a study by researchers at the...

Pain persists after partner departs.(abused women)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Many women separated from abusive partners still experience high-disability chronic pain after almost two years, according to researchers at the American Pain Society, Glenview, Ill. In the APS study, 35% of the women who survived intimate...

New tool assesses speech development.
February 1, 2009... The number of hearing impaired infants and toddlers who are aided successfully by technological devices, such as hearing aids and cochlear implants, continues to grow, but there still are unknowns about these children's speaking abilities,...

Modern researchers ignoring Kinsey report.(Alfred Kinsey's research on sexual orientation)
February 1, 2009... The landmark "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" report revealed major insights into bisexual behavior and orientation--without even using the word "bisexual"--when it was published 60 years ago by pioneering sex researcher Alfred Kinsey and...

New device works like an insect's eye.(ultrasound probe)
February 1, 2009... An ultrasound probe small enough to ride along at the tip of a catheter can provide physicians with clearer real-time images of soft tissue without the risks associated with conventional X-ray catheter guidance. Biomedical engineers from...

Downright impressive artwork.(Down Syndrome)
February 1, 2009... Down syndrome, or Trisomy 21, generally is caused by an error in the development of one of the reproductive cells that combine at conception, resulting in an individual with an extra copy of the 21st chromosome. The overexpression of genes on...

Tissue-engineered marrow a key source.(Stem Cells)
February 1, 2009... Blood vessels that have been tissue-engineered from bone marrow adult stem cells may in the future serve as a patient's own source of new blood vessels following a coronary bypass or other procedures that require vessel replacement, according...

Robotic gantry system treats first patient.(Proton Therapy)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... A team of medical professionals at the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute (MPRI) and Indiana University Cyclotron Facility (IUCF), both in Bloomington, have treated the first patient in the world using an industrial robotic positioning...

VCI often confused with Alzheimer's.(vascular cognitive impairment)
February 1, 2009... With the collapse of the housing market, older Americans no longer can sell their homes easily and move into assisted living. So, seniors are turning to in-home care. Research shows it is a cheaper alternative than other forms of elder care,...

VCI often confused with Alzheimer's.(vascular cognitive impairment)
February 1, 2009... All dementia is not Alzheimer's--where plaques and tangles form in brain cells for unknown reasons, eventually causing irreparable damage. A less common form of dementia, vascular cognitive impairment (VCI), can be mistaken for Alzheimer's,...

Ignoring problem leads to adult difficulties.(childhood anxiety)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents should be recognized and treated to prevent educational underachievement and adult substance abuse, excessive stress, and depression, advocates Graham Emslie, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics...

Fentanyl derivatives source of street deaths.(Overdoses)
February 1, 2009... The scope and nature of an epidemic of overdoses related to illegally produced (nonpharmaceutical) fentanyl--an epidemic that ultimately killed at least 1,013 people within less than two years--is examined in a report published by the Centers...

Depressed patients more likely to die.(Kidney Dialysis)
February 1, 2009... Dialysis patients diagnosed with depression are nearly twice as likely to be hospitalized or die within a year than those who are not depressed, suggests research from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Researchers monitored...

Curbing the HIV scourge: ignorance and wrongheaded policies continue to endanger millions.
February 1, 2009... The key to curbing the AIDS epidemic, which has so disrupted economic and social progress in Africa, is education about prevention, contends Lester R. Brown, president of Earth Policy Institute, Washington, D.C., and author of Plan B: Rescuing...