Current Feed Content from 6 Oct 08 08:49
Brain pathway responsible for obesity
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:27:03 GMT
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers, for the first time, have found a messaging system in the brain that directly affects food intake and body weight. Published in the Oct. 3, 2008 issue of Cell, the findings--from a study in mice--point to a entirely new approach to treating and preventing obesity in humans. The discovery also offers hope for new ways to treat related disorders, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases--the most prevalent health problems in the United States and the rest of the developed world........Study examines how doctors discuss medical errors
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:27:03 GMT
We can learn from our mistakes, but how willing are we to talk about them? And what happens when those making mistakes are physicians, who are often expected to be infallible? A new University of Iowa study shows that most general practice doctors in teaching hospitals are willing to discuss their own patient care errors with colleagues, but about one in four do not. At the same time, nearly nine of 10 doctors said that if they wanted to talk about a mistake, they knew a colleague who would be a supportive listener. The findings are published in the Oct. 1 issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics.......Acupressure calms children before surgery
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:27:03 GMT
An acupressure therapy applied to children undergoing anesthesia noticeably lowers their anxiety levels and makes the stress of surgery more calming for them and their families, UC Irvine anesthesiologists have learned. As per Dr. Zeev Kain, anesthesiology and perioperative care chair, and his Yale University collaborator Dr. Shu-Ming Wang, this noninvasive, drug-free method is an effective, complementary anxiety-relief treatment for children during surgical preparation. Sedatives currently used before anesthesia can cause nausea and prolong sedation........Culture's role on alcohol and violence
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:27:03 GMT
Countries with strict social rules and behavioral etiquette such as the United Kingdom may foster drinking cultures characterized by unruly or bad behavior, as per a new report on alcohol and violence released recently by International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP). The report lists 11 cultural features that may predict levels of violence such as homicide and spousal abuse........Genes influence effectiveness of weight-loss drug
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:27:03 GMT
Obese patients with a specific genetic make-up lose more weight when taking the weight loss drug sibutramine and undergoing behavioral treatment in comparison to those without this genetic make-up, reports a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute........Second-hand smoke may trigger nicotine dependence
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:27:03 GMT
Montreal, September 29, 2008 Parents who smoke cigarettes around their kids in cars and homes beware second-hand smoke may trigger symptoms of nicotine dependence in children. The findings appear in the September edition of the journal Addictive Behaviors in a joint study from nine Canadian institutions........English health care system failing to encourage breastfeeding
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:27:03 GMT
The English healthcare system is failing to encourage breast feeding and a national strategy to promote breast feeding is urgently needed, say experts on bmj.com today. In the UK, the women most likely to use formula milk are young, white and from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and this has created a major public health and inequalities challenge, write Professor Mary Renfrew from the University of York and Professor David Hall from the University of Sheffield........Are we spending too much on health?
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:27:03 GMT
In this poor economic climate and period of lower growth is it time to consider limiting spending on healthcare budgets? Two experts debate the issue on bmj.com today. The key challenge is to get more value for money from the already vast sums of money spent on health services rather than increasing spending, argues Professor Nick Bosanquet from Imperial College, London........Call for warning labels for energy drinks
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:27:03 GMT
Johns Hopkins researchers who have spent decades researching the effects of caffeine report that a slew of caffeinated energy drinks now on the market should carry prominent labels that note caffeine doses and warn of potential health risks for consumers. "The caffeine content of energy drinks varies over a 10-fold range, with some containing the equivalent of 14 cans of Coca-Cola, yet the caffeine amounts are often unlabeled and few include warnings about the potential health risks of caffeine intoxication, " says Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., one of the authors of the article that appears in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence this month........American kids most medicated
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:27:03 GMT
American children are approximately three times more likely to be prescribed psychotropic medicine than children in Europe. A new study published recently in BioMed Central's open access journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health claims that the differences may be accounted for by regulatory practices and cultural beliefs about the role of medicine in emotional and behavioural problems........Acupuncture reduces side effects of breast cancer treatment
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:27:03 GMT
Boston Acupuncture is as effective and longer-lasting in managing the common debilitating side effects of hot flashes, night sweats, and excessive sweating (vasomotor symptoms) linked to breast cancer therapy and has no therapy side effects in comparison to conventional drug treatment, as per a first-of-its-kind study presented September 24, 2008, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 50th Annual Meeting in Boston........Women and South Asians with angina
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:27:03 GMT
Women and South Asian people with typical pain were more likely than those with atypical pain to receive a diagnosis of angina pectoris and to have increased mortality rates or acute coronary complications, a study by UK scientists found. Despite this, in women and South Asians, both those with typical and atypical pain had lower rates of angiography and coronary interventions compared with men and white people respectively........Physicians may miss opportunities to respond with empathy
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:27:03 GMTIn a small study of 20 audiorecorded interactions, physicians seldom responded empathetically to concerns raised by lung cancer patients, as per a report in the September 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Empathy is an important element of effective communication between patients and physicians and is linked to improved patient satisfaction and compliance with recommended therapy, " the authors write as background information in the article. "Patients who are more satisfied with the communication in their medical encounters have improved understanding of their condition, with less anxiety and improved mental functioning." However, responding to patients' emotional needs can be challenging for physicians; they may begin medical school with empathy for their patients but gradually learn detachment, perhaps in order to cope with time constraints or sadness........Probiotic intervention and lipid profile change?
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:27:03 GMT
The new global metabolic profiling techniques, like lipidomics as a branch of metabolomics, have made it possible to measure large numbers of different metabolites, and are currently being applied to increase our understanding of the health and disease continuum. A Finland research group investigated the effect of a three weeks intervention of a probiotic LGG intervention on serum global lipidomics profiles in healthy adults. This will be published on 28 May 2008, in the World Journal of Gastroenterology The result showed that there were decreases in the levels of lysophosphatidylcholines (LysoGPCho), sphingomyelins (SM) and several glycerophosphatidylcholines (GPCho), and increases in triacylglycerols (TAG) in the probiotic LGG group. These changes may contribute, for example, to the metabolic events behind the beneficial effects of LGG on gut barrier function seen in prior studies........Work together or face 'disastrous consequences'
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:27:03 GMT
Faced with the prospect of more variable and changing climates increasing Africa's already intolerable disease burden, researchers must begin to reach out to colleagues in other fields and to the people they want to help if they hope to avert an expected "continental disaster, " as per leading climate, health, and information technology experts, who met in Nairobi last week........
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