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 Back to Eurekalert Medical and Health News Archives



Eurekalert Medical and Health News: 10-03-2004

Spring-fall flu shots safe, protect children
Giving flu vaccine to toddlers in the spring and fall guards against infection and is easier on parents than the fall schedule of two doses administered a month apart, found researchers from Duke University Medical Center and the University of Washington.

The more you have on your plate, the more you overeat
When young adults are served larger portions than they ate the week before, they overeat by almost 40 percent. Eating those larger portions could account for the increasing rates of obesity in the American population. That's according to a Cornell University study, published in the Journal of Nutrition (October, 2004).

Penn receives grant for initiative to help understand genes' effects on medications
The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has been awarded a major grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to bring together researchers from different disciplines to study gene-drug interactions. The three-year, $595,000 award is one of 21 in the country that will support planning activities for groups of researchers to develop interdisciplinary strategies to solve significant biomedical or behavioral research problems.

Studying the chemistry of drugs in wastewater
What happens to painkillers, antibiotics and other medicines after their work is done, and they end up in the wastewater stream? The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is using laboratory experiments to help answer this question by studying what happens to pharmaceuticals when they react with chlorine--a disinfectant commonly used in wastewater treatment.

32 new grants made for innovative technology R&D
The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Advanced Technology Program has announced 32 new cost-sharing awards for research on highly innovative industrial technologies. A total of 43 companies, including seven joint ventures, are involved in the new projects, which were chosen on the basis of difficulty, technical innovation and the potential for significant benefits to the nation's economy.

Data show ZYVOX is more effective and reduces costs
Treatment with ZYVOX. (linezolid injection, tablets and for oral suspension) for complicated skin and soft tissue infections caused by suspected or proven methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus resulted in higher cure rates and decreased healthcare costs compared with intravenous vancomycin, according to a U.S. sub-analysis of data presented today at the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Elder abuse is pervasive and requires urgent response
Elder abuse is pervasive and a growing problem, with 2-10 percent of the elderly population physically or mentally abused; mistreated seniors are three times more likely to die within three years than others, report Cornell University gerontologists.

New therapy for specific form of leukemia
Medical science has been at a total loss regarding the origin or cause of some forms of leukemia; including T-cell acute lymphatic leukemia, or T-ALL. But now, researchers from VIB, connected to the K.U.Leuven, have discovered the possible cause of the disease in 6% of the T-ALL patients.

DNA sequence controls expression of gene involved in cancer
Scientists have discovered a DNA sequence that causes the destabilization, and hence decay, of the protooncogene bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma/leukemia-2). Because the overexpression of bcl-2 is associated with cancer, this discovery may lead to new therapeutic strategies for treating the disease.

RFA effective for easing lung cancer symptoms; CT findings identified that verify successful RFA
CT-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is effective in easing the symptoms of lung tumors that cannot be removed by surgery, and enhancement pattern and changes in the size of the tumor as shown on CT are the most important factors for determining whether that ablation has been successful, according to a pair of independent studies in the October 2004 issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Study shows CRC risk higher in people with insulin-requiring type 2 diabetes
A study published in the American Gastroenterological Association's journal Gastroenterology concludes that patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who require long-term insulin therapy are at a significantly increased risk for colorectal cancer.

Time running out for South Asian vultures, ecologists warn
Ecologists are calling on South Asian governments to ban veterinary use of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac. New research, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, shows that exposure of vulture populations to a surprisingly small proportion of livestock carcasses contaminated with the drug is sufficient to cause the rapid declines in vulture populations.

US researchers show cottonseed drug is cancer treatment booster
New research from the United States has opened up the prospect that gossypol - a drug refined from cottonseed oil and previously tried and abandoned as a male contraceptive - could boost the effectiveness of treatment for prostate tumours and possibly other common cancers as well. Findings presented at EORTC-NCI-AACR cancer conference Friday.

U-M researchers show cottonseed drug boosts cancer treatment in mice
A new study from the University of Michigan Health System has found that a drug refined from cottonseed oil, and previously tried and abandoned as a male contraceptive, could boost the effectiveness of treatment for prostate cancer and possibly other common cancers as well. Results of the study will be reported Oct. 1 at the Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Geneva, Switzerland.

MR is better than mammography for detecting additional disease in women with breast cancer
MR imaging is significantly better than mammography in detecting additional breast cancers in women who have already been diagnosed with the disease--an important finding that could ultimately affect the treatment of a significant fraction of new breast cancer patients, a new study shows.

Radiologists call for judicious use of CT for detecting pulmonary embolism
There has been a striking increase in the number of patients undergoing CT examinations of the chest to look for clots in the lung (pulmonary embolism) over recent years, especially through the emergency department, a study at one facility shows. This increased usage in combination with the radiation doses and the fact that new scanners can show previously undetectable abnormalities that may or may not affect treatment has radiologists calling for judicious ordering of the exam.

Study finds chance of appendicitis 'very low' if appendix is not visible on CT
The probability of acute appendicitis is very low if there is no distinctly apparent appendix on the CT scan, and in the absence of any secondary CT signs of appendicitis, says a study by researchers from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

American Thoracic Society Journal news tips for October 2004 (first issue)
Newsworthy research includes articles showing that: among 15,555 randomly selected men and women aged 25 to 54 from 5 countries, investigators found that current smokers, ex-smokers, and passive smokers constituted groups that had a major risk factor for habitual snoring; and in a "Pulmonary Perspective" on "Diet and Asthma," only vitamin E has been shown to have a protective effect against asthma in longitudinal and clinical studies.

NIH awards $18.2m to The Burnham Institute to develop Center on Proteolytic Pathways
The National Institutes of Health ("NIH") has selected The Burnham Institute to develop a national resource for medical researchers to be known as the "Center on Proteolytic Pathways". A team directed by The Burnham's Jeffrey Smith, Ph.D., will receive $18.2 million over the next five years to develop this unique research hub.

Prof: Local health campaigns not reaching adults with bad habits
Many Americans are not going to improve the way they eat or start exercising until Bart Simpson, Monday Night Football announcers or celebrities in People magazine tell them to, says a Purdue University expert in health communication.

Molecular motor implicated in tissue remodeling
A well-known enzyme present in the skin and other tissues turns out to be a molecule-sized motor that extracts its fuel from the road it runs on, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Chemical engineering grad students will take notable national awards
A recent graduate and a current doctoral candidate in chemical engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) will receive graduate student research awards of $300 each from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). The awards will be presented in early November at the organization's annual convention in Austin, Texas.

USC researchers awarded new NIH grant encouraging interdisciplinary research
Researchers from USC in Los Angeles have been awarded a $1.8 million grant as part of a brand-new National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant program designed to encourage interdisciplinary research.

Nursing college awarded disaster preparedness training funds
A new federal defense contract to the University of South Florida College of Nursing will help train health professionals to prepare for a bioterrorist attack or other mass casualties.

Benchmark treatment for heart disorders safe for children of all ages
A five-year study conducted in multiple centers nationwide revealed that a type of radio frequency method used in treating heart rhythm disorders is very safe and effective in children.

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