Diagnosis is the act or process of identifying or determining the nature and cause of a disease or injury through evaluation of patient history, examination, and review of laboratory data.
Obesity associated with higher risk for urinary tract infections – As body mass increases, so does a patient’s risk of urinary tract infection (UTI), according to Baltimore researchers. A new study, presented at the 104th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) assesses and stratifies this risk.
AUA counters mainstream recommendations with new best practice statement on PSA testing. New guidance stresses that PSA testing should be individualized, men should get baseline reading at age 40. – The American Urological Association (AUA) issued new clinical guidance ? which directly contrasts recent recommendations issued by other major groups ? about prostate cancer screening, asserting that the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test should be offered to well-informed, men aged 40 years or older who have a life expectancy of at least 10 years.
Some rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria perform exceptionally well in tropical temperatures and can detect even low parasite densities in blood samples. – The largest-ever independent, laboratory-based evaluation of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria has shown that some tests on the market perform exceptionally well in tropical temperatures and can detect even low parasite densities in blood samples, while other tests can detect parasites only at high densities.
American Cancer Society awards 143 research grants to investigators at 83 institutions nationwide. Grants total more than $51 million in the second of two cycles for 2009. – The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer research in the United States, has awarded 143 national research and training grants totaling more than $51 million in the second of two grant cycles for 2009. The grants go into effect beginning July 1, 2009.
Drinking wine may increase survival among non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients. – Pre-diagnostic wine consumption may reduce the risk of death and relapse among non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients, according to an epidemiology study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting 2009.
In this prospective analysis, psoriasis was independently associated with an increased risk of diabetes and hypertension. Future studies are needed to find out whether psoriasis treatment will reduce the risk of diabetes and hypertension. – Women with psoriasis appear to have an increased risk for developing diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure), according to a report in the April issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Improved self-examination and physician skin surveillance should become an integral component of skin cancer risk reduction strategies. – Older men whose melanoma is detected by a physician are more likely to have thinner and therefore more treatable tumors at diagnosis, according to results of a survey published in the April issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
An herbal extract of Nigella sativa inhibits the development of pancreatic cancer due to thymoquinone, the major constituent of the oil extract. – Nigella sativa – an herb recently found to kill pancreatic cancer cells also appears to inhibit development of pancreatic cancer as a result of its anti-inflammatory properties, according to researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson.
University of Leicester team examine potential of new nano technology to pave way for development of a combined diagnosis/therapeutic strategy for cancer. – A multi-disciplinary team of scientists from the University of Leicester could be potentially paving the way for the development of a powerful new strategy for both the early diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.
Listening to music provided some relief for coronary heart disease patients suffering from anxiety, by reducing heart rate and blood pressure. – Listening to music may benefit patients who suffer severe stress and anxiety associated with having and undergoing treatment for coronary heart disease.
Simple bedside test StEP improves diagnosis of chronic back pain, could guide treatment. – A simple and inexpensive method of assessing pain, developed by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers, is better than currently used techniques for distinguishing neuropathic pain ? pain caused by damage to the nervous system ? from other types of chronic back pain.
World’s Health ministers to accelerate efforts against drug-resistant TB – M/XDR-TB. – Health ministers from countries with the greatest burdens of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) have agreed to a series of actions to accelerate efforts to halt and reverse the global epidemic of the disease.
