quality | Page 47 of 48 | Health Newstrack

Colonoscopy fears overcome when patients support patients

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers found that patients who received telephone mentoring from a trained “peer coach” were two times more likely to keep their first colonoscopy appointment than those who received an educational brochure about the procedure in the mail or received no peer or literature support. – Patients who have had a colonoscopy can play a life-saving role by encouraging other patients to follow through with their own colorectal cancer screenings, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. These peer coaches can provide important information to combat myths and fears that serve as barriers to colonoscopy ? issues patients say their doctors often fail to address.

Education programs lead to better health in heart patients

University of Michigan researchers revealed that heart patients find education programs lead to better health. – Older women heart patients benefit from educational programs as a supplement to clinical care to help significantly lower cardiac symptoms, lose weight and increase physical activity, a new study shows.

Healing Value of Magnets established

University of Virginia study shows magnets can reduce swelling when applied after an inflammatory injury. – Magnets have been touted for their healing properties since ancient Greece. Magnetic therapy is still widely used today as an alternative method for treating a number of conditions, from arthritis to depression, but there hasn’t been scientific proof that magnets can heal.

MRI for better assessment of liver fibrosis

Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis remains a major public health problem worldwide. While the majority of complications from chronic liver disease result from progressive hepatic fibrosis, the available diagnostic tests used in clinical practice are not sensitive or specific enough to detect occult liver injury at early or intermediate stages. – MRI imagery is emerging as a non-invasive way to determine the existence and extent of hepatic fibrosis. It could eventually help the development of pharmacologic strategies to combat the condition.

Happily married women are less stressful

Here’s a novel idea for unwinding after a stressful day at the office: Find a happy marriage. That’s the suggestion from a new UCLA study that tracked levels of cortisol, a key stress hormone, among 30 Los Angeles married couples. – Happily married women are less stressful with better mental health, revealed by UCLA researchers. They tracked levels of cortisol, a key stress hormone, among 30 Los Angeles married couples.

Bayer Diabetes Care recalls test strips for Contour TS Blood Glucose Meter

A unit of Bayer AG recalled diabetes test strips used with its Contour TS Blood Glucose Meter because they may result in 5 to 17 percent higher. – Bayer Diabetes Care has initiated a voluntary market recall of test strips (sensors) used exclusively with the Contour TS Blood Glucose Meter. In the course of its routine quality control monitoring processes the Company identified a manufacturing issue with test strips from specific lots that could result in blood glucose readings with a positive bias that is outside of our product specifications. Test results may demonstrate results 5 -17% higher.

Late developmental growth may risk depression

Children with low weight during infancy or slight developmental delays may be at greater risk for developing depression.
– Psychiatrists remain divided as to how to define and classify the mood and anxiety disorders, the most common mental disorders. Committees across the globe are currently pondering how best to carve nature at its anxious joints for the fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V), the “gold standard” reference book for psychiatrists.

Diesel exhaust fumes affect people with asthma

This is the first study to investigate in a real-life setting, outside of the laboratory, if traffic fumes make symptoms worse for people with asthma. Two thirds of people with asthma believe this to be the case.
– Diesel exhaust fumes on polluted streets have a measurable effect on people with asthma, according to the first study looking at exhausts and asthma in a real-life setting, published on 6 December in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Treatment of HIV associated Lipodystrophy Syndrome

The HIV/HAART-associated Lipodystrophy Syndrome is a common side-effect of antiretroviral medications to treat HIV infection.
– Researchers in Montreal and Boston have identified a potential new treatment for the HIV/HAART*-associated Lipodystrophy Syndrome. This syndrome is a common side-effect of anti-retroviral medications to treat HIV infection.

Utilizing health information technology

Utilizing health information technology for keeping electronic health records and other purposes will produce a higher quality of care, while reducing medical costs and errors.
– Mike Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services, USA, highlighted benefits of utilizing health information technology in his statement regarding Medicare Physician Payment Legislation and Health Information Technology.