Landmark heart treatment study — Atrial fibrillation treatment with catheter shows better results than drug therapy – Treating a common heart rhythm disorder by burning heart tissue with a catheter works dramatically better than drug treatments, according to a landmark study published in the Jan. 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Genes found linked to breast cancer drug resistance could guide future treatment choices – Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have discovered a gene activity signature that predicts a high risk of cancer recurrence in certain breast tumors that have been treated with commonly used chemotherapy drugs.
Study reveals how one form of natural vitamin E protects brain after stroke – Blocking the function of an enzyme in the brain with a specific kind of vitamin E can prevent nerve cells from dying after a stroke, new research suggests.
University Hospitals Case Medical Center testing gene therapy for Alzheimer’s disease — Phase 2 study will examine effectiveness, safety of nerve growth factor in slowing AD – University Hospitals Case Medical Center is one of 12 sites conducting the first Phase 2 clinical trial of a gene therapy for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The study uses a viral-based gene transfer system called CERE-110, which is designed to deliver nerve growth factor (NGF) into the brain.
Neurosurgeons in Heidelberg perform the world’s first operation on the ‘habenula’ to treat depression; cooperation with psychiatrists from the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim – A team of neurosurgeons at Heidelberg University Hospital and psychiatrists at the Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim have for the first time successfully treated a patient suffering from severe depression by stimulating the habenula, a tiny nerve structure in the brain.
Researchers take the inside route to halt bleeding — Synthetic platelets halve clotting time – Blood loss is a major cause of death from roadside bombs to freeway crashes. Traumatic injury, the leading cause of death for people age 4 to 44, often overwhelms the body’s natural blood-clotting process.
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the 66.4 percent increase in myopia in Americans since the 1970s, as reported in the recent National Eye Institute (NEI) study, is significant and will impact healthcare costs as well as vision quality. – Myopia (nearsightedness) may have been more common in Americans from 1999 to 2004 than it was 30 years ago, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Mayo Clinic researchers say breast cancer survival improves Herceptin used with chemotherapy – Using Herceptin with chemotherapy clearly improves treatment of women with HER2+ breast cancer, and should be the new standard of care, says a Mayo Clinic researcher.
Treatment of patients with cluster headache at symptom onset using inhaled high-flow oxygen compared with placebo was more likely to result in being pain-free at 15 minutes. – Patients with a cluster headache, which is characterized by bouts of excruciating pain usually near the eye or temple, were more likely to report being pain-free within 15 minutes of treatment with high-flow oxygen than patients who received a placebo treatment.
Uninsured Americans have a higher mortality rate after trauma. Treatment delay, different care (via receipt of fewer diagnostic tests), and decreased health literacy are possible mechanisms. – Americans without health insurance appear more likely to die following admission to the hospital for trauma than those with health care coverage, revealed by researchers.
Cataract Surgery Does Not Appear Associated With Worsening of Age-Related Macular Degeneration – Age related macular degeneration does not appear to progress at a higher rate among individuals who have had surgery to treat cataract, revealed by researchers.
Scientists uncover new key to the puzzle of hormone therapy and breast cancer – The decreased use of postmenopausal hormone therapy has played a key role in the declining rate of atypical ductal hyperplasia, a known risk factor for breast cancer, revealed by researchers.
