Colonoscopy significantly reduces death from left-sided colon cancer but not from right-sided. Physicians should advise patients of test limitations. – A new study finds that colonoscopy is strongly associated with fewer deaths from colorectal cancer. However, the risk reduction appears to be entirely due to a reduction in deaths from left-sided cancers.
Hairspray is linked to common genital birth defect, says study. Hairspray during pregnancy double the risk of genital birth defect hypospadias. – Women who are exposed to hairspray in the workplace during pregnancy have more than double the risk of having a son with the genital birth defect hypospadias, according to a new study published today in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Weight loss surgery – bariatric surgery – may help obese women avoid pregnancy related health complications. – Obese women who have weight loss surgery before becoming pregnant have a lower risk of pregnancy-related health problems and their children are less likely to be born with complications, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
Hannah Jones – a British Girl – won a legal case that allowed her to refuse a life-saving heart transplant surgery. – A British girl 13 years old, suffering from leukemia, Hannah Jones decided to refuse to have a heart transplant for her heart condition – a hole in her heart.
Air pollution may increase risk of appendicitis; Researchers offer provocative new theory for common cause of surgery. – Could there be a link between high levels of air pollution and the risk of appendicitis? New research presented at the 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Orlando, suggests a novel connection.
Medicare policy to withhold payments to hospitals that harm patients goes into effect october 1. Non-payment rules seek to spur hospitals to improve patient safety. – New US federal regulations to restrict Medicare payments to hospitals for the extra care required to treat patients harmed by certain preventable infections and medical errors go into effect on Wednesday, October 1.
Palliative care access varies widely in the US according to new study in the Journal of Palliative Medicine. – There has been rapid growth of new, innovative palliative care consultation services in the US’s hospitals. More than half of the 50-bed or larger hospitals in the U.S. offer palliative care services to ease pain and suffering for seriously ill patients and their families.
Allergic rhinitis or hay fever or seasonal allergy can be treated with self adjusted dosing of intranasal corticosteroid triamcinolone acetonide. – Hay fever, the often seasonal allergy that affects between 10 and 20 percent of the American population, is best controlled through a course of patient-adjusted dosing, according to new research published in the September 2008 edition of Otolaryngology ? Head and Neck Surgery.
American Heart Association Scientific Statement: Heart Patients Should Be Screened, Treated for Depression – Heart patients should be screened for depression — a common condition that can profoundly affect both prognosis and quality of life — according to the American Heart Association’s first scientific statement on depression and coronary heart disease.
Possible cause of antisocial behavior identified. Reduced stress hormone cortisol cause antisocial behavior – A link between reduced levels of the ‘stress hormone’ cortisol and antisocial behaviour in male adolescents has been discovered by a research team at the University of Cambridge.
