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Health

Expanded insurance benefits break down barriers to hospice care, according to new study

New Rochelle, NY, September 1, 2009 -- Patients with advanced illnesses more than doubled their use of hospice care when a major national health plan made hospice care more readily accessible, according to the results of a comparative study published in Journal of Palliative Medicine, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.(<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://w

Sep 1, 2009

Health

Gene signal GS-101 data shows safe and effective inhibition of ophthalmic blood vessel growth

Lausanne, Switzerland -- Gene Signal, a company focused on developing innovative drugs to manage angiogenesis based conditions, today announced the publication of interim results from a phase II study suggesting that the antisense oligonucleotide GS-101 (eye drops) is safe and effective at inhibiting and regressing corneal neovascularisation (abnormal new blood vessel growth).

Sep 1, 2009

Health

Pre-hospital organization: The first links in the chain of survival for heart attack patients

Barcelona, Spain, 1 September: Mortality rate following a heart attack has fallen by more than 50% in Europe over the past 25 years.

Sep 1, 2009

Health

Safety, efficacy of corneal transplant procedure confirmed; an antibiotic can cause double vision

SAN FRANCISCO, CA?Highlights of September's Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy), include a 2009 review by the Academy of the safety and efficacy of a widely used corneal transplant procedure and a warning about an unusual but serious reaction to systemic fluroquinolones, a class of antibiotics used to treat a variety of bacterial infections.

Aug 31, 2009

Health

New assessment quantifies risks and benefits of warfarin treatment for atrial fibrillation

Warfarin therapy for patients with atrial fibrillation -- the most common type of significant heart rhythm disorder -- appears to be most beneficial for the oldest patients, those who have had a prior stroke and for patients with multiple risk factors for stroke, according to a new study by Kaiser Permanente and Massachusetts General Hospital researchers.

Aug 31, 2009

Health

Retail medical clinics can provide care at lower cost, similar quality as other settings

Retail medical clinics located in pharmacies and other stores can provide care for routine illnesses at a lower cost and similar quality as offered in physician offices, urgent care centers or emergency departments, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

Aug 31, 2009

Health

'Watchful waiting' is a viable option for prostate cancer patients with low-risk tumors

BOSTON -- Appropriately selected prostate cancer patients, including older men and men with small, low-risk tumors, may safely defer treatment for many years with no adverse consequences, according to a new study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO). Led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), the study appears online today.

Aug 31, 2009

Health

Does the distance a patient has to travel affect where they choose to get their care?

PHILADELPHIA (August 28, 2009) -- Do patients choose where to get their care based on how long it takes to them to get there? Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have recently documented a growing trend in the centralization of cancer surgery -- more patients seeking care at high volume centers, which are generally located in metropolitan areas.

Aug 31, 2009

Health

Researchers identify protein-telomere interactions that could be key in treating cancer

A team of researchers from The Wistar Institute have shown that a large non-coding RNA in mammals and yeast plays a central role in helping maintain telomeres, the tips of chromosomes that contain important genetic information and help regulate cell division.

Aug 31, 2009

Technology

Hidden diversity in key environmental cleanup microbes found by systems biology assessment

Researchers have completed the first thorough, system-level assessment of the diversity of an environmentally important genus of microbes known as Shewanella. Microbes belonging to that genus frequently participate in bioremediation by confining and cleaning up contaminated areas in the environment.

Aug 31, 2009

Health

Human impacts and environmental factors are changing the northwest Atlantic ecosystem

Fish in U.S. waters from Cape Hatteras to the Canadian border have moved away from their traditional, long-time habitats over the past four decades because of fundamental changes in the regional ecosystem, according to a new report by NOAA researchers.

Aug 31, 2009

Health

Women, blacks, Medicare recipients less likely to be evaluated for liver transplantation

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 31 -- Patient race, gender and insurance status influence decisions about who will go on to receive liver transplants, according to a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study.

Aug 31, 2009

Health

No increased risk with drug eluting stents -- but late stent thrombosis remains a concern

Barcelona, Spain, 30 August: Several large observational data sets have convincingly shown that there is no overall safety issue with drug eluting stents (DES) vs. bare metal stents (BMS). In fact, most registry studies suggest a lower risk of death or myocardial infarction with drug eluting stents.

Aug 31, 2009

Health

New European guidelines on syncope revise diagnostic definitions and re-evaluate extent of risk

Barcelona, Spain, 31 August: A new definition of syncope -- most commonly perceived as an episode of fainting -- makes its diagnosis more precise and now dependent on a specific cause.

Aug 31, 2009