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Breaching the breech protocol

Most babies are delivered head-first, but in about 4% of all deliveries babies are “born breech” ― with their buttocks or feet first. Doctors usually exercise caution and use caesarean sections (C-sections) as the delivery method of choice for…

Curry pigment prevents alcohol-related liver disease in rats

Researchers have found that the yellow substance found in the pigment for curry prevents activation of a genetic factor leading to liver inflammation and necrosis. Despite numerous public education initiatives, alcohol abuse remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. It is estimated that in the United States as many as 10 percent of men and three percent of women may suffer from persistent problems related to the use of alcohol. Alcohol affects many organ systems of the body, but perhaps most affected are the central nervous system and the liver. Almost all ingested alcohol is metabolized in the liver and excessive alcohol use can lead to acute and chronic liver disease.

Stressed-out men may have inherited risk for early heart disease

Stress may be the most significant inherited risk factor in people who develop heart disease at a young age, according to a first-of-its-kind study conducted at Henry Ford Hospital. Stress also appears to have a greater impact on men than women. “The inherited nature of early heart disease may be largely due to the family transmission of psychosocial and emotional distress, and specifically anger in males,” says lead author Mark W. Ketterer, Ph.D., of Henry Ford Hospital’s Department of Behavioral Health.

New Web-based journal focuses on medical errors

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality launched a monthly peer-reviewed, Web-based medical journal that showcases patient safety lessons drawn from actual cases of medical errors. Called AHRQ WebM&M (Morbidity and Mortality Rounds on the Web), the Web-based journal (http://webmm.ahrq.gov) was developed to educate health care providers about medical errors in a blame-free environment. In hospitals across the country, clinicians routinely hold Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) conferences to discuss specific cases that raise issues regarding medical errors and quality improvement. Until now, there has been no comparable national or international forum to discuss and learn from medical errors.