http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Measuring kidney function in children can be expensive, time-consuming for clinicians, and tedious for children, who may be exposed to radioactivity and subjected to a large number of blood draws. A new calculation eliminates many of these obstacles, relying instead on various blood tests that can be performed in a clinical setting to offer an accurate estimate of a child's kidney function. http://www.physorg.com/news154694617.html Medicine & Health Tue, 24 Feb 2009 10:44:15 EST news154694617 Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital have devised a new way to decode the immune signals that cause slow, chronic rejection of all transplanted kidneys. They've created an immune-system "atlas" that will improve doctors' ability to monitor transplanted organs and shed light on the mechanisms of gradual, cumulative kidney malfunction after transplant. http://www.physorg.com/news154632423.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:27:47 EST news154632423 High-flux hemodialysis (which removes large toxins) reduces the risk of premature death in many patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a study appearing in the March 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The results suggest that this procedure could be beneficial for those with poor prognoses and those with diabetes. http://www.physorg.com/news154355153.html Medicine & Health Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:26:48 EST news154355153 Worldwide, nearly 2 million people per year die from diarrhea, the vast majority of them in poor countries in Africa and Asia. The disease accounts for 18 percent of all deaths among children - and yet is almost always preventable with proper treatment. Now, new research from MIT indicates that underlying, low-level undiagnosed infection may greatly add to the severity of a significant number of these cases. This realization could lead to changes in health-care strategies to address the problem. http://www.physorg.com/news153685255.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:22:18 EST news153685255 The proportion of people suffering from long term, impairing low back pain has more than doubled in North Carolina since the early 1990s, according to a new study. What's more, researchers believe the increase may be indicative of a similar trend across the country. http://www.physorg.com/news153420436.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:47:42 EST news153420436 (PhysOrg.com) -- Kids from low-income families are much more likely to suffer from serious infections such as herpes or hepatitis A than their counterparts in wealthier households. http://www.physorg.com/news153071624.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:54:32 EST news153071624 Alcohol consumption is known to cause liver damage. Yet the specifics of alcohol-induced liver injury can differ depending on the pattern of drinking. New rodent findings show that chronic drinking causes more injury - as measured by gene-expression changes - to the liver than acute or binge drinking. http://www.physorg.com/news152902421.html Medicine & Health Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:53:57 EST news152902421 Children with newly diagnosed cases of inflammatory bowel disease have higher concentrations of folate in their blood than individuals without IBD, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and UC Berkeley. The findings bring into question the previously held theory that patients with IBD are prone to folate - also known as folic acid - deficiency. http://www.physorg.com/news152011513.html Medicine & Health Sat, 24 Jan 2009 09:30:22 EST news152011513 While the treatment of heart failure has improved over the past two decades, a new study reported in the European Journal of Heart Failure finds that "the use of evidence-based treatments appears to be imbalanced according to the gender of the patient". http://www.physorg.com/news151855751.html Medicine & Health Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:09:26 EST news151855751 A formula used to measure kidney function in children with chronic kidney disease has been revised to make it more precise, according to a study published online January 21 in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. This study is based on data collected by the Chronic Kidney Disease in Children (CKiD) clinical trial, funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). http://www.physorg.com/news151694957.html Medicine & Health Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:30:05 EST news151694957 (PhysOrg.com) -- In an invited, peer-reviewed journal article on how prenatal exposure to toxic substances are linked to a host of diseases in later life -- from atherosclerosis to cancer -- a Cornell toxicologist calls for changing how safety testing is done to better protect infants and children. http://www.physorg.com/news151688225.html Medicine & Health Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:37:32 EST news151688225 For select patients, hospital at home treatment produces similar outcomes to inpatient care at similar or lower costs, found a study by researchers from the United Kingdom and Italy to be published in CMAJ. http://www.physorg.com/news151608790.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:33:47 EST news151608790 The gene mediates insulin secretion indirectly via the release of melatonin, which implicates a previously unknown relationship between the sleep-wake rhythm and the fasting glucose level. The finding could open up new possibilities of treatment which go far beyond the primarily symptomatic therapy approaches to diabetes that have been practised until now. http://www.physorg.com/news151322823.html Medicine & Health Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:07:03 EST news151322823 Ed Wagner, MD, MPH, knew there had to be a better way. He and Group Health colleagues set out 15 years ago to explore how best to engage patients with chronic diseases in effective care. With Robert Wood Johnson Foundation support, they developed the Chronic Care Model. More than 1,500 U.S. and international medical practices have adopted the Model. Now the largest roundup of evidence on how the Model performs in practice confirms that it works. This review is in the January/February 2009 issue of Health Affairs, focused on a key part of reforming health care: caring for chronic diseases in a "fragmented" health care system. http://www.physorg.com/news150448410.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:13:30 EST news150448410 Individuals who experience trauma during childhood appear more likely to develop chronic fatigue syndrome as adults, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, neuroendocrine dysfunction -or abnormalities in the interaction between the nervous system and endocrine system -appears to be associated with childhood trauma in those with chronic fatigue syndrome, suggesting a biological pathway by which early experiences influence adult vulnerability to illness. http://www.physorg.com/news150397846.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:10:46 EST news150397846 Childhood trauma is a potent risk factor for development of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), according to a study by researchers at Emory University School of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study is published in the Jan. 5, 2009 Archives of General Psychiatry. http://www.physorg.com/news150396443.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:47:23 EST news150396443 (PhysOrg.com) -- Men across the Asia-Pacific region have consistently higher mortality and hospitalization rates for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than corresponding rates for women in the region. http://www.physorg.com/news150389593.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:53:13 EST news150389593 Evaluation of chronic abdominal pain of luminal etiology is a challenging problem for the primary care physicians and gastroenterologists. The exact localization of lesion to either small or large bowel remains an elusive identity in many subjects. http://www.physorg.com/news149775591.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:19:51 EST news149775591 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days of the week in order to maintain and improve optimal health. This recommendation is especially important for older Americans, who can be less likely to fulfill this requirement, yet are more at risk for chronic diseases associated with aging. http://www.physorg.com/news149768698.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:24:58 EST news149768698 Alfuzosin, a drug commonly prescribed for men with chronic prostatitis, a painful disorder of the prostate and surrounding pelvic area, failed to significantly reduce symptoms in recently diagnosed men who had not been previously treated with this drug, according to a clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The study is to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news148818190.html Medicine & Health Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:23:10 EST news148818190 Can a patient-centered, care management program utilizing nurse care managers and interdisciplinary teams, supported by electronic tracking and care coordination systems reduce the rate of deaths and hospitalizations among chronically ill older adults? The answer - based on a three-year study involving more than 3,400 chronically ill seniors led by Oregon Health & Science University researcher David A. Dorr, M.D. - appears to be "yes." http://www.physorg.com/news148583160.html Medicine & Health Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:06:00 EST news148583160 Treating patients who have chronic hepatitis C and advanced liver disease with long-term pegylated interferon significantly decreased their liver enzymes, viral levels and liver inflammation, but the treatment did not slow or prevent the progression of serious liver disease, a study finds. http://www.physorg.com/news148053947.html Medicine & Health Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:05:47 EST news148053947 Researchers in Finland are reporting identification of the first potential "biomarker" that could be used in development of a sputum test for early detection of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). That condition, which causes severe difficulty in breathing - most often in cigarette smokers - affects 12 million people in the United States. http://www.physorg.com/news147956534.html Medicine & Health Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:02:14 EST news147956534 (PhysOrg.com) -- A North Carolina State University researcher has discovered that certain tick-borne bacteria may be responsible for some chronic and debilitating neurological illnesses in humans, particularly among people with substantial animal contact or arthropod exposure. http://www.physorg.com/news147626526.html Biology Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:22:06 EST news147626526 With up to half of a person's body mass consisting of skeletal muscle, chronic inflammation of those muscles - which include those found in the limbs - can result in significant physical impairment. http://www.physorg.com/news147617766.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:56:06 EST news147617766 An NIH funded multi-center clinical trial found no benefit from "maintenance therapy," low-dose peginterferon used for hepatitis C patients who have not responded to an initial round of treatment. In addition, the study showed a surprising health decline in patients with liver disease over the course of four years. http://www.physorg.com/news147551365.html Medicine & Health Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:29:25 EST news147551365 Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a chronic clinical disorder characterized by irreversible damage to the pancreas, the development of histologic evidence of inflammation and fibrosis, and eventually the destruction and permanent loss of exocrine and endocrine tissue. Imaging or function tests may not reveal early CP, and the results of these tests do not necessarily correlate with each other. http://www.physorg.com/news147352040.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:07:20 EST news147352040 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists peered at the brains of people with a baffling chronic pain condition and discovered something surprising. Their brains looked like an inept cable guy had changed the hookups, rewiring the areas related to emotion, pain perception and the temperature of their skin. http://www.physorg.com/news146922947.html Medicine & Health Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:55:47 EST news146922947 Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, led by Ajit Varki, M.D., have shown a new mechanism for how human consumption of red meat and milk products could contribute to the increased risk of cancerous tumors. Their findings, which suggest that inflammation resulting from a molecule introduced through consumption of these foods could promote tumor growth, are published online this week in advance of print publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). http://www.physorg.com/news145814428.html Medicine & Health Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:00:28 EST news145814428 Arnhem, 13 November 2008 -- In the December issue of European Urology (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eururo) Dr. Curtis Nickel and associates report on the evidence of a relationship between prostate inflammation and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in men enrolled in the REDUCE trial. http://www.physorg.com/news145800523.html Medicine & Health Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:08:43 EST news145800523