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. Sven Enerbäck, Professor at the Institute of Biomedicine at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, is one of the scientists who published their results in The New England Journal of Medicine this week. Studies carried out by Enerbäck and others show that adults use brown fat to convert energy to heat - a discovery that may provide new possibilities in treating overweight and obesity. http://www.physorg.com/news159100537.html Medicine & Health Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:36:20 EST news159100537 (AP) -- Mild brain injuries - once considered an under-recognized problem in returning military troops - are being overdiagnosed because the government is using soft criteria instead of hard medical evidence, an Army doctor and two other officials contend. http://www.physorg.com/news159039335.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:36:14 EST news159039335 Three-year-olds whose mothers took the antiepileptic drug valproate during pregnancy had average IQs six to nine points lower than children exposed to three other antiepileptic drugs, a landmark multi-center study has found. http://www.physorg.com/news159037072.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:58:30 EST news159037072 Millions of people have a genetic variant linked to increased risk of ischemic stroke, reports an international research team including scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in a study published online by The New England Journal of Medicine on April 15. http://www.physorg.com/news159036683.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:51:53 EST news159036683 Begin treatment as early as possible: this general common sense rule seems to apply to most diseases except HIV-AIDS, which is only treated once a certain number of immune cells called "CD4+" cells have disappeared. The results of a North American study, which involved the team of Dr. Marina Klein of the Research Institute of the MUHC, run contrary to this consensus. The findings show that the risk of death in seropositive patients decreases by 69% to 94% if they start treatment earlier than officially recommended. http://www.physorg.com/news158928364.html Medicine & Health Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:46:54 EST news158928364 Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have demonstrated that adult humans still have a type of "good" fat previously believed to be present only in babies and children. Unlike white fat, which stores energy and comprises most body fat, this good fat, called brown fat, is active in burning calories and using energy. The finding, reported in the April 9th issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, could pave the way for new treatments both for obesity and type 2 diabetes. http://www.physorg.com/news158434060.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:28:49 EST news158434060 A commonly used treatment for acid reflux does not improve asthma symptoms or control in patients who do not have symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux (GER), according to a new study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health and by the American Lung Association (ALA). This suggests that silent GER (acid reflux that causes only minimal or no reflux symptoms) does not play a role in asthma, as has previously been thought. http://www.physorg.com/news158429984.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:20:07 EST news158429984 (PhysOrg.com) -- A one-off test for cervical cancer could reduce deaths in the developing world, according to a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news157910545.html Medicine & Health Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:02:55 EST news157910545 A study showing improved survival of starting antiretroviral treatment earlier than current U.S. recommendations is being reported in the April 30 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The study found that not starting HIV patients at a CD4 count greater than 500 cells per cubic millimeter increased risk of death by 94 percent. http://www.physorg.com/news157899939.html Medicine & Health Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:06:15 EST news157899939 When a patient is discharged from the hospital, just about the last thing he or she wants is to be back in again within the next month. But a new national study has found that's exactly what happens to one out of five Medicare patients, costing billions in health care and suffering for patients. http://www.physorg.com/news157826911.html Medicine & Health Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:49:06 EST news157826911 Results from the first comparative effectiveness study of two surgical treatments for heart failure will likely change practice for surgeons and cardiologists evaluating treatment options for some of their sickest patients, according to investigators in the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI). http://www.physorg.com/news157633367.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:04:17 EST news157633367 An international study to resolve a decade of debate over the best timing for administering an anti-clotting drug for certain heart patients has come up with an answer: It doesn't matter. http://www.physorg.com/news157629994.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:08:26 EST news157629994 (AP) -- Statin drugs, taken by millions of Americans to lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease, also can cut the risk of developing dangerous blood clots that can lodge in the legs or lungs, a major study suggests. http://www.physorg.com/news157559982.html Medicine & Health Sun, 29 Mar 2009 15:40:18 EST news157559982 The more than $19 billion dollars of funding provided for health care information technology (IT) in President Obama's economic stimulus package offers a unique opportunity to deliver on the promise of computerized health care, say researchers from Children's Hospital Boston in a Perspective article published in the March 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The co-authors argue that the development of a platform model - drawing on the success of software platforms such as the one created for the iPhone - could create a flexible health information infrastructure that will improve delivery of health care, increase physician productivity, foster advances in science, as well as stimulate job and economic growth. http://www.physorg.com/news157286475.html Medicine & Health Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:45:08 EST news157286475 There is broad consensus that electronic health records (EHR) have the potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare providers. Yet, to date, there has been no reliable estimate of the prevalence of EHR use among U.S. hospitals. In a new study, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Massachusetts General Hospital and George Washington University found that less than 2% of surveyed hospitals had implemented comprehensive EHR; further, less than 8% had basic EHR in place. It is the first nationally representative study of the prevalence of EHR in hospitals. http://www.physorg.com/news157222044.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:47:57 EST news157222044 Heterosexual men who undergo medical circumcision can significantly reduce their risk of acquiring two common sexually transmitted infections--herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), the cause of genital herpes, and human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cancer and genital warts, according to a report in the March 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). In the study, circumcision had no effect on their risk of becoming infected with the bacterium that causes syphilis, however. http://www.physorg.com/news157221867.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:45:59 EST news157221867 The current practice of intensively lowering blood glucose in critically ill patients increases the risk of death by 10%. Results of the largest trial of intensive glucose lowering in critically ill patients published today in The New England Journal of Medicine indicate that international clinical guidelines need urgent review. http://www.physorg.com/news157106026.html Medicine & Health Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:35:04 EST news157106026 Patients suffering from a blood disorder that prevents proper clotting have the option of a new medication that may dramatically improve their health. There are estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000 individuals in the U.S. diagnosed with chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), an autoimmune disease that dramatically reduces the number of platelets in their blood -- causing bruises, nosebleeds and, rarely, life-threatening brain hemorrhages. http://www.physorg.com/news156774848.html Medicine & Health Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:34:52 EST news156774848 A new vaccine has the potential to be the first to prevent maternal and congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, according to a University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) study published in the March 19 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news156615651.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:21:22 EST news156615651 Heart failure -a disabling and often deadly form of heart disease -is hitting African Americans in their thirties and forties at the same rate as Caucasians in their fifties and sixties, according to a study featured as the lead article of the March 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news156615542.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:19:35 EST news156615542 The prostate cancer screening tests that have become an annual ritual for many men don't appear to reduce deaths from the disease among those with a limited life-expectancy, according to early results of a major U.S. study involving 75,000 men. http://www.physorg.com/news156614061.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:55:08 EST news156614061 (AP) -- Two big prostate cancer studies were intended to settle the question of whether screening for the disease really does save lives. Now the long-awaited results are in - but the debate goes on. http://www.physorg.com/news156597154.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:16:15 EST news156597154 One of the most striking changes in health care over the last two decades has been a dramatic increase in physicians categorized as "hospitalists" - doctors who practice almost exclusively in hospitals, rather than combining both outpatient and inpatient care. But while observers of medical trends knew that the number of hospitalists was rising, there was no national or population-based data on hospitalist care. http://www.physorg.com/news156014215.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:17:38 EST news156014215 A study led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has demonstrated that a new immunohistochemical test is reliable in diagnosing a dangerous arrhythmic heart disease known as arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC.) Reported in the March 12 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the new findings offer the possibility of a highly sensitive and specific means of identifying this life- threatening condition at an early stage, when it can be treated with by implanting a cardiac defibrillator. http://www.physorg.com/news156013932.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:12:50 EST news156013932 Long-term exposure to ground-level ozone, a major component of smog, is associated with an increased risk of death from respiratory ailments, according to a new nationwide study led by a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. http://www.physorg.com/news156013470.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:05:11 EST news156013470 (AP) -- When Matthew Jones decided to donate a kidney to a stranger, the Michigan father of five had no idea he'd be starting a lifesaving, "pay it forward" chain. His kidney donation to a Phoenix woman in 2007 set off a long-running organ swap that resulted in 10 sick people getting new kidneys over a year. It hasn't ended yet. http://www.physorg.com/news156013318.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:02:49 EST news156013318 New computer models can now link strangers in a life-saving chain of kidney transplants, promising to increase the number of transplants and overcome obstacles posed by logistics or donors who renege, a team of researchers report in the current edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news156011789.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:37:02 EST news156011789 The powerful chemotherapy and radiation used to save cancer patients' lives can also destroy their fertility. http://www.physorg.com/news154879664.html Medicine & Health Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:08:07 EST news154879664 Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) are strongly encouraging prenatal vitamin manufacturers to use only potassium iodide and not other sources of iodine in their products. According to the researchers, potassium iodide is the best way to ensure that prenatal vitamins given to expectant mothers receive 150µg of supplemental daily iodine as recommended by the American Thyroid Association. The researchers' recommendation appears as a research letter in the February 26th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news154806918.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:55:45 EST news154806918 Heart-healthy diets that reduce calorie intake -regardless of differing proportions of fat, protein, or carbohydrate -can help overweight and obese adults achieve and maintain weight loss, according to a study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, and published Feb., 26, 2009, in the New England Journal of Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news154805509.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:35:26 EST news154805509