News
Piloting OR Safety
December 22, 2009 6:26 am | CommentsAviation and medicine both require professionals to hold peoples' lives in their hands. Now, study findings hint that hospitals may improve patient safety by drawing on aviation-type safety initiatives. When medicine “turns its eyes to the sky,” patient safety on the ground may improve, offered Dr.
Out-Of-Sight Medical Care
December 22, 2009 6:11 am | CommentsLauran Neergaard, AP Emergency health alerts for the Facebook generation? The nation's ambulance crews are pushing a virtual medical ID system that will allow them to rapidly learn a patient's health history during a crisis and contain the ability to immediately text-message loved ones that the person is headed for a hospital.
Heart Transplant Can Lead To Cancer
December 22, 2009 5:34 am | CommentsMany heart transplant patients are developing multiple skin cancers, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Dermatology . “Solid organ transplant recipients are at increased risk for skin cancers,” the study’s authors wrote. “Incidence, tumor burden and risk factors for skin cancer are well documented in renal transplant recipients.
Increased Abdominal Surgery Complications
December 22, 2009 5:21 am | CommentsThe risk of complications and early death after commonly performed abdominal surgical procedures appears to be higher among older adults, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Surgery . “Approximately 2 million older Americans undergo abdominal surgical operations each year,” the study’s authors note.
New Grant Covers Face Transplants For Vets
December 21, 2009 6:44 am | CommentsThe US military has awarded Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital a multimillion-dollar contract to pay for the face transplants of veterans who have survived catastrophic war injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Department of Defense is hoping they will be able to complete face transplants on six to eight patients over the next 18 months, which would nearly double the nine known procedures completed worldwide.
What Was He Thinking?
December 21, 2009 6:16 am | CommentsHoward Fendrich, AP The National Football League is partnering with Boston University brain researchers who have been critical of the league's stance on concussion. The league now plans to encourage current and former NFL players to donate their brains to the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, which has said it found links between repeated head trauma and brain damage in boxers, football players and, most recently, a former NHL player.
"Superman" Saves 6-Year-Old Girl
December 21, 2009 5:58 am | CommentsA Kansas mother is praising a neighbor as "Superman" after her 6-year-old daughter told her he somehow found the strength to lift a car off her. The girl escaped with minor injuries after being pinned under the vehicle. Harris said he doesn't know how he managed to lift the Mercury sedan off the child, but when he tried later that day to lift other cars, he couldn't.
Organ Donor Spreads Rare Infection
December 21, 2009 5:46 am | CommentsHolbrook Mohr, AP An extremely rare infection has been passed from an organ donor to at least one recipient in what is thought to be the first human-to-human transfer of this amoeba. Four people in three states received organs from a patient who died at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in November after suffering from neurological problems, said Dave Daigle, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention.
Intuition, Bedside Skills Rival New Technology
December 21, 2009 5:31 am | CommentsAccording to a Loyola University Health System study, a simple bedside exam performed by a physician or surgeon after brain surgery can be superior to a CT scan, especially in predicting which patients would need to return to the operating room to treat complications such as bleeding. Patients typically receive CT scans following open brain surgery to remove tumors, repair aneurysms or treat injuries, but CT scans can cost hundreds of dollars and expose patients to radiation.
Illinois Supreme Court Delays Malpractice Ruling
December 18, 2009 4:28 am | CommentsThe Illinois Supreme Court did not rule Thursday on whether the state’s medical malpractice law will survive. “It is not unusual for an opinion that is on the anticipated list to be withdrawn before filing,” a spokesman for the high court said. The next batch of Supreme Court opinions is expected in mid-January.
New Strategy For Battlefield Wound Treatment
December 18, 2009 4:15 am | CommentsScientists say they have made a synthetic blood-clotting agent that could help wounded troops and patients by cutting bleeding time in half and offer surgeons a limitless supply with a longer shelf life than fresh donor platelets, Science Translational Medicine reports. The materials that make up the composition of the fake platelets are already used in treatments approved by the U.
Sunshine Often The Best Cure
December 18, 2009 4:05 am | CommentsRandolph E. Schmid, AP People in sunny, outdoorsy states say they're the happiest Americans, and researchers think they know why. A new study comparing self-described pleasant feelings with objective measures of good living found these folks generally have reason to feel fine. The places where people are most likely to report happiness also tend to rate high on studies comparing things like climate, crime rates, air quality and schools.
Johnson & Johnson Makes Acquisition
December 18, 2009 3:56 am | CommentsJohnson & Johnson recently announced that its Ethicon unit will buy privately held medical technology company Acclarent, Inc. for $785 million in cash. Both companies' boards of directors have approved the deal. Acclarent makes minimally invasive devices used in sinus surgery. The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of next year.
Living Longer Than Ever Before
December 18, 2009 3:48 am | CommentsAverage life expectancy in the United States has reached almost 78 years, a record high, federal health officials said recently. Women can expect to live to 80.4 years on average and men to 75.3 years, according to the report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But even though Americans can expect to live longer than their parents, life expectancy in the United States is still lower than in many other industrialized countries, including Canada and Japan.
CNN's Top Five Medial Innovations For 2009
December 16, 2009 4:05 am | CommentsAt www.cnn.com you can see their top picks for the most innovative medical developments of 2009. Here are the top 5: 5. NeuroStar’s Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Therapy system. Used for treatment of depression, the unit pulses magnetic fields into a patient’s prefrontal cortex, which is the area of the brain that regulates mood, to stimulate those neurons and increase the number of mood-enhancing chemicals that can be produced.
