Prostate cancer screening using the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test is widely used in France despite a lack of evidence showing that it reduces cancer deaths. Now, researchers have shown that men experience more harm than good from routine PSA screening, according to research presented by…

Allergy shots are commonly used to treat children with severe environmental allergies and asthma, but under-the-tongue drops may offer yet another beneficial — and stick-free — option for pediatric allergy sufferers, according to a Johns Hopkins Children’s Center review of existing scientific evidence.   The…

A study by researchers from Hospital for Special Surgery has shown that platelet-rich plasma (PRP) holds great promise for treating patients with knee osteoarthritis. The treatment improved pain and function, and in up to 73% of patients, appeared to delay the progression of osteoarthritis, which…

Drugs delivered by nanoparticles hold promise for targeted treatment of many diseases, including cancer. However, the particles have to be injected into patients, which has limited their usefulness so far.

Startup companies founded by physician entrepreneurs are an important source of patents used in developing innovative new medical devices, suggests a study in the May issue of Medical Care. “Device manufacturers gain more from the patents of physician-founded firms than from those of non-physician-founded firms…

As hospitals look for ways to improve patient satisfaction and boost their Medicare reimbursement, a Henry Ford Hospital study found that an inpatient pharmacist-directed anticoagulation service (PDAS) might be an unexpected opportunity.   In a survey of 689 patients who received inpatient anticoagulant therapy, patient…

Tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and reduced acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccines are only moderately effective against pertussis in adolescents and adults, according to a BMJ case-control study that includes data from the large California outbreak of 2010.

The Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Directorate has been informed of a farm where animals  have  tested positive for Q fever. We are in the process of screening possible exposed persons working in the farm. This is being sent for your information. 

A new study in JAMA adds to the growing evidence that metoclopramide  may be safely used to treat severe nausea in pregnancy. Examining Danish registries, researchers matched some 40,000 pregnancies in which metoclopramide prescriptions were dispensed to roughly 150,000 unexposed pregnancies. The incidence of overall…

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published online this month in the journal Cell Cycle shows that breast cancer cell growth, motility and aggression is promoted by excess glucose, as experienced by patients with diabetes and metabolic syndrome. The study also showed that patients…

Men who experience restless legs syndrome (RLS) may have a higher risk of dying earlier, according to research that appears in the June 12, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The disorder is characterized by an irresistible…

A study by researchers at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, has found that nearly one in four women (23 percent) newly diagnosed with breast cancer reported symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) shortly after diagnosis, with increased…