Lung disease patients breathe easier with rehab
Pulmonary rehabilitation produces significant benefits for patients with advanced emphysema and plays an important role in the selection of patients for lung surgery, according to results of the National Emphysema Treatment Trial, or NETT.
“The NETT highlights the important benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation—as practiced in a large number of centers across the country—as a standard of care for patients with advanced chronic lung disease and an important adjunct to lung volume reduction surgery programs,” said Dr. Andrew L. Ries, from the University of California, San Diego.
Letrozole tops tamoxifen for early breast cancer
As add-on therapy for breast cancer, letrozole appears to be more effective than tamoxifen in reducing the risk of the disease recurring, new research suggests.
Dr. Beat Thurlimann, from the Senology Center of Eastern Switzerland in Kantonsspital, and colleagues compared the outcomes of 8010 women who were randomly assigned to one of four treatment regimens for 5 years: letrozole; letrozole followed by tamoxifen; tamoxifen; or tamoxifen followed by letrozole.
Women often uninformed about breast reconstruction
Though most women with breast cancer are aware they have the option for breast reconstruction soon after surgery, few may fully understand the details of the procedure, a new study suggests.
This was particularly the case, researchers found, for black women, who were more likely to say they did not know enough about breast reconstruction or to feel that the procedure was not recommended.
Talks between Bulgaria, Libya delayed as emotions run high over HIV children fund
Five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor, who had been sentenced to death by firing squad, following a conviction of infecting 426 children with HIV in a hospital, have had that conviction quashed and a new trial has been ordered by Libya’s Supreme Court.
The six medics have been in jail since 1999 accused of deliberately infecting the youngsters in a hospital in the Mediterranean port of Benghazi.
University of Michigan Medical School to study the science of obesity and metabolism
As millions of Americans prepare their New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, eat better or exercise more, the University of Michigan Medical School is launching a new center that may help explain why so many resolutions fail, while others succeed.
The new University of Michigan Metabolomics and Obesity Center will explore the science behind weight gain and loss, through molecular-level research on how the body breaks down and uses food, and how metabolism varies among individuals.
Researchers discover how a gene linked to Parkinson’s disease can keep brain cells alive
Researchers at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center’s School of Medicine have uncovered how a gene linked to Parkinson’s disease can keep brain cells alive. The results suggest the possibility for new drugs that might regulate the gene and protect Parkinson’s patients from further cell damage. The findings will be published in the Dec. 30 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Parkinson’s disease is a disorder that occurs when dopamine cells in the brain die or are damaged, making it increasingly difficult to relay movement messages from the brain to the body. CU School of Medicine scientists performed a detailed analysis of a gene known to be linked to Parkinson’s disease called DJ-1. The research showed that DJ-1, when functioning properly, can prevent dopamine cell death in the brain. If the DJ-1 gene is abnormal and doesn’t function properly, it can lead to the onset of neurodegeneration, particularly Parkinson’s disease.
