Kids often get unapproved drugs for sleep problems
Doctors commonly prescribe drugs to children and teens with sleep difficulties that are not approved for use by patients in these age groups, a new study shows.
Eighty-one percent of physician visits for sleep problems by children and teens ended in a prescription for some type of medication, most commonly a drowsiness-promoting antihistamine or a sedative, Dr. Sasko D. Stojanovski of The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy in Columbus and colleagues found.
No race disparities found in rheumatoid arthritis
Though some research has suggested there are racial differences in the severity of rheumatoid arthritis, a new study finds that the disease seems to affect men similarly regardless of race.
Researchers found that among 573 male veterans in their mid-60s with rheumatoid arthritis, white and African-American men had similar measures of disease severity. The exceptions were that black men tended to have less tenderness in the joints and fewer rheumatoid nodules—growths under the skin usually seen in more-advanced cases of rheumatoid arthritis.
Colon cancer a disease of hormone deficiency, Jefferson team finds
Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia have found new evidence suggesting that colon cancer is actually a disease of missing hormones that could potentially be treated by hormone replacement therapy.
Reporting August 1, 2007 in the journal Gastroenterology, clinical pharmacologist Scott Waldman, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, and his co-workers showed that GCC – guanylyl cyclase C, a protein receptor on the surface of intestinal epithelial cells for two hormones, guanylin and uroguanylin, can suppress tumor formation. These hormones regulate the growth of intestinal epithelial cells.
Method shows promise for early detection of pancreatic cancer
Optical technology developed by a Northwestern University biomedical engineer shown to be effective in the early detection of colon cancer now appears promising for detecting pancreatic cancer, the fourth most common cause of cancer deaths in the United States.
Known as a silent killer, with no method of early detection, pancreatic cancer spreads rapidly and seldom is detected in its early stages. The new technique could lead to the first screening method for pancreatic cancer in asymptomatic patients, said Vadim Backman, developer of the technology and professor of biomedical engineering at Northwestern’s Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Sex differences found in COPD
In the first study to directly compare men and women with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, and severe emphysema, researchers have found that there are marked differences between the sexes.
The study, led by Fernando J. Martinez, M.D., of the University of Michigan, was reported in the August 1, 2007 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.
Worldwide Distribution of Cervical Cancer Virus is Consistent with Vaccine Targets
The variety of human papilloma viruses that cause invasive cervical cancer cases worldwide are largely consistent across continents, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
This finding means that prophylactic vaccines currently available against these two most prevalent types of human papillomavirus (HPV) – which can cause cervical cancer – could prevent about 70 percent of invasive cervical cancer (ICC) cases around the world, the researchers found.
