Screening probably caused cystic fibrosis drop
Massachusetts researchers have seen a dramatic statewide drop in the number of newborns with cystic fibrosis, and said on Wednesday the decline may be due to a national effort to screen for the genetic disease.
Cystic fibrosis or CF, which produces a thicker-than-normal mucus that clogs the lungs and other organs, affects about 30,000 children in the United States each year, or 70,000 worldwide, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
CT scans lower risk of unnecessary appendix surgery
The chance of having an appendix removed unnecessarily has plummeted since 1996 in the United States, possibly because more doctors are using CT scans to confirm appendicitis diagnoses, researchers said on Wednesday.
The likelihood of an unnecessary appendectomy went from 24 percent in 1996 down to 3 percent in 2006, according to a team of researchers led by Dr. Steven Raman at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Clot removal device improves stroke outcome
A device that suctions out blood clots in the brain causing acute stroke proved safe and effective and was associated with improved neurological outcome on all measures, even when used eight hours after the onset of the stroke, according to results of a study.
The mechanical device, known as the Penumbra System and marketed by Penumbra, Inc., of San Leandro, California, helped improve blood flow to the brain in 82 percent of 125 patients studied.
A favorable neurological outcome at 30 days occurred in roughly 42 percent of patients.
U of Minn researchers discover genetic cancer link between humans and dogs
Cancer researchers at the University of Minnesota and North Carolina State University have found that humans and dogs share more than friendship and companionship – they also share the same genetic basis for certain types of cancer. Furthermore, the researchers say that because of the way the genomes have evolved, getting cancer may be inevitable for some humans and dogs.
Jaime Modiano, V.M.D., Ph.D., University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine and Cancer Center, and Matthew Breen, Ph.D., North Carolina State University’s Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research, collaborated on this research study. Their findings are published in the current issue of the journal Chromosome Research, a special edition on comparative cytogenetics and genomics research by scientists from around the world.
Does gingko biloba affect memory?
Taking the supplement ginkgo biloba had no clear-cut benefit on the risk of developing memory problems, according to a study published in the February 27, 2008, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The three-year study involved 118 people age 85 and older with no memory problems. Half of the participants took ginkgo biloba extract three times a day and half took a placebo. During the study, 21 people developed mild memory problems, or questionable dementia: 14 of those took the placebo and seven took the ginkgo extract. Although there was a trend favoring ginkgo, the difference between those who took gingko versus the placebo was not statistically significant.
The researchers made an interesting observation when they examined the data at the end of the trial. Taking into account whether people followed directions in taking the study pills, they found that people who reliably took the supplement had a 68 percent lower risk of developing mild memory problems than those who took the placebo. Without further study, it is unclear if this difference is real or just a chance occurrence.
Comparison of antipsychotic treatments in adolescents with schizophrenia
There is a wealth of scientific literature available on the treatment of adults diagnosed with schizophrenia. However, there is a paucity of data to guide the treatment of children and adolescents with schizophrenia. “Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently approved the use of aripiprazole and risperidone for adolescents with schizophrenia, few controlled data are available to help guide clinicians regarding the management of children and adolescents with schizophrenia who fail to respond to these standard ‘first-line’ antipsychotic treatments,” according to Dr. Sanjiv Kumra. Dr. Kumra is one of the authors of a new study to be published in the March 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry, which was undertaken to help fill this gap in knowledge.
The authors recruited 39 children, 10-18 years of age, who had already failed to respond to at least two antipsychotic treatments, to participate in a 12-week, double-blind, randomized study – the most rigorous of clinical trial designs. After initial assessments, the patients received treatment with either clozapine or “high-dose” olanzapine (doses that exceed the package insert recommendations) and were monitored for improvement in their symptoms.
Detecting bone erosion in arthritic wrists
Both magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) are more sensitive than radiography – the standard imaging technique – for detecting bone erosions in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to research published in the open access journal Arthritis Research & Therapy. The early detection of bone erosions is crucial for identifying those people most at risk from RA.
Uffe Møller Døhn from the Copenhagen University Hospital at Hvidovre in Denmark and co-workers carried out CT, MRI and radiography on the wrist joints of 17 RA patients and four healthy controls.
