by Sydney Lupkin, Kaiser Health News After two decades of keeping the public in the dark about millions of medical device malfunctions and injuries, the Food and Drug Administration has published the once hidden database online, revealing 5.7 million incidents publicly for the first time. The newfound transparency follows a Kaiser Health News investigation that revealed device manufacturers, for the past two...
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Diets of nearly half of South Asian immigrants are unhealthy, study suggests
A significant percentage of new immigrants to Alberta from some South Asian countries are struggling with unhealthy eating habits, according to new research from the University of Alberta. The study, the first of its kind to explore the diet quality of South Asian populations living in Alberta, discovered several food choices fall short of Canada’s Food Guide recommendations, and that it’s a group already at risk of developing heart diseases.“They...
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Standard TB tests may not detect infection in certain exposed individuals
Study published in Nature Medicine UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS CLEVELAND MEDICAL CENTER CLEVELAND – An international collaboration of infectious disease experts has identified a large group of people who appear to have naturally mounted an immune response to TB, a bacterial infection that is the leading cause of infectious disease death worldwide. Nearly 200 people from 2500 households with active TB were...
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Study shows some generics can cost medicare recipients more than brand-name drugs
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER Medicare Part D enrollees may pay more out of pocket for high-priced specialty generic drugs than their brand-name counterparts, according to new research by health policy experts at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Researchers examined differences in brand-name and generic or biosimilar drug prices, formulary coverage and expected out-of-pocket spending across all of...
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Nanodrugs
Nanodrugs have been around for some time. In fact, over 250 drugs using nanotechnology that have been approved by the FDA and are in clinical use. The name nanodrug or nanopharmaceuticals refers to the size of the particle that is created to house the medication. A nano is very tiny: nanoparticles are between 1 and 100 nanometers...
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Antidepressants reduce deaths by more than a third in patients with diabetes
THE ENDOCRINE SOCIETY WASHINGTON–Antidepressants reduce deaths by more than a third in patients with diabetes and depression, according to a study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. People with diabetes are two to three times more likely to have depression than people without diabetes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Half to three-quarters of people...
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Response to gene-targeted drugs depends on cancer type
by Institute of Cancer Research Cancers with the same genetic weaknesses respond differently to targeted drugs depending on the tumour type of the patient, new research reveals. The study is set to prompt changes in thinking around precision medicine—because it shows that the genetics of a patient’s cancer may not always be enough to tell whether it will respond to a treatment. The researchers are already starting...
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AGGRESSION IN KIDS WITH AUTISM MAY SIGNAL G.I. TROUBLE
Problematic behaviors, such as aggression, might indicate gastrointestinal distress in children and adolescents with autism, according to new research. Bradley Ferguson, assistant research professor in the departments of health psychology, radiology, and the Thompson Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the University of Missouri, examined records from 340 children and adolescents with autism who are patients at the Thompson Center....
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Study probes how to tell elderly patients not to bother with cancer screening
JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE Over the past decades, the idea that all adults should get regularly screened for cancer — with mammograms, colonoscopies and prostate specific antigen blood tests — has been conveyed to the public time after time. But current clinical guidelines recommend against screening many older adults, such as those with less than 10 years’ life expectancy. For...
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Alzheimer’s blood test almost ‘usable in routine clinical care’
By Ana Sandoiu Fact checked by Jasmin Collier New research shows that a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease accurately detected levels of beta-amyloid protein in all stages of the condition, approaching “a level of accuracy that is usable in routine clinical care around the world.” The brain changes that lead to the symptoms of Alzheimer’s...