Many patients who will later be diagnosed with diabetes show signs of chronic kidney disease (CKD) even before their diabetes diagnosis, according to a study by researchers with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and VA MidSouth Healthcare Network. Doctors have long known that patients with diabetes are at risk for kidney disease. But...
Category: <span>Diagnostic</span>
Post
ECOG-ACRIN discovers a simple blood test may predict recurrence of breast cancer
A proof-of-concept study by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group measured circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in blood samples from patients cancer-free five years after diagnosis, then associated CTC presence with a later recurrence ECOG-ACRIN CANCER RESEARCH GROUP A simple blood test that detects tumor cells circulating in the blood shows promise as a new way to...
Post
New Lyme disease tests could offer quicker, more accurate detection
Adult deer tick, Ixodes scapularis. New tests to detect early Lyme disease – which is increasing beyond the summer months -could replace existing tests that often do not clearly identify the infection before health problems occur. In an analysis published on December 7 in Clinical Infectious Diseases, scientists from Rutgers University, Harvard University, Yale University,...
Post
LDL cholesterol found to be the main modifiable predictor of atherosclerosis in individuals with no risk factor
Cholesterol plaque in a carotid artery, visualized by vascular magnetic resonance imaging. LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), known as ‘bad’ cholesterol, is the underlying reason why many apparently healthy individuals have heart attacks or strokes during middle age despite not having cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, smoking, obesity, dyslipidemia or diabetes. Even at levels considered...
Post
Exosome Diagnostics May Predict Which Cancers are Invasive (and Which are “Safe”)
During the fall months of cancer campaigning, perhaps the biggest awareness remains in shadow: it is not yet possible to prevent patients from receiving needless treatment. As it stands, conservative estimates have determined that greater than 50% of men and women undergo unnecessary surgery and chemotherapy[1]. Many cancers do not deserve the dreaded name and...
Post
Team develops neuro test that distinguishes demyelinating diseases from multiple sclerosis
Mayo Clinic has launched a first-in-the-U.S. clinical test that will help patients who recently have been diagnosed with an inflammatory demyelinating disease (IDD) but may be unsure of the exact disorder. Neurologic-related diseases commonly affect the brain, optic nerves and the spinal cord, and this new test can distinguish other IDDs such as neuromyelitis optica,...
Post
How a simple urine test can now help doctors spot signs of prostate cancer with 98 per cent accuracy
Scientists claim that the test could prevent 41 per cent of unnecessary biopsies Symptoms of prostate cancer only tend to arise when tumour has grown large Men become eligible for the test if they have been identified as being at risk It is the most common form of cancer found in men in Britain, with...
Post
Is it major depression or bipolar disorder? Ask the heart
All test subjects in the study underwent a 15-minute-long electrocardiogram People suffering from bipolar disorder swing between emotional highs (manic episodes) and severe depression. Perhaps not surprisingly, they’re often mistakenly diagnosed as simply having major depression, which actually requires a different treatment. According to a new study from Illinois’ Loyola University, however, the two...
Post
Count your blessings: Quantitative microbiome profiling
A broad range of metabolic and inflammatory diseases is associated with alterations in gut microbiota composition and metabolic potential. Until now, sequencing-based gut microbiota research has described such dysbiotic states in terms of proportional shifts in microbiome composition. However, when it comes to the gut bacterial content and how it relates to health, it’s not...
Post
Lupus patients exhibit altered cell proteins, a discovery with potential implications for diagnostics
Autoimmune diseases such as lupus—in which the body attacks its own cells and tissues—are on the rise, according to A*STAR’s Anna-Marie Fairhurst. Her team is the first to observe that patients with lupus exhibit an increased number of a specific type of protein on the surface of certain white blood cells. This finding may help...