_ Tweaking Electronic Alerts to Reduce Rx Errors By article Changing how medication alerts are presented in electronic medical records resulted in safer prescribing, increased efficiency, and reduced workload for health care providers who placed drug orders, according to study published online in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. A release from Indiana Universoty quotes study leader said Alissa L. Russ, Ph.D as saying, "We are looking at ways to improve the alert system for providers and for patient care."
_ Gout Drug May Lower the Risk of Death By article In a study slated to be published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine found that the use of the drug allopurinol was associated with a reduced risk of death in patients with gout. The research suggests that the overall benefit of allopurinol on survival may outweigh the impact of rare serious adverse effects.
_ Mental & Emotional Health Nasal Spray Treats Depression By article A nasal spray that delivers a peptide to treat depression holds promise as a potential alternative therapeutic approach, according to research done at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. The study, led by CAMH's Dr. Fang Liu, is published online in Neuropsychopharmacology.
I Want To Take The Alzheimer's Test By blog Last night I had trouble getting to sleep. Tossing and turning, I attempted to clear my thoughts, but my brain had other ideas. My mind was on an instant replay loop: A new study reveals researchers have developed a blood test that will predict if a healthy person — someone with no symptoms — is likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease within the next few years. The study focused on people over 70 and was about 90 percent accurate.
_ What You May Not Know About Preventing Heart Attacks, Strokes, and Diabetes By article By Bradley Bale MD and Amy Doneen ARNP with Lisa Collier Cool Have you ever wondered why someone could feel perfectly fine and then minutes later have a massive heart attack or stroke that either kills the person or causes a life-long disability? Even more challenging is the concept that some people can go in for a full medical exam, including cholesterol and blood pressure check and a stress test, and be told they are fine only to drop dead of a heart attack days or weeks later.
_ Heart Health Maybe Saturated Fats ArenΓÇÖt So Bad After All By article A study led University of Cambridge in the UK and published March 18th 2014 in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine raises questions about current guidelines that generally restrict the consumption of saturated fats and encourage consumption of polyunsaturated fats to prevent heart disease.
_ Smart Tag Flags Spoiled Food & Meds By article A color-coded smart tag could tell consumers whether a carton of milk has turned sour or a can of green beans has spoiled without opening the containers, according to researchers at Peking University in Beijing, China. The tag, which would appear on the packaging, also could be used to determine if medications and other perishable products were still active or fresh. The report on the color-changing food deterioration tags was presented on March 17th 2014 as part of the 247th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society in Dallas.
_ Heart Health "Bendopnea" = Heart Failure Symptom By article University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center cardiologists have defined a novel heart failure symptom in advanced heart failure patients: shortness of breath while bending over, such as when putting on shoes. The cardiologists dubbed he condition “bendopnea”, which is pronounced “bend-op-nee-ah”/ The easily detectable symptom can help doctors diagnose excessive fluid retention in patients with heart failure, according to the findings published in a March 2014 edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Heart Failure.
_ Doctors Prescribe Medicines that May Not Be Best for Patients By Jane Farrell article When it comes to choosing which medications to prescribe, patients may have as much influence as physicians, a study has found. Researchers said that that patient requests for specific medications—often spurred by direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising—have a substantial impact on doctors' prescribing decisions. "A patient request for a specific medication dramatically increases the rate at which physician s prescribe that medication," said lead researcher John B. McKinlay, PhD, of New England Research Institutes, Watertown, Mass.
_ Exercise Exercise and Chronic Disease: Get the Facts By Jane Farrell article From the Mayo Clinic If you have a chronic disease — such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma, or back or joint pain — exercise can have important health benefits. However, it's crucial to talk to your doctor before starting an exercise routine. He or she might have advice on what exercises are safe and any precautions you might need to take while exercising. How can exercise improve a chronic condition? Regular exercise can help you manage symptoms and improve your health. For example:
_ When Medicine Does More Harm Than Good By Jane Farrell article About 20 percent of older Americans with chronic conditions are taking medicines that work against each other, according to a new study. In other words, the medication being used to treat one condition can make another condition worse. The problem affects millions of Americans, since three out of four older adults have multiple chronic conditions.
Same-Day Double Knee Replacements Safe for Some With RA By article Same-day bilateral knee replacement surgery is safe for select patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
_ Pets Is Your Cat's Medicine Working? By Jane Farrell article There’s a new clinical design to determine whether medicines designed for cats are actually doing the job. In designing the new method, researchers from North Carolina State worked to overcome the “placebo effect” in a pain-management study of cats. Evaluating the effectiveness of a medicine is difficult when it comes to cats, who may not reveal the pain they are suffering and who also are resistant to taking medication.
_ Heart Health Key Heart Failure Culprit Discovered By article A team of cardiovascular researchers from at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in NewYork and the University of California, San Diego have identified a small but powerful new player in the onset and progression of heart failure. Their findings, published in the journal Nature on March 12th 2014, also show how they successfully blocked the newly discovered culprit to halt the debilitating and chronic life-threatening condition in its tracks.
_ Mental & Emotional Health Diagnosing Parkinson's-Related Dementia By Jane Farrell article Researchers have determined that it may now be possible to identify Parkinson's patients who will go on to develop dementia. A study conducted by researchers from the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal used magnetic resonance imaging in reaching its conclusion. The findings were published in the journal Brain. Parkinson’s is usually associated with problems such as trembling, but patients also have a six times greater risk of developing dementia than do those who don’t have Parkinson’s.
_ 10 Things Docs & Older Patients Should Question By article “Choosing Wisely”, and initiative of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation, has released a 2014 update from the American Geriatrics Society listing 10 procedures and tests that should not be routinely performed or prescribed for older patients:
_ Sleep Health How to Keep Your Body from ΓÇ£Falling BackΓÇ¥ By Jane Farrell article By Julia Samton, MD
_ Hope for TX for Brain Disorders & Pain Issues By article Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA and at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN have created the most detailed 3-D picture yet of a membrane protein that is linked to learning, memory, anxiety, pain, and brain disorders such as schizophrenia, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and autism. The research, which focuses on the mGlu1 receptor, was reported in the March 6th, 2014 issue of the journal Science.