Researchers at Boston Medical Center (BMC) have shown that patient navigation services help decrease the time to diagnosis for female patients who have received an abnormal result from a breast or cervical cancer screening. The study demonstrates the importance of patient navigation in helping...
Pop quiz! Tests are good for: (a) Assessing what you've learned; (b) Learning new information; (c) a & b; (d) None of the above. The correct answer? According to research from psychological science, it's both (a) and (b) - while testing can be useful as an assessment tool, the actual process of...
An older medication originally approved to treat heart problems eases the symptoms of a very rare muscle disease that often leaves its sufferers stiff and in a good deal of pain, physicians and researchers report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The findings are good news not...
A handheld magnetic device may be a way for migraine sufferers to take treatment into their own hands. At a congress last week, researchers revealed how three months of treatment with the device relieved or reduced headache pain in 73% of patients treated. Headache specialists at several...
Free bus passes for over-60s may be encouraging older people to be more physically active, say the authors of a study published in the American Journal of Public Health. Researchers from Imperial College London reached their conclusion by analysing four years of data from the UK National Travel...
An extract from the plant Cannabis sativa (trade name Sativex®) was approved in May 2011 for patients suffering from moderate to severe spastic paralysis and muscle spasms due to multiple sclerosis (MS). In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the "Act on the Reform of the Market for...
The clot-inhibiting drug apixaban (trade name: Eliquis®) was approved in May 2011 for the prevention of thrombosis (blood clots) after operations to replace a hip or knee joint. In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products" (AMNOG), the...
A major review of breast cancer screening services in Europe, jointly led by researchers at Queen Mary, University of London, has concluded that the benefits of screening in terms of lives saved outweigh the harms caused by over-diagnosis. The results, which are published in a special supplement...
Can FIRST LEGO League teams improve the quality of life for seniors by helping them continue to be independent, engaged, and connected in their communities?
Eribulin (trade name: Halaven®) was approved in March 2011 for women with locally advanced or metastasizing breast cancer in whom the disease has progressed despite prior drug therapy. In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products"...
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, working with colleagues in Sweden, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico, have validated a radiosensitivity molecular signature that can lead to better radiation therapy decisions for treating patients with breast cancer. The results appeared in a recent issue of...
Patients suffering from the chronic lung condition COPD, which is the third-leading cause of death and disability in the United States, may benefit greatly from a three-times-a-week dose of an antibiotic, according to a study by Virginia Commonwealth University physicians published in the New...
Two studies published in a recent issue of Cell Medicine [2(2)] report on the therapeutic efficacy of stem cell transplantation in animal models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal cord injury (SCI). Cell Medicine is freely available on-line...
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Emotional problems in childhood are common. Approximately 8 to 22 percent of children suffer from anxiety, often combined with other conditions such as depression. However, most existing therapies are not designed to treat co-existing psychological problems and are therefore not very successful...
A three-drug treatment for the blood cancer multiple myeloma provided rapid, deep and potentially durable responses, researchers report online in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology, and at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL, USA. The...
A new medication proved effective in slowing the spread of metastatic prostate cancer, while helping to maintain the quality of life, in patients with advanced disease. The phase 3 study was unblinded midway, allowing patients receiving the placebo to instead take the drug because of the...
Nordic walking enables heart failure patients to exercise more intensely than walking without poles. The research was presented at the Heart Failure Congress 2012, 19-22 May, in Belgrade, Serbia. The Congress is the main annual meeting of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of...
The experimental drug ibrutinib (PCI-32765) shows great promise for the treatment of elderly patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to interim findings from a clinical trial. The phase I/II trial, co-led by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center...
A new analysis may help doctors identify breast cancer patients who will benefit from treatment with the immune suppressant drug everolimus, say French researchers at the 4th IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference in Brussels, Belgium. Everolimus is currently used as an immunosuppressant to prevent...