http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. An estimated 10 million Americans suffer from knee osteoarthritis (OA), making it one of the most common causes of disability in the US. Due to obesity and symptomatic knee OA, Americans over the age of 50 will together lose the equivalent of 86 million healthy years of life, concluded researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), who investigated the potential gains in quality and quantity of life that could be achieved averting losses due to obesity and knee OA. These findings are published in the February 15 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. http://phys.org/news217005861.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:24:45 EST news217005861 A study by Mount Sinai School of Medicine finds that Medicare costs at the end of life are influenced more by patient characteristics, such as ability to function, the severity of the illness, and family support than by regional factors, such as the number of hospital beds available. The study will be published February 15 in The Annals of Internal Medicine. http://phys.org/news216927476.html Medicine & Health Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:38:22 EST news216927476 We know that the state of the mind has a lot to do with how healthy the body is. An interesting study published this month in the Annals of Internal Medicine demonstrates the mind-body connection yet again - this time in relationship to heart disease. http://phys.org/news216039820.html Medicine & Health Fri, 04 Feb 2011 11:50:01 EST news216039820 The vast majority of already published and relevant clinical trials of a given drug, device or procedure are routinely ignored by scientists conducting new research on the same topic, a new Johns Hopkins study suggests. http://phys.org/news214834274.html Medicine & Health Fri, 21 Jan 2011 12:11:31 EST news214834274 (PhysOrg.com) -- A systematic review of over 50 clinical trials finds that exercise and Vitamin D supplements are the best ways to reduce the risk of falling in people aged 65 and over. The review is published in the December 21 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine and was commissioned by the US Preventive Services Task Force. A researcher at the Drexel University School of Public Health worked with colleagues at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, which is part of the Oregon Evidenced-based Practice Center, to conduct the study. http://phys.org/news212169416.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:57:06 EST news212169416 Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and collaborators from other institutions have identified a natural substance in dairy fat that may substantially reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. The compound, trans-palmitoleic acid, is a fatty acid found in milk, cheese, yogurt, and butter. It is not produced by the body and so only comes from the diet. http://phys.org/news212088644.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:00:03 EST news212088644 An expanded U.S. program of HIV screening and treatment could prevent as many as 212,000 new infections over the next 20 years and prove to be very cost-effective, according to a new study by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers. http://phys.org/news212088596.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:30:17 EST news212088596 Failure to have a prescription filled can undermine medical treatment, result in increased health care costs and potentially have devastating results for the patient. An editorial in the Nov. 16 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine highlights the problem and issues a call to action. http://phys.org/news209129790.html Medicine & Health Tue, 16 Nov 2010 11:50:01 EST news209129790 Journals need to develop policies to handle the inevitable competing interests that arise when they publish papers that may bring them reprint revenue or increase their impact factors. This is the conclusion of a research article by Andreas Lundh and colleagues from the Nordic Cochrane Centre published in this weeks PLoS Medicine. An accompanying perspective by Harvey Marcovitch, ex-chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and an editorial from the PLoS Medicine Editors discusses this issue further, concluding that journals should apply the same degree of transparency that they require from authors, to themselves. http://phys.org/news207333374.html Medicine & Health Tue, 26 Oct 2010 17:36:33 EST news207333374 Research published today suggests that invasive dental treatment, such as extractions, carries a small but statistically significant increase in the risk of stroke and heart attack over the short term. However, the authors of the study, which was funded by the Wellcome Trust and the British Heart Foundation, stress that any increase in risk is likely to be outweighed by the long-term benefits of such treatment. http://phys.org/news206698653.html Medicine & Health Tue, 19 Oct 2010 09:17:57 EST news206698653 Phone calls with a peer facing the same self-management challenges helped diabetes patients manage their conditions and improved their blood sugar levels better than those who used traditional nurse care management services alone, according to research from the University of Michigan Health System. http://phys.org/news206643314.html Medicine & Health Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:10:04 EST news206643314 Much of medicine is based on what is considered the strongest possible evidence: The placebo-controlled trial. A paper published in the October 19 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine – entitled "What's In Placebos: Who Knows?" calls into question this foundation upon which much of medicine rests, by showing that there is no standard behind the standard – no standard for the placebo. http://phys.org/news206643290.html Medicine & Health Mon, 18 Oct 2010 17:54:55 EST news206643290 Cutting back on sleep reduces the benefits of dieting, according to a study published October 5, 2010, in the Annals of Internal Medicine. http://phys.org/news205431806.html Medicine & Health Mon, 04 Oct 2010 17:50:01 EST news205431806 A new landmark study, which demonstrated it is possible to recruit large numbers of women into a clinical trial evaluating treatments for HIV infection, found no significant gender-based differences in response to the anti-HIV drugs darunavir and ritonavir — at least among those who remained in the trial to the end. http://phys.org/news204222423.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Sep 2010 17:27:13 EST news204222423 Spanish fishermen who took part in a clean-up operation after the Prestige oil tanker spill in 2002 have shown symptoms of chromosomal damage and respiratory problems, a study released Tuesday said. http://phys.org/news201875764.html Medicine & Health Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:50:02 EST news201875764 When published results are systematically tracked for drug trials registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, those from industry-funded trials are the likeliest to be favorable to the drug in question, report researchers at Children's Hospital Boston. Publishing in the August 3 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, the researchers call for more public disclosure about clinical drug trials at their outset to reduce the possibility of bias in the findings. http://phys.org/news199991059.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:30:01 EST news199991059 (AP) -- Over the long term, a low-carb diet works just as well as a low-fat diet at taking off the pounds - and it might be better for your heart, new research suggests. http://phys.org/news199989243.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:00:06 EST news199989243 (PhysOrg.com) -- Young people with even modestly elevated cholesterol levels are more likely to develop coronary artery calcium and atherosclerosis later in life, according to a study by UCSF researchers. http://phys.org/news199989659.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:00:04 EST news199989659 Technology has placed vast amounts of medical information literally a mouse click away. Yet what often may be central - a doctor's notes about a patient visit - has traditionally not been part of the discussion. In effect, such records have long been out of bounds. http://phys.org/news198774141.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:00:14 EST news198774141 Patients often receive inappropriate care when their doctors fail to take into account their individual circumstances, according to a new study by the University of Illinois at Chicago and the VA Center for Management of Complex Chronic Care. http://phys.org/news198773791.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:00:01 EST news198773791 A team led by a Northwestern University biomedical engineer has found that combining novel optical technologies with a common colon cancer screening test may allow doctors to more accurately detect the presence of colon cancer, particularly in women. http://phys.org/news198776504.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:42:01 EST news198776504 A treatment plan used to prevent potentially dangerous blood clots in recovering surgical patients can also benefit some patients immobilized by acute medical illness, doctors have found in a multi-institutional study. http://phys.org/news197654933.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:15:01 EST news197654933 (AP) -- Routine screening for osteoporosis should include all younger postmenopausal women who have at least the same chance of a bone break as an older woman, a government task force said Monday. http://phys.org/news197628231.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:44:19 EST news197628231 Physicians who prescribe erectile dysfunction drugs for their male patients should be sure to discuss the importance of safer sex practices, even with older patients: that is an important implication of a report in the July 6 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The analysis of insurance records of more than 1.4 million U.S. men over 40 found that those who used ED drugs were more likely to have sexually transmitted diseases than were non-users. http://phys.org/news197545423.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:00:01 EST news197545423 (PhysOrg.com) -- Extending the course of treatment to prevent a common virus after lung transplantation dramatically reduces infection rates and possibly the risk of the body rejecting the new lungs, according to research from Duke University Medical Center. http://phys.org/news195835372.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:00:01 EST news195835372 Community-based HIV testing programs generally use only HIV antibody testing, but nucleic acid testing (NAT) can detect the presence of HIV earlier. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine studied more than 3,000 patients who sought HIV testing in community-based clinics in or near San Diego to examine the yield of testing with a rapid test plus NAT and to see whether patients would be willing to access their results by phone or computer. http://phys.org/news195738532.html Medicine & Health Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:00:02 EST news195738532 The odds of surviving cardiac arrest may depend on which part of town you call home and whether anyone in the neighborhood comes to your rescue by attempting to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), according to a first-of-its-kind study in the June issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. http://phys.org/news194506591.html Medicine & Health Mon, 31 May 2010 17:00:01 EST news194506591 Profiles created for physicians based on the cost of the care they provide can vary widely depending upon the methods used by insurance companies to create the profiles, according to a new RAND Corporation study. http://phys.org/news193406576.html Medicine & Health Tue, 18 May 2010 13:20:01 EST news193406576 Mayo Clinic researchers have found that the kidneys of healthy adults show signs of chronic mild injury that increase with age. This damage is present even though the adults showed no clinical signs of kidney disease. The findings are reported in the current issue of the, Annals of Internal Medicine. http://phys.org/news192117804.html Medicine & Health Mon, 03 May 2010 17:00:01 EST news192117804 "Rather than asking whether the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) does everything to improve access and lower costs, we should ask how it compares with the status quo," the American College of Physicians' (ACP) senior public policy adviser said in a paper published online today in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of ACP. "By this measure, the PPACA is an extraordinary achievement." http://phys.org/news189863090.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:00:07 EST news189863090