Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles
Cellulite Cream

Health Professionals Experience Difficulty Treating Patients With Dual Mental Health Diagnoses
The Washington Post tells the story of Danny Watt, who drowned in April 2008 after a lifelong struggle with mental health. Watt had a dual diagnosis: a serious mental illness along with abuse of drugs or alcohol.
generic viagra online
Mapping Gene Expression With Gene Expression Atlas
Recently, researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory"s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) launched a new database, the Gene Expression Atlas, which allows scientists to search and compare gene expression data at unprecedented detail and scope. Observing how gene expression varies in different cell types, tissues and under disease conditions can help researchers understand gene function and to develop new drugs and therapies.
News of the day
Opposition To Abortion Rights Declining Among Black Voters, Opinion Pieces States
"In recent years, conservative political strategists have painted African Americans as being more opposed to abortion than the white population," but experts believe that there actually "is a declining black support for conservative social policies like abortion," Tracie Powell, a former congressional fellow with the American Political Science Association, writes in a CQ Politics opinion piece. According to Powell, a recent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey found that 49% of black U.S. residents -- who generally are considered more religious than the entire U.S. population -- are in favor of keeping abortion legal in most or all cases.Powell continues that experts vary in their explanations of the declining opposition to abortion rights among blacks. She writes that Christopher Metzler, an associate dean at Georgetown University, said that economic concerns, such as the high unemployment rate for black workers, have become more important than abortion for the group. According to Powell, Metzler said that black U.S. residents also have started questioning the antiabortion-rights agenda because they received little support from conservatives in return.Powell writes that some experts believe the feelings of black U.S. residents regarding abortion might go "deeper than current economic and social realities." Powell adds that Salamishah Tillet, founder of the organization A Long Walk Home, said that reproductive injustice for black women dates to times of slavery, when they had no reproductive rights. According to Tillet, black women face reproductive injustice in modern times through underfunding of family planning programs, lack of access to contraception and legislation like the Hyde Amendment, which restricts access to abortion for low-income women, who are disproportionately black and Hispanic.Powell writes, "I doubt most Americans, including those who are black, consider abortion a civil rights issue, and I"m not arguing that it should be." However, "I do know that while black Americans remain one of the most religious demographics in the country, this isn"t the 1960s and African Americans no longer march lock-step behind the church," she writes (Powell, CQ Politics, 6/10).
Nutrition

New Algorithm For Ruptured Aneurysms Improves Mortality Rate

Researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle report that algorithms for the management of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA) with a preference for endovascular repair (EVAR), serve as surrogates for an organized approach to managing the disease process and reducing overall mortality. These findings are from a study presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery®. "The staff at Harborview Medical Center treat between 30 and 50 patients per year with rAAAs," said Benjamin W. Starnes, MD, chief in the division of vascular surgery and associate professor of surgery at the University of Washington. "In this study we sought to evaluate the effect on mortality with the implementation of an algorithm to manage these patients with a preference for EVAR when feasible." During the study period, 187 patients with rAAA underwent attempted repair at Harborview Medical Center. Thirty-day mortality ratios were calculated and compared using Chi Square and Fisher"s Exact Test where appropriate, continuous variables were compared with a Mann-Whitney U test. Before implementation of the algorithm, (between July 1, 2002 and June 30, 2007) a total of 131 patients with rAAA were managed and treated. One-hundred and twenty-eight underwent surgical treatment and the 30-day mortality rate was 58 percent. Sixty-five percent of these patients were hypotensive at presentation. A structured protocol that included early proximal control with an aortic occlusion balloon, permissive hypotension and endovascular repair when possible, was begun on July 1, 2007. Fifty-six patients with rAAA were managed and treated. Twenty-six underwent successful EVAR and 25 patients had open repair. Five patients underwent comfort care or died in the emergency department. Five patients in the EVAR group (19 percent) and 14 patients in the open group (56 percent), died during the follow-up period for an overall 30-day mortality rate of 37 percent. In the post-protocol group, 73 percent of the patients presented with hypotension and there was no difference in the incidence of hypotension between EVAR and open groups. Average transfusion requirement for those undergoing EVAR was one unit (0-13) and for open repair, five units (0-19). The difference in transfusion requirement among survivors in each group was not different. "Our algorithm reduced rAAA mortality by 36 percent (absolute risk reduction of 25 percent), said Dr. Starnes. "Further reduction in mortality is expected as improvements in endovascular techniques allow treatment of more patients with complex aortic anatomy." About the Society for Vascular Surgery® The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) is a not-for-profit society that seeks to advance excellence and innovation in vascular health through education, advocacy, research and public awareness. SVS is the national advocate for 2,800 vascular surgeons dedicated to the prevention and cure of vascular disease. Society for Vascular Surgery


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009