Medical imaging techniques ranging from CT scans to myocardial perfusion imaging (or imaging of the heart), have become a regular part of medical diagnostics. Yet, according to a study published in this week’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, it isn’t yet clear whether the radiation necessary for these imaging procedures
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It has been well documented in medical literature that when people believe they are receiving treatment, they will actually experience a reduction in symptoms—even if their “treatment” is an inactive placebo. This is particularly true when it comes to pain reduction, or analgesia; patients who believe they are being given powerful
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When considering possible partners, women process facial attractiveness on two levels, according to research published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. The researchers found that, when admiring potential mates’ facial features, there are two types of assessment at work—that of overall aesthetic appeal, and that of
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According to a study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, after surviving a heart attack, women have a slightly higher risk than men of dying in the next 30 days. The finding, researchers say, likely reflects the differences in the type of heart failure women experience, as well as the severity of the
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Hip fractures may be one of the most devastating injuries that humans face, but they’re also less frequent than they used to be. Today Canadian researchers announce that the hip-fracture rate fell 31.8% for Canadian women and 25% for Canadian men between 1985 and 2005. (A decline has also been noted in the U.S., but over a shorter …
After a heart attack, the muscles in a patient’s heart are often weakened, increasing the risk for future heart complications, including a second cardiac arrest. Yet a new development from a team of Israeli scientists could change that in the future. In a study of rats, the researchers were able to grow a “bioengineered cardiac patch” by
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A new headline-grabbing report from the White House claims that swine flu could plausibly infect up to 50% of Americans, causing flu symptoms among some 60 to 120 million of them, and leading to as many as 1.8 million hospitalizations and 30,000 -90,000 deaths.
Where, exactly, do numbers like these come from? The new report was put …
The American Heart Association is urging Americans not to eat so much sugar — a major villain in the country’s obesity epidemic, and a possible cause of other risk factors for heart disease too, including high blood pressure. Adult women should generally eat no more than six teaspoons per day of added sugars (100 calories) and men …
Babies born too small are more likely to have low bone mineral density when they grow up, a new study reports today in the Public Library of Science journal, PLoS Medicine.
Researchers in Helsinki, Finland, followed 144 Finns, now aged 18 – 27, who were all born preterm (before 37 weeks of gestation) and with very low birth weight …
In the past, research into the relationship between blood pressure and cognitive impairment has yielded a wide range of results—some studies found that low blood pressure was linked with memory and processing problems, others that high blood pressure was associated with these risks, and others found no correlation at all. In an attempt
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Ever wonder how all that fat and protein in a low-carb diet could be good for you, even though you’re losing weight? A new study today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that, well, in fact, it isn’t.
Mice that were fed a high protein, high fat diet — designed to resemble a human low-carb diet …
Women with high levels of the hormone testosterone tend to be less risk averse and more likely to pick risky business careers than women with lower testosterone levels, a new study shows. Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago took saliva samples in 2006 from roughly 500 MBA students at the University …
