Surgical Removal of Small Colon Polyps is Costly and Unnecessary
Polypectomy (the surgical removal of polyps by colonoscopy) of small polyps found during CT colonography is costly and unnecessary according to a study

Multidetector CT: Non-Invasive Alternative to Bronchoscopy in Patients with Airway Stent Complications
Multidetector CT scans are highly accurate in detecting airway stent complications according to a recent study performed at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA.

Withdrawal of Life Support Often an Imperfect Compromise
Intensive Care Unit doctors seeking to balance the complex needs of their patients and the patients’ families may make an imperfect compromise, withdrawing life support systems over a prolonged period of time.

Core Needle Breast Biopsy Safe for Patients Taking Blood Thinners
Core needle biopsies are offered as an alternative to surgical biopsy when a tissue sample of an irregular area in the breast is found by mammogram or sonogram.

3D CT Scans Lead to More Successful Treatment of Varicose Veins in the Lower Extremities
3D CT scans provide a more comprehensive view of complex varicose veins (one of the most common diseases in the world) in the lower extremities

Facet Joint Effusion and Interspinal Ligament Edema: Major Sources of Lower Back Pain
New MR techniques show that facet joint effusion (the collection of fluid in the spinal joints) and interspinal ligament edema are major sources of lower back pain

Natural Viagra? “Horny goat weed” shows promise in lab studies
Researchers in Italy report that an ancient Chinese herbal remedy known as “horny goat weed” shows potential in lab studies as source for new future drugs to treat erectile dysfunction

New medications for schizophrenia
New scientific insights into schizophrenia are pointing toward new drugs that offer hope for millions of individuals with the disease

Potential new drug for cocaine addiction and overdose
Chemists are reporting development of what they term the most powerful substance ever discovered for eliminating cocaine from the body

Marijuana ingredients show promise in battling superbugs
Substances in marijuana show promise for fighting deadly drug-resistant bacterial infections, including so-called “superbugs,” without causing the drug’s mood-altering effects

Flu shot does not reduce risk of death
The widely-held perception that the influenza vaccination reduces overall mortality risk in the elderly does not withstand careful scrutiny.

Strategies to Control TB Outdated, Inadequate
The standard regimens to treat tuberculosis (TB) are inadequate in countries with high rates of multi-drug resistant (MDR)

Phytosomes: A Short Review
This article reviews the current status of phytosomal research and its potential application in hepatoprotective and antihepatotoxic activity.

Herbal medicines- Safety?
There has been a virtual explosion of interest in all kinds of alternative therapies, in particular those, which have been traditionally around for thousands of years.

Why recovery from flu may increase odds of bacterial infection
Previous work from this group of scientists, led by Tracy Hussell at Imperial College, London, showed that recovery from flu infection left mice unusually vulnerable to infection with pneumonia-causing bacteria.

MIT explains spread of 1918 flu
MIT researchers have explained why two mutations in the H1N1 avian flu virus were critical for viral transmission in humans during the 1918 pandemic outbreak that killed at least 50 million people.

Huge proportion of maternal deaths worldwide are preventable
A study published in PLoS Medicine this week suggests that of women who die during pregnancy and childbirth in sub-Saharan Africa, more may die from treatable infectious diseases than from conditions directly linked to pregnancy.

Nuclear medicine now safer than ever
Hospitals are now able to ensure that the correct dose is administered to the 670,000 patients that undergo nuclear medicine procedures every year due to a new device

Assessing the impact of prescribed medicines on health outcomes
This paper reviews methods that can be used to assess the impact of medicine use on population health outcomes.

Patient expectations for placebo treatments commonly used in osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) clinical trials: a pilot study
This study aimed to determine expectations of 3 treatments (HVLA, placebo light touch, placebo sub-therapeutic ultrasound) commonly used in OMT clinical research trials.