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

Quality Measures Improve Outcomes More Than Hospital Volume Alone
A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and Baystate Medical Center at Tufts University in Massachusetts concludes that patients facing coronary artery bypass surgery should, as a first priority, select a medical facility that has the highest adherence to quality standards.
generic viagra online
Johns Hopkins Scientists Out A Gene For Gout
Having partnered last year with an international team that surveyed the genomes of 12,000 individuals to find a genetic cause for gout, Johns Hopkins scientists now have shown that the malfunctioning gene they helped uncover can lead to high concentrations of blood urate that forms crystals in joint tissue, causing inflammation and pain - the hallmark of this disease.
News of the day
Medicare Tapped For Savings To Cover Reform Costs, Again
In his weekly Internet and radio address Saturday, President Obama announced a plan to cut $313 billion in Medicare and Medicaid spending over the next decade as a way to raise money for overhauling the health care system and covering millions of the uninsured, the Los Angeles Times reports. The largest savings include "increased efficiencies in the system," cuts to subsidies paid to hospitals for treating the uninsured, cuts to prices the government pays for prescription drugs for seniors. The paper adds: "the proposal -- which includes potential cuts to hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and other providers -- also underscores the political delicacy of the administration"s search for money for a massive healthcare overhaul that could cost more than $1.2 trillion over the next decade" (Levey, 6/15).
Public Health

Sedatives May Increase Suicide Risk In Older Patients

Sleeping tablets have been associated with a four-fold increase in suicide risk in the elderly. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Geriatrics have shown that, even after adjusting for the presence of psychiatric conditions, sedatives and hypnotics were both associated with an increased risk of suicide. Anders Carlsten and Margda Waern from Gothenburg University carried out a case control study to determine whether specific types of psychoactive drugs were associated with suicide risk in later life. According to Carlsten, "Sedative treatment was associated with an almost fourteen-fold increase of suicide risk in the crude analyses and remained an independent risk factor for suicide even after adjustment for the presence of mental disorders. Having a current prescription for a hypnotic was associated with a four-fold increase in suicide risk in the adjusted model". The researchers speculate that the drugs may raise suicide risk by triggering aggressive or impulsive behavior, or by providing the means for people to take an overdose. They also point out the possibility that these drugs may merely be markers for some other factor related to suicide risk, such as somatic illness, functional disability, alcohol use disorder, interpersonal problems, lack of social network or sleep disturbance. Carlsten said, "Persons with these problems might be more likely to seek health care and perhaps more likely to receive prescriptions for psychotropic drugs. However, given the extremely high prescription rates for these drugs, a careful evaluation of the suicide risk should always precede prescribing a sedative or hypnotic to an elderly individual". Reference: Are sedatives and hypnotics associated with increased suicide risk in the elderly? Anders Carlsten and Margda Waern BMC Geriatrics (in press) http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcgeriatr/ Graeme Baldwin BioMed Central


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

© Copyright 2009