Rate of PSA Rise Predicts Death From Prostate Cancer After Surgery

The rate at which the PSA level rises during the year before prostate cancer is diagnosed appears to predict the risk of death after radical prostatectomy, new research suggests. A rise in PSA level of more than 2.0 ng/mL in a year was tied to a relatively high risk of death. 'This study provides, for the first time, solid evidence that PSA testing over a period of time is a reliable indicator of possible risk of death from prostate cancer,' lead author Dr. Anthony V. D'Amico, from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, told Reuters.Read more >>

IL-8 Plus CRP Measurement Reduces Unnecessary Antibiotic Tx...

Using a diagnostic algorithm that includes measurements of interleukin 8 (IL-8) in combination with C-reactive protein (CRP) reduces unnecessary antibiotic therapy in newborns, according to the results of a multicenter, randomized trial published in the July issue of Pediatrics. 'Neonatal bacterial infections carry a high mortality when diagnosed late,' write Axel R. Franz, MD, from the University of Ulm in Germany, and colleagues from the International IL-8 Study Group. 'Early diagnosis is difficult because initial clinical signs are nonspecific. Consequently, physicians frequently prescribe antibiotic treatment to newborn infants for fear of missing a life-threatening infection.' Read more >>

Autologous Stem Cells Improve Outcome After Myocardial Infarction

Injection of autologous bone marrow stem cells into the coronary arteries improves outcome after a myocardial infarction, according to the results of the BOOST randomized trial published in the July 10 issue of The Lancet. 'Our results lend support to the concept that autologous bone-marrow cells can be used to enhance left-ventricular functional recovery in patients after acute myocardial infarction,' senior author Helmut Drexler, from the University of Freiburg in Germany, says in a news release. 'Larger trials are needed to address the effect of bone-marrow cell transfer on clinical end points such as the incidence of heart failure and survival. Read more >>

'High Frequency' of Azithromycin-Resistant Mutation Found in Syphilis

In The New England Journal of Medicine this week, clinicians warn that some strains of Treponema pallidum, the bacterium that causes syphilis, have a mutation that makes them resistant to azithromycin.

'This is important because an increasing number of physicians are using azithromycin for treatment of patients with syphilis and for sexual contacts,' Dr. Sheila A. Lukehart, from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, told Reuters Health. Read more >>

Does someone prescribe Azithromycin in the V&D Departments in India?

Dextromethorphan, Diphenhydramine Ineffective for Child Cough

Neither dextromethorphan nor diphenhydramine was better than placebo in controlling nocturnal cough or in improving sleep quality for children, according to the results of a randomized trial published in the July issue of Pediatrics. Read more >>

New Scientist: Vaccine scandal revives cancer fear

Many millions more people than previously thought might have been given polio vaccine contaminated with a monkey virus linked to cancer. It has been known since 1960 that early doses of polio vaccine were widely contaminated with simian virus 40, or SV40, which infects macaque monkeys. Tens of millions of people in the US and an unknown number in other countries, including the UK, Australia and the former Soviet Union, may have been exposed prior to 1963.

Medscape: Asian AIDS Infections up as World Response Falters

AIDS is gaining ground, and Asia, with 60 percent of the world's population, has some of the sharpest rises in HIV infections, according to a United Nations report released on Tuesday.

"We are not doing well, at all," said Dr Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

"More people than ever are newly infected with HIV, more people than ever are dying and there is a globalisation of the epidemic outside Africa," he told Reuters. Read more >>

In India, HIV must be raging on. :(

Medscape: Dietitian Management Helpful in Obese Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

A dietitian-led lifestyle intervention for obese patients with type 2 diabetes may improve diverse health indicators, according to the results of a randomized controlled trial published in the July issue of Diabetes Care. Read more >>

Even my family could use a Dietitian!

Medscape: Sertraline helps in Post-Acute Coronary Syndrome

In patients with post-acute coronary syndrome, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) sertraline inhibits platelet function to a greater extent than placebo even when given with aspirin or clopidogrel, according to the results of a randomized trial published in the Aug. 26 issue of Circulation. Read more >>

Very useful to cardiologists!