Health Library

New Device May Show Doctors More of the Colon SATURDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- A new device that gives doctors a better view during colonoscopies may help them miss fewer suspicious growths during those exams, a new study shows. Colonoscopies are the recommended screening tests for colorectal cancer, which is the second leading cancer killer of men and women in the United States. To perform a colonoscopy, doctors use a long, flexible tube with a camera mounted on the end called a colonoscope to view...

Newer, Pricier Prostate Cancer Radiation No Better Than Old: Study MONDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- The costly form of radiation therapy that has become the norm for prostate cancer in the United States may be no better than the older, cheaper variety -- at least for some men, a new study suggests. Researchers found that among more than 1,000 U.S. men who had radiation therapy after prostate cancer surgery, the newer form -- known as intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) -- had no advantage over the...

Nighttime Docs at ICUs Don't Boost Patient Outcomes: Study MONDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- Although many hospital intensive care units have a nighttime attending physician on staff to help improve outcomes, new research suggests this may have no clear benefit to patients. Since one-third of teaching hospitals in the United States and three-quarters of hospitals in Europe staff a nighttime physician in the ICU, the practice may unnecessarily increase health-care costs while siphoning doctors away from...

Noise, Dirty Air May Be Double Whammy for the Heart MONDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- Air pollution and noise pollution both may boost the risk of heart disease, new research from Germany suggests. "Many studies have looked at air pollution, while others have looked at noise pollution," said Dr. Barbara Hoffmann, a professor of environmental epidemiology at IUF Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine and lead author of the new study. "This study looked at both at the same time and found t...

New Drug May Help Immune System Fight Cancer THURSDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental drug that taps the power of the body's immune system to fight cancer is shrinking tumors in patients for whom other treatments have failed, an early study shows. The drug binds to a protein called PD-L1 that sits on the surface of cancer cells and makes them invisible to the immune system, almost like a cloaking device. "That [the protein] allows the tumor cell to grow unchecked and cause harm to the patien...

Noisy Operating Rooms May Jeopardize Patient Safety WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- Background noise in the operating room -- such as the sounds of surgical equipment, chatter or music -- can affect surgeons' ability to understand what is being said to them and might result in a breakdown of communication among surgical team members, according to a new study. This is particularly worrisome since miscommunication is cited as a common reason for medical errors that could have been prevented, the stu...

Nearly Half of High Schoolers Text While Driving: Survey MONDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- Close to half of U.S high school students text while driving, a habit that dramatically increases their risk of getting into a potentially fatal car crash, a new study shows. Teens who reported texting while driving were more likely to engage in other risky driving behaviors such as driving under the influence of alcohol or not wearing a seat belt, the study also found. The research was published online May 13 an...

No Drop in Teens' Use of 'Smokeless' Tobacco TUESDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- About one in every 20 U.S. teens has used "smokeless" tobacco products such as chew or snuff, and that rate hasn't budged since 2000, a new report finds. Researchers led by Israel Agaku of the Harvard School of Public Health compared data from the 2000 and 2011 U.S. National Youth Tobacco Survey. The 2000 survey included nearly 36,000 students at 324 middle and high schools, while the 2011 survey included nearly 19,000 stud...

New Guidelines Say Doctors Should Screen All Adults for 'Risky' Drinking MONDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- Primary care doctors should screen all adults for drinking problems, and offer them counseling if needed, new guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force suggest. Based on years of research, there is enough evidence that a quick screen at the doctor's office can spot "risky" drinking, according to the task force, an independent panel of medical experts that makes recommendations on scr...

No Need to Toss Your Child's Toothbrush After Strep Throat, Study Suggests SATURDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- Parents often are advised to replace children's toothbrushes after they've had strep throat, but that might be misguided, a new study suggests. "It is probably unnecessary to throw away your toothbrush after a diagnosis of strep throat," study co-author Dr. Judith Rowen, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, said in a news release from the ...