Current medical news and unique business news for anyone who cares about healthcare.
More fuel for the use of anesthesia and children debate. In a Mayo Clinic study of 1,050 children, researchers determined that children who received multiple doses of anesthesia before the age of two were twice as likely to develop a learning disability than those who did not. Researchers are still unable to determine whether the disabilities were caused by the anesthesia or the condition which required them to have the medical procedure in the first place.
The question of whether the use of anesthesia is detrimental to children arose in 2009 when a group consisting of many of the same researchers released a study that children under 4 who received it were more at-risk for learning disabilities.
Drug shortages and clinical trials. Drug shortages affect more than just current patients — they affect future patients, too. Clinical trials have been hit hard by the recent shortages; National Cancer Institute studies have run out or run low on numerous cancer therapies, including Johnson & Johnson’s ovarian cancer treatment Doxil, which is used as a control or in combination with a trial drug in 96 clinical trials.
Detecting Alzheimer’s through fats. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University say they’ve linked the progression of Alzheimer’s disease to two kinds of fats in the blood, allowing them to predict when patients would lose their cognitive function. In a study of 120 patients, the researchers performed lipid tests and cognitive assessments and found that over two years, those with high levels of one fat and low levels of the other experienced slower cognitive decline.
Data-mining for heart attack risk. Researchers have developed data-mining and machine-learning techniques to detect changes in cardiac activity that could indicate risk for heart failure. Using these biomarkers, researchers believe they could predict 50% more deaths than with traditional assessment techniques.
Legal win for Pfizer. Pfizer won a big case last week when a New Jersey appellate court ruled that it did not mislead patients or doctors with its hormone-replacement drugs Premarin, Prempro and Provera, upholding a 2008 ruling. Two women sued Pfizer, claiming the drugs led them to develop breast cancer. The decision could affect 150 other similar lawsuits filed in New Jersey.
