A new study shows that altered blood flow in the brain due to high blood pressure and other conditions may lead to falls in elderly people. The research will be published in the May 18, 2010, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Each year, unintentional falls in the United States account for more than 16,000 deaths and 1.8 million emergency room visits. "At age 60, 85 percent of people have a normal walking ability. However, by age 85, only 18 percent of seniors can walk normally," said study author Farzaneh A...

NICE has launched a consultation on its quality standard for specialist neonatal care[1]. The four-week consultation period will also include field testing; this involves NICE implementation consultants visiting service providers and exploring how the standard can be effectively and successfully put into practice. NICE quality standards are markers of high quality care. They are produced collaboratively with the NHS and social care professionals, along with their partners and service users...

New advice is being developed to improve NHS standards on sedating anxious young patients. There is currently no national guidance, which means those aged 19 and under who need sedation before a therapeutic or diagnostic procedure might be given drugs that may be ineffective or unsafe. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published draft recommendations for the NHS on the safe and effective use of sedation for children and young people aged up to 19 years. These are now open for consultation with final guidance to be published towards the end of the year...

It is important that children and young people play and get exercise outdoors [1], but each year in the UK more than 450,000 children and young people visit emergency departments after injuring themselves while playing outside.[2] These unintentional injuries to children and young people in outdoor settings can be prevented with better safety information, advice and education, according to new draft guidance. This draft guidance has been issued for public consultation by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)...

Vocal cord paresis, also known asvocal cord paralysis is the inability of one or both vocal cords (vocal folds) to move. It can greatly impact on the daily life of the sufferer, including employment, choice of job, social interactions and leisure time activities. The damage is caused by damage to nerves going to the vocal cord - the nerve impulses in the larynx (voice box) are interrupted, resulting in paralysis of the vocal cord muscles. It can also be caused by brain damage...

Google Flu Trends is not as accurate at estimating rates of laboratory-confirmed influenza as CDC national surveillance programs, according to a new study from the University of Washington. The findings will be reported at the ATS 2010 International Conference in New Orleans. "We knew from the Google Flu Trends validation study that it is highly correlated with surveillance for the non-specific syndrome of influenza-like illness," said Justin Ortiz, M.D., clinical fellow at the University of Washington who led the study...

In light of the recent passage of healthcare reform legislation, the Tri-Council for Nursing has issued a timely consensus statement calling for all registered nurses to advance their education in the interest of enhancing quality and safety across healthcare settings...

Hospira, Inc. (NYSE: HSP), a leading global specialty pharmaceutical and medication delivery company, will expand its commitment to non-DEHP (non-di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate) products by transitioning customers to its portfolio of non-DEHP intravenous (I.V.) administration sets. This effort reflects the company's focus on patient safety, increased customer efficiency and reduced impact on the environment, and coincides with the CleanMed global conference on environmentally sustainable healthcare, which took place this week in Baltimore...

You expect to find leading experts in the fields of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine presenting their research at the annual ATS International Conference-physicians and professors, basic scientists, fellows and post-docs, certainly. High school students? Not so much. But this year, Wynton Kun, who turned 18 in April and will graduate from high school on May 28, will be presenting his original research on the medical necessity and cost effectiveness of repeated chest x-rays in children who are dependent on home mechanical ventilation (HMV)...

University of Michigan Health System cardiovascular medicine specialist Robert D. Brook, M.D., will speak on Capitol Hill during the 40th anniversary celebration of the Clean Air Act hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the American Heart Association. Research by Brook, an associate professor of internal medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at U-M, adds to the growing evidence that pollution from industry, traffic and power generation causes damaging strokes and heart attacks...

Tranzyme Pharma announced that Philippa Charlton, MD, Tranzyme's Medical Director, and her colleagues G. Bochicchio, J.C. Pezullo, G. Kosutic, and A. Senagore, will present a poster entitled "The Prokinetic Agent TZP-101 (a Ghrelin Agonist) Accelerates GI Recovery in Partial Colectomy Patients Independently of Total Opioid Use and Type of Surgery" at the upcoming 2010 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS; Minneapolis, May 15-19). The poster session will be held on Tuesday, May 18th in Exhibit Hall B of the Minneapolis Convention Center...

At the 32rd OEGHMP annual meeting opening here today, Bruker announces that its MALDI Biotyper workflow for microbial identification in clinical microbiology has been selected by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) for MALDI-TOF based analyses of microorganisms. AGES is responsible for several tasks in regard to public health and food safety for the Austrian government. The organization researches, analyzes and performs inspections according to the policy guidelines of Austrian Food Laws...

Perfect for mind and body rejuvenation, yoga uses meditation and aligning movements to encourage fitness and relaxation. This low-impact fitness alternative allows pregnant women to continue an exercise regimen without putting strain on their heart or harming the baby. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), the rewards of basic yoga outweigh the potential physical risks, as long as you take caution and perform the exercises in moderation, according to your individual flexibility level...

Half (46 per cent) of primary school pupils with Type 1 diabetes, and a third (29 per cent) of their secondary school counterparts, report their parents have had to reduce hours or give up work to help them administer life-saving insulin injections, according to a new report released today by Diabetes UK...

An NHS Trust has been fined after a mother who had just given birth died when she was given the wrong drug. Great Western Hospitals NHS Trust was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after 30-year-old Mayra Cabrera died at the Marlborough Road hospital in Swindon on 11 May 2004. Mrs Cabrera, who was also a nurse at the hospital, was given an epidural drug in her arm instead of a saline solution. She died an hour later following medical complications caused by the drug mix-up...

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists announced the release of the fifth edition of Your Pregnancy and Childbirth: Month to Month. The newly revised version of this comprehensive, medically-vetted pregnancy book presents the most up-to-date guidance from ob-gyn experts in a more user-friendly format. The College has also launched a companion website, http://www.yourpregnancyandchildbirth.com, where women can find more information and interactive tools to help them navigate pregnancy...

Today, during The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' 58th Annual Clinical Meeting, obstetrician-gynecologist experts in reproductive health spoke about the significance of the birth control pill to women, society, and medicine overall. Fifty years ago this month, the first oral contraceptive was approved for use in the US. Since that time, millions of women have used the pill, and for decades it has remained the leading form of contraception used by women in this country...

A World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution on Chagas disease control and elimination, to be adopted this week, is a step in the right direction but does not go far enough to fully tackle the disease since it focuses only on prevention, the international medial humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Drugs for Neglected Disease initiative (DNDi) said today...

Primary care holds the answer to saving costs and improving productivity in the NHS and the new coalition government should make it a priority, says Dr Michael Dixon, chairman of the NHS Alliance, in his address to the Annual Conference of the Community Hospitals Association in Preston today. Dr Dixon will say: "Everyone knows that we must save money, but cuts in primary care would destroy the very means of reducing costs and expensive acute hospital care. Indeed, we need more care to be provided locally, rather than in hospitals...