No benefit to "nil by mouth" after surgery
There is no benefit in keeping patients "nil by mouth" (a period of starvation) after gastrointestinal surgery, suggests a study in this week's BMJ. These findings should challenge doctors to consider...
View ArticleEuropean Study Highlights Frequency Of Medical End-of-life Decisions In...
Authors of a study in this week's issue of THE LANCET illustrate how medical end-of-life decisions frequently precede dying in a range of European countries. There are few data about the frequency of...
View ArticleIdeal doses of IMRT defined to reduce treatment side effects for head and...
Results from a University of Pittsburgh study evaluating intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for head and neck cancer determined the ideal doses for lessening treatment side effects. (2005-10-19)
View ArticlePenn critical-care physicians recommend strategies when facing requests to...
Critical care physicians with the University of Pennsylvania Health System address a newly-emerging ethical dilemma in medicine-what should health care professionals do when faced with a request from a...
View Article3-D radiation treatment planning reduces feeding-tube use
Although current surgical techniques and multi-modality treatment regimens allow organ preservation for a growing number of patients with head and neck cancers, remaining dependent on a feeding tube...
View ArticleAcute pancreatitis and cholangitis: a complication caused by a migrated...
Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is generally considered to be safe with a low rate of serious complications. However, dislocation of a gastrostomy tube can lead to serious complications....
View ArticleStudy shows false memories complicate end-of-life treatment decisions
Advance directives, or living wills, may not effectively honor end-of-life wishes because life-sustaining treatment preferences often change over time without people being aware of the changes,...
View ArticleWithdrawal of life support often an imperfect compromise
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) doctors seeking to balance the complex needs of their patients and the patients' families may make an imperfect compromise, withdrawing life support systems over a prolonged...
View ArticleTargeting oxidized cysteine through diet could reduce inflammation and lower...
A team of scientists at Emory University School of Medicine has identified a direct link between oxidative stress and inflammatory signals in the blood. (2009-03-27)
View ArticleStudy: End-of-life care must reflect patient wishes and values
Researchers from Brown University and Harvard Medical School are calling for improved decision-making in the use of feeding tubes for hospitalized nursing home residents with advanced dementia....
View ArticleGiving DHA supplements to breastfeeding mothers
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid, is essential for the growth and development of infants' brains. Very premature infants may be deficient in DHA because they miss out on the third...
View ArticleU-M study achieves reduced side effects in head and neck cancer treatment
Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have applied advanced radiation techniques for head and neck cancer to avoid treating critical structures that affect swallowing...
View ArticleFamilies need information on feeding tubes for elderly dementia patients
In hundreds of interviews in five states with family members of persons who had advanced dementia, researchers found that their decision-making process for whether to insert a feeding tube often lacked...
View ArticleIntravenous nutrition in critically ill patients should be delayed, study finds
Patients in the intensive care unit who do not tolerate adequate nutrition from tube feeding should wait a week before receiving intravenous (IV) feeding because, compared with early IV feeding, it...
View ArticleAs probiotics use grows for gut health, VSL#3 has designations for specific...
As clinical studies continue to validate the use of probiotics to help promote general gastrointestinal health, a growing U.S. market1 for probiotics indicates that the U.S. healthcare community and...
View ArticleTube versus IV feeding in malnourished pediatric cancer patients
About 60 percent of pediatric cancer patients experience malnourishment during treatment. At that point, patients and families have a choice: tube feeding or IV nutrition supplement. (2013-02-14)
View ArticleGene therapy leads to robust improvements in animal model of fatal muscle...
Preclinical studies show that gene therapy can improve muscle strength in small- and large-animal models of a fatal congenital pediatric disease known as X-linked myotubular myopathy. (2014-01-23)
View ArticleNew guidelines and technology needed for placement of feeding tubes in...
Universal guidelines and improvements in technology are needed to reduce injuries and deaths from improper placement of nasogastric feeding tubes in pediatric patients, according to a comprehensive...
View ArticleGastrostomy tube not advised for advanced dementia or other near end-of-life...
Based on current scientific literature, gastrostomy tube (G-tube) placement or other long-term enteral access devices should be withheld or withdrawn in patients with advanced dementia or other near...
View ArticleAutistic features linked to prenatal exposure to fire retardants, phthalates
Exposure during pregnancy to a combination of fire retardant chemicals and phthalate chemicals--both present in the average home--can contribute to autistic-like behaviors in the offspring. (2015-03-06)
View Article
