New study set to change how critically ill patients are treated

The current practice of intensively lowering blood glucose in critically ill patients increases the risk of death by 10%. Results of the largest trial of intensive glucose lowering in critically ill patients published today in The New England Journal of Medicine indicate that international clinical guidelines need urgent review. more  

Diabetics on high-fiber diets might need extra calcium

The amount of calcium your body absorbs might depend, in part, on the amount of dietary fiber you consume. more

Mayo researchers find link between anesthesia exposure and learning disabilities in children

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that children who require multiple surgeries under anesthesia during their first three years of life are at higher risk of developing learning disabilities later. Several studies have suggested that anesthetic drugs may cause abnormalities in the brains of young animals. This is the first study in humans to suggest that exposure of children to anesthesia may have similar consequences. The finding is reported in the current issue of the journal Anesthesiology. more  

Vertigo linked to osteoporosis

People who have osteoporosis are more likely to also have vertigo, according to a study published in the March 24, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. more

Time (and PPAR-beta/delta) heals all wounds  

Mammalian skin requires constant maintenance, but how do skin cells know when to proliferate and at what rate? In the March 23, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, Nguan Soon Tan and colleagues reveal that skin fibroblasts use a protein called PPARß/d to make sure overlying epithelial cells don't proliferate too quickly. Their results highlight how communications between different cell types are critical to maintain the skin as a barrier against the outside world. more

Researchers studying hearing loss in adult animals find that auditory regions of the brain convert to the sense of touch 

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers have discovered that adult animals with hearing loss actually re-route the sense of touch into the hearing parts of the brain. more

Don't rely on jaundiced eye for assessing newborns

For hundreds of years, doctors, nurses and midwives have visually examined newborn babies for the yellowish skin tones that signify jaundice, judging that more extensive jaundice carried a greater risk of illness. more

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