New England Journal of Medicine news stories on Newser

Aggressive Treatment Doesn't Help Diabetics

Emily Rauhala — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:39:00 CDT

Rigorous treatment to lower blood pressure or cholesterol below current guidelines does not benefit—and may actually hurt—diabetics, a new study shows. The findings, published online in the New England Journal of Medicine , suggest doctors may have to find new ways to treat diabetic patients. But that's not entirely...

Decoding of Genome Fails to Yield Promised Cures

John Johnson — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:36:32 CDT

The promised age of unlocking the mystery of common diseases through DNA appears to have a hit a disappointing roadblock, the New York Times reports. As a result, companies that bill people to provide a personal genomic profile—and theoretically warn them of their risk to illness—are practicing nothing...

Many Medicare Patients Leave Hospital, Then Quickly Return

Jason Farago — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:30:49 CDT

One-third of all Medicare patients hospitalized each year are readmitted within 90 days of being discharged, costing taxpayers billions of dollars annually, a new study found. Meanwhile, half of patients who went back in the first month after treatment had not seen a doctor in the interim. "Given the current...

Docs Foresee Trouble With Digitizing Records

Clay Dillow — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:27:26 CDT

The administration's push to digitize health records is raising red flags with an important constituency: doctors. "We have a long way to go," said the lead author of a report out today that shows only 9% of hospitals have computerized records. His article is part of a 1-2 punch in...

Surgery Checklist Saves Lives ... and Maybe $25B

Peter Fearon — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:25:01 CST

It sounds like a no-brainer, but surgical teams who use a simple checklist similar to those employed by flight crews reduced deaths and complications by a stunning 33%, according to an international study. If every US hospital used the checklist, health care costs for treating avoidable complications could be cut...

Sex a Factor in Preemie Survival

Eleanor Villforth — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:53:26 CDT

Gestational age is not the only factor determining odds of a very premature baby's survival, a study finds. Being female, receiving lung-maturing steroids before birth, an extra 3½ ounces of weight and being a single birth all help as much as an extra week of pregnancy, the AP reports. The...

Old Blood Is Bad Blood: Study

Katherine Thompson — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:08:47 CDT

Donated blood may have a much shorter shelf life than previously thought, finds a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine . Transfusions using blood at least two weeks old increased heart-surgery patients' post-operative death risk by 30%, researchers discovered, though the current expiration date for blood is...

Antidepressant Studies Distort Drugs' Usefulness

Wesley Oliver — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:37:58 CST

Roughly half of the medical studies involving antidepressants that found little or no effect on patients have gone unpublished or had their findings mischaracterized as positive, a new study reveals. The emphasis on publishing only studies with glowing reviews gives patients and doctors a false sense of the effectiveness of...

Too Much Action Gives Gamers Wiiitis

Dustin Lushing — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 22:00:00 CDT

If you're suffering from tennis shoulder but the only tennis you've been playing is virtual, it could be too much Wii. The Nintendo video game with the innovative motion sensitive controller is putting a strain on players' wrists and shoulders—a condition one physician diagnosed as "wiiitis."