Healthy men 55+ sought for paid research
Some studies show that when you get cold, you burn more calories to keep your body warm. A kind of body fat called brown fat may be especially good at burning calories. Brown fat is a special kind of fat, typically having a greater number of blood vessels, that can quickly generate warmth. For many years, hibernating animals and infants have been known to have brown fat. Recently, it has ... READ MORE
Why is ‘more study’ so often needed?
Q: Why is it that I so often hear about medical news with a wishy-washy conclusion and the last words being “more study needed”? A: It’s true. When medical research is described in the news — no matter how promising — the last line is usually a disclaimer about how more research is needed. That may seem surprising given the positive results and often dramatic implications of ... READ MORE
Tailored treatments for hard-to-treat cancer
Perhaps chemotherapy was successful at first, but now the cancer is back and growing quickly. Or radiation failed to obliterate all of a tumor. Patients who may have been told that there is nothing else doctors can do are now being sought for a trial of targeted drugs matched to their genetic profiles. A study launched last fall, the Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry... READ MORE
Testing acupuncture against side effects
Studies have shown that complementary medical therapies, such as acupuncture, can be highly effective in controlling symptoms of disease without the unpleasant side effects many traditional therapies have. GBMC and Mend Acupuncture are currently conducting a study to look at the use of acupuncture during cancer treatment as a cost-effective, non-drug tool for symptom management. The... READ MORE
Care for hip fracture patients with dementia
Since 1983, researchers in the Division of Gerontology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, have been gathering data on more than 2,000 hip fracture patients with the goal of identifying promising ways to improve their recovery. The University of Maryland and the National Institute on Aging are currently recruiting participants for a pilot study that will evaluate a home-based... READ MORE
Easing agitation in Alzheimer’s patients
Anxiety and agitation are commonly found in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. These behavioral changes may be caused by different medical conditions, medication interactions, or circumstances that continue to worsen the person’s ability to think. As an individual with dementia is biologically experiencing a loss of their ability to negotiate new information and different stimuli,... READ MORE
Massive study seeks 1 million volunteers
In a quest to end cookie-cutter healthcare, U.S. researchers are getting ready to recruit more than 1 million people for an unprecedented study to learn how our genes, environments and lifestyles interact — and to finally customize ways to prevent and treat disease. Why does one sibling get sick but not another? Why does a drug cure one patient but only cause nasty side effects in the... READ MORE
