diagnosis

Stories 21 - 35 | << Prev 

Next-Gen Diagnostic Tool: Your Breath

High-tech tests can detect growing number of illnesses

(Newser) - Doctors since ancient times have been able to detect ailments from the smell of a patient's breath, and the practice is now getting a boost from 21st-century technology, the Wall Street Journal finds. Researchers are identifying thousands of compounds that leave traces in exhaled breath and developing tools that...

Induced Labor Lets Dying Dad See Baby

Texas man with colon cancer wept holding child

(Newser) - A Texas man with only a few days left to live held his newborn baby daughter for the first time—because his wife had her labor induced two weeks early, the AP reports. Holding tiny Savannah in a hospital bed, Mark Aulger "cried, and he just looked very sad,...

Sleuths Unravel Darwin's Illnesses

One factor: He picked up a bug on his Beagle voyage

(Newser) - Charles Darwin's voyage on the HMS Beagle brought him evolutionary insights, fame, and a nasty parasite that probably contributed to his death. Medical sleuths examining his symptoms say he likely contracted Chagas disease from a bug bite in 1835, reports the Wall Street Journal . The illness can lie dormant...

Millions on Antidepressants ... Without Right Diagnosis

Patients may face side effects without benefits: researchers

(Newser) - More than a quarter of Americans on antidepressants haven’t been diagnosed with depression, anxiety order, or any other condition that the drugs are intended to treat, a study finds. That means millions could face side effects without getting the drugs’ benefits, a researcher tells Reuters . In surveys of more...

My 'Best' Summer ... With Cancer
 My 'Best' Summer...With Cancer 
MARY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS
Aug 15, 2010 5:34 PM CDT

My 'Best' Summer...With Cancer

Author recounts her melanoma diagnosis last week

(Newser) - It took nothing more than a bump on the head to grind Mary Elizabeth Williams' "best summer of my life" to a halt last week, she writes for Salon. "I hypochondriacally Googled 'infected cuts,' " she writes, never dreaming her search term should have been "cancer"...

New Test Predicts Alzheimer’s

Three markers in spinal fluid may help in development of treatment

(Newser) - The presence of certain biomarkers in spinal fluid can predict the development of Alzheimer's disease, even in patients who display no symptoms, according to breakthrough research being published tomorrow. "This is what everyone is looking for, the bull’s eye of perfect predictive accuracy," a doctor not connected...

Ovarian Cancer Breakthrough Raises Hopes

New use for old test: early diagnosis of deadly disease

(Newser) - Combining an existing blood test for ovarian cancer with a new screening protocol may lead to a reliable way to diagnose the deadly disease in its early stages, a new study says. "This is an important step forward," the lead researcher tells the Houston Chronicle . " This may...

Libyans Paid for Lockerbie Bomber's Terminal Diagnosis

Pressed docs to find that al-Megrahi had just 3 months to live

(Newser) - Libya footed the bill for medical evidence that suggested the Lockerbie bomber had just 3 months to live, the Sunday Telegraph reports. The Libyan government pushed doctors to make the prognosis, required in Scotland for the release of prisoners on grounds of compassion. “The figure of three months was...

Food Allergies? 75% Are Bogus
Food Allergies? 75% Are Bogus
Jul 20, 2009 8:24 AM CDT

Food Allergies? 75% Are Bogus

Inaccurate testing results in huge number of misdiagnoses, experts say

(Newser) - Food allergies are on the rise, but faulty tests are behind much of that increase, the Los Angeles Times reports. Eating controlled amounts of a certain food under medical supervision is the only way of knowing whether you’re allergic to it, but primary-care doctors are more likely to employ...

Eggbeater Helps Scientists Whip Disease

Harvard researchers fashion a household item into a diagnostic device

(Newser) - Centrifuges separate blood from plasma—but at considerable expense, in a bulky package. That leaves them beyond the reach of underfunded medical facilities that could use the help in diagnosing blood-borne ailments, such as hepatitis and other diseases. The solution, Discover reports, could be as close as the nearest kitchen....

Kennedy Diagnosis Still in Works

Explanation could come today as senator remains in Boston hospital

(Newser) - Sen. Ted Kennedy remains in a Boston hospital today, four days after a seizure whose cause remains undiagnosed, the Herald reports. Results of medical tests done on the 76-year-old Democrat are expected today; Kennedy is likely to stay at Massachusetts General for a few more days before returning to his...

Medical Breathalyzer Tracks Disease
Medical Breathalyzer Tracks Disease
Feb 19, 2008 2:19 PM CST

Medical Breathalyzer Tracks Disease

Breakthrough technique uses lasers to test for biomarkers of illness

(Newser) - Diagnosing diseases such as asthma and cancer may become quicker and easier thanks to a new device that analyzes a patient's breath. By shooting lasers as the gas molecules in a person's breath, doctors will be able to analyze the composition of the gas and search for biological markers of...

Blood Test Predicts Alzheimer's
Blood Test Predicts Alzheimer's
Oct 15, 2007 3:24 AM CDT

Blood Test Predicts Alzheimer's

Breakthrough diagnosis could aid treatment

(Newser) - A new blood test not only diagnoses Alzheimer's, but it can predict with 91% accuracy who will suffer from the disease in the future, reports the San Jose Mercury News. The test, developed by San Francisco company Satoris, identifies the disease by detecting unusual activity in 18 proteins associated with...

Breast Cancer Death Rates Continue to Drop

Cases dipped most dramatically for women over 50

(Newser) - Breast cancer mortality rates have continued to drop 2% a year, according to the latest statistics from the American Cancer Society.  Diagnoses also fell 3.7% annually, both because fewer women were on hormone therapy which could have triggered more cases and because 2% fewer women were getting mammograms,...

Two Docs' Heads Are Better Than 1
Two Docs' Heads Are Better Than 1
Sep 7, 2007 1:56 PM CDT

Two Docs' Heads Are Better Than 1

Always seek out a second opinion after these tricky diagnoses

(Newser) - When diagnosis is difficult, the procedure is risky, or less-invasive alternatives are available, a second opinion is essential. CNN lists five diagnoses that should send up red flags:
  1. Heart-bypass surgery: Alternatives may be better for some patients.
  2. Hysterectomy: The uterus isn't always the problem, and when it is, less dramatic
...

Stories 21 - 35 | << Prev 
Most Read on Newser