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Playing Music To Premature Babies May Improve Feeding, Reduce Pain
As long as there have been babies, adults have crooned lullabies to soothe them. But research suggests music might also help premature infants learn to suckle better and reduce their pain.
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Dutch-Style System Would Make Health Funds Compete For Medicare Funding
Australians should be able to receive Medicare-type benefits directly from the private health fund of their choice, according to the authors of an article published in the Medical Journal of Australia.
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Misdiagnosis Of Disorders Of Consciousness Still Commonplace
A sixteen-month study of consensus-based diagnosis of patients with disorders of consciousness has shown that 41% of cases of minimally conscious state (MCS) were misdiagnosed as vegetative state (VS), a condition associated with a much lower chance of recovery. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Neurology have demonstrated that standardized neurobehavioral assessment is more sensitive than diagnoses determined by clinical consensus.
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FDA Approves Effient To Reduce The Risk Of Heart Attack In Angioplasty Patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the blood-thinning drug Effient tablets (prasugrel) to reduce the risk of blood clots from forming in patients who undergo angioplasty, a common procedure to unblock a clogged coronary artery. During an angioplasty, a balloon is used to open the artery that has been narrowed by atherosclerotic plaque.Often, a tiny wire mesh scaffold (stent) is inserted into the blood vessel to help keep the artery open after the procedure. Platelets in the blood can clump around the procedure site, causing clots that can lead to heart attack, stroke, and death. Effient was studied in a 13,608-patient trial comparing it to the blood-thinning drug, Plavix (clopidogrel), in patients with a threatened heart attack or an actual heart attack who were about to undergo angioplasty. The fraction of patients who had subsequent non-fatal heart attacks was reduced from 9.1 percent in patients who received Plavix to 7.0 percent in patients who received Effient.While the numbers of deaths and strokes were similar with both drugs, patients with a history of stroke were more likely to have another stroke while taking Effient. In addition, there was a greater risk of significant, sometimes fatal bleeding seen in patients who took Effient. "Effient offers physicians an alternative treatment for preventing dangerous blood clots from forming and causing a heart attack or stroke during or after an angioplasty procedure," said John Jenkins, M.D., director of the Office of New Drugs, in the FDA"s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research."Physicians must carefully weigh the potential benefits and risks of Effient as they decide which patients should receive the drug." The drug"s labeling will include a boxed warning alerting physicians that the drug can cause significant, sometimes fatal, bleeding. The drug should not be used in patients with active pathological bleeding, a history of mini-strokes (transient ischemic attacks) or stroke, or urgent need for surgery, including coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Effient is manufactured by Eli Lilly and Company of Indianapolis, in partnership with Tokyo-based Daiichi Sankyo Ltd. U.S. Food and Drug Administration


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