Smallpox may be gone but U.S. should better prepare for its return, report says
Nearly 5 decades after the last documented case, smallpox remains the only human disease that has been officially eradicated. But a new report concludes that the United States can do much to strengthen its ability to respond if the dreaded disease resurfaces, whether naturally, through a lab “leak” of the responsible virus, or from an act of terrorism. The authors of the smallpox report, however, do not offer a recommendation on the long-running debate over whether the only two labs that still hold samples of variola, the smallpox virus, should destroy them for safety reasons—that issue was outside th...
Source: ScienceNOW - March 26, 2024 Category: Science Source Type: news

Shooter who committed Maine's deadliest shooting had physical signs of traumatic brain injury
An Army reservist who shot and killed 18 people in Maine last year had evidence of traumatic brain injuries, according to a brain tissue analysis by researchers from Boston University. There was degeneration in the nerve fibers that allow for communication between different areas of the brain,…#army #maine #bostonuniversity #annmckee #bostonuniversitys #robertcard #card #pentagon #lewiston #janetmills (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - March 7, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

How Long Should You Isolate With COVID-19? Experts Are Split
Since 2021, people with COVID-19 have been told to isolate themselves for at least five days to avoid spreading the disease. But that practice may soon join most mask mandates as relics of the peak pandemic era. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is said to be weighing a new, symptom-based approach to isolation for the general public, the Washington Post reported on Feb. 13. Under that potential approach, which may be rolled out for public feedback this spring, people could leave home when their symptoms are mild and improving and they’ve been fever-free for at least 24 hours without medicat...
Source: TIME: Health - February 15, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jamie Ducharme Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news

Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Tied to a Range of Cancers
NEW YORK — Military personnel stationed at Camp Lejeune from 1975 to 1985 had at least a 20% higher risk for a number of cancers than those stationed elsewhere, federal health officials said Wednesday in a long-awaited study about the North Carolina base’s contaminated drinking water. Federal health officials called the research one the largest ever done in the United States to assess cancer risk by comparing a group who live and worked in a polluted environment to a similar group that did not. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The study found military personnel stationed at U.S. Marine Corps ...
Source: TIME: Health - February 1, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Mike Stobbe/AP Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate wire Source Type: news

Will new CPT codes spark utilization of quantitative MRI?
Efforts to bring quantitative MRI analysis into clinical practice received a boost with the availability of two new Category III Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes for brain MRI. Effective January 1, 2024, the new codes, 0865T and 0866T, support the use of software to analyze brain MRI exams with comparison to prior studies. AI software would qualify under the Category III CPT codes, which are for new and emerging technology: 0865T -- qMRI analysis of the brain with comparison to prior MR study(ies), including lesion identification, characterization, and quantification, with brain volume(s) quantification and/o...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - January 30, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Liz Carey Tags: Artificial Intelligence SENL Source Type: news

Most Women Say Clinicians Have Conversations About Breast Density
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 3, 2024 -- Most women report that their clinicians counsel them about breast density, according to a study published online Nov. 27 in JAMA Network Open.Nancy R. Kressin, Ph.D., from Boston University School of Medicine, and... (Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News)
Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News - January 3, 2024 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news

MRI reveals how football head injuries may lead to dementia
Thumbnail: From here https://www.auntminnie.com/clinical-news/molecular-imaging/article/15636058/pet-study-questions-equity-of-nfls-concussion-settlementSigns of injury to the brain's white matter called white matter hyperintensities, as seen on brain scans, may be tied more strongly to vascular risk factors, brain shrinkage, and other markers of dementia in former tackle football players than in those who did not play football.The results add to previous research that has evaluated the effect of repeated head injuries, senior author Michale Alosco, PhD, of Boston University said in a statement released by the journal. The...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - December 22, 2023 Category: Radiology Authors: Kate Madden Yee Tags: Subspecialties Neuroradiology Source Type: news

Diversity initiatives in America are foundering
L are admirable in any organisation; just don’t forget the deliverables. Ibram X. Kendi managed the first part in pledging to “solve seemingly intractable racial problems of our time” when Boston University ( ) hired him in 2020. The scholar-activist—who says that racial disparities result from…#xkendi #bostonuniversity #saidagrundy #bostonglobe #phillipecopeland #donaldtrumps #georgefloyds #heritagefoundation #joebidens #democrats (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - December 11, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

What parents of young athletes with repeated head injuries wish they had known earlier
For years, researchers have studied the effects repeated blows to the head have on athletes in pro football, hockey, soccer and other sports. Now, researchers at Boston University are conducting the first major study of CTE, the degenerative brain disease linked to repeated hits to the head, in…#bostonuniversity #cte #johnyang (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - November 25, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

AI model identifies high-risk lung cancer in nonsmokers
In this study, the researchers externally validated the model in a separate group of never-smokers who underwent routine outpatient chest x-rays from 2013 to 2014. The primary outcome was six-year incident lung cancer, identified using International Classification of Disease codes. Risk scores were then converted to low, moderate, and high-risk groups based on externally derived risk thresholds. Of 17,407 patients (mean age 63 years) included in the study, 28% were deemed high risk by the deep learning model, and 2.9% of these patients later had a diagnosis of lung cancer, according to the findings. In addition, the high-...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - November 22, 2023 Category: Radiology Authors: Will Morton Tags: 2023 Source Type: news

COVID Vaccine Won't Raise Miscarriage Risk
TUESDAY, Nov. 7, 2023 – A new study provides deeper insight into the safety of COVID-19 vaccines for people planning to become pregnant.Boston University researchers found no increased risk of early or late-term miscarriage resulting from either... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews - November 7, 2023 Category: General Medicine Source Type: news

Studio boss David Zaslav ’s tactics have made him a villain in Hollywood. But will he be the turnaround CEO that Warner Bros. Discovery needs?
Since he took the helm of the newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery last year, the headlines about CEO David Zaslav have been relentlessly cringeworthy. Watch him being booed through his commencement address at Boston University. Read the toe-curling Atlantic profile of his handpicked CNN leader,…#warnerbros #discovery #davidzaslav #bostonuniversity #atlantic #hollywood #sagaftra #manhattan #wbd #warnermedia (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - October 13, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

Hair Relaxers' Cancer Risk; Genetic Test Aids Rural Care; Drug Negotiation Fallout?
(MedPage Today) -- Regular use of chemical hair relaxers by Black women increased their risk of uterine cancer by 50%. (Boston University, Environmental Research) Adding the immune activator BXCL701 to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) significantly improved... (Source: MedPage Today Hematology/Oncology)
Source: MedPage Today Hematology/Oncology - October 13, 2023 Category: Hematology Source Type: news

Study: Chemical hair relaxers may put Black women at higher risk for uterine cancer
Black women ' s long-term use of some chemical hair relaxers at least twice a year has been associated with a higher risk of uterine cancer, according to a new study done by Boston University. (Source: Health News - UPI.com)
Source: Health News - UPI.com - October 11, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news

Expert talks radiology unionization with AuntMinnie.com
Unionization in many fields of work has been a topic of interest in 2023, and this includes radiology, with more residency and fellowship training programs at least considering unionization. Priscilla Slanetz, MD, from the Boston University Medical Center recently wrote a commentary piece published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology which gathered opinions from thought leaders on the impact of unionization on radiology residency education. The commentary highlighted the pros and cons of unions in this area and addressed what residents need to consider before moving to unionize.  (Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines)
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - October 11, 2023 Category: Radiology Authors: Amerigo Allegretto Tags: Practice Management Careers Imaging Leaders Source Type: news