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Six patients are the focus of this report defining the neuropathic side effects of thalidomide treatment in multiple myeloma. All patients developed a pure or predominant sensory polyneuropathy while on thalidomide. Thalidomide can induce an axonal sensory neuropathy or, infrequently, a ganglionopathy.
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Although infectious agents are not widely believed to be the primary cause of Alzheimers disease (AD), some evidence implicates certain neurotrophic viruses and bacteria as possible contributing factors. Canadian investigators Loeb and colleagues suggest that Chlamydia pneumonia infection might play a role in AD. They carried out a randomized, blinded, and placebo-controlled trial testing whether antichlamydial antibiotics (rifampin/doxycycline) could serve as a potential therapy for patients with mild-to-moderate AD.
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Although there are no approved medications to treat levodopa-induced dyskinesias, several strategies are commonly used. Reducing the interval and amount of each dose of levodopa, maximizing the dose
of dopamine agonists, and even liquefying the daily levodopa and giving it in small hourly increments are useful in selected patients. The present study evaluates clozapine in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial as a treatment for levodopa-induced dyskinesias.
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University of Michigan (UM) researchers said at the annual scientific session of the American College of Cardiology held March 7-10 in New Orleans that HIPAA has significantly affected their ability to study heart attack patients after they are discharged from the hospital.
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The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), which advises the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on issues related to administrative simplification under HIPAA, says the agency should show continued patience as covered entities continue to make progress in implementation of the HIPAA transactions and code sets (TCS) requirements.
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When access personnel at the University Hospital of Arkansas in Little Rock decided they would benefit from having their own resource web site, they sent the proposal to the information technology (IT) department, says Holly Jones, CHAM, a revenue integrity specialist (RIS) given the task of overseeing the project.
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An all-employee guest-relations program at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago aims to increase both the hospitals market share and its Press Ganey Associates patient satisfaction scores.
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At least two state legislatures have taken action in recent weeks regarding free or discounted health care services for uninsured patients, according to reports in the on-line news service, AHA News Now.
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As part of the financial aid program at the New Orleans-based Touro Infirmary, there is a clinic for uninsured or underinsured patients, says Beth Keith, CHAM, director of patient business services.
