Better Use of Electronic Health Records Makes Clinical Trials Less Expensive
Using electronic health records to understand the best available treatment for patients, from a range of possible options, is more efficient and less costly for taxpayers than the existing clinical trial process, a new study shows. Research led by Professor van Staa, carried out while he was a member of the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) and who is now based at The University of Manchester's Health eResearch Centre, published in Health Technology Assessment (HTA) looked at the use of statins in 300 people with high risk of cardiovascular disease by tracking their electronic records.
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'Big Data' Technique Improves Monitoring of Kidney Transplant Patients
A new data analysis technique radically improves monitoring of kidney patients, according to a University of Leeds-led study, and could lead to profound changes in the way we understand our health. The research, published in the journal PLoS Computational Biology, provides a way of making sense out of the huge number of clues about a kidney transplant patient's prognosis contained in their blood.
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Computer-Aided Diagnosis of Rare Genetic Disorders from Family Snaps
Computer analysis of photographs could help doctors diagnose which condition a child with a rare genetic disorder has, say Oxford University researchers. The researchers, funded in part by the Medical Research Council (MRC), have come up with a computer programme that recognises facial features in photographs; looks for similarities with facial structures for various conditions, such as Down's syndrome, Angelman syndrome, or Progeria; and returns possible matches ranked by likelihood.
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Scientists Break the Genetic Code for Diabetes in Greenland
New Danish genetics research explains the high incidence of type 2 diabetes in the Greenlandic population. The ground-breaking findings have just been published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature. A spectacular piece of detective work has mapped a special gene variant among Greenlanders which plays a particularly important role in the development of type 2 diabetes.
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'Virtual Human' Shows that Stiff Arteries can Explain the Cause of High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is highly age-related and affects more than 1 billion people worldwide. But doctors can't fully explain the cause of 90 per cent of all cases. A computer model of a "virtual human" suggests that stiff arteries alone are enough to cause high blood pressure.
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New Sensor could Light the Way Forward in Low-Cost Medical Imaging
New research published in Nature's Scientific Reports, identifies a new type of light sensor that could allow medical and security imaging, via low cost cameras. The team of researchers from the University of Surrey have developed a new 'multispectral' light sensor that detects the full spectrum of light, from ultra-violet (UV), to visible and near infrared light.
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Appeal of Well-Being Applications Often Short-Lived
According to a doctoral thesis by Research Scientist Kirsikka Kaipainen from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, online and mobile applications for stress management and healthy eating reach a large number of users but their appeal tends to be short-lived. Applications can contribute to improved well-being and provide support for behavioural changes as long as they are simple, attractive and easy to integrate into everyday life.
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