All News

Group B streptococci (GBS) is still the dominant cause of neonatal bacterial meningitis, whereas Escherichia coli (E. coli) is the most common cause among preterm infants, according to a study published in the March issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

The use of progestin-estrogen oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) in women prior to becoming pregnant does not appear to increase the risk of adverse respiratory outcomes in offspring, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, held from March 18 to 22 in San Francisco.

Women with bipolar disorder who experience premenstrual exacerbation of their symptoms are more likely to have a worse course of illness, a shorter time to relapse, and more severe symptoms, according to a study published online Feb. 15 in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

When a physician has a "difficult" encounter with a patient, he or she is apt to attribute the problem to particular characteristics of the patient. However, a new study demonstrates that not only patient characteristics are associated with "difficult" encounters; certain physician factors also predict a difficult interaction.

When the US Food and Drug Administration approved Makena, a branded formulation of the synthetic progesterone 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone caproate on Feb. 4, obstetricians and maternal-fetal medicine specialists celebrated a perceived victory in the fight to reduce premature births.

Decades before genetic testing entered practice, clinicians recognized that certain families had an undue burden of breast and ovarian cancer, often featuring early-onset cases and male breast cancer.

Free text contains extra information relating to the diagnosis of ovarian cancer, and in some cases indicates a time lag between the diagnosis and coding in the medical record, according to a study published online Feb. 23 in BMJ Open.

Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio all have a similar strength of association with cardiovascular disease, but do not significantly improve risk prediction when information on blood pressure, diabetes, and lipid levels is available, according to a study published online March 11 in The Lancet.