Ear, Nose and Throat News

Latest Ear, Nose and Throat News From Medical News Today.

Total news: 25
Last news: August 29, 2007 18:00:00

Smoking significantly increases the risk for head and neck cancers for both men and women, regardless of the anatomic site. Published in the October 1, 2007 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, a large, prospective study confirmed strong associations between current and past cigarette smoking and malignancies of the head and neck in both genders. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Physicians treating patients who have suffered tympanic membrane perforation as a result of blast should also look for signs of comcomitant brain or neurologic injury, according to a study published in the August 23 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.Air Force Lt. Col. (Dr. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Accentia Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ABPI) reports interim analysis of the blinded data on patients who have now completed the 16-week Fast-Tracked Phase 3 placebo controlled clinical trial of SinuNase for the treatment of refractory chronic sinusitis (CS).In order to put the blinded analysis into perspective, it is important to appreciate the study design. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

The Regea Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which operates under the University of Tampere, administered the first clinical stem cell therapy to two patients in cooperation with the Tampere University Hospital. The therapy was a success.The patients suffered from severe, prolonged frontal sinusitis. An implant combining stem cells and biomaterial was inserted into the damaged bone. Since the therapy, the patients have been well and no longer suffer from frontal sinusitis. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

A light being trialed by University of Queensland researchers is showing promise as a tool for early detection of oral cancer - one of the deadliest cancers. Dental researcher Dr Camile Farah who has studied a variety of light detection options, said a similar technique had been shown to be effective in detecting early changes associated with cervical cancer. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Fifteen-year-old Kaci Jaweggs family knew the signs and symptoms all too well: It would start with itchy ears, followed by a sore and scratchy throat."I would say, oh, here we go again. Everyones got to stay away from Kaci or theyll get sick too," recalls Annette Tase of her daughter Kacis frequent bouts of strep throat and tonsillitis. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Hearing and balance experts at Johns Hopkins report successful testing in animals of an electrical device that partly restores a damaged or impaired sense of balance.Though human testing of the so-called multichannel vestibular prosthesis remains a few years away, the scientists say such a device, which is partially implanted in the inner ear, could aid the 30,000 Americans the experts own estimates show are coping with profound loss of inner ear balance. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Results of a survey published in the August 2007 issue of Otology & Neurotology indicates that the Meniett® Low Pressure Pulse Generator manufactured by Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) is the preferred treatment method after diet modification for patients diagnosed with Ménières Disease in an only hearing ear. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

The 2007 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgeons (AAO-HNS)-one of the largest international meetings of ear, nose and throat doctors in the world-will convene September 16 - 19, 2007 in the nations capital, Washington, D.C. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

For years, scientists have searched in vain for slivers of the brain that might drive the dramatic differences between male and female behavior. Now biologists at Harvard University say these efforts may have fallen flat because such differences may not arise in the brain at all.Rather, they say, the epicenter of sex-specific behavior in many species may be a small sensory organ found in the noses of all terrestrial vertebrates except higher primates. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

A 30-year scientific debate over how specialized cells in the inner ear amplify sound in mammals appears to have been settled more in favor of bouncing cell bodies rather than vibrating, hair-like cilia, according to investigators at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. The finding could explain why dogs, cats, humans and other mammals have such sensitive hearing and the ability to discriminate among frequencies. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Damaged or diseased vocal cords can forever change and even silence the voices we love, from a family members to a famous personalitys.Julie Andrews, who starred in such classics as The Sound of Music, is among the professional singers who have undergone surgery to remove callus-like growths that can form from overuse of these two small, stretchy bands of tissue housed in the larynx, or voice box. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

A 30-year scientific debate over how specialized cells in the inner ear amplify sound in mammals appears to have been settled more in favor of bouncing cell bodies rather than vibrating, hair-like cilia, according to investigators at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital.The finding could explain why dogs, cats, humans and other mammals have such sensitive hearing and the ability to discriminate among frequencies. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Current research demonstrates that the tonsils may possess the necessary factors to act as a transmission site for the spread of HIV. The related report by Moutsopoulos et al, "Tonsil Epithelial Factors May Influence Oropharyngeal Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission," appears in the August issue of The American Journal of Pathology. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Spraying salty water (saline) into your nose can help reduce the symptoms of pain and congestion that accompany long-term infections of the nasal passages, a Cochrane Systematic Review has concluded.Between 5% and 15% of people experience persistent infection of the nasal passages (chronic rhinosinusitis). [click link for full article] - [Read more]

Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) announced recently that the company was named a 2007 Medical Device Excellence Award (MDEA) Silver Award winner for its LandmarX® Element ENT Image Guidance System (IGS). Manufactured for the companys Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) business unit by the Navigation business at Medtronic, the LandmarX® Element provides advanced technology to support the essential IGS functions an ENT surgeon needs for Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS). [click link for full article] - [Read more]

The number of lymph nodes that contain evidence of cancer is the best predictor of the effectiveness of adding chemotherapy and radiation to a treatment plan prior to surgery in individuals with oesophageal cancer, according to a study published last month in the Annals of Surgery. The authors say their finding is particularly important because the focus of recent pathological studies of response to neoadjuvant therapies has been on the primary tumour rather than nodal sites. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

An international, multi-center study of 109 patients confirmed Balloon Sinuplasty(TM) Instruments are safe and effective for opening blocked sinuses. Patients who participated in the study experienced significant relief from their symptoms associated with chronic sinusitis. Peer reviewed data published in the July 2007 issue of the prestigious journal "Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery" showed 97% of the blocked sinuses were successfully opened with the technology. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

In a small study of patients undergoing tonsillectomy, or removal of the tonsils, none reported an ongoing dysfunction in their sense of taste following the procedure, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. [click link for full article] - [Read more]

The NPA, recognising that the end of a consultation period often signals the end of campaign activity, will be putting into action a member facing campaign to ensure that all pharmacists are aware of what action needs to be taken now to mitigate against illicit purchases of pseudoephedrine. [click link for full article] - [Read more]