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PHILADELPHIA -- Against the backdrop of the start of baseball's post-season, researchers reported clues to unraveling the mystery of a disease best known for striking down New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig nearly 70 years ago.

HONG KONG -- Higher levels of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma signal the likelihood of unresectable disease, according to researchers here.

LONDON -- Drinking black tea reduces measures of stress-related hormones and harmful cardiovascular changes, reported researchers here. In short, it seems to calm jangled nerves.

LONDON -- A large study of the causes of cerebral palsy found that mothers had a strikingly high rate of urinary tract or other infections during pregnancy.

ATLANTA -- Smoking cessation accounts for about 40% of the decrease in cancer deaths seen among U.S. men in the last decade, according to a report by American Cancer Society researchers.

GLASGOW, Scotland -- If smarter women are more likely to breast feed their babies, it only stands to reason that their children would inherit higher IQs, reported researchers here. It's nature, not nurture.

SEOUL, South Korea -- The key to selecting the right antidepressant for initial treatment of late-life depression may lie in the patient's genetic makeup, researchers here have found.

PADUA, Italy -- Sudden cardiac deaths among athletes in the Veneto region of Italy dropped by 89% since initiation of a pre-participation screening program a quarter-century ago for those in competitive athletics.

BETHESDA, Md. -- Obesity and smoking, when combined, add up to as much as a fivefold increase in the risk of early all-cause mortality.

ATLANTA -- Giving progesterone to adults with traumatic brain injury can cut their risk of near-term death in half and may improve chances for recovery in patients with less severe injuries.

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Despite what clinicians generally believe, the newer antipsychotic drugs are no better than earlier medications in improving quality of life for patients, researchers here say.

NEW YORK -- Low-birth-weight infants with no apparent disability can have subtle motor and cognitive deficits that can be discerned at age 16, said investigators here.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The likelihood of spontaneous urinary stone passage can be increased significantly by treatment with calcium channel blockers or ? blockers, according to pooled data on nearly 700 patients with urinary calculi.

The authors report the incidental finding of a persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) during the routine placement of a left subclavian central line in an elderly man with acute renal failure.

Allopurinol, commonly used to treat patients with gout, has been known to cause hypersensitivity reactions. We report a case of drug-induced delayed multiorgan hypersensitivity syndrome secondary to allopurinol use. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage in a patient presenting with allopurinol-induced rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms.

Unilateral agenesis of the hemidiaphragm is a very rare congenital anomaly. We present the case of an adult who was evaluated for persistent cough. Unilateral agenesis of the diaphragm was an unexpected finding on a chest radiograph.

Abstract: There is solid evidence that a positive association exists between nasal allergy and acute or chronic sinusitis in both adults and children. Patients with perennial allergic rhinitis--especially those with significant sensitivity to molds and/or house dust mites--are particularly susceptible to acute sinusitis. It therefore seems reasonable to assume that controlling rhinitis by controlling allergens in the home environment will minimize recurrences of acute sinusitis. Conversely, many patients with chronic sinusitis also have nasal allergy. Thus, management of nasal allergy should be included in the treatment strategy for chronic sinusitis. (J Respir Dis. 2006; 27(10):435-440)

The weight of some of my patients exceeds the upper limit of our office scales. Rather than invest in a more expensive scale for this small group of patients, we placed 2 scales side by side. Patients can put one foot on each scale and need not even try to balance their weight equally between the two. The numbers on the scales can be added together to determine a reasonably accurate total weight.