In the News
Included below are news items from the last six months.
Home-collection testing for STIs: a viable option for the future?
July 21, 2010
A recent study found that many women, when given the option, would prefer home sample collection for chlamydia and gonorrhea testing over sample collection at a clinic or doctor's office and that those who preferred home-based collection were more likely to complete a test than those who preferred clinic-based testing.
Clostridium difficile Guidelines Address Testing Strategies
July 12, 2010
New guidelines from the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and the Infectious Diseases Society of America suggest several improvements for preventing, recognizing, managing, and treating Clostridium difficile infections, including recommended changes in the types of laboratory tests used and the way that testing is performed in order to help detect C. difficile infections in a more timely manner.
Panel Suggests New Criteria for Gestational Diabetes
July 2, 2010
An international panel of experts has suggested new guidelines for diagnosing gestational diabetes that differ in their approach from the current ADA guidelines. The panel believes the benefit of the new guidelines is that it might reduce the number of babies who have problems related to high blood sugar in their mothers. These proposed guidelines have already provoked a number of professional organizations to consider whether or not to change their criteria for diagnosing diabetes.
Colorectal Cancer Screening Practices Need Improvement
June 13, 2010
Findings from a recent survey by the CDC indicate that many primary care doctors perform in-office fecal occult blood testing (FOBT) for colorectal cancer screening using a single stool sample instead of following the current guidelines that call for home collection using multiple samples collected over several days, which increases the chances of detecting cancers and precancerous lesions. The CDC researchers urge doctors to make more effort to use home collection kits and encourage patients to complete them.
Studies Look at Experimental Test for Milk Allergy
March 26, 2010
According to a presentation made at the 2010 annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), researchers are working to develop an experimental blood test that could potentially be used to identify children with milk allergies but who can tolerate milk that has been heated, such as is used in heated and baked products. While the results of these studies are promising for children on restricted milk-free diets, additional research is needed before the test could be applied in clinical practice.
Menopause Linked to Worsening Cholesterol Levels
March 2, 2010
According to recently published findings from a study of over 1,000 women, levels of total cholesterol, LDL-C (the "bad" cholesterol), and the protein that transports LDL in the blood, apolipoprotein B, increase significantly in women at the time of menopause. These lipids are all risk factors for coronary heart disease. Researchers suggests that even if women have previously had their lipid levels checked, they may need to have them rechecked within the year following their final menstrual period.
ADA recommends A1c test to diagnose diabetes and pre-diabetes
February 12, 2010
The American Diabetes Association recently included the A1c test among tests for detecting diabetes and pre-diabetes. The A1c test shows the average glucose level in the blood over the last two to three months and has been used to monitor glucose control in people already diagnosed with diabetes. Initially it was not recommended for diagnosis due to high test variability, but great strides have been made in standardization of this test and A1c assays are now accepted as diagnostic and screening tools.
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