Month: July 2017

An educational initiative at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine is reducing medical students’ negative attitudes toward people with obesity, a finding researchers hope will translate into better outcomes for patients struggling with weight, according to research published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. Drawing a parallel to the medical community’s approach to common mental illnesses, researchers suggest that shifting physicians’ perspective from individual responsibility to a treatable condition may finally slow decades

Immunohistochemistry for alpha-synuclein showing positive staining (brown) of an intraneural Lewy-body in the Substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease. Credit: Wikipedia Researchers at Binghamton University have developed a new drug that may limit the progression of Parkinson’s disease while providing better symptom relief to potentially hundreds of thousands of people with the disease. Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are commonly managed using a selective dopamine receptor agonists. While these drugs are useful in early-stage Parkinson’s, they tend

A new study published today in the HSS Journal, the leading journal on musculoskeletal research, found the incidence of myocardial ischemia (defined by an elevated troponin level) after major orthopedic surgery in patients with cardiac risk factors is high, although the incidence of serious cardiac complications remains low. Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) researchers recommend a simple blood test to measure troponin, an enzyme known to play a role in cardiac complications, to help identify

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Teens consumed more unhealthy foods and beverages on days they were exposed to violence, and suffered from fatigue due to poor sleep the next day, according to a new study by Duke researchers. Those behaviors, especially increased soda consumption, are important predictors of weight gain. More than 20 percent of U.S. adolescents are classified as obese. Obesity rates are higher among low-income children, and the rates are highest among Hispanic and

When the Supreme Court issued its 2015 ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, Americans understood the decision as a signal of Americans’ increasing support of same-sex marriage, according to a study published by Princeton University. The researchers found that, regardless of political ideology, non-LGBTQIA Americans perceived stronger and increasing public support for gay marriage in the wake of the Court’s ruling than before the decision. This was in spite of the fact that personal attitudes

Journal reference: Journal of Clinical Investigation Provided by: JCI

(HealthDay)—Some research has raised concerns about the safety of aspirin for heart failure patients. But a new study appears to offer some reassurance. The study, of over 2,300 patients, found that those on daily aspirin were not at heightened risk of being hospitalized for, or dying from, heart failure. That has been a concern because, in theory, aspirin could interfere with the benefits of certain heart failure drugs, explained Dr. Shunichi Homma, the senior researcher

(HealthDay)—Cycling is a fun fitness option at every age. It’s easier on your joints than some other forms of cardio, yet it’s just as efficient. And you don’t have to limit yourself to the stationary bike in your basement or at your gym. Getting outdoors on two-wheels can be energizing and entertaining—so much so that it may not even feel like a workout. For those who want to shed pounds, cycling is also a great

(HealthDay)—For patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic carcinoma with malignant ascites, a combined systemic and intraperitoneal chemotherapy approach plus hyperthermia is well tolerated and active, according to a study published online July 25 in the Journal of Global Oncology. Yu-Fei Fan, from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and colleagues treated 29 chemotherapy-naive patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic carcinoma with malignant ascites with intraperitoneal cisplatin and gemcitabine intravenously on days

Journal reference: Diabetes Care

Journal reference: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

Journal reference: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

Journal reference: Anaesthesia

If you haven’t heard of Netflix’s television series “13 Reasons Why,” just ask the nearest teenager. They’ll tell you it’s an immensely popular show among their young-adult peers, depicting the anguish and eventual suicide of a teenage girl as experienced by a friend listening to the series of audio-cassette journal entries she left behind. The implications of the show have been heavily debated. Some praised the show for its frank content, while some claimed it

Is being born in states with high stroke mortality associated with dementia risk in a group of individuals who eventually all lived outside those states? A new article published by JAMA Neurology reports the results of a study that examined that question in a group of 7,423 members of the integrated health care delivery system Kaiser Permanente Northern California. A band of states in the southern United States is known as the Stroke Belt because

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Cells in the body or in cultures eventually stop replicating. This phenomenon is called “senescence” and is triggered by shortening of telomeres, oxidative stress or genetic damage to the cells, either acute or simply due to the cell growing “old”. Understanding the causes and impact of senescence can give us deep insights into the development of cancer and ageing. EPFL scientists have now discovered that a DNA-sensing mechanism of the innate

Journal reference: JAMA Pediatrics Provided by: Ann Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

Scanning electron micrograph of a human T lymphocyte (also called a T cell) from the immune system of a healthy donor. Credit: NIAID When T cells encounter an antigen, they proliferate and produce various types of daughter cells. A team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now refuted the prevailing hypothesis that this immune response is largely predetermined by the individual structure of the T cell receptor. Instead, the influence of the T

Illustration incorporating gene-expression maps and cell images from the new research. Credit: University of Michigan Every day, 17 million HIV-infected people around the world swallow pills that keep the virus inside them at bay. That is, as long as they swallow those pills every day for the rest of their life. But no matter how many drugs they take, they’ll always have the virus in them, lurking in their white blood cells like a fugitive

Provided by: Louisiana State University

Tuberculosis is a recognized hazard for healthcare workers, but the annual screening strategy currently in place in Canada and the United States is costly with very limited health benefits and should be reconsidered, According to a new study led by a team from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal. The findings suggest health agencies in North America should consider switching to a targeted strategy focusing on high-risk healthcare workers only.

George Washington University (GW) researchers have found that topically applied nitric oxide-releasing nanoparticles (NO-np) are a viable treatment for deep fungal infections of the skin caused by dermatophytes, for which the current standard of care is treatment with systemic antifungals. Dermatophytosis, or ringworm, is a fungal infection of the skin, hair, or nails that affects millions of people around the world. While superficial infections can often be managed with topical agents, fungal infections which infiltrate

The colonic volume in a healthy control subject. Credit: Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark Constipation is one of the most common non-motor related complaints affecting Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients. Two important studies from the same research group published in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease expand the understanding of the relationship between PD and gastrointestinal dysfunction. In one study, investigators measured actual colonic dysfunction and compared it to reported constipation. In the other study, researchers tracked the

The culture of silence around vaginal bleeding at all stages of life endangers women’s health and is compounded by limited access to clean water, sanitation, and factual information in low and middle-income countries, according to a study conducted at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. The findings are published in the online journal BMJ Global Health. An approach that looks at vaginal bleeding as more than a monthly period and addresses the needs of

Catherine Limperopoulos, Ph.D., co-director of research in the Division of Neonatology at Children’s National Health System. Credit: Children’s National Health System During the millions of pregnancies that occur in the United States every year, expectant moms learn oodles about their developing fetuses over months of gestation. But the placenta, a vital and temporary organ that shelters the fetus—delivering life-sustaining nutrients and oxygen, getting rid of toxic by-products and modulating the immune system to protect the

For a study at The Ohio State University, a volunteer performs a simulated wheelchair turning task. All subjects in the study pushed on a rig connected to an overhead braking system. Credit: Eric Weston, The Ohio State University When you push someone in a wheelchair, you may be hurting your back without knowing it. Researchers at The Ohio State University Spine Research Institute measured the forces on the spine caused by pushing a wheelchair, and

Medicine, Health Care Dulled Taste May Prompt More… Published: July 31, 2017.Released by Cornell University ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell University food scientists have found that people with a diminished ability to taste food choose sweeter – and likely higher-calorie – fare. This could put people on the path to gaining weight. “We found that the more people lost sensitivity to sweetness, the more sugar they wanted in their foods,” said lead author Robin Dando, assistant

Medicine, Health Care Cancer Cells Put the Brakes… Published: July 31, 2017.Released by German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) The degenerated cells cause an inflammatory reaction and influence other blood cells with it so much, that the immune system is suppressed. They send out messages via exosomes, little bubbles, which the cells transmit to their surroundings. The discovery by the DKFZ scientists paves the way for new therapy approaches. Tumor cells influence their environment

Medicine, Health Care Newly Discovered Biomarkers May Lead… Published: July 31, 2017.Released by Ohio State University   COLUMBUS, Ohio – Diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease and determining a patient’s prognosis is an inexact business, and that stands in the way of better personalized care and advances in treatment. A new study from The Ohio State University has identified a potential new way of confirming the disease and predicting a patient’s outlook. First, the team of researchers discovered new

Medicine, Health Care GP-based Testing for HIV Is… Published: July 31, 2017.Released by Queen Mary University of London   Offering HIV testing to people at health checks when they register at a new GP surgery in high-prevalence areas is cost-effective and will save lives, according to a study involving over 86,000 people from 40 GP surgeries, led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and the London School of Hygiene Tropical Medicine. The researchers are calling

Medicine, Health Care Faster-acting Antidepressants May Finally Be… Published: July 31, 2017.Released by Rockefeller University Some activity patterns in the brain can be dangerous, producing persistent dark moods that drain people’s motivation, pleasure, and hope. For the past thirty years, pills like Prozac or Zoloft–collectively known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs–have offered millions of Americans a way to shed the heavy cloak of depression and attain more wholesome states of mind. These medications

Medicine, Health Care Artificial Light from Digital Devices… Published: July 31, 2017.Released by University of Houston   There’s no doubt we love our digital devices at all hours, including after the sun goes down. Who hasn’t snuggled up with a smart phone, tablet or watched their flat screen TV from the comfort of bed? A new study by researchers at the University of Houston College of Optometry, published in Ophthalmic Physiological Optics, found that blue light

Medicine, Health Care Researchers Developing New Tool to… Published: July 31, 2017.Released by University of Rochester Medical Center   Antibiotics are lifesaving drugs, but overuse is leading to one of the world’s most pressing health threats: antibiotic resistance. Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center are developing a tool to help physicians prescribe antibiotics to patients who really need them, and avoid giving them to individuals who don’t. Scientists from the University’s National Institutes of

Psychology Women Show Cognitive Advantage in… Published: July 31, 2017.Released by Association for Psychological Science Women’s cognitive functioning past middle age may be affected by the degree of gender equality in the country they live in, according to new findings from Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “This research is a first attempt to shed light on important, but understudied, adverse consequences of gender inequality on women’s health in later life,”

Psychology Exercise Incentives Do Little to… Published: July 31, 2017.Released by Case Western Reserve University   Even among people who had just joined a gym and expected to visit regularly, getting paid to exercise did little to make their commitment stick, according to a new study from Case Western Reserve University. The rewards also had no lasting effect: gym visits stabilized after the modest incentives ended. Despite timing incentives to when people were already more motivated

Psychology Sad! Drifting Word Meanings May… Published: July 31, 2017.Released by Penn State   If the current political discourse sounds a little like people are speaking two different languages, Penn State psychologists, who studied political rhetoric over the past three presidential elections, say that may be close to the case, semantically speaking. In a series of studies, the researchers found a split between the same words presidential candidates from the nation’s two major political parties used

Psychology People Find It Difficult to… Published: July 31, 2017.Released by University of Kent Whether people believe they are ‘intuitive’ or not may have no bearing on how they perform in tasks that require intuition, according to new research by psychologists at the University of Kent. Researchers Dr Mario Weick and Stefan Leach, of the University’s School of Psychology, found that the extent to which people feel confident about, and endorse, their intuitions may often

Credit: Emory University To reduce the growing number of deaths related to both prescription opioid overuse and illicit opioid use, a new report determines it will take years of sustained and coordinated efforts by physicians, patients, federal and state agencies and the public to curb the opioid epidemic. The findings were released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine earlier this month. Drug overdose is now the leading cause of death from unintentional

Patients were encouraged to use stimulating resources such as iPads. Credit: University of Queensland A Queensland hospital has become the first to trial how increased activity in an acute stroke unit impacts on patients. Ingrid Rosbergen from The University of Queensland’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences said the study at Nambour General Hospital compared a sample of patients rehabilitated in an ‘enriched’ environment with patients rehabilitated in a ‘usual’ environment. “Within the ‘enrichment’ model

Journal reference: PLoS ONE Provided by: University of Otago

Credit: Anna Godeassi Seven years ago, Holly and Rob Waldman’s second child, John Michael, was diagnosed with autism after an intense day of testing at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, a Johns Hopkins affiliate that specializes in treating neurological disorders. At the time, Holly was early in her pregnancy with her third son, Gavin. “I just said, ‘Oh my God,’” Holly remembers. “What will this mean for our new baby?” Doctors there admitted that they didn’t

Journal reference: Cell Provided by: Cancer Research UK

The study by Dr. Susanne Talcott and her team showed mango consumption could be a useful adjuvant treatment for indivuduals with inflammatory bowel disease. Credit: Texas AM AgriLife Research photo Initial results of a study by researchers in the department of nutrition and food science at Texas AM University in College Station show mango consumption has a positive impact on people with inflammatory bowel disease. Dr. Susanne Talcott, Texas AM AgriLife Research scientist, and others recently investigated the use of fresh mangoes

Journal reference: Addiction Provided by: University of New South Wales

A widening gap between the cheapest and most expensive tobacco products is evidence of a wider variety of brands being introduced to cater to some smokers’ declining budgets, according to new research from Bath’s TCRG. Credit: University of Bath The effectiveness of price increases as a deterrent to cut smoking is being undermined by the availability of cheap tobacco, including roll-your-own and cartons of factory-made cigarettes, according to new research published in the Journal Nicotine

Credit: Artem Oleshko/Shutterstock The term “stranger danger” was coined as a warning to children: beware the unknown adult, proceed with caution and be very careful what personal information you reveal. The question is, do adults take their own advice? Perhaps most would be more guarded and make sure they know who they are dealing with before revealing too much about themselves. But our relationship with “strangers” has been evolving and social media has torn down

Provided by: Alzheimer’s Research UK

Credit: Lancaster University The most frequent strategy used by women forcing men to have sex with them against their will is blackmail and threats, according to researchers at Lancaster University. This accounted for the experiences of more than one fifth of the men who completed an online survey, the first of its kind in the UK, examining the extent of men who have been ‘forced to penetrate’ women. Telling lies, threats to end a relationship,

Journal reference: Social Psychological and Personality Science Provided by: University of Kent

Provided by: Freshscience

Marine worms may hold the key to medical breakthroughs including speedier recovery from surgery and more blood transfusions For centuries, the only use humans found for the lugworm—dark pink, slimy and inedible—was on the end of a fish hook. But the invertebrates’ unappreciated status is about to change. Their blood, say French researchers, has an extraordinary ability to load up with life-giving oxygen. Harnessing it for human needs could transform medicine, providing a blood substitute

Women’s cognitive functioning past middle age may be affected by the degree of gender equality in the country they live in, according to new findings from Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “This research is a first attempt to shed light on important, but understudied, adverse consequences of gender inequality on women‘s health in later life,” explains researcher Eric Bonsang of University Paris-Dauphine and Columbia University, lead author on the study.

Offering HIV testing to people at health checks when they register at a new GP surgery in high-prevalence areas is cost-effective and will save lives, according to a study involving over 86,000 people from 40 GP surgeries, led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and the London School of Hygiene Tropical Medicine. The researchers are calling on health care commissioners to invest urgently in the roll out of HIV screening to all 74 high

Mariana Carrera, assistant professor of economics at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University. Credit: CWRU Even among people who had just joined a gym and expected to visit regularly, getting paid to exercise did little to make their commitment stick, according to a new study from Case Western Reserve University. The rewards also had no lasting effect: gym visits stabilized after the modest incentives ended. Despite timing incentives to when people were

In this June 18, 2014, file photo Cobb County police investigate an SUV where a toddler died near Marietta, Ga., when the father forgot to drop his child off at day care and went to work. A proposed new law that would require carmakers to build alarms for backseats is being pushed by child advocates who say it will prevent kids from dying in hot cars and also streamline the criminal process against caregivers who

Journal reference: Cancer

(HealthDay)—Patients with primary hypothyroidism who are regular thyroxine users have increased risk of thyroid cancer, according to a study published online July 19 in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. Shih-Han Hung, M.D., from Taipei Medical University Hospital in Taiwan, and colleagues conducted a case-control study to examine the correlation of thyroid cancer with primary hypothyroidism using data from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2005. Data were included for 1,285 patients with cancer and 3,855

A bio-research and manufacturing institute that hopes to develop transplant tissues and organs for injured American soldiers and other patients has opened in New Hampshire. The Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, which opened Friday in Manchester, will be led by Dean Kamen, who invented the Segway, an all-terrain electric wheelchair and several other devices. The University of New Hampshire and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center will be part of the institute. Kamen, speaking after an opening ceremony,

Medicine, Health Care 2 Methods to De-identify Large… Published: July 28, 2017.Released by American Association for Cancer Research   Bottom Line: Two de-identification methods, k-anonymization and adding a “fuzzy factor,” significantly reduced the risk of re-identification of patients in a dataset of 5 million patient records from a large cervical cancer screening program in Norway. Journal in Which the Study was Published: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Author:

Medicine, Health Care Using Latest Technology, MRI Provides… Published: July 28, 2017.Released by American Roentgen Ray Society   Leesburg, VA, July 25, 2017– Using the latest techniques, MRI can provide a “one-stop-shop” method for evaluation of potential living liver donors, according to an article published in the July 2017 issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR). “Conventional evaluation methods, such as selective catheter digital subtraction anglography, ERCP, and liver biopsy, are not only time-consuming but

Medicine, Health Care Scientists Use New Data Mining… Published: July 28, 2017.Released by Duke University Medical Center DURHAM, N.C. — The push to develop treatments for Alzheimer’s disease has been a promising and disappointing endeavor over the past two decades, yielding a greater understanding of the disease yet still failing to generate successful new drugs. To blame are the many undefined subtypes of mild cognitive impairment, a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease. “Everyone thinks Alzheimer’s is

Medicine, Health Care Understanding the Impact of Childhood… Published: July 28, 2017.Released by ecancermedicalscience Collated Childhood cancer statistics in sub Saharan Africa have been published for the first time as a monograph in the peer reviewed journal ecancermedicalscience, allowing researchers and policymakers a critical new insight into the impact of paediatric cancer across this region. On the African continent, only South Africa operates a childhood cancer registry on the national level. This new study brings

Medicine, Health Care Green Tea Ingredient May Ameliorate… Published: July 28, 2017.Released by Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology A study published online in The FASEB Journal, involving mice, suggests that EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate), the most abundant catechin and biologically active component in green tea, could alleviate high-fat and high-fructose (HFFD)-induced insulin resistance and cognitive impairment. Previous research pointed to the potential of EGCG to treat a variety of human diseases, yet until now, EGCG’s

Medicine, Health Care MKTP Surgery Has Long-term Benefit… Published: July 28, 2017.Released by Henry Ford Health System   DETROIT – A Henry Ford Hospital study has shown that skin transplant surgery has long-term benefit for restoring skin pigmentation caused by the skin disease vitiligo. This is vitiligo on the cheek of a Middle Eastern patient at baseline. Skin pigmentation restored at three months and 54 months post MKTP surgery. Credit: Henry Ford Hospital This is vitiligo

Medicine, Health Care Death Rate for Depressed Heart… Published: July 28, 2017.Released by Intermountain Medical Center   People who are diagnosed with coronary artery disease and then develop depression face a risk of death that’s twice as high as heart patients without depression, according to a major new study by researchers at Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City. The increased risk of death from any cause holds true whether the depression immediately follows the heart disease

Journal reference: Investigative Ophthalmology Visual Science

(HealthDay)—Before your next manicure or pedicure, give some thought to the safety of your nail care products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says nail polishes and removers are safe when used as intended. But under the wrong circumstances, going for that polished look can ignite problems. For example, some nail products can catch fire easily. They should not be exposed to flames, including lit cigarettes, or heat sources such as curling irons, the agency

(HealthDay)—You don’t have to have an eating disorder, like binge eating, to have an overeating habit. When stress, anxiety or even boredom—rather than hunger—cause you to eat (and eat and eat), you might be experiencing emotional eating, with food serving as a way of soothing yourself, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The habit can become so ingrained that you’re eating all the time. Even if it’s just a bite here and there, all those calories

(HealthDay)—Human myopes exhibit significantly higher serum melatonin (Mel) concentration than non-myopes, according to a study published online July 18 in Ophthalmic Physiological Optics. Stephanie Kearney, from the University of Ulster in Coleraine, U.K., and colleagues examined the correlation between myopia and serum concentrations of dopamine (DA) and Mel in 54 participants (aged 19.1 ± 0.81 years); nine participants were lost to follow-up. Solid phase extraction-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to measure morning serum concentrations

Journal reference: Cancer