Body
ORLANDO (July 23, 2018): An academic medical center's weight-loss surgery program greatly lowered its rates of several postoperative complications, including rehospitalization in the first month, surgical site and urinary tract infections, and bleeding, despite almost doubling its surgical volume over five years. Results of this multiyear quality improvement project were presented today at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) 2018 Quality and Safety Conference.
In addition to facing new concerns about their health, individuals who are diagnosed with cancer often worry about the financial burdens of treatment. A new study indicates that many patients feel that such 'financial toxicity' is not adequately addressed by their doctors and other clinicians. The findings are published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
Chicago, July 22, 2018 - The first dementia prevalence data from a large population of lesbian, gay and bisexual older adults was reported today at the 2018 Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Chicago.
Researchers from University of California, San Francisco and Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA, examined the prevalence of dementia among 3,718 sexual minority adults age 60+ who participated in the Kaiser Permanente Research Program on Genes, Environment, and Health (RPGEH). Dementia diagnoses were collected from medical records.
When it comes to being fit, are genes or lifestyle -- nature or nurture -- more important? Researchers at San Francisco State University, CSU Fullerton and Cal Poly, Pomona removed the nature part of the equation by studying a pair of identical 52-year-old twins who had taken radically different fitness paths over three decades. "One of the twins became a truck driver and one started running," said Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Jimmy Bagley. The runner became an Ironman triathlete and track coach while the other remained relatively sedentary over the last 30 years.
PHILADELPHIA -- Greening vacant urban land significantly reduces feelings of depression and improves overall mental health for the surrounding residents, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania and other institutions show in a new randomized, controlled study published in JAMA Network Open. The findings have implications for cities across the United States, where 15 percent of land is deemed "vacant" and often blighted or filled with trash and overgrown vegetation.
The hormone cortisol rises and falls naturally throughout the day and can spike in response to stress, but current methods for measuring cortisol levels require waiting several days for results from a lab. By the time a person learns the results of a cortisol test - which may inform treatment for certain medical conditions - it is likely different from when the test was taken.
A global review involving almost 20 million people has shown that having diabetes significantly raises the risk of developing cancer, and for women the risk is even higher.
Researchers from The George Institute for Global Health also found diabetes (type 1 and type 2) conferred an additional risk for women, compared to men, for leukaemia and cancers of the stomach, mouth and kidney, but less risk for liver cancer.
Diabetes is a risk factor for all-site cancer for both men and women, but the increased risk is higher in women than in men, according to a new article in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes).
HIV rates persist in high risk, marginalised populations and the Commission authors warn that a resurgence of the epidemic is likely as the largest generation of young people age into adolescence and adulthood.
Stalling of HIV funding in recent years endangers HIV control efforts.
Historic 'exceptionalism' of HIV treatment and care may no longer be sustainable; services will likely need to be part of wider health care supporting related diseases and conditions.
Congressional districts with the highest opioid prescribing rates are predominantly concentrated in the southeastern U.S., with other hotspots in Appalachia and the rural west, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study, the first to focus on opioid prescribing rates at the congressional district level, could help policy makers at the federal and state level better target intervention and prevention strategies.
The study will be published online July 19, 2018 in American Journal of Public Health.
LAWRENCE -- Individuals with disabilities are significantly more likely to be employed in states that have expanded Medicaid coverage as part of the Affordable Care Act, new research from the University of Kansas has found. Similarly, individuals who report not working because of a disability have significantly declined in expansion states, while neither trend happened in states that chose not to expand Medicaid.
Philadelphia, July 19, 2018 - A new study featured in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that after drinking a small amount of caffeine, participants consumed 10 percent less at a breakfast buffet provided by researchers, but this effect did not persist throughout the day and had no impact on participants' perceptions of their appetites.
PITTSBURGH, July 19, 2018 - Postmenopausal factors may have an impact on the heart-protective qualities of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) - also known as 'good cholesterol' - according to a study led by researchers in the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.
(Boston)-- When resident physicians visit the homes of their former hospital patients they are better able to assess patient needs and understand the important role that community services and agencies play in keeping them at home and out of the hospital, according to a new study by Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM).
Resident physicians, commonly known as residents, often develop the discharge plans as part of their training programs. Typically they don't make a home visit after discharge to assess if the plan worked and many never see their patients again.
PHOENIX, Ariz. -- July 18, 2018 -- DNA methylation is a molecular process that helps enable our bodies to repair themselves, fight infection, get rid of environmental toxins, and even to think. But sometimes this process goes awry.
A team of scientists led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, has identified how DNA methylation is associated with a condition known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which can lead to liver cirrhosis and death, and is one of the leading indicators for liver transplants.