The US Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act encourages patients to act as their own advocates for reducing unnecessary prescriptions that increase the risk of harm. The American Board of Internal Medicine Choosing Wisely® campaign echoes this message by asking older adults to refrain from using sleeping pills. According to the American Geriatrics Society, these medicines have been linked to memory problems, falls, fractures and motor vehicle accidents. "Many people believe that involving patients in the decision to curtail medical treatments is expecting too much," says Dr.
Culture
Bottom Line: A telephone-based collaborative care model helped manage depression and anxiety, and improved health-related quality of life in patients with heart disease.
Author: Jeff C. Huffman, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and colleagues.
PHILADELPHIA—Playing an active role in their radiation treatment decisions leaves cancer patients feeling more satisfied with their care, and may even relieve psychological distress around the experience, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report in the journal Cancer.
In a UT Dallas study involving serious youth offenders, the answer to one open-ended question predicted the teenagers' offending patterns for the next seven years: "How long do you think you'll live?"
According to the study, having little hope for the future encourages offending over time.
Author Dr. Alex Piquero said the study found those who don't view a very long life ahead of them offend at very high rates and commit more serious offenses, while those who believe they're going to die much later in life offend much less.
Scientists have unearthed still more evidence that antibiotics can contribute to obesity. Research published ahead of print in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy suggests that patients on long-term antibiotic treatment gained weight and had significant changes in their gut microbiota.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Heart patients with beliefs about health that aren't based on medical evidence are more likely to skip sessions of cardiac rehabilitation, new research suggests.
In the Ohio State University study, a higher number of these beliefs – referred to as "irrational health beliefs" on a standard measure of these thoughts – was associated with lower adherence to a prescribed cardiac rehab program.
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--True North Therapeutics, Inc., announced today a publication demonstrating that the company's C1s antibody prevents the destruction of human red blood cells exposed to plasma samples of patients with a type of autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA). The article entitled "TNT003, an inhibitor of the serine protease C1s, prevents complement activation induced by cold agglutinin disease patient autoantibodies" was published on-line in the journal Blood earlier this month.
BOSTON – Treatment options for the 170 million people worldwide with chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) are evolving rapidly, although the available regimens often come with significant side effects. Two multi-center clinical trials led by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center show promise for a new option that could help lead to both an increase in patients cured with a much more simple and tolerable all oral therapy.
(NEW YORK, NY, April 14, 2014) – When it comes to the cost and quality of hospital care, nurse tenure and teamwork matters. Patients get the best care when they are treated in units that are staffed by nurses who have extensive experience in their current job, according to a study from researchers at Columbia University School of Nursing and Columbia Business School. The study was published in the current issue of the American Economics Journal: Applied Economics.
A study following more than 1,800 children from ages 6 months to nearly 8 years found a small but consistent association between increased television viewing and shorter sleep duration. The presence of a television in the room where a child sleeps also was associated with less sleep, particularly in minority children. Investigators from MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) report their results – the first to examine the connection between television and sleep duration over several years – in the May issue of Pediatrics.
BOSTON – Treatment options for the 170 million people worldwide with chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) are evolving rapidly, although the available regimens often come with significant side effects. Two multi-center clinical trials led by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center show promise for a new option that could help lead to both an increase in patients cured with a much more simple and tolerable all oral therapy.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (April 12, 2014) — Twelve weeks of an investigational oral therapy cured hepatitis C infection in more than 90 percent of patients with liver cirrhosis and was well tolerated by these patients, according to an international study that included researchers from UT Medicine San Antonio and the Texas Liver Institute. Historically, hepatitis C cure rates in patients with cirrhosis (liver scarring) have been lower than 50 percent and the treatment was not safe for many of these patients.
Obeticholic acid produces meaningful biochemical and clinical improvements in PBC cirrhosis patients
London, UK, Saturday 12 April 2014: Results from an international Phase III study presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2014 have shown obeticholic acid (OCA) given to patients suffering from Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC) who previously had an inadequate response to, or have been unable to tolerate ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), produced meaningful biochemical and clinical improvements. UDCA is the only therapy currently approved to treat PBC.
London, UK, Saturday 12 April 2014: Three new studies presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2014 have helped clarify the optimal use of combination therapy with peginterferon and nucleoside analogues (NUCs) to achieve the best treatment outcomes in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).
"Together these ground-breaking data will go a long way to influencing future CHB treatment guidelines," said EASL's Educational Councillor Professor Cihan Yurdaydin from the Department of Gastroenterology, University of Ankara, Turkey.
London, UK, Saturday 12 April 2014: Results from three Phase III clinical trials (ION-1, ION-2 and ION-3) evaluating the investigational once-daily fixed-dose combination of the nucleotide analogue polymerase inhibitor sofosbuvir (SOF) 400mg and the NS5A inhibitor ledipasvir (LDV) 90mg, with and without ribavirin (RBV), for the treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have been presented at the International Liver CongressTM 2014.