Hamilton, ON (July 9, 2013) - Three waves of the deadliest influenza pandemic in history, known as the Spanish flu, hit England and Wales in 1918, just as World War 1 was coming to an end.
Why flu arrives in multiple waves like this is the focus of a study by McMaster University researchers who discovered three contributing factors: the closing and opening of schools, temperature changes and – most importantly – changes in human behavior.
Implementing smoke-free laws and increased tobacco taxes in India would yield substantial and rapid health benefits by averting future cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths, according to a new study published this week in PLOS Medicine. The results of this study, conducted by Sanjay Basu and colleagues of Stanford University, USA, suggest that specific tobacco control strategies would be more effective than others for the reduction of CVD deaths over the next decade in India and possibly in other low- and middle-income countries.
New interventional cardiac catheterization services offered by U.S. hospitals generally duplicate existing programs and do not help patients gain access to timely emergency cardiac care, according to a new study.
Examining new cardiac catheterization programs nationally from 2004 to 2008, researchers found the programs were most likely to be introduced in areas that had existing services, near populations that had higher rates of private health insurance and in states where there is little oversight of hospitals.
In a study that included nearly 6 million Medicare Advantage and Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries from 12 states, rates of angiography and percutaneous coronary interventions were significantly lower among Medicare Advantage beneficiaries and geographic variation in procedure rates was substantial for both payment types, according to a study in the July 10 issue of JAMA.
The increased use of cardiac catheterization in New York relative to Ontario appears related to selecting more patients at low risk of obstructive coronary artery disease, with the subsequent diagnostic yield (i.e., the proportion of tested patients in whom disease was diagnosed) of this procedure in New York significantly lower than in Ontario, according to a study in the July 10 issue of JAMA.
Emmanouil S. Brilakis, M.D., Ph.D., of the VA North Texas Health Care System and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and colleagues conducted a review of medical literature regarding optimal medical therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries). The researchers identified 91 studies for inclusion in the review.
London, 9 July 2013: An analysis of almost 10,000 first cycles of egg donation treatment at oneof Europe's largest IVF centres shows that female obesity reduces the receptivity of the uterusto embryo implantation and thereby compromises reproductive outcome. The investigatorsreport that excess female weight "impairs human reproduction" and that "the reduction ofuterine receptivity is one of the mechanisms involved". As a result they advise weight reductionbefore pregnancy in any type of conception, including ovum donation.
Sophia Antipolis -- A resurgence in cardiovascular R&D is urgently needed to curb a new epidemic of cardiovascular diseases, according to leading cardiologists and industry representatives in the Cardiovascular Round Table (CRT).
The CRT is an independent forum established by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and comprised of cardiologists and representatives of the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. The group's views are outlined in "Championing Cardiovascular Health Innovation in Europe", published in European Heart Journal.(1)
CHICAGO -- Antibiotic-resistant superbugs like carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) present a challenge to healthcare professionals as patients move from different care settings and facilities, unknowingly spreading healthcare-associated infections. In a new study, researchers screened all patients for CRE at admission to a long-term acute care hospital (LTACH). They found patients colonized with CRE coming into the LTACH from hospitals, but they also found transmission occurring among patients in the LTACH.
Before scientists and engineers can realize the dream of using stem cells to create replacements for worn out organs and battle damaged body parts, they'll have to develop ways to grow complex three-dimensional structures in large volumes and at costs that won't bankrupt health care systems.
As modern Egypt searches for a new leader, Israeli archaeologists have found evidence of an ancient Egyptian leader in northern Israel.
At a site in Tel Hazor National Park, north of the Sea of Galilee, archeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have unearthed part of a unique Sphinx belonging to one of the ancient pyramid-building pharaohs.
Ben Goldacre, research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, says we need all the evidence to make informed decisions about medicines.
The lack of progress on transparency has been startling, he writes. Current estimates suggest that around half of all trials for the treatments being used today have gone unpublished; and that trials with positive results are twice as likely to be published.
HUNTSVILLE, TX (7/9/13) -- Texas has the second largest sex offender registry in the country, but relatively few people are accessing it or using it to develop protective actions against future sex crimes, a study by the Crime Victims' Institute at Sam Houston State University found.
In contrast to the oft-expressed concerns that increasing patient complexity impedes the delivery of preventive services because of competing demands, researchers find the presence of chronic illness is positively associated with receipt of recommended preventive services.
In a study of 667,379 adult patients from 148 primary care practices across the United States, researchers found strong positive associations between the receipt of clinical preventive services and the presence of chronic illnesses.
Geriatric persons are significantly more likely than younger people to suffer self-inflicted gunshot wounds, especially to the head.
In other words, they commit suicide.
An author in Annals of Internal Medicine believes doctors can safeguard geriatric people as well as the rest of the population by advocating more physician engagement regarding gun ownership in the brief few moments they spend with each patient.