Culture
Participating in childbirth classes may help women have normal vaginal deliveries, according to a study published in the International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics.
In the retrospective study, 159 women attended childbirth classes and 159 did not. In all cases, deliveries occurred at The Edith Wolfson Medical Center, in Israel.
Researchers recently conducted the largest study to date to evaluate the effectiveness of weight loss surgery in a Chinese population of individuals with obesity and type 2 diabetes.
In the study, which is published in Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews, surgery provided substantial and sustainable effects on weight, blood sugar, and cholesterol over five years.
A new Points to Consider document from the ACMG aims to assist referring physicians, laboratory geneticists, genetic counselors and other medical professionals in understanding the complexity and implications of exome sequencing (ES) in prenatal care.
Health research faces a crisis that could impact on patient care, says a new report led by 10 prominent figures in the NHS and academia.
The Academy of Medical Sciences' report raises the alarm about the number of research active NHS staff who are finding it increasingly difficult to find time for research. Support for research is not helped by the widening gap between universities and the NHS.
Early Stone Age populations living between 1.8 - 1.2 million years ago engineered their stone tools in complex ways to make optimised cutting tools, according to a new study by University of Kent and UCL.
A key immune signal has a previously unknown role in turning off the immune system's attack on pancreatic cancer cells, a new study finds.
Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the study found that an immune signaling protein, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), is made and released by pancreatic tumor cells. This was shown to reduce anti-cancer immune responses, which promoted the growth of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma or PDA, a form of cancer that is usually deadly within two years.
Bacterial exposure has been identified as a potential environmental risk factor in developing coeliac disease, a hereditary autoimmune-like condition that affects about one in 70 Australians.
It is estimated that half of all Australians are born with one of two genes that cause coeliac disease, and approximately one in 40 are likely to develop the condition.
People with coeliac disease must follow a lifelong gluten-free diet, as even small amounts of gluten can cause health problems.
Infectious diseases triggered by bacteria and other microbes are the most frequent cause of human mortality across the globe. Roughly half of the world's population carry the bacteria Helicobacter pylori (H. Pylori) in their stomach, known to be the most significant risk factor for ulcers, MALT lymphoma and adenocarcinoma in the stomach. The rapid spread of pathogens resistant to medication such as antibiotics is making it increasingly difficult to treat infections such as these using antimicrobial therapies.
The cow can only process grass in its rumen with the help of billions of microorganisms. An entire zoo of bacteria, archaea and protozoa works there like on a production line: First of all, these single-cell organisms break down the cellulose, a polysaccharide. Other bacteria ferment the sugars released into fatty acids, alcohols and gases, such as hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Finally, methanogenic archaea transform these two gases into methane.
Each encounter is like a single shard in a mosaic that, taken as a whole, presents a picture of amazing optimism despite myriad challenges.
Alexandra M. Sims, M.D., FAAP, a General Academics Pediatric Fellow at Children's National Hospital, captured the anonymized vignettes in her journal, using writing as a way to help process both the unbounded joy and sobering trauma experienced by her young patients.
When Stanford physicians Donna Zulman, MD, and Abraham Verghese, MD, set out more than two years ago to lead a team in finding ways to heal a growing fracture in doctor-patient relationships, they knew the task would be complicated.
In recent surveys, clinicians have reported that the current climate of medicine -- with limits on the amount of time they can spend with patients during appointments, an explosion of biomedical knowledge and increased demands to update and review electronic health records -- translates into less time for meaningful interactions with patients.
What The Study Did: Researchers pooled data from four large study groups with 250,000 women to estimate the association between using body powder in the genital area and risk of ovarian cancer.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
Authors: Katie M. O'Brien, of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, is the corresponding author.
(doi:10.1001/jama.2019.20079)
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 7, 2020 -- Doctors have used focused ultrasound to destroy tumors without invasive surgery for some time. However, the therapeutic ultrasound used in clinics today indiscriminately damages cancer and healthy cells alike.
Most forms of ultrasound-based therapies either use high-intensity beams to heat and destroy cells or special contrast agents that are injected prior to ultrasound, which can shatter nearby cells. Heat can harm healthy cells as well as cancer cells, and contrast agents only work for a minority of tumors.
AMES, Iowa - Researchers may have discovered a way to turn back the clock on aging heart muscles in fruit flies, a development that could lead to new therapies for older humans with heart disease.
Hospital ratings are intended to help patients decide where to get medical care and encourage hospitals to improve the quality of their services. They also can influence how insurance companies negotiate contracts for reimbursing hospitals.
But a University of Chicago Medicine analysis of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare rating system shows that hospitals serving vulnerable communities may be judged on social factors outside of their control.