Culture

Patients undergoing emergency surgery who are treated by older surgeons (aged 60 or over) have slightly lower death rates in the first few weeks after their operation than patients treated by younger surgeons (aged less than 40) within the same hospital, finds US study published by The BMJ today.

There was no evidence that death rates differ between male and female surgeons.

Use of certain anticholinergic drugs - that help to control involuntary muscle movements for conditions such as Parkinson's disease - is associated with an increased risk of dementia, finds a UK study published by The BMJ today.

The study is the largest of its kind to date and the findings prompt the researchers to say that clinicians should avoid long term prescribing of some anticholinergics to patients aged 45 and over.

INDIANAPOLIS - The largest and most detailed study of the long-term impact of anticholinergic drugs, a class of drugs commonly prescribed in the United States and United Kingdom as antidepressants and incontinence medications, has found that their use is associated with increased risk of dementia, even when taken 20 years before diagnosis of cognitive impairment.

Wines and beers labelled as lower in alcohol strength may increase the total amount of alcoholic drink consumed, according to a study published in the journal Health Psychology. The study was carried out by the Behaviour and Health Research Unit at the University of Cambridge in collaboration with the Centre for Addictive Behaviours Research at London South Bank University.

Drinking kefir may have a positive effect on blood pressure by promoting communication between the gut and brain. Kefir is a fermented probiotic milk beverage known to help maintain the balance of beneficial bacteria in the digestive system. Researchers will present their findings today at the American Physiological Society (APS) annual meeting at Experimental Biology 2018 in San Diego.

San Diego (April 25, 2018)--A new study in medical students finds that summer, not winter, is the season when people are most likely to have higher levels of circulating stress hormones. These non-intuitive findings contradict traditional concepts of the taxing physical toll of winter and the relaxed ease of summer. Researchers will present their findings today at the American Physiological Society (APS) annual meeting at Experimental Biology 2018 in San Diego.

A study led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators may lead to a significant expansion in the number of stroke patients who can safely be treated with intravenous tPA (tissue plasminogen activator), the "clot busting" drug that has greatly reduced stroke-related disability and deaths in eligible patients. The report, published online in Annals of Neurology, describes the results of a trial using MR-based imaging technologies to identify patients likely to be within 4.5 hours of stroke onset, even though their initial symptoms had not been witnessed.

SAN DIEGO - The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) has released new guidelines to address the selection of specific categories of devices when endovascular therapy (EVT) is indicated. The purpose of this document, which is the first of its kind, is to provide a review of comparative effectiveness data, including safety and efficacy of femoral-popliteal (FP) devices, and to provide clinicians with guidance and recommendations for device selection when these devices are intended as the definitive or adjunctive therapy.

By tracing the use of the word and hashtag 'shithole' on Twitter, researchers have examined who is engaged in the stigmatizing discourse of denigration, the types of place that are stigmatized, and the responses to stigmatized places.

A new systematic review of available evidence appearing in Nutrition Reviews indicates that consuming protein supplements with meals may be more effective at promoting weight control than consuming supplements between meals in adults following a resistance training regimen.

PITTSBURGH--Searches involving multiple websites can quickly get confusing, particularly when performed on a mobile device with a small screen. A new web browser developed at Carnegie Mellon University now brings order to complex searches in a way not possible with conventional tabbed browsing.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (April 25, 2018) - A daily dose of baking soda may help reduce the destructive inflammation of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, scientists say.

They have some of the first evidence of how the cheap, over-the-counter antacid can encourage our spleen to promote instead an anti-inflammatory environment that could be therapeutic in the face of inflammatory disease, Medical College of Georgia scientists report in the Journal of Immunology.

INDIANAPOLIS -- New research shows that patients in the hospital are eager to collaborate with clinicians to track their health data. Traditionally, clinicians have been the only ones who collect, track and reflect on that data.

The findings uncover new directions for researchers in the field of human-computer interaction, said Andrew Miller, one of the researchers and an assistant professor in the Department of Human-Centered Computing in the School of Informatics and Computing at IUPUI.

WACO, Texas (April 24, 2018) - Do you consider yourself more ethical than your coworker?

Caution! Your feelings of ethical superiority can cause a chain reaction that is detrimental to you, your coworker and your organization, according to Baylor University management research.

The human voice can produce rich and varied acoustic signals to transmit information. Normally, this transmission only has a reach of about 200 metres. The Boras, an indigenous group of about 1,500 members residing in small communities in the Amazonian rainforest of Colombia and Peru, can extend this range by a factor of 100 by emulating Bora phrases in sequences of drumbeats. The Boras do this with manguaré drums pairs of wooden slit drums traditionally carved from single logs (each about two metres) through burning. Each drum can produce two pitches, a pair four in total.