Culture | Page 1698 | Science Codex

Flow diversion improves vision among patients with paraclinoid aneurysms

BOSTON -- Aneurysms of the paraclinoid region of the internal carotid artery (ICA) and the interventions used to treat them often result in visual impairment.

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital, however, found that flow diversion demonstrates a higher rate of visual improvement and a lower rate of visual decline in patients with these types of aneurysms. Results from this new study were presented at the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery's (SNIS) 13th Annual Meeting today in Boston.

US police killed or injured more than 55,000 people during 'legal interventions' in 2012

US police killed or injured an estimated 55, 400 people during legal stop and search incidents and arrests in 2012, reveals research published online in the journal Injury Prevention.

Blacks, Native Americans, and Hispanics had higher stop/arrest rates per 10,000 of the population than Whites and Asians. And Blacks were by far the most likely to be stopped, and then arrested, the data show.

Sub-set of stem cells found to minimize risks when used to treat damaged hearts

Scientists use mathematical modeling to simulate human mesenchymal stem cell delivery to a damaged heart and found that using one sub-set of these stem cells minimises the risks associated with this therapy. The study, published in PLOS Computational Biology, represents a development in novel strategies to repair and regenerate heart muscle and could improve stem cell treatments for heart attack patients.

1 in 3 overweight and 1 in 7 obese in north east China (Jilin Province)

One in three people is overweight and one in seven is obese in Jilin Province, north east China, finds a large study, published in the online journal BMJ Open.

Regular intake of meat and alcohol, having ever been married, and getting less than 7 hours sleep a night were all associated with a heightened risk, the research showed.

The researchers base their findings on a population survey of nearly 21, 000 randomly selected people aged 18 to 79, in Jilin Province, north east China in 2012.

Flu vaccine may reduce risk of death for type 2 diabetes patients

The flu vaccine may reduce the likelihood of being hospitalised with stroke and heart failure in people with type 2 diabetes, according to new research.

The study, from scientists at Imperial College London, also found patients who received the influenza vaccination had a 24 per cent lower death rate in the flu season compared to patients who weren't vaccinated.

National survey says many, not all, open to doctors talking about guns

AURORA, Colo. (July 25, 2016) - In perhaps the first national survey of its kind, two-thirds of people sampled said it is at least sometimes appropriate for health care providers to talk to patients about firearms. The remainder said it is never appropriate.

The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, the Harvard School of Public Health and Northeastern University, may encourage more providers to have these conversations with patients.

Ageing can drive progress

The UN estimates that the number of people aged 65 and older will have reached almost a billion by 2030. The proportion of those aged over 80 will grow at particularly high rates, and their numbers are expected to reach 200 million by 2030 and triple that forty years later.

Due to a combination of an ageing population and declining birthrates, the demographic structure of most countries will change towards lower proportions of children and young people. As a result, the global division will no longer be between first- and third-world nations, but between old and young ones.

Do lengthy travel times to Primary Stroke Centers offset benefits of specialized care?

Lebanon, NH (July 25, 2016) - Physicians and families of stroke victims often have to make quick decisions about whether to treat patients locally or refer them to a more distant Primary Stroke Center (PSC). Until now, there has been little information to help guide them.

Bio-engineered molecule shows promise for quick control of bleeding

Every five minutes someone in the U.S. dies from a blood clot, through its role in strokes, heart attacks or other severe conditions. For decades, doctors have used the anticoagulant drug warfarin (Coumadin) to prevent clots. More recently, newer anticoagulants such as Xarelto, Eliquis and Pradaxa, considered safer and more convenient than warfarin, have gained greater acceptance.

Optimizing Monday Night Football

The NFL's schedule makers face a lot of uncertainty when they sit down every spring to put together the next season's Monday Night Football schedule.

Medical students using electronic health records to track former patients

Many medical students are using electronic health records (EHRs) to track former patients but the practice, which students report as being educational, raises some ethical questions, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.

While EHRs let students to check their diagnostic impressions by monitoring patient outcomes, the practice raises ethical questions about the appropriate use of protected health information.

Are primary stroke centers associated with lower fatality?

Does a long travel time to a primary stroke center (PSC) offset the potential benefits of this specialized care?

In an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine, Kimon Bekelis, M.D., of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, N.H., and coauthors analyzed data for a national group of Medicare beneficiaries and calculated travel time to evaluate the association of seven-day and 30-day death rates with receiving care in a PSC.

Racial differences in inpatient procedures after stroke

Inpatient procedures are an integral part of routine stroke care. Some procedures, including intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and carotid revascularization, have a curative intent to heal the patient, while others are life-sustaining procedures, including gastrostomy (feeding tube insertion), tracheostomy, mechanical ventilation and hemicraniectomy (to relieve pressure on the brain).

Does a dementia diagnosis have a silver lining? Study suggests it can

LEXINGTON, KY. (July 25, 2016) -- Results from a study of patients with a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or early dementia indicates that their outlook isn't as dark as expected.

A group of scientists from the University of Kentucky's Sanders-Brown Center on Aging asked 48 men and women with early dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) a series of questions about their quality of life and personal outlook post-diagnosis.

Vast majority of guns recovered by Pittsburgh police not in possession of legal owners

PITTSBURGH, July 25, 2016 - Nearly 80 percent of perpetrators carrying a gun recovered by Pittsburgh Police were not the lawful owners, a strong indication that theft and trafficking are significant sources of firearms involved in crimes in southwest Pennsylvania, a new University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health analysis reveals.