Culture

The fixed-dose combination of sacubitril and valsartan (trade name: Entresto) has been approved since November 2015 for adults with symptomatic chronic heart failure with reduced pump function. In its early benefit assessment, the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) derived an indication of considerable added benefit versus the appropriate comparator therapy enalapril from the data: The positive effects regarding mortality, hospitalizations and quality of life largely outweighed the negative effect in non-severe side effects.

A clinical trial conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators has found that the use of patient navigators - individuals who assist patients in receiving health care services - may improve comprehensive cancer screening rates among patient populations not likely to receive recommended screenings. The study, which received Online First publication earlier this month in JAMA Internal Medicine, found that such patients - mostly low-income and ethnic minorities - were more likely to adhere to cancer-screening guidelines when assisted by patient navigators.

In a small study looking at pain assessments in adults with sickle cell disease, researchers at Johns Hopkins says overall, those treated long-term with opioids often fared worse in measures of pain, fatigue and curtailed daily activities than those not on long-term opioids.

In a report on the new research, published online on June 15 in a special sickle cell disease supplement of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, C. Patrick Carroll, M.D., and colleagues evaluated pain experiences of participants with sickle cell disease who were prescribed long-term opioids.

A research group led by NISHIMURA Kazuo (Project Professor at the Kobe University Center for Social Systems Innovation) and YAGI Tadashi (Professor at the Doshisha University Faculty of Economics) have released survey results showing that children who receive positive attention and care from their parents have high incomes, high happiness levels, academic success, and a strong sense of morality. These findings will be presented as a discussion paper at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI, a Japanese policy think tank).

Surprisingly, the increased risk of heart failure was found in men who were within the normal body weight range (a body mass index of 18.5 to 25) in adolescence, with an increased risk starting in those with a BMI of 20 and rising steeply to a nearly ten-fold increased risk in those who were very obese, with a BMI of 35 or over.

BOSTON-- A new study led by researchers at Boston Medical Center (BMC) found that the proportion of discharges among minority patients receiving inpatient care at minority-serving hospitals in Massachusetts increased after the implementation of health insurance reform measures which expanded access to care in non-safety net hospitals. The research suggests that minority-serving hospitals remain an important and vital component of the health care system and may benefit greatly from interventions such as raising Medicaid reimbursement rates.