Culture

For years doctors have been advising patients with lupus not to get pregnant. It was assumed that the likelihood of pregnancy complications was too high in this population. However, ongoing work by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is helping identify those lupus patients who are - and aren't - at increased risk of problem pregnancies.

Amsterdam, November 9, 2015 - We all know what it's like to take a bite of something expecting one taste and getting another - it can be an enjoyable or disgusting experience. New research published in Food Research International reveals that being pleasantly surprised or disappointed with a food product can actually change a person's mood.

ORLANDO -- Mechanical CPR, in which a device is used by Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers to deliver automated chest compressions during cardiac arrest resuscitation care, is associated with an equivalent survival rate for patients experiencing cardiac arrest outside of the hospital as manual CPR, according to new findings from a team of researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

ORLANDO, Florida, Nov. 9 2015 -- Intimate partners of people with heart defibrillators are more concerned about resuming sexual activity than the patients immediately after the device is implanted, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2015.

Implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) deliver an electric shock to the heart to correct life threatening heart beats.

Nihar R. Desai, M.D., M.P.H., of the Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., and colleagues examined trends in percutaneous coronary intervention use, patient selection, and procedural appropriateness following the introduction of Appropriate Use Criteria. This JAMA study is being released to coincide with its presentation at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2015.

Josep Rodes-Cabau, M.D., of Laval University, Quebec City, Canada, and colleagues randomly assigned 171 patients with an indication for atrial septal defect (ASD) closure and no history of migraine to receive dual antiplatelet therapy (aspirin + clopidogrel [the clopidogrel group], n = 84) or single antiplatelet therapy (aspirin + placebo [the placebo group], n = 87) for 3 months following transcatheter ASD closure. This JAMA study is being released to coincide with its presentation at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2015.

PHILADELPHIA, PA, Nov. 9, 2015 - Self-weighing can be a useful tool to help adults control their weight, but for adolescents and young adults this behavior may have negative psychological outcomes. Researchers from the University of Minnesota tracked the self-weighing behaviors of more than 1,900 young adults as part of Project EAT (Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults) and found increases in self-weighing to be significantly related to increases in weight concern and depression and decreases in body satisfaction and self-esteem among females.

Although there are anecdotal reports indicating that cannabinoids, especially marijuana (or herbal cannabis), may be of therapeutic benefit for some patients with rheumatic complaints, a new review published in Arthritis Care & Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), finds scant scientific evidence supporting any use of cannabinoids in rheumatic diseases. Furthermore, not a single controlled study has examined herbal cannabis in the rheumatology patient population.

HOUSTON - (Nov. 6, 2015) - Negative body image significantly increases the risk of obesity regardless of whether youth have depression, according to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health.

We, on average, for our entire history have associated with about 150 other people, and now after millions of years of doing that, we are a very social animal. – Professor of population studies at Stanford University, author and ecologist Paul Ehrlich, speaking on Q&A, November 2, 2015.

People with heart problems often have diabetes, which puts them at greater risk for heart attacks, heart failure and stroke. Now, a new study has found that ensuring heart attack patients are promptly diagnosed and treated for diabetes makes a significant difference in improving their cardiac outcomes.

For the study, researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City evaluated nearly 6,000 patients who were treated for heart attacks between 2002 and 2013 by Intermountain Healthcare clinicians.

In a study examining the effect of financial incentives to improve lipid levels among patients in primary care practices, shared financial incentives for physicians and patients, but not incentives to physicians or patients alone, resulted in a modest reduction of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels after 12 months, according to a study in the November 10 issue of JAMA. This issue, a cardiovascular disease theme issue, coincides with the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2015.

In a multiethnic, middle-aged and older study population, the prevalence of myocardial scars (evidence of a heart attack) was nearly 8 percent, of which nearly 80 percent were unrecognized by electrocardiography or clinical evaluation, according to a study in the November 10 issue of JAMA. This issue, a cardiovascular disease theme issue, coincides with the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2015.

Although frequent laboratory monitoring of patients with heart failure following initiation of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists is supported by the results of large clinical trials and recommended in guidelines, there appears to be low rates of monitoring in clinical practice, according to a study in the November 10 issue of JAMA. This issue, a cardiovascular disease theme issue, coincides with the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2015.

Among patients with peripheral artery disease and intermittent claudication (cramping pain in the legs due to poor circulation in the arteries, aggravated by walking), a combination therapy of endovascular revascularization (an invasive procedure to improve blood flow in an artery) followed by supervised exercise resulted in greater improvement in walking distances and health-related quality-of-life measures at one year compared with supervised exercise only, according to a study in the November 10 issue of JAMA.