Improving the coordination of care for elderly patients with chronic diseases trims costs, reduces use of health services and cuts complications, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
Studying a large group of Medicare patients, researchers found that even modest improvements in the continuity of care among patients with diabetes, congestive heart failure or emphysema were associated with sizable reductions in use of hospital emergency departments and hospitalizations.
A new study indicates that in younger adults experiencing heart attacks and angina, men are more likely to receive faster care compared with women. The study, published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) also found that gender-related factors affected access to care for both men and women.
DALLAS, March 17, 2014 — Body odor is a deer hunter's worst enemy, an alert to animals that an ominous presence is lurking, but the science behind suppressing it to give hunters an edge oddly enough could help researchers develop a life-saving device for diabetes patients. Scientists today presented the latest advances that tie together these two seemingly unrelated fronts at the 247th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society.
NEW ORLEANS, LA – Researchers presented results today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Specialty Day in New Orleans that adolescents who have an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) reconstruction are more likely to demonstrate osteoarthritic changes later in life.
"Long-term follow-ups after the surgical treatment of ACL injuries in kids are rare and this is one of the few studies that has been able to track individuals," said Olle Mansson, MD, lead author of the study from NU-Hospital Group in Uddevalla, Sweden.
The American Thoracic Society has developed clinical practice guidelines to help clinicians identify and manage patients with sickle cell disease who are at increased risk for mortality from pulmonary hypertension.
DARIEN, IL – A new study of patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) found that treatment outcomes were better when patients received care from sleep specialists and accredited sleep centers.
While many overweight patients have the best intentions to lose weight after joint replacement, a study at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) finds that although some are able to achieve this goal, equal numbers of patients actually gain weight after hip or knee replacement. Researchers also determined that patients who lose weight do better in terms of function and activity level two years down the road.
WASHINGTON (March 14, 2014) —George Washington University (GW) researchers report dramatic increases in prescriptions of opioid analgesics, such as Percocet, Vicodin, oxycodone and Dilaudid, during U.S. emergency department visits from 2001 to 2010. These findings were not explained by higher visit rates for painful conditions, which only increased modestly during the time period. This report was published today in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine.
Philadelphia, Pa. (March 14, 2014) – Patient requests for specific medications—including requests for brand-name drugs spurred by direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising—have a substantial impact on doctors' prescribing decisions, suggests a study in the April issue of Medical Care. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
Every year, almost 10,000 Danes are admitted to hospital with blood poisoning, while more than 3,000 patients become infected while they are hospitalised. New research shows that Danes suffering from blood poisoning risk an extra challenge in the form of an increased risk of suffering a blood clot:
NEW ORLEANS─As youth participation in high-demand sports such as football, basketball and soccer has increased over the past decade, so has the number of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in teens and young adults. New research presented today at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) found that universal neuromuscular training for adolescent athletes─which focuses on the optimal way to bend, jump, land and pivot the knee—is an effective and inexpensive way to avoid ACL sprains and tears.
NEW ORLEANS – More than 7 million Americans are living with an artificial (prosthetic) knee (4.7 million) or hip (2.5 million), which may have significant future implications in terms of the need for ongoing patient care, according to new research presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). Two related studies also found a growing incidence of adults younger than age 65 undergoing total knee replacement (TKR) and total hip replacement (THR) surgeries, and a potential underutilization of these procedures in some segments of the population.
NEW ORLEANS─In a new study presented today at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), researchers sought to evaluate the clinical, radiographic and functional outcomes of a Charnley total hip replacement (THR)─ a traditional hip prosthesis consisting of a polyethylene acetabular (plastic) cup and a metal femoral head─in patients under age 50 at a minimum of 35 years after the initial surgery.
NEW ORLEANS─Children considered obese are more likely to suffer a distal radius fracture, a bone break near the wrist, and more likely to experience complications related to the healing of the fracture, according to research presented today at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).
NEW ORLEANS--Approximately one-third of the American population is obese and the number is rising, as is the number of obese individuals involved in high-energy accidents with multiple injuries.