Culture | Page 2176 | Science Codex

States vary widely on success rates for minorities in drug treatment programs

A University of Iowa study reveals significant disparities between minority and white clients in success rates for completing substance abuse treatment programs. Moreover, these disparities vary widely from state to state.

"Our findings suggest that for most states there's something amiss," says Stephan Arndt, Ph.D., UI professor of psychiatry and biostatistics. "There are strong racial and ethnic disparities for people in being able to complete substance abuse treatment programs successfully, and those disparities are something we need to set as targets to remove.

New data on islet autoantibodies in young children defines early type 1 diabetes development

New York, NY, June 19, 2013 – A decade-long JDRF-funded study led by the Institute of Diabetes Research in Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany, is providing a deeper understanding of the link between autoantibodies and the risk of developing type 1 diabetes (T1D), highlighting the importance of pre-diabetes research into possible preventions for the disease. The study, "Seroconversion to Multiple Islet Autoantibodies and Risk of Progression to Diabetes in Children," was published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Bullying and suicide among youth is a public health problem

Philadelphia, PA, June 19, 2013 – Recent studies linking bullying and depression, coupled with extensive media coverage of bullying-related suicide among young people, led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to assemble an expert panel to focus on these issues. This panel synthesized the latest research about the complex relationship between youth involvement in bullying and suicide-related behaviors.

Research shows moves to ban pay-to-delay deals are justified

Controversial deals that delay generic versions of drugs coming onto the market can lead to consumers paying significantly more for some treatments, according to new research by an academic from the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Dr Farasat Bokhari's study shows that moves to investigate and ban pay-to-delay deals – which typically involve a branded manufacturer holding a drug patent paying a rival generic firm to delay the release of its cheaper version – are justified.

Male on male consensual sex and sexual assault common in South Africa

A survey of adult South African men published in this week's PLOS Medicine, shows that while overlapping sexual relationships with women appear to be common, roughly one in 20 men reported consensual sexual contact with a man, approximately one in ten reported being sexually assaulted by another man, and around 3% reported perpetrating such an assault.

Earlier treatment following stroke linked with reduced risk of in-hospital death

In a study that included nearly 60,000 patients with acute ischemic stroke, thrombolytic treatment (to help dissolve a blood clot) that was started more rapidly after symptom onset was associated with reduced in-hospital mortality and intracranial hemorrhage and higher rates of independent walking ability at discharge and discharge to home, according to a study in the June 19 issue of JAMA.

MMR booster vaccine does not appear to worsen disease activity in children with juvenile arthritis

Among children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who had undergone primary immunization, the use of a measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) booster compared with no booster did not result in worse JIA disease activity, according to a study in the June 19 issue of JAMA.

Study evaluates procedures for diagnosing sarcoidosis

Among patients with suspected stage I/II pulmonary sarcoidosis who were undergoing confirmation of the condition via tissue sampling, the use of the procedure known as endosonographic nodal aspiration compared with bronchoscopic biopsy, the current diagnostic standard, resulted in greater diagnostic yield, according to a study in the June 19 issue of JAMA.

Study finds need for improvement on state health care price websites

"With rising health care costs and 30 percent of privately insured adults enrolled in high-deductible health care plans, calls for greater health care price transparency are increasing. In response, health plans, consumer groups, and state governments are increasingly reporting health care prices.

Hospital, doctor shopping isn't easy for patients looking to compare prices of health care services

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — When it comes to shopping for health care services, few publicly available tools help patients measure the best bang for their buck, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Tea Party Is Racist, Says Springer Journal

Is the US Tea Party movement a racial backlash against President Obama? A new paper by Angie Maxwell from the University of Arkansas, and Wayne Parent from Louisiana State University, assesses whether racial attitudes are contributing to Tea Party membership, and if so, the exact nature of this racial prejudice. Their work is published online in the Springer's journal Race and Social Problems.

Respect may be the key to stopping patient 'no shows'

People with HIV are more likely to keep their scheduled medical appointments — and their disease under control — if they feel their physician listens, explains things clearly and knows them as a person, not just a "case," new Johns Hopkins research suggests.

New drug could help AMD sufferers

There is no cure for age-related macular degeneration, an eye disease that is the leading cause of vision loss and blindness in older Americans. Last year, the National Institutes of Health reported that two drugs injected into the eyes, Avastin and Lucentis, eased symptoms for sufferers, especially those in the advanced, "wet" stage of the disease, when blood vessels in the eye become swollen and leak fluids in the eye.

Yet for some AMD patients, the two drugs either don't work for long or fail to work at all. It's a dead end for treatment, or so it seemed.

TED Talks - good for public recognition but they get no points from peers

TED Talks, the most popular conference and events website in the world, with over 1 billion informational videos viewed, provides academics with popular exposure but don't mean much among peers - at least when it comes to getting cited, according to a statistics paper.

CAMH policy study outlines ways to reduce alcohol harms

TORONTO, June 18, 2013 /CNW/ - The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has released a summary report outlining policy strategies to reduce the harms related to alcohol, with a focus on the province of Ontario, Canada.

In the report titled 'Reducing Alcohol-Related Harms and Costs in Ontario: A Provincial Summary Report,' CAMH Senior Scientist Norman Giesbrecht outlines Ontario's policy strengths and provides recommendations to help decrease the $2.9 billion attributed annually to the direct and indirect costs of alcohol use in Ontario.