Culture | Page 2178 | Science Codex

Medications to prevent clots not reaching some patients

Researchers at Johns Hopkins report that hospitalized patients do not receive more than one in 10 doses of doctor-ordered blood thinners prescribed to prevent potentially lethal or disabling blood clots, a decision they say may be fueled by misguided concern by patients and their caregivers.

Calling the rate of missed doses "unacceptably high," the researchers add that hospitalized patients are at a significantly greater risk of developing venous thromboembolism, or VTE, and that preventive blood thinners can prevent it a majority of the time.

Study: Blacks, Hispanics say Zimmerman arrested earlier if victim White

Blacks and Hispanics are more likely than whites to believe that George Zimmerman would have been arrested immediately had he shot a white person, according to a newly published study.

Blacks are more likely than both Hispanics and whites to believe race was a factor in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, a black teenager. And blacks also are more likely than whites to follow the court case closely. Hispanics are less likely than all groups to follow the case closely.

Older patients will make lifestyle changes to avoid fractures, study finds

TORONTO, June 14, 2013—Older patients who know they are at risk of fractures will make positive lifestyle changes to avoid them, such as exercising, wearing proper footwear and taking supplements, a new study has found.

The findings are important because much previous research in bone health has focused on medications or found that people make negative lifestyle changes such as reducing housework or leisure activities because they are afraid of falling, said

Dr. Joanna Sale, a researcher at St. Michael's Hospital and lead author of the study.

Incontinence takes mental toll on younger women

Research from the University of Adelaide shows middle-aged women are more likely to suffer depression from a common medical problem that they find too embarrassing to talk about: urinary incontinence.

However, help is available for women if they seek medical advice, researchers say.

In a study of the experiences of women with urinary incontinence, researcher Jodie Avery found that middle-aged women with incontinence (aged 43-65) were more likely to be depressed than older women (aged 65-89).

Nurse-led programs help patients self-manage RA

Madrid, Spain, 14 June 2013: Data first presented today at EULAR 2013, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism demonstrate the benefits of a nurse-led programme on patient self-management and the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) co-morbidities.

High prevalence of NSAID prescription in those at risk of heart attack/death in primary care

Madrid, Spain, 14 June 2013: New study data presented today at EULAR 2013, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, demonstrate a high prevalence of NSAID prescriptions in patients at risk of ischaemic heart disease (IHD).

Published evidence suggest significant cardiovascular implications of NSAIDs for patients, with an immediate mortality risk demonstrated in patients who had suffered a myocardial infarction (MI, heart attack) even when prescribed treatment duration was less than one week.2

Novel biomarkers improve diagnosis in rheumatoid arthritis

Madrid, Spain, 12 June 2013: Data presented at EULAR 2013, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, show that novel antibody biomarkers could significantly improve diagnosis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Four candidate biomarkers – UH-RA.1, UH-RA.9, UH-RA.14 and UH-RA.21 – were investigated; as a group they demonstrated 85% specificity for RA, and were present in both early and seronegative disease, with 36% of early RA and 24% of RF- and ACCP -negative patients testing positive.

Researchers find low level of patient involvement in medical decision-making in Peru

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic and Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University researchers have partnered on a study showing that Peruvian physicians rarely sought to involve their patients in shared decision-making regarding medical care. This was true for physicians at public and private clinics. The findings are being discussed in Lima, Peru, at ISDM 2013, an international conference on globalizing shared decision-making held from June 16-19. (Follow the proceedings and participate in discussion at ISDM 2013.)

Major hurdle cleared to diabetes transplants

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a way to trigger reproduction in the laboratory of clusters of human cells that make insulin, potentially removing a significant obstacle to transplanting the cells as a treatment for patients with type 1 diabetes.

Efforts to make this treatment possible have been limited by a dearth of insulin-producing beta cells that can be removed from donors after death, and by the stubborn refusal of human beta cells to proliferate in the laboratory after harvesting.

Oysters could rebound more quickly with limited fishing and improved habitat

SOLOMONS, MD (June 13, 2013)—A new study shows that combining improved oyster restoration methods with limits on fishing in the upper Chesapeake could bring the oyster population back to the Bay in a much shorter period of time. The study led by Michael Wilberg of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Chesapeake Biological Laboratory assessed a range of management and restoration options to see which ones would have the most likelihood success.

World population could be nearly 11 billion by 2100, UW research shows

A new statistical analysis shows the world population could reach nearly 11 billion by the end of the century, according to a United Nations report issued June 13. That's about 800 million, or about 8 percent, more than the previous projection of 10.1 billion, issued in 2011.

The projected rise is mostly due to fertility in Africa, where the U.N. had expected birth rates to decline more quickly than they have.

Literacy, not income, key to improving public health in India

Pro-market policies for developing countries have long been based on the belief that increasing average income is key to improving public health and societal well-being.

But new research on India published in the journal Social Science and Medicine shows that literacy - a non-income good - has a greater impact on public health in India.

50 percent of rheumatoid arthritis patients discontinue medication within the first 2 years

Madrid, Spain, 13 June 2013: Data presented at EULAR 2013, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, show that up to one-third of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients discontinue or change therapy within the first year of treatment.

Loss of efficacy was the most common reason given (35.8%), followed by safety (20.1%), physician or patient preference (27.8% and 17.9%, respectively) and access to treatment (9.0%). Rates and rationale for treatment discontinuation were similar for both tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) and non-TNFi biologics.

Childbirth increases risk of ACPA-negative rheumatoid arthritis

Madrid, Spain, 13 June 2013: Epidemiological data presented today at EULAR 2013, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, demonstrate that pregnancy carried to childbirth (parity) increases the risk of ACPA-negative* rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The increased risk was demonstrated in women aged 18-44 who have had a child (2.1, 95% CI 1.4-3.2), but not in older women, and was more pronounced among those women with delivery during the first year of symptoms.

Depression indicators predict work disabilty more than disease activity or response to therapy

Madrid, Spain, 13 June 2013: Data presented today at EULAR 2013, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, demonstrate that indicators of depression are stronger predictors of work disability in early arthritis than disease activity or response to therapy.