Culture | Page 2282 | Science Codex

Hospital-based exercise programs benefit people with osteoarthritis

A low-cost exercise program run by Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City has significantly improved pain, function and quality of life in participants with osteoarthritis, according to new research.

The study adds to the growing evidence that exercise is beneficial for osteoarthritis and shows that a hospital-based program can work. The study will be reported at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (ACR/ARHP), to be held Nov. 9-14, in Washington D.C.

Pussy Riot Gets An Expensive Tea Set About Them

A design student from Russia has decided to capitalize on the furor over punk band Pussy Riot in her homeland by creating a...tea set.

Muscovite Alina Tukhvatullina, 24, who has just completed an MA in design at London’s Kingston University, has designed what appears to be a traditional Russian tea set, but hidden among the Khokhloma floral patterns are the names of topics that are generating controversy in modern day Russia.

Phase I Japanese Red Cedar JRC-LAMP-Vax Vaccine Safety Study Begins

Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company, announced today that it has dosed the first patient in a Phase I clinical trial of its lead candidate, JRC-LAMP-vax™ vaccine, at its clinical site in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Considerable added benefit of ipilimumab in advanced melanoma

The humanized antibody ipilimumab (trade name Yervoy®) has been approved since August 2011 for the treatment of adult patients with advanced melanoma (black skin cancer) who have already been treated. The term "advanced" means that the melanoma can no longer be removed by an operation or that metastases have formed. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has examined the added benefit of the drug pursuant to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG).

Vandetanib in thyroid cancer: No proof of added benefit

Vandetanib (trade name Caprelsa®) has been approved in Germany since February 2012 for adult patients suffering from a particular form of aggressive thyroid cancer. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has now examined the added benefit of the drug pursuant to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG). According to the findings, there is no proof of added benefit, because no data on patient-relevant outcomes for those patients for whom the drug is approved were presented by the drug manufacturer in its dossier.

Socioeconomic status linked to childhood peanut allergy

ANAHEIM, CA. (November 9, 2012) – Peanut allergies are rising among American children and one reason might be due to economic status. According to a new study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting, greater rates of peanut allergy are found in families with higher economic status. This supports the "hygiene hypothesis" of many allergists.

The Internet becomes next Nostradamus for allergy season

ANAHEIM, CA. (November 9, 2012) – While it's believed that Nostradamus' prophecies predicted many historical events, his digital successor, the Internet, may be foreseeing the height of allergy suffering. According to allergist Leonard Bielory, M.D., American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) board member, Google search volume is shedding light on the most common allergy symptoms, when searches peak and how they pertain to pollen types.

Allergists find value in social media to educate and connect

Twitter, a popular social network and microblogging service, is rapidly being adopted by allergists. A study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology's (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting in Anaheim, Calif. Nov. 8-13 has found there has been a 470 percent increase in allergist use in just one year. Allergists are primarily using Twitter to educate their patients and the public about allergy-related information. They are also connecting with their peers.

Title: Rapid Growth of Twitter Use by Allergists and Immunologists for Professional Purposes

Life-saving epinephrine under utilized by paramedics

Epinephrine is the first line of treatment for patients suffering from anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction. A delay in using epinephrine is common in severe food allergic reaction deaths. Yet according to a new study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting in Anaheim, Calif. Nov. 8-13, only 15 percent of those experiencing anaphylaxis receive epinephrine from paramedics.

Patient preferences often ignored in treatment decisions, warn experts

Analysis: Stop the silent misdiagnosis: Patients' preferences matter

Patients' preferences are often misinterpreted or ignored in treatment decisions, leading to a "silent misdiagnosis" that is damaging to both doctors and patients, warn experts on bmj.com today.

Mesothelioma drug slows disease progression in patients with an inactive NF2 gene

Preliminary findings from the first trial of a new drug for patients with mesothelioma show that it has some success in preventing the spread of the deadly disease in patients lacking an active tumour suppressor gene called NF2. The study is presented at the 24th EORTC-NCI-AACR [1] Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Dublin, Ireland, today (Friday) [2].

Circulating blood factor linked with a leading cause of kidney failure

Highlights

Most patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a leading cause of kidney failure, have high levels of a factor called suPAR circulating in their blood.
suPAR levels could help doctors monitor the disease's progression as well as patients' response to different therapies.
suPAR might be a therapeutic target of future treatments for this difficult-to-treat disease.

Yearly, about 5,000 individuals in the U.S. are diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.

Program helps kidney specialists discuss difficult news with patients

Highlights

Is housework a health hazard? Sheet-Fitting palsy described by wake forest baptist physicians

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Nov. 8, 2012 – What do a tight, fitted bed sheet and a blood clot in the wrist have in common? Both are associated with a condition called sheet fitting palsy. True to its name, the palsy is reported in those who spend a long period of time repeatedly trying to pull a fitted bed sheet over the corner of a mattress. But it has also been reported in basketball players and in those who do push-ups as exercise.

Extreme weather preceded collapse of Maya civilization

Decades of extreme weather crippled, and ultimately decimated, first the political culture and later the human population of the ancient Maya, according to a new study by an interdisciplinary team of researchers that includes two University of California, Davis, scientists.