Culture | Page 2320 | Science Codex

Children taking steroids for asthma are slightly shorter than peers

Children who use inhaled steroid drugs for asthma end up slightly shorter at their full adult height than children who don't use the drugs, new results from a comprehensive asthma study show.

The findings will be presented Sept. 3 at the European Respiratory Society meeting in Vienna, Austria, and published online the same day in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study's senior author is Robert C. Strunk, MD, the Donald Strominger Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Design help for drug cocktails

For years, doctors treating those with HIV have recognized a relationship between how faithfully patients take the drugs they prescribe, and how likely the virus is to develop drug resistance. More recently, research has shown that the relationship between adherence to a drug regimen and resistance is different for each of the drugs that make up the "cocktail" used to control the disease.

New technique helps determine degree of muscle wasting in critically ill patients

Vienna, Austria: Researchers have identified a new technique that can help determine the severity of muscle loss in critically ill patients. The breakthrough could lead to new research to help prevent muscle-wasting and new therapeutic interventions to help treat critically ill patients.

The results of the study will be presented today (2 September 2012) at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Vienna.

Study explores why children with asthma are more likely to be bullied

Vienna, Austria: New research has uncovered several factors which could explain why children with asthma are at an increased risk of being bullied.

The study, presented today (2 September 2012) at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Vienna, highlights the need for doctors to talk to children with asthma about bullying, as well as the impact the disease could be having in other areas of their life.

Insufficient Evidence to Weigh Benefits and Harms of Routine Screening for Age-related Hearing Loss

Age-related hearing loss is a common health problem that can affect independence, emotional well-being, and quality of life.

Several screening methods have proven accurate for identifying hearing impairment, including simple clinical tools and questionnaires.

Interpersonal Sensitivity, Status, and Stereotype Accuracy

Previous studies have suggested that subordinates are more accurate in judging how their bosses view them than are bosses at judging how subordinates view them.

Those studies also suggest that bosses are more accurate in judging how subordinates view themselves than are subordinates in judging how bosses view themselves.

Trade-offs between water for food and for curbing climate change

p>Earth's growing human population needs fresh water for drinking and food production. However, fresh water is also needed for the growth of biomass, which acts as a sink of carbon dioxide and thus could help mitigate climate change. Does the Earth have enough freshwater resources to meet these competing demands?

Insufficient Evidence to Recommend Routine Screening for Chronic Kidney Disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects 11 percent of the U.S. population. CKD is associated with advanced age, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease and most people with CKD have no symptoms.

Screening and monitoring patients before they have symptoms could lead to earlier interventions that improve health outcomes. Researchers at the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) reviewed published randomized, controlled trials to assess the benefits and harms of screening, monitoring, and treatment of early-stage CKD in asymptomatic adults.

Anti-clotting therapy may be used too often following orthopaedic surgery or trauma

Men and women who undergo joint replacement procedures, as well as those who have significant fractures, tend to be at an increased risk of developing pulmonary emboli (PE), blood clots that travel to the lungs where they may cause serious complications and even death.

Intervention helps children with sickle cell disease complete MRI tests without sedation

Sitting still is tough for children, which makes MRI scans a challenge. The scans require that patients remain motionless for extended periods. Findings from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital showed that a brief, targeted intervention dramatically increases the likelihood that children as young as 5 years old will be able to undergo testing without sedation.

Urinary protein excretion -- even in the normal range -- raises diabetics' heart risks

Highlights

For patients with type 2 diabetes, any degree of measurable urinary protein excretion—even in what is considered the normal range—increases their risk of experiencing heart problems.
Many patients with type 2 diabetes may benefit from cardioprotective medications.

More than 300 million people worldwide have type 2 diabetes.

Affluent people less likely to ask for help in times of trouble

Crises are said to bring people closer together. But a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that while the have-nots reach out to one another in times of trouble, the wealthy are more apt to find comfort in stuff.

Kidney stones linked with small increased risk of later kidney problems

Research: Kidney stones and kidney function loss: a cohort study

Kidney stones are associated with a small but significant increased risk of developing more serious kidney problems later in life, suggests a study published on bmj.com today.

Kidney stones are a common and often preventable condition in the general population, but their association with end stage renal disease or ESRD (commonly known as kidney failure) and other renal problems is unclear.

Urinary protein excretion - even in the normal range - raises diabetics' heart risks

Highlights

For patients with type 2 diabetes, any degree of measurable urinary protein excretion—even in what is considered the normal range—increases their risk of experiencing heart problems.
Many patients with type 2 diabetes may benefit from cardioprotective medications.

More than 300 million people worldwide have type 2 diabetes.

Microbes help hyenas communicate via scent

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Bacteria in hyenas' scent glands may be the key controllers of communication.

The results, featured in the current issue of Scientific Reports, show a clear relationship between the diversity of hyena clans and the distinct microbial communities that reside in their scent glands, said Kevin Theis, the paper's lead author and Michigan State University postdoctoral researcher.