Culture

Telehealth can reduce deaths and emergency hospital care, but estimated cost savings are modest

Research: Effect of telehealth on use of secondary care and mortality: findings from the Whole System Demonstrator cluster randomised trial

Editorial: Telehealth for long term conditions

For people with long term conditions, telehealth can reduce deaths and help patients avoid the need for emergency hospital care, finds a study published on bmj.com today.

However, the estimated scale of hospital cost savings is modest and may not be sufficient to offset the cost of the technology, say the authors.

Don't blame TV: Parents determine whether kids are active or couch potatoes

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University aren't telling you anything new when they pile on modern children and complains they are increasingly sedentary, spending too much time sitting and looking at electronic screens.

But it's not necessarily because of the newest gadgets – parents play a major factor in whether young children are on the move.

Mayo Clinic: Common blood pressure drug linked to severe GI problems

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered an association between a commonly prescribed blood pressure drug, Olmesartan, and severe gastrointestinal issues such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss and electrolyte abnormalities -- symptoms common among those who have celiac disease. The findings are published online today in the medical journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Research shows how racial and gender profiling can affect outcome of traffic stops

MANHATTAN, KAN. -- Racial profiling has gained national attention in recent years, and a Kansas State University researcher is finding that it can involve an additional factor: gender.

Jeremy Briggs, doctoral candidate in sociology, Topeka, is analyzing police actions during routine traffic stops to understand how race and gender are connected. Perhaps one of his most significant findings is that black and Hispanic women are just as likely as white men to be ticketed, arrested or searched during a traffic stop.

How cheetahs outpace greyhounds

In a 0-60 mph stand off, most cars would be hard pressed to give a cheetah a run for its money, and at their highest recorded speed of 29m/s (65mph) cheetahs easily outstrip the fastest greyhounds. But, according to Alan Wilson from the Royal Veterinary College, UK, there is no clear reason for the cheetah's exceptional performance. 'Cheetahs and greyhounds are known to use a rotary gallop and physically they are remarkably similar, yet there is this bewitching difference in maximum speed of almost a factor of two', he says.

Alcohol may be involved in up to 640,000 hospital admissions in England and Wales every year

Alcohol may be involved in up to 640,000 hospital admissions and nearly 2 million visits to emergency care departments in England and Wales every year, suggests research published online in Emergency Medicine Journal.

The authors base their findings on the number of patients requiring treatment at one inner city emergency care department in the South West of England, and the extrapolation of those figures.

Heart patients get post-traumatic stress disorder too

New York, NY (June 20, 2012) — One in eight people who suffer a heart attack or other acute coronary event experience clinically significant symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a meta-analysis of 24 studies led by Columbia University Medical Center researchers. The study also shows that heart patients who suffer PTSD face twice the risk of having another cardiac event or of dying within one to three years, compared with those without PTSD.

Innovative, automated strategies to engage patients at home are key to improving health outcomes

PHILADELPHIA – In a Perspective piece published Online First this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, a group of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania propose a multi-pronged approach to the new practice of so-called "automated hovering" that aims to improve patients' compliance with medication and dietary regimens and other positive health behaviors.

New delivery method improves efficacy of 2 common Parkinson's disease medications

A new delivery method for levodopa/carbidopa, a common dual-drug Parkinson's disease (PD) regimen, significantly improved the duration of the drugs' effectiveness in people with advanced PD, according to research by Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The new method is continuous delivery of an intestinal gel formulation of the therapies, which are traditionally taken orally. The study found that the continuous gel delivery reduced "off" time—when the medicine's effectiveness wears off—by an average of nearly two extra hours per day.

CRN assesses current state of scientific research for nutritional supplements

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 20, 2012—The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the dietary supplement industry's leading trade association, today released its comprehensive report, The Benefits of Nutritional Supplements (4th Edition). The updated book, which assesses the current state of the science on the health benefits associated with select nutritional supplements, finds consistent and adequate use of these products contributes to overall health and wellness throughout all age groups, lifestyles, and life stages.

Human factors researcher pushes for safer gas fireplaces

With the increase in popularity of glass-fronted or "direct vent" gas fireplaces has come an alarming increase in the number of small children who have been seriously burned by touching the hot glass. Until very recently, U.S. law allowed the glass to reach the scorching temperature of 500 degrees Fahrenheit (260˚ C). Human factors/ergonomics researcher Carol Pollack-Nelson, in her upcoming Ergonomics in Design article, "The Burn Hazard Presented by Gas Fireplace Glass," describes how she called on the U.S.

Ethics should drive health policy reform, especially with physician-owned specialty hospitals

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The ethical principles that have for centuries shaped the relationship between patient and physician should also guide legislators, regulators -- and justices of the highest court -- charged with crafting U.S. health care policies that demarcate the boundaries of a physician's business practice, an Indiana University professor argues.

Scientists identify protein required to regrow injured nerves in limbs

A protein required to regrow injured peripheral nerves has been identified by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The finding, in mice, has implications for improving recovery after nerve injury in the extremities. It also opens new avenues of investigation toward triggering nerve regeneration in the central nervous system, notorious for its inability to heal.

'Tell me no lies': New human factors/ergonomics research on deception may improve Homeland Security

Recent world tragedies have led to an increased emphasis on the importance of deception training - especially at security checkpoints in airports, bus terminals, and train stations – that is designed to avert potential terrorist attacks. Past research on deception has identified the physiological and behavioral cues that can expose the individual liar, but most major terrorist acts involve two or more coconspirators. In their upcoming Human Factors article, "Social Indicators of Deception," authors James E.

Carrots, not sticks, motivate workers

EAST LANSING, Mich. — What motivates people to work harder: The promise of reward or the threat of penalty?

A new study co-authored by a Michigan State University business scholar says it's the carrot – and not the stick – that drives productivity.

The study, which appears in The Accounting Review, challenges previous research that says the threat of penalty is more effective for getting increased effort, said Karen Sedatole, associate professor of accounting in MSU's Broad College of Business.