A new study at Karlstad University in Sweden shows that phthalates from PVC flooring materials is taken up by our bodies. Phthalates are substances suspected to cause asthma and allergies, as well as other chronic diseases in children. The study shows that children can ingest these softening agents with food but also by breathing and through the skin.
Culture
ATS 2012, SAN FRANCISCO – Prior treatment with inhaled corticosteroids in patients with respiratory disorders who develop community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is associated with a lower incidence and severity of parapneumonic effusion, according to a new study from researchers in Spain.
A parapneumonic effusion is a type of pleural effusion (excess fluid that accumulates between the two pleural layers, the fluid-filled space that surrounds the lungs) that arises as a result of a pneumonia, lung abscess, or bronchiectasis.
As the U.S. presidential election campaigns heat up, the economic debate is dominated by bailouts, austerity and, inevitably, taxation. Now a new study published in Symbolic Interaction asks why tax is such an important issue to voters and explores the moral ideas which underpin their views.
A new tool that could provide a useful framework for deciding what medicines to include in drug formularies is presented in this week's PLoS Medicine by the experts from Harvard Medical School and the University of Illinois at Chicago who developed it.
MAYWOOD, Ill. -- Children born with cleft lip, cleft palate and other craniofacial disorders face numerous medical challenges beyond appearance.
Patients can face serious airway, feeding, speech and hearing problems, as well as social and psychological challenges, Laura Swibel Rosenthal, MD, of Loyola University Medical Center and colleagues write in the June 2012 issue of Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America.
Two studies that included adults with obstructive sleep apnea examined the effectiveness of reducing the risk of cardiovascular outcomes, including high blood pressure, by treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), according to the articles in the May 23/30 issue of JAMA.
The number of systems of care that quickly transfer and treat heart attack patients has increased substantially across the nation, according to research published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.
Results of a national survey from the American Heart Association's Mission: Lifeline® STEMI program found similar characteristics and challenges with regional care systems that treat patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the most severe form of heart attack.
Use of multicomponent intervention linked with decrease in using physical restraint in nursing homes
CHICAGO – Nursing homes that used a multicomponent intervention that included staff training and supportive materials for staff, residents and relatives had a lower rate of use of physical restraints such as bilateral bed rails and belts, according to a study in the May 23/30 issue of JAMA.
ATS 2012, SAN FRANCISCO – Use of inhaled anticholinergics (IACs) has been associated with an increased risk of potentially dangerous heart arrhythmias among young asthma patients, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The medications are commonly used to help control asthma flare-ups, and recent studies have shown that they may be an effective treatment option for routine asthma management.
The study will be presented at the ATS 2012 International Conference in San Francisco.
ATS 2012, SAN FRANCISCO – On Tuesday afternoon, May 22, 2012, results from seven late-breaking clinical trials will be presented in session C91 at the ATS International Conference. These studies examine treatments for ventilator-associated pneumonia, cardiac surgery associated kidney injury, septic shock, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, smoking cessation, malignant pleural effusion and non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis.
Over the course of 2011's 'Arab Spring' uprisings, young women in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Bahrain and Yemen were able to break out of religious and cultural restrictions by using social media and cyberactivism to carve out central roles in the revolutionary struggles under way in their countries, according to a new study commissioned by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Periodontists routinely grow bone in the mouth to guarantee a stable environment for teeth and tooth implants. But whether it's better to build up bone before placing the implant, or to simply place the implant and allow bone to grow around it, has been a subject of considerable medical debate.
Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin have identified novel biomarkers that could be used to confirm exposure to damaging radiation in large groups of people potentially exposed to unknown and variable doses for the purpose of triage and treatment.
The findings are published in the May 1 issue of Radiation Research. John E. Baker, Ph.D., professor of surgery, biochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, is the lead author of the study.
Powerful and versatile new genetic tools that will assist in safeguarding both European fish stocks and European consumers is reported in Nature Communications (DOI 10.1038/ncomms1845 22/05/12). The paper reports on the first system proven to identify populations of fish species to a forensic level of validation.