STANFORD, Calif. — In a novel study of health disparities in the United States, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have identified 22 socioeconomic and environmental variables that together are better indicators of early death than are race or geography. The findings upend long-held beliefs that where you live and the color of your skin are the best markers for how long you may live.
Culture
AMHERST, Mass. – One of the major problems that has slowed progress toward universal access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART) to treat AIDS in developing nations has been limited availability of laboratories and trained medical staff to conduct blood tests of immune system CD-4 T-cell levels that indicate when to start ART.
Testosterone supplements helped heart failure patients breathe better and exercise more, according to research in Circulation Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.
Researchers analyzed four randomized clinical trials of patients with moderate to severe chronic heart failure. Patients were given commercial testosterone supplements by injection, patch or gel.
Based on the analysis of these studies, those who received supplemental testosterone scored 50 percent better in a six-minute walking test than those receiving placebo.
Patients who paid for heart medications solely through Medicare were 57 percent more likely to not take them during coverage gaps compared to those who had a Part D low-income subsidy or additional insurance, according to research published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.
Neither group was more likely to switch to other drugs during coverage gaps.
Boston, MA – Over the last few decades numerous studies have shown negative states, such as depression, anger, anxiety, and hostility, to be detrimental to cardiovascular health. Less is known about how positive psychological characteristics are related to heart health. In the first and largest systematic review on this topic to date, Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers found that positive psychological well-being appears to reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events.
In an opinion article published in this week's theme edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association focusing on comparative effectiveness research, a team of Johns Hopkins University bioethicists argues forcefully for streamlining federal restrictions on at least some low-risk clinical comparative effectiveness research, instead of easing them – as is now proposed – solely for low-risk social and behavior research involving surveys, interviews and focus groups.
OAK BROOK, Ill. – April 17, 2012 – A new study from researchers in Oregon reports that the diagnostic yield of colonoscopy to investigate melena after a nondiagnostic upper endoscopy is lower, 4.8 percent, than previously reported. The rate of therapeutic intervention in this population is very low; therefore, patients with melena and a nondiagnostic upper endoscopy who are stable and without evidence of ongoing bleeding may be able to safely undergo elective colonoscopy.
Los Angeles, CA (April 17, 2012) Deadly police shootings, racial profiling and discriminatory law enforcement are once again in the forefront of national debate. Police killings of unarmed civilians in New Orleans and Seattle have generated local protests and national controversies. Accusations of racial profiling have been lodged against police departments in those and other cities as well as the Maricopa County sheriff's office in Arizona.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Researchers are developing a technique that uses nanotechnology to harvest energy from hot pipes or engine components to potentially recover energy wasted in factories, power plants and cars.
"The ugly truth is that 58 percent of the energy generated in the United States is wasted as heat," said Yue Wu, a Purdue University assistant professor of chemical engineering. "If we could get just 10 percent back that would allow us to reduce energy consumption and power plant emissions considerably."
LONDON, ON, – Older patients taking a common cholesterol medication should be cautious of the impact on their kidney health. In a new study by Dr. Amit Garg, Scientist at the Lawson Health Research Institute and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), and colleagues, one in 10 new older fibrate users experienced a 50 per cent increase in their serum creatinine.
(Boston) - Voluntary testing and counseling (VT/C) for HIV or sexually transmitted infections (STI) among cocaine and heroin users who were treated in the emergency department (ED), accompanied by referral to drug treatment, was associated with reduction in unprotected sex acts and fewer sex acts while high according to researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC).
These findings currently appear on-line in Academic Emergency Medicine.
Existing scientific literature suggests the U.S. government nutritional program known as WIC improves birth outcomes of children, but new research is unable to find either a positive or negative impact on infant health.
WIC, which serves 53 percent of all U.S. infants, is for low-income pregnant women and their young children under five who are at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level. The program provides grocery store food vouchers or electronic benefit transfer cards for healthy and nutritious food, and free prenatal care and health and nutritional counseling.
Seriously injured trauma patients transported to hospitals by helicopter are 16 percent more likely to survive than similarly injured patients brought in by ground ambulance, new Johns Hopkins research shows.
Helicopter transport of seriously injured adults to trauma centers associated with improved survival
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a study that included data on more than 200,000 adults with serious injuries admitted to level I or II trauma centers, transport by helicopter compared with ground emergency medical services was associated with improved survival to hospital discharge, according to a study in the April 18 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on comparative effectiveness research.
Adil H. Haider, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.S., of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, presented the findings of the study at a JAMA media briefing at the National Press Club.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – More involvement by patients, clinicians and others in the health care community in developing comparative clinical effectiveness research studies will make such studies far more useful in clinical decision-making, according to the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, in an article published in the April 18 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on comparative effectiveness research.