Culture | Science Codex

US economic woes ripple all the way to Latin America, U-M study shows

The national recession didn't just hit people living in the U.S. – it's made it more difficult for people to pay for medical bills in poor countries like Honduras, according to a new University of Michigan study.

As employment opportunities have dried up for Latino immigrants in the U.S., so has their ability to send financial assistance to chronically ill family members in their home countries, according to a U-M study published online this week ahead of print in the International Journal of Health Services.

New data show children with autism bullied 3 times more than their unaffected siblings

BALTIMORE, Md. – Today, the Interactive Autism Network (IAN), http://www.ianproject.org, the nation's largest online autism research initiative and a project of the Kennedy Krieger Institute, reports preliminary results of the first national survey to examine the impact of bullying on children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The results show that 63 percent of children with ASD have been bullied at some point in their lives.

Cleveland Clinic study shows bariatric surgery improves, reverses diabetes

Monday, March 26, 2012, Cleveland, OH -- Overweight, diabetic patients who underwent bariatric surgery achieved significant improvement or remission of their diabetes, according to new research from Cleveland Clinic.

Carotid artery stenting found to be safe in the elderly

(CHICAGO) – Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and a multicenter team of investigators have found that carotid artery stenting (CAS) is safe and effective in patients age 70 and older.

Pacemaker prevents fainting among select patient population

CHICAGO -- A select number of patients who suffer from neurally mediated synope (NMS) – a disorder in which the brain fails to regulate heart rate and blood pressure – may be good candidates to receive a dual-chamber pacemaker to prevent common NMS-related fainting spells, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session. The Scientific Session, the premier cardiovascular medical meeting, brings cardiovascular professionals together to further advances in the field.

ED chest pain units and physician discretion may lower stress test use

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Rhode Island Hospital (www.rhodeislandhospital.org) physicians report that managing chest pain patients within an emergency department chest pain unit by both emergency medicine staff and cardiologists is safe and effective and may lower the use of stress testing. A new study indicates that when patients were jointly managed and when stress testing was largely at the discretion of a cardiologist, stress testing use was lower and there was a low rate of 30-day major cardiac events.

Ticagrelor effective at reducing first, as well as recurrent and overall cardiovascular events

Ticagrelor, a potent anti-platelet medication, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the summer of 2011 and is known to significantly reduce the risk of stroke, heart attack, vascular death and death overall in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), which are characterized by symptoms related to obstruction in coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart.

Aspirin: High or low dose following heart attack?

Boston, MA- Each year, more than one million Americans suffer a heart attack and nearly all patients are prescribed a daily aspirin and an antiplatelet medication during recovery. However, the optimal aspirin dose has been unclear.

In hospitals, a tradeoff between better clinical quality and a good patient experience

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Hospitals that adopt strategies to reduce errors and meet government requirements face an initial tradeoff between improved clinical quality and a decline in the quality of individual patients' experiences, according to new research.

Quality process management, a practice associated with the private sector, is becoming more common in hospitals as they set up operating systems in response to federal and state mandates to reduce medical errors and improve patient safety, the researchers say.

Largest study of on-pump and off-pump bypass proves both can be done safely

CHICAGO -- A large randomized trial comparing bypass surgery done with a heart-lung machine (on pump) and without it (off pump) found no differences in results between techniques overall but some clinically relevant differences, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session. The Scientific Session, the premier cardiovascular medical meeting, brings cardiovascular professionals together to further advances in the field.

Non-invasive scans accurately predict 30-day risk for patients with chest pain

CHICAGO -- Coronary CT angiography (CCTA) -- a non-invasive way to look inside arteries that supply blood to the heart -- can quickly and reliably determine which patients complaining of chest pain at an emergency department can safely be sent home, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session. The Scientific Session, the premier cardiovascular medical meeting, brings cardiovascular professionals together to further advances in the field.

Novel drug in pill form safer than standard approach to treat blocked lung blood vessels

CHICAGO -- A novel oral anti-coagulant outperformed the injected standard therapy on important safety measures for initial and long-term treatment of pulmonary embolism – a blockage of lung blood vessels usually caused by a clot – and showed comparable efficacy, according to data from the EINSTEIN-PE trial presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session. The Scientific Session, the premier cardiovascular medical meeting, brings cardiovascular professionals together to further advances in the field.

The present and future of the Affordable Care Act

Washington — The American College of Physicians (ACP), representing 132,000 internal medicine specialists and medical student members, is pleased to report that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has resulted in major improvements in access and coverage for tens of millions of Americans seen by internal medicine physicians. Considering that it is just a little over two years since the ACA was enacted into law, and many of its programs are not yet fully effective, the ACA has had notable success in improving health insurance coverage.

Pre-PCI bleeding risk score predicts greater risk, higher costs

CHICAGO—A pre-procedure bleeding risk score can accurately identify high-risk, high-cost patients and may provide an opportunity to employ bleeding avoidance strategies to improve patient outcomes and reduce total costs related to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures, according to a retrospective study being presented March 26 at the 61st annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific session.

Sleeping too much or too little can be bad for your heart

CHICAGO -- Getting too little sleep – or even too much – appears to spell trouble for the heart. New data reveal that adults who get less than six hours of sleep a night are at significantly greater risk of stroke, heart attack and congestive heart failure.