Culture

For patients with mild to moderate Parkinson disease (PD) there were no clinically meaningful benefits to activities of daily living or quality of life associated with physiotherapy and occupational therapy in a study conducted in the United Kingdom, according to an article published online by JAMA Neurology.

PD causes problems with activities of daily living (ADL) that are only partially treated by medication and occasionally surgery. Physiotherapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) have been traditionally used later in the disease.

New research from the University of Birmingham has shown that physiotherapy and occupational therapy do not produce improvements in quality of life for patients with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease.

The findings of the PD REHAB trial, published in JAMA Neurology, show that combined physiotherapy and occupational therapy do not have a positive impact on 'activities of daily living', such as putting on clothes or brushing teeth, in the immediate to medium term.

PHILADELPHIA - Despite widespread perception, the United States does not provide the worst end-of-life care in the world. In the first international comparison of end-of-life care practices, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and colleagues from seven countries found that the United States actually has the lowest proportion of deaths in the hospital and the lowest number of days in the hospital in the last six months of life among the those countries, according to a new study published today in JAMA.

Among family members of older patients who died of advanced-stage cancer, earlier hospice enrollment, avoidance of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions within 30 days of death, and death occurring outside the hospital were associated with perceptions of better end-of-life care, according to a study in the January 19 issue of JAMA.

WASHINGTON (January 19, 2016) -- The debate over physician-assisted death (PAD) appears to be at a turning point, with a significant number of state legislatures across the country considering PAD, say two Georgetown University scholars, but, they caution, social and ethical safeguards are needed.

BOSTON -- Three Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers, writing in a special issue of JAMA published today, make the case for policies and practices that give terminally ill patients more control over how and where they will die.

Families' views of end-of-life care

Countries drastically underreport the number of fish caught worldwide, according to a new study, and the numbers obscure a significant decline in the total catch .

The new estimate, released today in Nature Communications, puts the annual global catch at roughly 109 million metric tons, about 30 per cent higher than the 77 million officially reported in 2010 by more than 200 countries and territories. This means that 32 million metric tons of fish goes unreported every year, more than the weight of the entire population of the United States.

The drug aclidinium bromide (aclidinium for short; trade name: Eklira, Bretaris) has been approved since July 2012 and is used to relieve the symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adults. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has now reexamined the added benefit of the drug pursuant to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG).

For a team of Vanderbilt investigators trying to generate heart muscle cells from stem cells, a piece of broken equipment turned out to be a good thing.

The faulty equipment pushed the researchers to try a different approach. They recently reported their new method -- using a "Matrigel mattress" to rapidly generate cardiac cells suitable for heart disease studies and drug discovery -- in the journal Circulation Research.

The majority of citizens in developed countries should not be concerned by potential harm from exercise but rather by the lack of exercise in their lives, according to a clinical perspective published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology from the ACC Sports and Exercise Cardiology Leadership Council. According to the council, small amounts of physical activity, including standing, are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, but more exercise leads to even greater reduction in risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

Residents of high-rise buildings had better survival rates from cardiac arrests if they lived on the first few floors, and survival was negligible for people living above the 16th floor, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)

TORONTO, Jan. 18, 2016--The number of people living in high-rise buildings in rising, but along with the convenience and panoramic views of a downtown condo comes a risk: a new study found that survival rates from cardiac arrest decrease the higher up the building a person lives.

"Cardiac arrests that occur in high-rise buildings pose unique barriers for 911-initiated first responders," said Ian Drennan, lead author of the study published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

WASHINGTON (January 18, 2016) - Two Georgetown University professors say a section of the recently passed Congressional spending bill effectively undermines science and the health of women.

At issue is the FY 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 2019), passed in December, in which Congress requires private insurers to follow "outdated scientific guidance" for breast cancer screening coverage, say Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, and Kenneth Lin, MD, MPH.

ABBOTT PARK, Ill. Jan. 18, 2016 -Results from a new clinical trial show that a specialized oral nutrition supplement was associated with a 50 percent lower death rate in older malnourished patients with a heart or lung disease 90 days following hospitalization. The study, published online today in Clinical Nutrition and supported by Abbott, estimated that within this population one life could be saved for every 21 patients who received the specialized nutrition supplement, demonstrating it as a highly effective therapy.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The annual data report from the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) reveals both positive and negative trends in kidney disease in the U.S.

The report is released by the USRDS coordinating center based at the University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center, in partnership with Arbor Research Collaborative for Health.

Highlights from the report include: