Culture

As Republican and Democratic parties prepare for national conventions this summer, campaign speeches are filled with promises about everything from health care to the economy and national security.

But a national poll suggests presumptive presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump may want to consider their positions on a less-talked about topic: children's health.

The fixed-dose combination of sacubitril and valsartan (trade name: Entresto) has been approved since November 2015 for adults with symptomatic chronic heart failure with reduced pump function. In its early benefit assessment, the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) derived an indication of considerable added benefit versus the appropriate comparator therapy enalapril from the data: The positive effects regarding mortality, hospitalizations and quality of life largely outweighed the negative effect in non-severe side effects.

Osimertinib has been approved since February 2016 for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) T790M mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) now examined in an early benefit assessment whether the drug offers an added benefit for these patients in comparison with the appropriate comparator therapy.

A clinical trial conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators has found that the use of patient navigators - individuals who assist patients in receiving health care services - may improve comprehensive cancer screening rates among patient populations not likely to receive recommended screenings. The study, which received Online First publication earlier this month in JAMA Internal Medicine, found that such patients - mostly low-income and ethnic minorities - were more likely to adhere to cancer-screening guidelines when assisted by patient navigators.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- The incidence of Parkinson's disease and parkinsonism increased significantly in 30 years from 1976 to 2005, Mayo Clinic researchers reported today in a study in JAMA Neurology. This trend was noted in particular for men age 70 and older. According to the researchers, this is the first study to suggest such an increasing trend.

MULTIMEDIA ALERT: Video and audio are available for download on the Mayo Clinic News Network.

In a small study looking at pain assessments in adults with sickle cell disease, researchers at Johns Hopkins says overall, those treated long-term with opioids often fared worse in measures of pain, fatigue and curtailed daily activities than those not on long-term opioids.

In a report on the new research, published online on June 15 in a special sickle cell disease supplement of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, C. Patrick Carroll, M.D., and colleagues evaluated pain experiences of participants with sickle cell disease who were prescribed long-term opioids.

Sweden is in the group of countries with the lowest number of murders per capita but in many ways they are the same. In the majority of cases of deadly violence are committed by men - over 90 percent.

That may be why women are the subject of so few studies. What analyses of women show is intriguing.

A research group led by NISHIMURA Kazuo (Project Professor at the Kobe University Center for Social Systems Innovation) and YAGI Tadashi (Professor at the Doshisha University Faculty of Economics) have released survey results showing that children who receive positive attention and care from their parents have high incomes, high happiness levels, academic success, and a strong sense of morality. These findings will be presented as a discussion paper at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI, a Japanese policy think tank).

Bladder cancer is a frequent disease affecting approximately 1,900 persons in Denmark annually. A high number of these patients only have superficial tumours in the bladder when the disease is diagnosed. For many years, this patient group will be examined frequently and during this time many get new tumours; some cases develop aggressively making it necessary to remove the bladder or receive chemotherapy.

Surprisingly, the increased risk of heart failure was found in men who were within the normal body weight range (a body mass index of 18.5 to 25) in adolescence, with an increased risk starting in those with a BMI of 20 and rising steeply to a nearly ten-fold increased risk in those who were very obese, with a BMI of 35 or over.

Women who commit deadly violence are different in many ways from male perpetrators, both in terms of the most common victims, the way in which the murder is committed, the place where it is carried out and the perpetrator's background. This is shown by a new study that also investigated homicide trends over time in Sweden.

Sweden is in the group of countries with the lowest number of murders per capita. As in other parts of the world, the majority of cases of deadly violence are committed by men: In nine cases out of ten, the perpetrator is a man.

BOSTON-- A new study led by researchers at Boston Medical Center (BMC) found that the proportion of discharges among minority patients receiving inpatient care at minority-serving hospitals in Massachusetts increased after the implementation of health insurance reform measures which expanded access to care in non-safety net hospitals. The research suggests that minority-serving hospitals remain an important and vital component of the health care system and may benefit greatly from interventions such as raising Medicaid reimbursement rates.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Despite predictions that expanding Medicaid would crowd doctor's offices with new patients, and crowd out patients with other kinds of insurance, a new University of Michigan study finds no evidence of that effect.

In fact, the 600,000 Michiganders who signed up for the Healthy Michigan Plan in its first year faced better odds of getting an appointment, and similar wait times for a first appointment with a new clinic, before and after the expansion.

A new report set for release June 20 says that a shocking number of America’s jail and prison inmates have disabilities. The report, by the advocacy group RespectAbility, uses public data and details the large percentages of inmates who have a cognitive, vision, hearing, ambulatory or other type of disability.

Moms and dads determined to raise children who love to learn and who respect others might do well to skip the latest parenting guides and turn instead to Socrates and Confucius.

They and other great thinkers who lived hundreds or thousands of years ago still offer surprisingly relevant advice that one generation can pass on to the next.