Culture

DALLAS – Researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute have discovered a link between elevated red cell distribution width levels and depression in patients being treated for heart disease. This new discovery can help physicians provide earlier diagnosis and treatment for possible depression in heart patients.

Better malaria control might come from segregating household sleeping arrangements, according to a new study co-authored by a University of Guelph professor.

The researchers found malaria eradication related more to household size than to a country's wealth or temperature. Guelph economics professor Ross McKitrick and two Finnish professors, Larry and Lena Huldén, found that when average household size drops below four persons, malaria extermination is much more likely.

WASHINGTON, DC and NEW YORK (Nov. 18, 2013)—A new report by the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS) examines the impact of federal and state policy decisions on community health centers (CHCs) and their ability to continue providing primary care to the nation's poorest residents.

A blood cell growth factor can boost the effects of exercise in improving mobility for patients with peripheral artery disease, a clinical study has shown.

The results are scheduled for presentation Nov. 18, 2013 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions meeting in Dallas (Session CS-01, Ballroom A1, 10:47 am – 10:57 am).

Chicago – Joseph Poole, M.D., Ph.D., of the Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, and colleagues studied whether therapy with granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), an agent that functions as a white blood cell growth factor, would improve walking performance in patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease (a form of vascular disease in which there is partial or total blockage of an artery, usually one leading to a leg or arm).

Chicago – Alan W. Heldman, M.D., of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and colleagues conducted a study to examine the safety of transendocardial stem cell injection (TESI) with autologous mesenchymal stem cells and bone marrow mononuclear cells in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy.

A new study out of the University of Cincinnati is a unique examination into whether public policy on the minimum wage can affect the crime rate. The study finds that, contrary to conventional belief, increasing the minimum wage will not lower violent crime or property crime.

Patients better adhered to their medication regimens in the year following hospitalization for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) when they were part of a program that included personalized attention from a pharmacist compared with usual care, according to a study by P. Michael Ho, M.D., Ph.D., of the Denver VA Medical Center, and colleagues.

Previous studies have found that adherence to cardioprotective drug regimens is poor after patients are discharged from the hospital, with one-third of patients discontinuing at least one medication by mouth by one month.

The drug vismodegib (trade name: Erivedge) is approved for the treatment of patients with two forms of basal cell carcinoma (BCC): symptomatic metastatic BCC and locally advanced BCC inappropriate for surgery or radiotherapy.

NEW ORLEANS – Nov. 18, 2013 – Research presented today, at the 117th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in New Orleans, has found that women who have taken oral contraceptives for three or more years are twice as likely to suffer from glaucoma, one of the leading causes of blindness which affects nearly 60 million worldwide.

A hybrid heart valve created from thin and highly elastic mesh embedded within layers of human cells was strong and durable in a study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013.

Researchers created a three-dimensional cell culture by coating a scaffold of nickel-titanium alloy (Nitinol), used for devices that require flexibility and motion, with layers of smooth muscle, connective tissue and lining cells. The valves performed well in a heart simulator, opening and closing under various pressures and remaining stable and strong throughout the tests.

Getting reminder texts helped patients take their heart medicines (anti-platelet and cholesterol-lowering drugs) more regularly, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013.

In a 30-day, randomized controlled trial of 90 coronary heart disease patients, one group received customized text education messages and medication reminders; a second group got education messages only; and a third received no texts.

Chicago – Sten Rubertsson, M.D., Ph.D., of Uppsala University, Sweden and colleagues assessed whether cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in which chest compressions are delivered with a mechanical device would result in superior 4-hour survival in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest compared to CPR with manual chest compression.

Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a more accurate way to calculate low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the so-called "bad" form of blood fat that can lead to hardening of the arteries and increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. If confirmed and adopted by medical laboratories that routinely calculate blood cholesterol for patients, the researchers say their formula would give patients and their doctors a much more accurate assessment of LDL cholesterol.

Chicago – Hany S. Abed, B.Pharm., M.B.B.S., of the University of Adelaide and Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, Australia and colleagues evaluated the effect of a structured weight reduction program on atrial fibrillation symptoms.