Culture

Using large and frequent doses of the pain-killer codeine may actually produce heightened sensitivity to pain, without the same level of relief offered by morphine, according to new research from the University of Adelaide.

Researchers in the Discipline of Pharmacology have conducted what is believed to be the world's first experimental study comparing the pain relieving and pain worsening effects of both codeine and morphine.

A further step along the road to the personalisation of cancer medicine, where treatment is based on the individual molecular characteristics of tumours rather than their primary site, will be presented at the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC2013), which starts on Friday 27 September in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Boston, MA – As debate over the national debt and the federal budget deficit begins to heat up again, an analysis of national polls conducted in 2013 shows that, compared with recent government reports prepared by experts, the public has different views about the need to reduce future Medicare spending to deal with the federal budget deficit. Many experts believe that future Medicare spending will have to be reduced in order to lower the federal budget deficit [1] but polls show little support (10% to 36%) for major reductions in Medicare spending for this purpose.

DETROIT – A drug approved just two years ago for treating bacterial infections may hold promise for treating the potentially fatal MRSA pneumonia, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.

Researchers found that patients treated with the antibiotic ceftaroline fosamil, or CPT-F, had a lower mortality rate after 28 days than the mortality rate seen in patients treated with vancomycin, the most common drug therapy for MRSA pneumonia.

Nearly 80 percent of trauma centers in the United States that serve predominantly minority patients have higher-than-expected death rates, according to new Johns Hopkins research. Moreover, the research shows, trauma patients of all races are 40 percent less likely to die — regardless of the severity of their injuries — if they are treated at hospitals with lower-than-expected mortality rates, the vast majority of which serve predominantly white patients.

Rosemont, Ill. – The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) today released a list of specific tests or procedures that are commonly ordered but not always necessary in orthopaedics as part of the Choosing Wisely® campaign, an initiative of the ABIM Foundation. The list identifies five targeted, evidence-based recommendations that can support conversations between patients and physicians about what care is really necessary.

The Academy's list identified the following five recommendations:

COLUMBUS, Ohio – After a period of relative calm during the 1990s, rapid changes in American families began anew during the 2000s, a new analysis suggests.

Young people delayed marriage longer than ever before, permanent singlehood increased, and divorce and remarriage continued to rise during the first decade of the century.

(See the top 5 trends in American families during the 2000s:http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/5Trends.htm)

WHAT:

A pay-for-performance program in electronic-health-records-(EHR)-enabled small practices led to modest improvements in cardiovascular care processes and outcomes, according to a study in the September 11 issue of JAMA.

Among patients with diabetes, use of an outpatient electronic health record (EHR) in an integrated healthcare delivery system was associated with modest reductions in emergency department visits and hospitalizations, but was not associated with a change in office visit rates, according to a study in the September 11 issue of JAMA.

Four weeks of treatment with a combination of the drug pentoxifylline and the corticosteroid prednisolone did not improve 6-month survival compared with prednisolone alone in 270 patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis, according to a study in the September 11 issue of JAMA.

OAKLAND, Calif., September 10, 2013 — The use of electronic health records in clinical settings was associated with a decrease in emergency room visits and hospitalizations for patients with diabetes, according to a study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 10, 2013 — The scientist who turned fresh-cut apple slices into a popular convenience food, available ready-to-eat in grocery stores, school cafeterias and fast-food restaurants, today described advances in keeping other foods fresh, flavorful and safe for longer periods of time through the use of invisible, colorless, odorless, tasteless coatings.

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 10, 2013 — An historic shift is occurring in traditional innovation in chemistry — which touches more than 96 percent of all the world's manufactured goods — away from large companies and toward smaller entrepreneurs and startups. Amid that new landscape for transforming ideas and inventions into goods and services, the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society, today hosts a special symposium on innovation and entrepreneurship.

AURORA, Colo. (Sept. 10, 2013) – Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine reported today that the cause of obesity and insulin resistance may be tied to the fructose your body makes in addition to the fructose you eat.

In recent years the role of added sweeteners, such as high fructose corn syrup and table sugar (sucrose), has taken center stage as risk factors for obesity and insulin resistance. Numerous studies suggest that the risk from added sugars may be due to the fructose content.