Culture

High rate of herbal supplement use by cosmetic plastic surgery patients

Philadelphia, Pa. (July 1, 2013) – Preoperative evaluations before facial cosmetic surgery find that about half of patients are taking herbal and other supplements, reports a study in the July issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

CWRU researchers trace inner-city women's health issues to childhood traumas

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have traced chronic health problems of adult inner-city women to traumas from childhood abuse and neglect.

The latest findings, reported in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect, complement prior studies of other socioeconomic groups and provide further evidence linking childhood mistreatment to serious health issues as adults, said Meeyoung O. Min, assistant professor of social work at Case Western Reserve's Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.

After the shooting, political violence lives on in kids' behavior problems

DURHAM, N.C. -- Even short-term exposure to political violence may have long-lasting effects on children's adjustment and behavior, says a new study by a team of researchers from Kenya, Italy and the United States.

Diagnosis of cervical spondylotic myelopathy delayed by primary care physicians

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (JULY 1, 2013). Researchers from The Tel-Aviv Medical Center found delays in diagnosis of cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) averaging 2 years in 42 patients who eventually underwent surgery. This is an important finding, because previous studies have shown that early diagnosis and treatment of CSM lead to better outcomes. The majority of patients initially sought a diagnosis for their symptoms from family physicians, who arrived at a correct diagnosis in only 4.8% of cases and never at the first clinic visit.

Stereotype threat about aging can hurt older adults' memory, but there's an easy fix

Of the many negative stereotypes that exist about older adults, the most common is that they are forgetful, senile and prone to "senior moments." In fact, while cognitive processes do decline with age, simply reminding older adults about ageist ideas actually exacerbates their memory problems, reveals important new research from the USC Davis School of Gerontology.

End smoking: Social authoritarianism saves lives

Given a choice, some people are going to smoke. But the more that governments can do to limit choice the better, according to a new paper in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization which projects that tobacco control measures put in place in 41 countries between 2007 and 2010 will prevent some 7.4 million premature deaths by 2050.

You knew this: Divorce early in childhood affects parental relationships in adulthood

June 28, 2013 - Divorce has a bigger impact on child-parent relationships if it occurs in the first few years of the child's life, according to new research. Those who experience parental divorce early in their childhood tend to have more insecure relationships with their parents as adults than those who experience divorce later, researchers say.

Late bedtimes, less sleep linked to weight gain in healthy adults (pizzas too)

DARIEN, IL – A new study suggests that healthy adults with late bedtimes and chronic sleep restriction may be more susceptible to weight gain due to the increased consumption of calories during late-night hours.

Cardiac patients given longer prescriptions at discharge more likely to continue taking medication

Elderly cardiac patients prescribed heart medications for 60 days or more after leaving hospital have four times the odds of adhering to the drug regime than patients prescribed the same medications for 30 days, according to research conducted at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and Women's College Hospital (WCH).

Rare weight lifting injury required surgery

WASHINGTON — A young, healthy man injured himself so severely while weight lifting that he required surgery and nearly a full week in the hospital to recover. The unusual case report of compartment syndrome to the shoulder will be reported online today in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("An Unusual Complication of Weightlifting: A Case Report").

Rice U. releases findings from national Portraits of American Life Study

Americans are more respectful now than ever before when it comes to the religious traditions of their peers, according to findings from the longitudinal Rice University Portraits of American Life Study (PALS). Other findings: Americans are more divided on the legal definition of marriage, favor restrictions on abortion, support pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and are less politically engaged (with the exception of African-Americans).

Specialized treatment helps cholesterol patients who suffer side effects from statins

MAYWOOD, Il. - Up to 15 percent of patients who take cholesterol-lowering statin medications experience muscle pain or other side effects, and many patients simply stop taking the drugs.

But a Loyola University Medical Center study has found that "statin-intolerant" patients still can significantly reduce their cholesterol by going to a lipid clinic staffed with physicians specially trained in treating cholesterol problems.

SCI patients treated with own olfactory ensheathing cells realize neurologic improvement

Putnam Valley, NY. (June 28 2013) – A team of researchers in Poland who treated three of six paraplegics with spinal cord injury using transplanted olfactory ensheathing cells found that the three treated patients showed neurological improvement and no adverse effects while the three control patients who did not receive transplants saw no improvement.

Type 2 diabetes patients transplanted with own bone marrow stem cells reduces insulin use

Putnam Valley, NY. (June 28 2013) –A study carried out in India examining the safety and efficacy of self-donated (autologous), transplanted bone marrow stem cells in patients with type 2 diabetes (TD2M), has found that patients receiving the transplants, when compared to a control group of TD2M patients who did not receive transplantation, required less insulin post-transplantation.

Registered dietitians help critically ill children get necessary nutrition for recovery

Philadelphia, PA, June 28, 2013 – For the first time, researchers investigated enteral nutrition and caloric requirements (CR) among critically ill children in a new report published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This study also showed the value of including registered dietitians in the medical team.