Culture

Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are as safe for teenagers, including those who have never given birth, as they are for adults, according to insurance claims compiled by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

The authors seek to disprove concerns that have persisted for more than 30 years, since the removal of a harmful IUD from the market in the 1970's, and open the door for younger women – teens included – to use IUDs.

Representatives from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the head of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) share opposing viewpoints on the recently released New York City Emergency Department Discharge Opioid Prescribing Guideline.

PHILADELPHIA, April 9, 2013 -- Men between the ages of 50 and 69 should discuss the limited benefits and substantial harms of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test with their doctor before undergoing screening for prostate cancer, according to new recommendations issued today by the American College of Physicians (ACP).

"Screening for Prostate Cancer: A Guidance Statement from the American College of Physicians" appears in the April 9 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, published by ACP.

Feeding an intestinal enzyme to mice kept on a high-fat diet appears to prevent the development of metabolic syndrome – a group of symptoms associated with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and fatty liver – and to reduce symptoms in mice that already had the condition.

Patients with type 2 diabetes who tailor their own treatment in cooperation with their doctor can reduce their risk of complications such as heart attack with up to 20 percent. This is the result of a new Danish study from the Research Unit for General Practice, University of Copenhagen.

The World Heart Federation has published a new position statement outlining the five key strategic targets required to meet its strategic goal for rheumatic heart disease (RHD) – a 25% reduction in premature deaths from rheumatic fever (RF) and RHD among individuals aged <25 years by the year 2025.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A new study by a Rhode Island Hospital researcher has found that traumatic brain injury (TBI) can significantly increase the odds of having major depression, personality impulsivity and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES). The paper, by W. Curt LaFrance Jr., M.D., M.P.H., director of neuropsychiatry and behavioral neurology, is published online in advance of print in the journal Epilepsia.

Researchers of the Psychiatry and Mental Health research group at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), in the Bellvitge University Hospital, have shown that patient age influences the onset of pathological gambling disorder and its clinical course. The study results were published in the Journal of Gambling Studies.

Personality traits

There is a direct, positive link between physicians' preventive health practices and those of their patients, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Patients are more likely to follow preventive health practices like getting a flu shot or mammography if their doctors do likewise, researchers at the University of British Columbia and in Israel have discovered.

"We found that patients whose physicians adhered to the recommended screening or vaccination practices were significantly more likely to also undergo screening or vaccination compared with patients of non-compliant physicians," said Dr. Erica Frank of UBC's School of Population and Public Health.

London (08 April 2013). New research on patients' experiences of health services and how these relate to their expectations and satisfaction, published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, reveals that older people have higher expectations of their care and that they believe that their expectations are being met. The research questions prevailing stereotypes that characterise older patients as being satisfied with their care because their expectations are lower.

DURHAM, NC – Research for diabetes is far more focused on drug therapies than preventive measures, and tends to exclude children and older people who have much to gain from better disease management, according to a Duke Medicine study.

Sociologists in academia really dislike conservatives. It's easy to do, there are no conservatives allowed in the humanities so they never get to know them. Given the ethereal intellectual landscape of sociology, it's no surprise a sociologist has correlated gun ownership and political conservatism with greater risk of suicide. States with less gun ownership and less politically conservative leanings off themselves less.

Scientists have shed light on a common bleeding disorder by growing and analysing stem cells from patients' blood to discover the cause of the disease in individual patients.

The technique may enable doctors to prescribe more effective treatments according to the defects identified in patients' cells.

In future, this approach could go much further: these same cells could be grown, manipulated, and applied as treatments for diseases of the heart, blood and circulation, including heart attacks and haemophilia.

The Djehuty Project, led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), has discovered on the hill of Dra Abu el-Naga in Luxor (ancient Thebes), the burials of four personages belonging to the elite of the 17th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, who lived about 3.550 years ago.