Culture

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2012 — The American Chemical Society (ACS) today launched a new video series that highlights headline-making research from the society's suite of more than 40 peer-reviewed scientific journals. The first episode of Breakthrough Science focuses on research reported in one of those journals, ACS Nano. It involved development of new transparent solar cells, an advance toward giving windows in homes and other buildings the ability to generate electricity while still allowing people to see outside.

Providence, RI - - Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is considered the most effective treatment option for patients with severe depression who cannot find symptom relief through antidepressant medications or psychotherapy. In a new study, researchers at Butler Hospital and Bradley Hospital in Rhode Island found a sharp decline in the availability and use of ECT in general hospitals across the U.S. The findings were published online in the journal Biological Psychiatry on October 10, 2012.

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– When your neighbor asks to borrow a cup of sugar and you readily comply, is your positive response a function of the give and take that characterize your longstanding relationship? Or does it represent payment –– or prepayment –– for the cup of sugar you borrowed last week, or may need to borrow a month from now?

As Internet access becomes increasingly widespread, so do related psychopathologies such as Internet addiction and delusions related to the technology and to virtual relationships. Computer communications such as Facebook and chat groups are an important part of this story, says Dr. Uri Nitzan of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Shalvata Mental Health Care Center in a new paper published in the Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences.

Gastric bypass patients who attended five follow-up office visits in two years as recommended by their surgeons lost nearly twice as much weight (113 lbs. vs. 57 lbs.) as patients who attended only two follow-up visits, according to a University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing study in Obesity Surgery.

Critique 096: Frequency of alcohol consumption and cardiovascular risk factors: implications for drinking guidelines 20 November 2012

Read the full critique here: http://www.bu.edu/alcohol-forum/critique-096-frequency-of-alcohol-consumption-and-cardiovascular-risk-factors-implications-for-drinking-guidelines-20-november-2012/

CHICAGO – A study suggests that diagnostic tests are frequently repeated among Medicare beneficiaries, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

Repeat examinations are a "major determinant" of a physician's capacity to care for new patients and of the ability to contain health care costs, the authors write in the study background.

Rituximab, a drug used to treat cancer and arthritis, may help patients with antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs) who suffer from aPL-related clinical problems that do not respond to anticoagulation, such as cardiac disease and kidney disease, according to a new study by rheumatology researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery. The study appears online ahead of print, in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism.

PHILADELPHIA, November 20, 2012 -- Six organizations representing physicians, other health care professionals, and patients today issued two new clinical practice guidelines for diagnosing and treating stable ischemic heart disease (IHD), which affects an estimated one in three adults in the United States. The guidelines and patient summaries appear in the November 20 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, published by the American College of Physicians (ACP).

Boston, MA— More than 85,000 medications are discontinued each year by physicians, yet while physicians share this information with their patients, it is too often not shared with the pharmacists. This communication gap, identified by researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, allows discontinued medications continue to be dispensed at pharmacies, representing an important patient safety concern.

The study will be published on November 20, 2012 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

BOSTON – While stress may be a factor in 60 to 80 percent of all visits to primary care physicians, only three percent of patients actually receive stress management counseling, say researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

The study appears online Nov. 19 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 19, 2012 – One of the first studies to compare patients who see their doctors in person to those who receive care through the Internet, known as an e-visit, underscores both the promise and the pitfalls of this technology.

CHICAGO – A study suggests that diagnostic tests are frequently repeated among Medicare beneficiaries, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

Repeat examinations are a "major determinant" of a physician's capacity to care for new patients and of the ability to contain health care costs, the authors write in the study background.

CHICAGO – A study of postdischarge (PD) complications after general surgery procedures found that overall, 16.7 percent of patients experienced a complication and 41.5 percent of complications occurred PD, according to a report published in the November issue of Archives of Surgery, a JAMA Network publication.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 19, 2012) — A new study review published by the University of Kentucky found that music therapy can be beneficial to patients before, during and after a surgical procedure and may reduce pain and recovery time.