Philadelphia, PA, May 19, 2014 – While dementia patients can often suffer from depression and declining physical and mental ability, exercise has been shown to help improve both their physical and psychological wellbeing. Researchers at Teesside University in the U.K. investigated how combining cognitive activities and elements of yoga, tai chi, qigong and meditation with routine physical exercise affected dementia patients. They found that a holistic exercise program focusing on both mind and body can help improve quality of life for dementia patients.
Culture
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Soon, making and improving medical drugs could be as easy for chemists as stacking blocks is for a child.
University of Illinois chemist Martin Burke, a pioneer of a technique that constructs complex molecules from simple chemical "building blocks," led a group that found that thousands of compounds in a class of molecules called polyenes – many of which have great potential as drugs – can be built simply and economically from a scant one dozen different building blocks.
The researchers published their findings in the journal Nature Chemistry.
ATS 2014, SAN DIEGO ─ After a year of being treated with a novel drug, patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) and those with persistent or recurrent pulmonary hypertension after an operation for the disease showed sustained improvement in a multicenter, international trial presented at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference.
ATS 2014, SAN DIEGO ─ Patients who have survived a stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) have a greatly increased risk of developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a new study presented at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference.
Doctors and scientists in Southampton have completed their first hip surgery with a 3D printed implant and bone stem cell graft.
The 3D printed hip, made from titanium, was designed using the patient's CT scan and CAD CAM (computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing) technology, meaning it was designed to the patient's exact specifications and measurements.
The implant will provide a new socket for the ball of the femur bone to enter. Behind the implant and between the pelvis, doctors have inserted a graft containing bone stem cells.
Jerusalem, May 18, 2014 – Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., (NYSE: TEVA) today announced that results from a real-life, retrospective, observational study of QVAR® will be presented at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2014 International Conference in San Diego on May 18, 2014. QVAR® is an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) indicated in the maintenance treatment of asthma as a prophylactic therapy in patients 5 years of age and older.
Coral Gables, Fla. (May 19, 2014)—A team of researchers led by Michael T. French, professor of health economics at the University of Miami (UM), finds that high school grade point average (GPA) is a strong predictor of future earnings.
The findings, published recently in the Eastern Economic Journal, show that a one-point increase in high school GPA raises annual earnings in adulthood by around 12 percent for men and 14 percent for women.
Athens, 19 May 2014: A novel device implanted under the skin like a pacemaker successfully treats central sleep apnoea (CSA) in heart failure patients, according to research presented today at the Heart Failure Congress 2014, held 17-20 May in Athens, Greece. The Congress is the main annual meeting of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology.
Adolescents with chronic diseases (ACD), such as cystic fibrosis, gastrointestinal disorders (including Crohn's disease) and Type 1 diabetes, often find the transition of managing their health care needs into adulthood to be challenging. Preparations for this transition are often clinic-based, costly and do not fully or effectively engage with this patient population. A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found the answer to developing independent, self-management skills in ACD could be right at the patient's fingertips.
ATS 2014, SAN DIEGO ─ Although it's present in only a tenth of all patients who are admitted to the hospital, sepsis contributes to up to half of all hospital deaths in the U.S., according to a study presented at the American Thoracic Society's annual conference here.
Although many studies have examined the incidence and mortality of patients diagnosed with sepsis in the U.S. over time, the study authors say that so far, the impact of sepsis on overall hospital mortality has been poorly understood.
An analysis that included approximately 7 million hospitalizations finds that sepsis contributed to 1 in every 2 to 3 deaths, and most of these patients had sepsis at admission, according to a study published by JAMA. The study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the American Thoracic Society International Conference.
Sepsis, the inflammatory response to infection, affects millions of patients worldwide. However, its effect on overall hospital mortality has not been fully measured, according to background information in the article.
Adding vitamin D to asthma treatment to improve breathing only appears to benefit patients who achieve sufficient levels of the supplement in the blood. Overall, the ability to control asthma did not differ between a study group that received vitamin D supplements and a group that received placebo, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Despite previously-reported observational and basic science evidence suggesting the use of statins may improve outcomes in patients with sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a double-blinded clinical trial of rosuvastatin in those patients was futile, and the study was halted.
ATS 2014, SAN DIEGO ─ As if increased risks of high blood pressure, respiratory infections, lung cancer and even depression weren't enough, researchers say patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have another complication to worry about: heart failure. That's according to a new study from the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, which found the prevalence of heart failure is significantly higher in patients with COPD compared to the rest of the study population. They also found that the risk was especially high among African-American patients with COPD.
ATS 2014, SAN DIEGO ─ Patients with chronic pulmonary thromboembolic disease may benefit from pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE), even if the patients don't have severe pulmonary hypertension, according to University of California, San Diego, researchers.
The study was presented at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference.