Culture

Data from a review of U.S.-based clinical trials published today in Mayo Clinic Proceedings suggest that some of the most popular complementary health approaches--such as yoga, tai chi, and acupuncture--appear to be effective tools for helping to manage common pain conditions. The review was conducted by a group of scientists from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) at the National Institutes of Health.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Dying in America is an expensive process, with about one in four Medicare dollars going to care for people in their last year of life. But for African Americans and Hispanics, the cost of dying is far higher than it is for whites.

And despite years of searching for the reason, no one has quite figured out why.

In the 1960s, a team of excavators uncovered the ruins of the ancient city of Lambityeco (AD 500-850), in what is now Tlacolula de Matamoros, Oaxaca, Mexico. In a recent return to the site, the discovery of a carved stone crocodile by Field Museum archaeologists has provided a key to revising long-held ideas about the site.

A group of Johns Hopkins physicians and researchers today published an article in the Journal of Hospital Medicine suggesting that data on mortality and hospital readmission used by the United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) suggest a potentially problematic relationship.

BOSTON (Sept. 1, 2016)--Hospitalizations for infective endocarditis, a heart valve infection often attributed to injection drug use, have increased significantly among young adult Americans--particularly in whites and females--according to a new study by researchers from Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine. The findings, published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases on Sept. 1, shed light on the healthcare burdens and shifting demographics associated with the rising national trend of opioid abuse.

A new study from the Northern Medical Program at the University of Northern British Columbia has shown that minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) legislation in Canada can have a major effect on crimes committed by young adults. Young people just older than the legal age had significant increases in commission of all crimes, including violent crimes and nuisance crimes, compared to those immediately under the restriction.

New research presented at this year's World Congress of Anaesthesiologists (WCA) in Hong Kong (28 Aug-2 Sept) shows that women who experience persistent childbirth pain are more likely to develop postnatal depression (PND) following the birth of their child.

Washington, DC - August 31, 2016 - The microbiome of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) at a hospital differs dramatically from that of healthy patients, according to a new study published in mSphere. Researchers analyzing microbial taxa in ICU patients' guts, mouth and skin reported finding dysbiosis, or a bacterial imbalance, that worsened during a patient's stay in the hospital.

Among men and women 18 to 55 years of age, more than half of women and just under half of men had sexual function problems in the year after a heart attack, according to a study published online by JAMA Cardiology. Despite a high prevalence of sexual function problems, few study participants reported having any conversation with a physician about resuming sex after a heart attack.

Obese patients who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) lost much more weight than those who did not and were able to sustain most of this weight loss 10 years after surgery, according to a study published online by JAMA Surgery.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Sept. 1, 2016 - A post-marketing safety study mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has shown that a combination drug therapy for the treatment of asthma is safe and effective.

The therapy tested consisted of a long-acting beta agonist, formoterol, added to an inhaled glucocorticoid, budesonide.

New public opinion surveys released today by the nonprofit Alliance for Aging Research (Alliance) show that public awareness about heart valve disease (HVD) in the U.S. is alarmingly low. A national omnibus survey of 2,018 adults reveals that, while over half of respondents say they have heard of heart valve disease, less than one in four know somewhat or a great deal about HVD. Although awareness increases with age, 30 percent of those over the age of 65 say that they know nothing about HVD.

New research from the University of Chicago investigates what happens to men's and women's sexual function and relationships after a heart attack in an effort to help clinicians develop better care guidelines for patients. The study, published in JAMA Cardiology, shows impaired sexual function or new problems are common after heart attacks. They occur at the same rate as a loss of general physical function and at a higher rate than the incidence of depression after heart attack, but rarely do health care providers address these issues - particularly with women.

HOUSTON - (Aug. 31, 2016) - Japan's once-booming economy has been sluggish, mainly as a result of deflation and decreased productivity, according to international economics experts at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. In a new issue brief, the experts argue that without pushing deregulation, the Japanese economy cannot grow.

The specific cultural values of a country may determine whether concern about environmental issues actually leads individuals to engage in environmentally friendly behaviors, according to the new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

The findings suggest that individual concern is more strongly associated with motivation to act in countries that espouse individualistic values, while social norms may be a stronger motivator in collectivistic societies.