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Using data from a large federal government telephone survey of adults, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report evidence that inhaling heated tobacco vapor through e-cigarettes was linked to increased odds of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), conditions long demonstrated to be caused by smoking traditional, combustible cigarettes. The data, the researchers say, also suggest that odds of developing COPD may be as much as six times greater when people report they both vape and smoke tobacco regularly, compared with those who don't use any tobacco products at all.
Changing the microenvironment of tumors to increase the immune system's response to them has been the goal of countless research and clinical studies including the most recent use of checkpoint inhibitory antibodies. The majority of patients have tumors that are "cold" -- that is, the tumors don't contain many immune cells, or they have cells that suppress the ability of the immune system to fight them.
Using a computer algorithm, scientists at Uppsala University have identified a promising new treatment for neuroblastoma. This form of cancer in children, which occurs in specialised nerve cells in the sympathetic nervous system, may be life-threatening. In the long term the discovery, described in the latest issue of the scientific journal Nature Communications, may result in a new form of treatment for children in whom the disease is severe or at an advanced stage.
The number of girls receiving HPV vaccines in Denmark plummeted after vaccine misinformation spread through Danish media outlets from 2013 to 2016. Health officials launched a campaign in 2017 aiming to correct the misinformation and encourage girls to get vaccinated.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - One of the most expensive parts of having a baby may involve the birth itself, a new Michigan Medicine study suggests.
For some families, average out-of-pocket health care spending for maternity care - including the pregnancy, delivery and three months postpartum - jumped from $3,069 in 2008 to $4,569 in 2015, according to findings published in the January issue of Health Affairs.
The rising price of prescription drugs has led to a slew of proposals to lower costs and expand access to medications. However, a new study from researchers at Harvard Medical School and the City University of New York at Hunter College suggests that an effective reform model already exists: the pharmacy benefit of the Veterans Health Administration, commonly known as the VA. Researchers found that VA patients are significantly less likely than other insured Americans to go without needed medications, skip doses, or delay filling prescriptions because they are unable to afford them.
Scientists at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) have uncovered a link between prenatal exposure to phthalates--a ubiquitous group of plasticizers and odor-enhancing chemicals--and deficits in motor function in girls. Phthalates are widely used in consumer products from plastic toys to household building materials to shampoos and are thought to disrupt endocrine function, and possibly interfere with brain development in utero.
A breakthrough gene therapy treatment for Haemophilia A has been shown to offer long-term benefits that have already transformed the lives of 13 men in the UK.
Clinical researchers led by Professor John Pasi from Queen Mary University of London first announced in 2017 that 85% of men treated with a single infusion of a missing gene were showing normal or near-normal levels of the blood-clotting protein, factor VIII, one year on.
Delirium (sudden confusion or a rapid change in mental state) remains a serious challenge for our health care system. Delirium affects 15 to 26 percent of hospitalized older adults and can be particularly problematic because those experiencing the condition may interfere with medical care or directly harm themselves or others.
New Rochelle, NY, January 6, 2020--Not only is excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) associated with increased long-term maternal weight, but a new study has shown that there is a cumulative effect of excessive GWG over multiple pregnancies. The study, which analyzed the effect of the number of excessive GWG pregnancies on body mass index (BMI) at midlife, is published in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside, used automated computer methods to mine a large online discussion forum for electronic cigarette users and found this group reported numerous adverse health effects for at least seven years.
BOSTON-- According to the World Health Organization's latest statistics, from 2017, more than 800 women around the world die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth -- the vast majority of them in resource-poor areas. The leading reason is postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), which accounts for 27 percent of maternal mortality and occurs to some degree in five to seven percent of all deliveries.
DUARTE, Calif. -- The benefits of a daily aspirin may extend beyond heart health to colorectal cancer treatment, say City of Hope researchers who have found aspirin appears to reduce tumor growth and inhibit recurrence of the disease.
The trick now, researchers say, is to determine the right dosage of aspirin that can be used as a daily prophylactic without triggering dangerous side effects such as stomach and brain bleeds.
Pelvic examinations and cervical cancer screenings are no longer recommended for most females under age 21 during routine health visits, but a new study has found that millions of young women are unnecessarily undergoing the tests, which can lead to false-positive testing, over-treatment, anxiety and needless cost.
Researchers at UC San Francisco and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that 1.4 million pelvic examinations and 1.6 million Pap tests performed on U.S. females 15 to 20 years old in a single year may have been medically unnecessary.
PITTSBURGH, Jan. 6, 2020 - Early clinical treatment may significantly reduce recovery time following a concussion, according to new research led by the University of Pittsburgh Sports Medicine Concussion Program.
The results, published today in JAMA Neurology, suggest delays in seeking treatment can lead to unnecessarily longer recovery.