Culture

(Boston, Mass)—Women should think twice before buying their next pair of high-heels or pumps, according to researchers at the Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew SeniorLife in a new study of older adults and foot problems.

The researchers found that the types of shoes women wear, specifically high-heels, pumps and sandals, may cause future hind-foot (heel and ankle) pain. Nearly 64 percent of women who reported hind-foot pain regularly wore these types of shoes at some point in their life.

In an editorial published this week, the PLoS Medicine editors discuss how to maintain the integrity of the medical literature when publishing comparative effectiveness research (CER).

The U.S. government has allocated US$ 1.1 billion to fund CER, which will compare the benefits and harms of different approaches to medical care. As defined in a recent Institute of Medicine report, "the purpose of CER is to assist consumers, clinicians, purchasers, and policy makers to make informed decisions that will improve health care at both the individual and population levels."

An Indiana University study published in the September issue of the International Journal of Sexual Health found that women who feel more positively about women's genitals find it easier to orgasm and are more likely to engage in sexual health promoting behaviors, such as having regular gynecological exams or performing vulvar self-examinations.

Men largely make decisions about prostate cancer screening based on conversations with their clinicians, but these discussions often do not include information about the risks of testing in addition to the benefits, according to a report in the September 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. A second report in the same issue uses statistical modeling to estimate the benefits and risks of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in men of various ages and risk levels.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---The Great Depression had a silver lining: During that hard time, U.S. life expectancy actually increased by 6.2 years, according to a University of Michigan study published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Life expectancy rose from 57.1 in 1929 to 63.3 years in 1932, according to the analysis byU-M researchers José A. Tapia Granados and Ana Diez Roux. The increase occurred for both men and women, and for whites and non-whites.

Children whose parents use a firm parenting style that still allows them to test the rules and learn from it are more likely to assume leadership roles as adults according to a new study published in a recent edition of The Leadership Quarterly.

MINNEAPOLIS—September 28, 2009—The latest research from Family Relations shows that parents in low-income environments are more prone to depression when there is a lack of social support. This is especially prevalent in rural regions, where mental health and social resources can be deficient.

Educators should learn a thing or two from the Just-In-Time and Lean production techniques used by the automotive industry if they are to add value to the student experience as quickly and effectively as possible. That's the conclusion of a report published in the International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management.

Boston, MA—A new poll by the Harvard School of Public Health and The Boston Globe finds 59% of Massachusetts residents who are aware of the state's health reform legislation, which was enacted in 2006, support it. A little more than one in four oppose it (28%), and 13% are not sure. The level of public support for the law has declined somewhat in the last year, from 69% saying they support the law in 2008 to 59% in the current poll. The current number is similar to the 61% found in 2006.

A growing global movement to apologize and make restitution to victims of human rights abuses is now gathering steam in the United States, but it won't be a first for the country, says the president of The Western History Association.

Prostate cancer patients of low socioeconomic status are more likely to die than patients with higher incomes. That is the finding of a new study from Swiss researchers to be published in the December 1, 2009 issue of Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The study's findings indicate that poor prostate cancer patients receive worse care than their wealthier counterparts.

BOSTON —September 28th, 2009 New prenatal tests for Down syndrome are soon to be offered to all pregnant women across the United States, yet telling an expectant couple that their child will be born with Down syndrome is a task very few physicians are trained for, claims research published in the American Journal of Medical Genetics. The study, which reviewed decades of surveys and interviews, offers several recommendations for how physicians can best deliver the news.

Screening all newborns for excessive bilirubin in the blood can significantly decrease the incidence of severe jaundice which, in extreme cases, can lead to seizures and brain damage, according to researchers at UCSF Children's Hospital and Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research in Oakland, CA.

Subliminal messaging is most effective when the message being conveyed is negative, according to new research funded by the Wellcome Trust.

Subliminal images – in other words, images shown so briefly that the viewer does not consciously 'see' them – have long been the subject of controversy, particularly in the area of advertising. Previous studies have already hinted that people can unconsciously pick up on subliminal information intended to provoke an emotional response, but limitations in the design of the studies have meant that the conclusions were ambiguous.

Decision-making on science – especially emerging technologies such as nanotechnology – must become more democratic, a new report on science policy released today argues. The group of leading European academics behind the 'Reconfiguring Responsibility' report argue forcefully that current governance activities are limiting public debate and may repeat mistakes made in managing GM.