Culture

Philadelphia, PA, September 9, 2014 – Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating gastrointestinal illness affecting up to 10% of premature infants, with a 30% mortality rate, and formula feeding has been identified as a risk factor for NEC. A study published in The American Journal of Pathology found that growth factors present in human breast milk, but not in formula, may explain the protection against intestinal damage. Further, supplementing the diet of newborn NEC-affected rodents with these growth factors promotes epithelial cell survival.

A positive outlook and support from people around them help patients with diabetes cope with psychosocial challenges of the disease, according to an international study that included researchers from Penn State College of Medicine. A better understanding of the emotional, psychological and social challenges people with diabetes face could improve health outcomes.

New methods that enhance the quality of myocardial perfusion imaging were developed in a recent study completed at the University of Eastern Finland. In her PhD study, Tuija Kangasmaa, Lic. Phil., invented a method which makes it possible to reduce the imaging time by up to 50%, making the scan session easier for the patient. Furthermore, the study also created two additional methods which correct errors resulting from patient movement during the scan. The methods were validated and they have already been taken into use in hospitals all over the world.

OAK BROOK, Ill. – According to new research performed at the Mayo Clinic, iodine-based contrast material injected intravenously to enhance computed tomography (CT) images can be safely used in most patients. The study appears online in the journal Radiology.

Of the 80 million or more CT scans performed each year in the United States, iodine-based contrast material is used in at least half to enhance computed tomography (CT) images, according to researcher Robert J. McDonald, M.D., Ph.D., a radiology resident at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Illinois' Medicaid Primary Care Case Management Program Associated With Substantial Savings, Reductions in Inpatient and Emergency Care and Improvements in Quality Measures

September 8, 2014 – Hamilton, ON – A team of researchers at McMaster University and St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton have successfully evaluated a new, antibody-based drug for certain patients with severe asthma. The drug – named mepolizumab – can replace traditional, steroid-based treatments for a specific subset of patients, resulting in improved outcomes and reduced side effects.

Bottom Line: More than half of nursing home residents with advanced dementia (a terminal illness marked by severe cognitive impairment and functional dependence) continue to receive medications of questionable benefit (including medications to treat dementia and lower cholesterol) at substantial financial cost.

Author: Jennifer Tjia, M.D., M.S.C.E., of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, and colleagues.

Bottom Line: In patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD, an autoimmune inflammatory disease of the central nervous system similar to multiple sclerosis but even more debilitating), the immunosuppressant medication mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) appears to reduce the frequency of relapse, stabilize or improve disabilities and be well tolerated by patients.

Author: So-Young Huh, M.D., of the University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea, and colleagues.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Older adults are typically prescribed a large number of medications, often including drugs that should not be taken by individuals late in life. In a commentary published online by JAMA Internal Medicine on September 8, Regenstrief Institute investigator Greg Sachs, M.D., calls for physicians to carefully review older patients' medication lists.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Productivity-boosting agricultural innovations in Africa could lead to an increase in global deforestation rates and carbon emissions, a Purdue University study finds.

Historically, improvements in agricultural technology have conserved land and decreased carbon emissions at the global level: Gaining better yields in one area lessens the need to clear other areas for crops, sidestepping a land conversion process that can significantly raise the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- A high school senior who lives with two college-educated parents is significantly less likely to drink alcohol or smoke marijuana than a teenager who lives with one parent, a new University of Texas at Arlington study has found.

For example, teens living with their mother only are 54 percent more likely to use alcohol, and 58 percent more likely to smoke if they live only with their father.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It sounds like the setup for a joke: Two identical patients go to two different hospital emergency entrances, complaining of the same symptoms.

But what happens next is no laughing matter, according to a new University of Michigan study published in the September issue of Health Affairs. While one patient may get treated and released from the emergency department, the other gets sent upstairs to a hospital bed – at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars.

It is the first time for over 60 years that a new Viking fortress is found in Denmark, says curator Nanna Holm of The Danish Castle Centre. Søren Sindbæk, professor of medieval archeology at Aarhus University, explains: "The Vikings have a reputation as a berserker and pirates. It comes as a surprise to many that they were also capable of building magnificent fortresses. The discovery of the new Viking fortress is a unique opportunity to gain new knowledge about Viking war and conflicts, and we get a new chance to examine the Vikings' most famous monuments.

A study of hospital administrative costs in eight nations published today in the September issue of Health Affairs finds that hospital bureaucracy consumed 25.3 percent of hospital budgets in the U.S. in 2011, far more than in other nations.

Administrative costs were lowest (about 12 percent) in Scotland and Canada, whose single-payer systems fund hospitals through global, lump-sum budgets, much as a fire department is funded in the U.S.

It's the series that's one-part MacGyver, one-part Mendeleev. "Chemistry Life Hacks" is back with new tips that can change your life, or at least the temperature of your beer. Learn how to cool your brews quickly before the big game starts, get fruit flies out of your kitchen for good, and how to cook the perfect patty on the grill. .

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