Culture

BOSTON, MA - Patients over age 50 who underwent an all inside arthroscopic repair technique had lower rates of subsequent total knee surgery than a similar group that was only observed, according to research presented at the American Orthopedic Society of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting today.

Dr. Jason L. Dragoo from Stanford Medicine in Redwood City, Calif., and his team of researchers followed 48 patients over age 50 who were diagnosed with a meniscal root tear. The meniscus is the spongy cartilage that provides cushion in the knee.

MINNEAPOLIS - A new study has found that mentally stimulating activities like using a computer, playing games, crafting and participating in social activities are linked to a lower risk or delay of age-related memory loss called mild cognitive impairment, and that the timing and number of these activities may also play a role. The study is published in the July 10, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Citrus fruits, coffee and avocados: The food on our tables has become more diverse in recent decades. However, global agriculture does not reflect this trend. Monocultures are increasing worldwide, taking up more land than ever. At the same time, many of the crops being grown rely on pollination by insects and other animals. This puts food security at increased risk, as a team of researchers with help from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) writes in the journal Global Change Biology.

When new rules capped training hours for medical residents at 80 hours per week in 2003, critics worried that the change would leave physicians-in-training unprepared for the challenges of independent practice.

Now, new research published July 11 in BMJ and led by scientists in the Department of Health Care Policy in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, shows that these dire warnings were largely unjustified.

EPFL scientists have created the first world map of regions with the highest prevalence of the hepatitis E virus (HEV). They hope that their map - freely available online - will help governments and NGOs design more effective prevention campaigns based on reliable data, particularly when it comes to setting up refugee camps. The scientists' research has just been published in Scientific Reports.

A newly described form of stress called chromatin architectural defect, or chromatin stress, triggers in cells a response that leads to a longer life. Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Houston Methodist Research Institute report in the journal Science Advances that moderate chromatin stress levels set off a stress response in yeast, the tiny laboratory worm C. elegans, the fruit fly and mouse embryonic stem cells, and in yeast and C. elegans the response promotes longevity.

Bottom Line: The 1978 novel "The House of God" is a fictional account of the internship experience of Samuel Shem, the pen name of Stephen Bergman, at Beth Israel Hospital in 1973-1974. Funny, angry, honest, and absurd, the book spotlighted the injustices of medical training and the patient care of that era and was pilloried by establishment medicine for years after publication for its razor-sharp version of the truth. This short documentary, produced on the 40th anniversary of the novel's debut, details the book's origins and the people and events that inspired its stories.