Culture | Page 1743 | Science Codex

Scientists teaching machines to make clinical trials more successful

CINCINNATI - Scientists are teaching computers to figure out why people accept or decline invitations to participate in clinical trials. Recruiting sufficient numbers of participants is a current challenge in medical research that can compromise results or stop some studies altogether.

Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center report April 27 in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association they are using so-called "machine learning" technologies to predict whether patients will participate.

Researchers find vessel damage may precede diabetic retinopathy

A University of Iowa-led study of diabetes-related vision impairment holds good news -- and some bad news -- for patients with signs of these disorders.

Scientists have long known that patients with diabetes mellitus -- both Type 1 and Type 2 -- are at high risk for developing diabetic retinopathy, the most common cause of irreversible blindness in adults. Vision loss occurs due to microvascular damage to the retina. People with diabetes are typically not aware that they are also at risk for developing retinal diabetic neuropathy, a loss of the nerve cells in the retina.

No need to fast before a cholesterol test

New research from Denmark, Canada and the US involving more than 300,000 individuals suggests that patients do not need to check their cholesterol levels on an empty stomach. So far fasting has been required before cholesterol and triglyceride measurement in all countries except Denmark, where non-fasting blood sampling has been used since 2009.

Women have problems sticking to cardiac rehab programs

Philadelphia, PA, April 27, 2016 - Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of disability globally. Participation in cardiac rehabilitation programs is associated with significantly lower death, but evidence suggests that women are significantly less likely to stick to a cardiac rehabilitation program than men, according to investigators writing in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.

Young gay and bisexual men 6 times more likely to attempt suicide than older counterparts

Young gay and bisexual men are at significantly greater risk of poor mental health than older men in that group, according to new research published in the Journal of Public Health.

Child homicide -- speaking of the unspeakable

New estimates published in PLOS Medicine suggest that homicide could be responsible for just over 1% of all neonatal deaths in South Africa. Together with other studies reporting on child homicide from other countries, these findings emphasize the importance of child protection, and highlight a need for cross-sector services to support vulnerable mothers.

The $60 billion question -- can we prevent norovirus?

Each year, norovirus causes over 200,000 deaths and a global economic burden of $60 billion. A highly contagious virus that most people will contract 5 times in their lifetime, the most serious outcomes of the disease - hospitalization and death - are far more common among children and the elderly, and in low and middle income countries. In a new PLOS Collection - "The Global Burden of Norovirus & Prospects for Vaccine Development" - global norovirus experts fill critical knowledge gaps and provide key information to further development of a much-needed vaccine.

Patients with low literacy levels get health information from commercial websites

MAYWOOD, IL - When searching the internet for health information, people with less education and lower literacy levels are more likely to visit poorer quality commercial websites, according to a study by researchers at Loyola Medicine and Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

"These findings should encourage physicians to guide patients towards appropriate high quality websites, particularly patients with low literacy and/or education levels," senior author Gopal N. Gupta, MD and colleagues wrote in the ARC Journal of Urology.

Researcher finds teenage e-cigarette use 'clustered' in certain schools

A new study from the University of Colorado Denver finds that certain school environments have an impact on electronic cigarette use among teenagers.

The study was led by Adam Lippert, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and published in the journal Health and Place.

'A fatty liver may result in a broken heart,' according to new research

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, April 26, 2016 -- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is primarily the cause of death of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The extent to which NAFLD itself, rather than associated conditions such as diabetes, obesity, or atherogenic dyslipidemia, is responsible for increased cardiovascular death has been a matter of debate. In a new study, investigators from the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Pierre and Marie Curie University conclude that NAFLD is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis and therefore CVD.

Bioreactors ready for the big time

URBANA, Ill. - Last summer, the Gulf of Mexico's "dead zone" spanned more than 6,400 square miles, more than three times the size it should have been, according to the Gulf Hypoxia Task Force. Nitrogen runoff from farms along the Mississippi River winds up in the Gulf, feeding algae but depriving other marine life of oxygen when the algae decomposes. The 12 states that border the Mississippi have been mandated to develop nutrient reduction strategies, but one especially effective strategy has not been adopted widely: bioreactors.

Increased risk of coronary heart disease seen among women who work rotating night shifts

BOSTON, MA - Heart disease is still reported as the leading cause of death in the United States, with one in every 4 deaths being attributed to heart disease. In a new study from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) published in the April 26 issue of JAMA, researchers found that women who work more than 10 years of rotating night shift work had a 15 to 18 percent increased risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD), the most common type of heart disease, as compared with women who did not work rotating night shifts.

Outcomes of immunotherapy tablet for house dust mite allergy-related asthma

The addition of a house dust mite (HDM) sublingual allergen immunotherapy (SLIT) tablet to maintenance medications improved time to first moderate or severe asthma exacerbation during a period of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) reduction among adults with HDM allergy-related asthma not well controlled by ICS, according to a study appearing in the April 26 issue of JAMA.

Type 2 diabetes people 'let down' over delayed treatment

People with Type 2 diabetes are being 'let down' because they are being forced to wait for further treatment when needed.

Research has shown the average waiting time for increased treatment from the start of insulin is 3.7 years.

Maintaining tight control of blood sugars in people with Type 2 diabetes can lead to significant reductions in related complications, previous evidence has shown.

Medicare patients have low adherence to biologic drug therapy for psoriasis

PHILADELPHIA -- About half of Medicare patients who start taking biologic therapies for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis stop within a year, according to a new study led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.