A new study involving UT Dallas researchers shows that vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) technology could help improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who suffer weakness and paralysis caused by strokes.
The study, published in the journal Stroke, marks the first time that VNS has been tested in individuals recovering from stroke.
A new lifestyle risk score based on six health behaviors identified two new risk factors (sedentary behavior and sleep) that can be used in addition to traditional risk factors, such as smoking and excessive alcohol use to predict risk of mortality. These findings by Ding Ding and colleagues from the University of Sydney, Australia, are published in this week's PLOS Medicine.
More than 50 million Americans live in rural areas, and many have limited access to health care. For someone living far from an urban area, local specialty care for complex health issues is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain. For years, telemedicine programs across the country have connected rural patients to specialists in urban settings. Now, a study by University of Missouri School of Medicine researchers shows that patients and providers alike are satisfied with video-based health care.
(Boston ) -- In the majority of cases, hip x-rays are not reliable for diagnosing hip osteoarthritis (OA), and can delay the treatment of this debilitating disease.
These findings are the first to evaluate the diagnostic performance of an x-ray in patients with clinical signs and symptoms of classic OA. The study appears in the British Medical Journal.
BOSTON, MA - Physicians in training experience higher rates of depression when compared with the general public. However, the estimated prevalence of this disorder among resident physicians has varied substantially between studies. New research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) finds that 28.8 percent of trainees screen positive for depression during their residency. The findings are published in the December 8 issue of JAMA.
Graduating family medicine residents have indicated they intend to provide a broader scope of practice than that reported by current family physicians, including for prenatal care, inpatient care, nursing home care, home visits, and women's health procedures, according to a study in the December 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on medical education.
An analysis of more than 1.3 million emergency department visits found an increase in patient length of stay of approximately 5 minutes associated with the presence of medical students in the emergency department, which was statistically significant but likely too small to be of clinical relevance, according to a study in the December 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on medical education.
PHILADELPHIA - Medical students in Emergency Departments often perform an initial evaluation of stable patients prior to supervising residents or attending physicians, who meanwhile provide care to other patients. Despite some concern over the possible effect to patients, new research shows the presence of medical students in the Emergency Department adds less than five minutes to the average length of a patient's stay.
Hedge fund activism often initially bolsters the target company but new research has found that it weakens the competition, which may hurt innovation and the larger economy.
"It is survival of the fittest," said Praveen Kumar, finance professor at the University of Houston and an author of a study published in the Journal of Financial Economics. "Yes, you do want the weakest competitors weeded out. But as they exit, there is less competition and hence, less incentive to innovate for the surviving firms. Over time, consumers and economic growth may be hurt."
Commenting from the annual Conference of Parties (COP21), Gail Whiteman, Chair of the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business at Lancaster University, had the following to say about the floods in Cumbria: “Liz Truss’ comment about how the flood defenses in Cumbria were only breached because of extreme weather conditions is rather short sighted. Thanks to climate change, extreme weather is the new normal. And that is hugely problematic.
PHILADELPHIA - In the first known study to examine the prevalence and treatment of psoriasis in older Americans, experts from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found that black patients receiving Medicare are less likely to receive biologic therapies -medications derived from human or animal cells or tissues - for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis than white patients.
A majority of Americans believe that money influences decisions made by elected officials and favor full disclosure of the source of campaign donations, according to a new national survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Despite their concerns, the survey reveals that Americans favor keeping the current system of campaign funding in which candidates raise money through donations.
PORTLAND, Ore. - Dec. 8, 2015 - It's National Pear Month and the perfect time to enjoy juicy, sweet pears. If that isn't reason enough to fill your shopping basket, there's another reason to add this fruit to your grocery list.
Past human factors/ergonomics studies have shown that some in-vehicle technologies intended to help with driving tasks are actually competing for drivers' attention and undermining driving safety. Human factors/ergonomics studies over the past 10-plus years have examined a variety of distractors. The December 2015 special section of Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society leads off with research proposing a method for assessing cognitive distraction while driving and elicits pro and con responses from experts in the field.
WASHINGTON -- Nauseated patients in the emergency department who sniffed pads saturated with isopropyl alcohol were twice as likely to obtain relief from their symptoms as nauseated patients who sniffed pads saturated with saline solution, according to a study published online today in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("Isopropyl Alcohol Nasal Inhalation for Nausea in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Controlled Trial").