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.
Culture
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").
A blood thinner known for serious drug interactions is linked to increased hospitalizations for falls, altered mental state and insulin shock for Medicare patients who also take some diabetes drugs, according to a new study.
Forty percent of the estimated 100,000 older Americans hospitalized each year due to adverse drug events are for reactions to the common blood thinner warfarin and to anti-diabetic drugs, including glipizide or glimepiride, also known as 'sulfonylureas.'
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai researchers will present several landmark studies at the 2015 American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting December 5-8, 2015, in Orlando, including data analysis of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma that revealed insight into key biological processes and deeper understanding of cellular systems and disease mechanisms, and two combination therapy strategies that showed high response rates in patients with difficult-to-treat myeloma.
Highlights of Mount Sinai research at ASH:
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Clinical results published in the OnLine First edition of New England Journal of Medicine show that the new drug acalabrutinib (ACP-196) promotes high response rates that are durable in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) while producing minimal side effects.
WASHINGTON (Dec. 7, 2015) -- The most crowded emergency departments in the U.S. have not adopted proven interventions to address crowding, a major public health concern.
Researchers at the George Washington University (GW) looked at crowding in U.S. hospitals from 2007-10 and found that while the adoption of strategies to reduce emergency department crowding has increased, many of the nation's most crowded emergency departments have not adopted effective interventions.
ORLANDO-- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients who stopped taking the kinase inhibitors (KIs), ibrutinib or idelalisib, had mostly favorable outcomes when they switched to the alternate therapy, according to a large multi-center study, conducted in part at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Prefabricated foot orthoses and rocker-sole footwear (in which the sole of the shoe is curved) are effective at reducing peak pressure under the big toe in people with a condition called first metatarsophalangeal joint osteoarthritis, but new research shows that they achieve this through different mechanisms. Also, rocker-sole shoes exhibited lower peak pressure under the lesser toes and midfoot, while orthoses increased peak pressure in these areas.
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Prescription opioid abuse has reached epidemic proportions, with more than half of patients being treated for chronic pain reportedly misusing their medication at some point.
However, new research led by University at Buffalo psychiatric nursing researcher Yu-Ping Chang found motivational interviewing, a form of behavioral counseling, is an effective tool at curbing the abuse.
ORLANDO - Ninety-three percent of pediatric patients (55 of 59) with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) went into remission after receiving an investigational therapy made from their own immune cells, with continuous remissions of over one year in 18 patients and over two years in nine patients. In an emerging new use of the same therapy, known as CTL019, more than half of patients (15 of 28) with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) also responded to infusions of the personalized cellular therapy.
WASHINGTON (Dec. 7, 2015) -- Patients with moderate-to-severe chronic kidney disease who received cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator had a lower risk of hospitalization for heart failure or death from this condition compared to patients who received only an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, according to a study published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Americans' attitudes about environmental issues aren't simply polarized into pro- and anti-environment, but rather are spread across a diverse spectrum. A new study from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and The Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies finds that attitudes about environmental issues are influenced by a combination of experience, interaction with natural environments, and religious and political views about the responsibilities of humankind as a whole, and government in particular.