Body

Obesity raises the chances of complications and medical interventions in childbirth. But a new study by Oxford University shows the risks are not the same for all obese women.

For otherwise healthy women, the increase in risk with obesity may not be as great as previously suspected.

New research has revealed the hidden past of crocodiles, showing for the first time how these fierce reptiles evolved and survived in a dinosaur dominated world.

While most modern crocodiles live in freshwater habitats and feed on mammals and fish, their ancient relatives were extremely diverse – with some built for running around like dogs on land and others adapting to life in the open ocean, imitating the feeding behaviour of today's killer whales.

Barcelona, Spain: Obstructive lung disease (OLD) has been linked with a decline in cognitive functioning, including memory and information processing.

A new study, which will be presented today (11 September 2013) at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Annual Congress, suggests that impaired cognitive functioning could be an important factor in OLD.

Transnational tobacco companies' investments in smokeless tobacco products, such as snus (a moist tobacco product that is placed under the upper lip), in Europe are not due to a concern for the health impacts of smoking but are instead driven purely by business interests according to new research by Silvy Peeters and Anna Gilmore from the University of Bath UK and the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies, published this week in PLOS Medicine.

A team of researchers led by Professor Joseph Heitman has discovered procreation between genetically identical fungi Cryptococcus neoformans can result in genetic changes and diversity in their offspring, lending insight into how they can evolve to cause and spread disease. These results are published 10 September 2013 in the open access journal PLOS Biology.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Though some might disagree, most biologists think the purpose of sex is to create diversity among offspring. Such diversity underpins evolution, enabling organisms to acquire new combinations of traits to adapt to their environment.

However, scientists have been perplexed to find that many fungi and microorganisms procreate with exact replicas of themselves, where the expected outcome would simply be more of the same.

A recently completed substudy of a larger clinical trial found that pre-exposure prophylaxis -- a new strategy to prevent HIV infection by prescribing a daily antiretroviral drug to at-risk individuals -- can be a powerful tool when participants take their medications.

In an examination of the effect of financial incentives on hypertension care at 12 outpatient clinics, physician-level (individual) financial incentives, but not practice-level or combined incentives, resulted in greater blood pressure control or appropriate response to uncontrolled blood pressure, according to a study in the September 11 issue of JAMA. None of the incentives resulted in greater use of guideline-recommended medications compared with controls.

Paying doctors for how they perform specific medical procedures and examinations yields better health outcomes than the traditional “fee for service” model, where everyone gets paid a set amount regardless of quality or patient outcomes, according to new research conducted by UC San Francisco and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

The pain and itching associated with shingles and herpes may be due to the virus causing a "short circuit" in the nerve cells that reach the skin, Princeton researchers have found.

This short circuit appears to cause repetitive, synchronized firing of nerve cells, the researchers reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This cyclical firing may be the cause of the persistent itching and pain that are symptoms of oral and genital herpes as well as shingles and chicken pox, according to the researchers.

Treatment with two common drugs reduced viral replication and lung damage when given to monkeys infected with the virus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. The condition is deadly pneumonia that has killed more than 100 people, primarily in the Middle East.

WASHINGTON, DC—Medicaid paid for 45 percent of the 4 million births in the United States in 2010, an amount that has been rising over time, according to a report out today. The study, published in the September 2013 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Women's Health Issues, offers the most comprehensive information to date on Medicaid financing of births in each of the 50 states and nationally.

HOUSTON (Sept. 11, 2013) – When health care pundits began to suggest that pay-for-performance would solve some of health care's woes, Dr. Laura Petersen, professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and director of the Houston VA Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence, had questions.

Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have made a basic science discovery that advances the understanding of how DNA repairs itself. When DNA becomes too damaged it ultimately leads to cancer.

INDIANAPOLIS -- A new study from the Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University Center for Aging Research has found that nursing home care improves in critical areas -- including falls, quality of life and rehospitalizations -- when state government and nursing homes collaborate in a performance-based incentive program that promotes local solutions to local problems.