Culture

Can a simple diagnostic test used to measure a heart's electrical activity help predict heart attacks? And can that knowledge help doctors reroute their patients away from coronary heart disease?

These are the questions researchers at UCSF asked in a comprehensive eight-year study focused on senior citizens in the United States. Researchers found a higher risk of heart attack when abnormalities showed up on electrocardiogram (EKG) results of healthy elderly people.

Chest pain patients educated about their future heart attack risk and involved in deciding care options were more likely than less-aware patients to opt out of stress testing, according to research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.

Chest pain, the second most common reason people seek emergency care at U.S. hospitals, accounts for 8 million patient visits and about $8 billion in healthcare costs annually, researchers said.

Montreal, April 10, 2012 — Did I remember to lock the back door? Did I turn off the stove? Were the lights still on when I left the house this morning? Such minor doubts are part our daily mental chatter. But for the over 650,000 Canadians who suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), thoughts along these lines can lead to compulsive checking — a potentially debilitating behaviour that keeps the sufferer locked in an endless cycle of fear and doubt.

German researchers report success with transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in patients with low-flow, low-gradient aortic stenosis—a special form of aortic stenosis that is difficult to treat. Results published in the April issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, the peer-reviewed journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), show that while all-cause mortality was high within the first six months, TAVI significantly improved heart function and exercise capacity in surviving patients.

Fighting ability, largely determined by upper body strength, continues to rule the minds of modern men, according to a new study by Aaron Sell from Griffith University in Australia and colleagues. Their work explores the concept that human males are designed for fighting, and shows how this fighting ability drives both their behavior and attitudes to a range issues, including political orientation. For example, their research demonstrates that among Hollywood actors, those selected for their physical strength, i.e.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new study that tracked what Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) costs Medicare during three distinct stages of patient care suggests that the government insurer could realize substantial savings through efforts to reduce the hospitalizations that occur before patients became permanent nursing home residents.

People with a high socioeconomic level have been demonstrated to have better health than the rest of people. Other protective factors against chronic diseases are having higher education, having a job, and the per capita income and welfare in the region of residence.

A new study from researchers at Queen Mary, University of London reveals the many difficulties faced by people with diabetes in self-managing their disease.

People with diabetes have to invest a great deal of time and effort to manage their condition. This includes not only monitoring the level of sugar in their blood, organising their medication and following a restrictive diet but also social challenges such as negotiating relatives' input and gaining access to doctors when they need to.

Text messaging often gets a bad rap for contributing to illiteracy and high-risk behavior such as reckless driving. But a social welfare professor at the University of California, Berkeley, has found an upside to texting, especially for people who feel stressed out, isolated and alone.

People who received frequent dental x-rays in the past have an increased risk of developing the most commonly diagnosed primary brain tumor in the United States. That is the finding of a study published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Although dental x-rays are necessary in many cases, these findings suggest that moderate use of this form of imaging may be of benefit to some patients.

People with a history of high cholesterol who come from higher income countries or countries with lower out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, as well as those from countries with high performing healthcare systems, defined using World Health Organization (WHO) indices, tend to have lower subsequent cholesterol rates, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.

CHICAGO – Persistent ocular tremors that prevent eye stability during fixation appear to be common among patients with Parkinson disease (PD) suggesting that precise oculomotor testing could provide an early physiological biomarker for diagnosing PD, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Neurology, a JAMA Network publication.

CHICAGO – A randomized controlled trial involving patients with persistent clinically significant diabetic macular edema (swelling of the retina) suggests the greater efficacy of bevacizumab compared with macular laser therapy that was previously demonstrated at 12 months was maintained through 24 months, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Ophthalmology, a JAMA Network publication.

Lowering glucose levels for people with diabetes is normally critical to improving health outcomes. But for those with heart failure, that might not always be the case, say UCLA researchers.

A new study found that for advanced heart failure patients with diabetes, having higher blood glucose levels may actually help improve survival rates.

AURORA, Colo. (April 9, 2012) – Dozens of American youth under the age of 20 die on the job each year while thousands more are injured, often due to poorly regulated work environments, according to a new report released by the Colorado School of Public Health.