Culture

People who suffered a stroke continued to experience eating problems and more than half still risked malnutrition after three months, even though there had been a marked improvement in most of their physical functions. That is one of the key findings of a study in the March issue of the Journal of Advanced Nursing.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Why do some people behave morally while others do not? Sociologists at the University of California, Riverside and California State University, Northridge have developed a theory of the moral self that may help explain the ethical lapses in the banking, investment and mortgage-lending industries that nearly ruined the U.S. economy.

Drug delivery into muscle using an autoinjector, akin to the EpiPen used to treat serious allergic reactions, is faster and may be a more effective way to stop status epilepticus, a prolonged seizure lasting longer than five minutes, according to a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. Status epilepticus is a potentially life-threatening emergency that causes 55,000 deaths each year. Anticonvulsant drugs are typically delivered intravenously (IV) as a first-line treatment.

CINCINNATI -- As part of the first national, randomized clinical trial to study two methods of drug delivery for seizing patients, researchers have shown that using an auto-injector, similar to an EpiPen, to deliver anticonvulsant medication stops prolonged seizures more quickly and effectively than drug delivery through an IV line.

When a person is experiencing a prolonged convulsive seizure, quick medical intervention is critical. With every passing minute, the seizure becomes harder to stop, and can place the patient at risk of brain damage and death. This is why paramedics are trained to administer anticonvulsive medications as soon as possible -- traditionally giving them intravenously before arriving at the hospital.

Despite new regulations restricting UK TV advertisements for food, children are still exposed to the same level of advertising for junk foods which are high in fat, salt and sugar, researchers have found.

Unexpectedly, academics at Newcastle University also found that since the new restrictions were introduced five years ago, viewers of all ages are seeing many more adverts for unhealthy foods.

• Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been linked to heavy drinking, and alcohol outlet density to violence.
• A new study looks at links between alcohol outlet densities and IPV-related Emergency Department (ED) visits.
• Findings showed that bars are positively related to IPV-related ED visits, while there is no relationship between restaurant density and IPV-related ED visits.

On the health front, the poor often have at least two things going against them: a lack of insurance and chronic illnesses, of which diabetes is among the most common.

The federal Affordable Care Act would expand the capacity of the nation's 8,000 community health centers to provide care for low-income, largely minority patients — from the current 20 million to about 40 million by 2015. The federal government is also trying to ensure that these community health centers deliver high-quality primary care, including diabetes care.

(WASHINGTON, February 15, 2012) - As the world's largest professional society concerned with the causes and treatment of blood disorders, many of ASH's more than 16,000 members are on the front lines of dealing with the country's severe shortage of methotrexate, a drug critical in the treatment of children with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). This morning the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that two manufacturers plan additional releases at the end of this week, at the end of February, and continuing into March, which it anticipates will meet all patient needs.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Hospitalization for underage drinking is common in the United States, and it comes with a price tag -- the estimated total cost for these hospitalizations is about $755 million per year, a Mayo Clinic study has found. Researchers also found geographic and demographic differences in the incidence of alcohol-related hospital admissions. The findings were published online today in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

With expanded industrial-scale production of nanomaterials fast approaching, scientists are reporting indications that dust generated during processing of nanomaterials may explode more easily than dust from wheat flour, cornstarch and most other common dust explosion hazards.

WASHINGTON -- Scientists and engineers at the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) three national security laboratories appear committed to their work and core mission of maintaining the country's nuclear weapons stockpile, but according to a new National Research Council report, a "broken relationship" between NNSA and the labs threatens to erode the quality of the scientific research and engineering being conducted there.

A study from North Carolina State University shows that Toyota's safety-related recalls that began in 2009 made little to no impact on how consumers perceived the brand.

"These findings highlight the importance of establishing and maintaining a reputation for quality," says Dr. Robert Hammond, an assistant professor of economics at NC State and lead author of a paper describing the study. "Not only will it help you sell cars in the first place, but it will help you weather public scrutiny in the event of a recall."

Stress levels of unemployed people are linked more to their surroundings than their age, gender, disposable income, and degree of deprivation, a study shows.

The presence of parks and woodland in economically deprived areas may help people cope better with job losses, post traumatic stress disorder, chronic fatigue and anxiety, researchers say.

They found that people's stress levels are directly related to the amount of green space in their area – the more green space, the less stressed a person is likely to be.

In a first-of-its-kind study in Canada, Kevin Bainey of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry has discovered that South Asians who live in Alberta with coronary disease experience a lower quality of life.

This adds to prior data that this group lives with more severe disease.