Culture

CHICAGO – Exposure to iodinated contrast media during imaging procedures is associated with changes in thyroid function, and increased risk of developing hyperthyroidism, according to a report in the January 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

NEW YORK, January 23, 2012 – When it comes to taking prescribed medications for hypertension, a patient's self confidence could be as important as doctor's orders. A new study by researchers at NYU School of Medicine reveals that positive affirmation, when coupled with patient education, seems to help patients more effectively follow their prescribed medication regimen.

The study, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, appears online ahead of print today in the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

BOSTON, MA -- Physician referral rates in the United States doubled between 1999 and 2009, a new study finds, an increase that likely contributes to the rising costs of health care.

The increase in referral rates coincides with an increase in chronic conditions such as Type 2 diabetes. The results are staggering: over the same time period, the estimated absolute number of visits resulting in a referral increased 159 per cent, from 40.6 million to 105 million.

CHICAGO—Exposure to iodinated contrast media during imaging procedures is associated with changes in thyroid function, and increased risk of developing hyperthyroidism, according to a report in the January 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Family companions who routinely accompany older adults to physician office visits could be helpful to health care quality improvement efforts, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The authors found that three-quarters of older adults who attend physician visits with a family companion are consistently accompanied over time, nearly always by the same companion. The results are featured in the January 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – For more than 40 years, scientists and physicians have thought eating a high-fiber diet lowered a person's risk of diverticulosis, a disease of the large intestine in which pouches develop in the colon wall. A new study of more than 2,000 people reveals the opposite may be true.

Chicago -- U.S. states that enacted unilateral divorce laws saw substantial increases in violent crime in the years following the reform, according to research in the Journal of Labor Economics. But the ill-effects of the new laws appear to be largely temporary.

STANFORD, Calif. — Women report more-intense pain than men in virtually every disease category, according to Stanford University School of Medicine investigators who mined a huge collection of electronic medical records to establish the broad gender difference to a high level of statistical significance.

Their study, to be published online Jan. 23 in the Journal of Pain, suggests that stronger efforts should be made to recruit women subjects in population and clinical studies in order to find out why this gender difference exists.

Cambridge, Mass. - January 23, 2012 - New research at Harvard explains how bacterial biofilms expand to form slimy mats on teeth, pipes, surgical instruments, and crops.

Through experiment and mathematical analysis, researchers have shown that the extracellular matrix (ECM), a mesh of proteins and sugars that can form outside bacterial cells, creates osmotic pressure that forces biofilms to swell and spread.

The ECM mechanism is so powerful that it can increase the radius of some biofilms five-fold within 24 hours.

A spoonful of medicine goes down a lot easier if there is a dog or cat around. Having pets is helpful for women living with HIV/AIDS and managing their chronic illness, according to a new study from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University.

A recently released scientific paper authored by San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research scientists shows the leading causes of death of the endangered California condor in the wild are human influenced, with lead poisoning being the primary factor in juvenile and adult birds.

Boston, MA —January 19, 2012 —Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have identified two novel markers that, when elevated in the blood stream, can predict accurately the risk of renal (kidney) failure in patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The findings have immediate diagnostic implications and can be used for the development of new therapies to prevent or postpone the progression of renal disease in diabetes.

Highlights

Highlights

Highlights