Culture

CHICAGO - In a research letter appearing in the Dec. 7 issue of JAMA, S. Jay Olshansky, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois at Chicago, examined the question that U.S. Presidents may experience accelerated aging while in office by analyzing the life span of all U.S. Presidents compared to men of their era. Among his findings were that 23 of 34 presidents who died of natural causes lived beyond the average life expectancy for men of the same age when they were inaugurated.

Highlights

Whether contributing money to Boy Scouts, donating a sculpture of Gandhi for a Dallas city plaza, or successfully lobbying against flying Vietnam's communist flag in a citywide international celebration, a new study shows that immigrants in Texas are involved in their communities.

Immigrants from India and Vietnam in North Texas develop and embrace their American identity over time — without shedding their culture of origin, as some say they should, according to a new anthropological study.

A UCSF study suggests patients with chronic pain may experience greater relief if their doctors add cannabinoids – the main ingredient in cannabis or medical marijuana – to an opiates-only treatment. The findings, from a small-scale study, also suggest that a combined therapy could result in reduced opiate dosages.

More than 76 million Americans suffer from chronic pain – more people than diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined, according to the National Centers for Health Statistics.

The better the looks of United States Congresspersons, the more television coverage they receive, shows a new study from the University of Haifa recently published in the journal Political Communication. The reason behind this? Television journalists think their viewers prefer to see physically attractive people. "Physical appearance ranked third in the criteria for gaining television coverage, and ranked higher than seniority, position in Congress and legislative activity in this respect," noted the authors of the study.

Acupuncture may help ease the severe nerve pain associated with certain cancer drugs, suggests a small preliminary study published in Acupuncture in Medicine.

Cancer patients treated with taxanes, vinca alkaloids, or platinum compounds can develop a condition known as chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy, or CIPN for short, as a by-product of their treatment. These powerful drugs can damage peripheral nerves, particularly in the calves and feet, which can result in severe nerve pain and/or difficulty walking. As yet, there is no effective antidote.

OAKLAND, Calif., December 5, 2011 – Depression in patients with diabetes is associated with a substantively increased risk of development of dementia compared to those with diabetes alone, according to researchers from the University of Washington and Kaiser Permanente.

The study, among the first (and largest to date) to examine all-cause dementia in diabetes patients with and without depression, appears on the current online issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Health care coverage increased dramatically in parts of China between 1997 and 2006, a period when government interventions were implemented to improve access to health care, with particularly striking upswings in rural areas, according to new research by Brown University sociologist Susan E. Short and Hongwei Xu of the University of Michigan. The findings appear in the December issue of Health Affairs.

CHICAGO – Experiencing a psychiatric episode within the first 30 days post-partum appears to be associated with an increased risk of developing bipolar affective disorder, according to a report published Online First by Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Iconic marine predators such as sharks, tunas, swordfish, and marlins are becoming increasingly rare under current fishing trends, say University of British Columbia researchers.

BOWLING GREEN, O. -- For many, an important marker of adulthood is forming a family, whether it's having a child, getting married or cohabiting with a romantic partner. Researchers at Bowling Green State University's National Center for Family and Marriage Research's (NCFMR) say a majority (61 percent) of young adults have formed a family by age 25.

For the first time, a new research methodology recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration has been used to demonstrate that converting patients from one anti-epileptic drug to another - in this case, lamotrigine extended-release (LTG XR) - is well-tolerated, effective and safe. The work by Jacqueline French and her team, from New York University in the US, illustrates how the new methodology addresses ethical issues inherent in more traditional study designs. It is published online in Springer's journal, Neurotherapeutics.

Montreal -- The interventional cardiology team at the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI) used the world's first drug eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffold to successfully treat a woman suffering from coronary artery disease. This landmark procedure was performed by Dr. Jean-François Tanguay, interventional cardiologist and coordinator of the Coronary Unit, as part of the ABSORB EXTEND clinical trial. This successful intervention was a first in North America.

A breakthrough that could change the lives of patients

Is there a psychological reason why people default on their mortgages? A new study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that people with bad credit scores are more impatient – more likely to choose immediate rewards rather than wait for a larger reward later.

In Germany, the rising cost of heating has sparked a renovation boom. In order to lower energy costs, more and more homeowners are investing in insulation facades. But the typical insulation layers on the market have one drawback: they add bulk. The 20-centimeter-thick outer skin changes the building's visual appearance and can result in significant follow-up costs – with a need to fit new, deeper window sills and sometimes even roof extensions.