PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Stress levels linked to risk of liver disease death, study shows

2015-05-19
(Press-News.org) Suffering from anxiety or depression could carry an increased risk of death from liver disease, a study suggests.

The study is the first to identify a possible link between high levels of psychological distress and deaths resulting from a variety of liver diseases.

Reasons for this are unclear as the biological links between psychological distress and liver disease are not well understood, researchers say.

Previous research suggests mental distress can put people at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. At the same time, risk factors for cardiovascular disease - such as obesity and raised blood pressure - have been linked to a common form of liver disease, known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

In a similar way, suffering from anxiety and depression may be indirectly linked to an increased risk of death from liver disease, the team says.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh investigated responses to a questionnaire capturing psychological distress in more than 165,000 people. They then tracked participants' progress over a ten-year period, examining who died and the causes of death.

Individuals who scored highly for symptoms of psychological distress were more likely to later die from liver disease than those with lower scores, the team says. The study took into account factors such as alcohol consumption, obesity, diabetes, and socioeconomic status.

The study is published in the journal Gastroenterology.

Dr Tom Russ, of the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, who led the research, said: "This study provides further evidence for the important links between mind and body, and of the damaging effects psychological distress can have on physical wellbeing. While we are not able to confirm direct cause and effect, this study does provide evidence that requires further consideration in future studies."

INFORMATION:



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

EuroPCR 2015: Advances in mechanical thrombectomy warrant call to action in acute stroke

2015-05-19
(PARIS, FRANCE) -- Experts speaking at EuroPCR 2015 say the explosion of positive results for new-generation endovascular devices for the treatment of acute stroke warrant a call to action to ensure swifter implementation of this technology. Known as "stent-retrievers," mechanical thrombectomy devices use catheters introduced into a blocked cerebral artery to suck out or lyse a clot that is cutting off circulation to part of the brain. On Tuesday, EuroPCR 2015 featured a special breaking news session devoted to this rapidly evolving field to review the recent evidence ...

European consensus group calls for standards to move renal denervation field forward

2015-05-19
(PARIS, FRANCE) - Experts participating in a European Clinical Consensus Conference (CCC) have concluded that research into the use of renal denervation for high blood pressure in patients unable to control the disease using a multi-drug regimen should not be abandoned until high-quality research is completed according to agreed-upon standards. [1] "Focused, collaborative high-quality research will be necessary to ensure that future patients are neither denied an effective therapy, nor needlessly put at risk from procedures that bring no benefits," the authors, led by ...

Text messages can help boost teen birth control compliance

2015-05-19
Sending teen girls periodic text messages reminding them to follow through on their clinic appointments for periodic birth control injections can go a long way toward improving timing and adherence to contraception in an age group that is notoriously noncompliant, according to a small study from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. "Our findings suggest that text messaging can help overcome some issues that teens struggle with and pose challenges for the clinicians caring for them, such as keeping clinical appointments, adhering to a tight treatment schedule and regularly ...

Significant differences in achieving risk factor targets between women and men

2015-05-19
There is a striking and statistically significant difference in how women and men are treated following a heart attack. These gender differences are reflected in the rate of risk factor control, which was lower in women, and in the rate of hospital readmission for a further heart attack, which was higher in women than in men. The conclusions are reported today in an analysis of the SWEDEHEART registry in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.(1) This Swedish registry is one of the world's biggest ongoing statistical records in cardiac treatments and one of the ...

Computational design improves potency of a broadly neutralizing HIV-1 antibody

2015-05-18
Thirty-five million people worldwide are currently living with HIV-1/AIDS. Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) have been isolated from some patients with HIV-1, and these antibodies recognize and inhibit a range of HIV-1 variants. Strategies to enhance the potency and breadth of these bnAbs have the potential to inform the development of an effective HIV-1 vaccine. A new study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation reveals that increasing the stability of an HIV-1-targeting bnAb improves efficacy. James Crowe and colleagues at Vanderbilt University used computational ...

Study: Many people in emergency department for chest pain don't to be admitted

2015-05-18
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Chest pain is a scary symptom that sends more than 7 million Americans to the emergency department each year. About half of them are admitted to the hospital for further observation, testing or treatment. Now, emergency medicine physicians at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Mount Carmel Health System believe that number can be significantly reduced. Their study, published in today's JAMA Internal Medicine, finds a very low short-term risk for life-threatening cardiac events among patients with chest pain who have normal cardiac blood ...

'Imperfect drug penetration' speeds pathogens' resistance, study finds

2015-05-18
SAN FRANCISCO, May 18, 2015 -- Prescribing patients two or more drugs that do not reach the same parts of the body could accelerate a pathogen's resistance to all of the drugs being used in treatment, according to a new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Not all drugs can reach all parts of the body, a situation known as "imperfect drug penetration." In the study, researchers found that when there is a "pocket" of the body where only one drug is present, such as the brain or the digestive system, a pathogen can quickly develop ...

Collaborative research team solves cancer-cell mutation mystery

2015-05-18
More than 500,000 people in the United States die each year of cancer-related causes. Now, emerging research has identified the mechanism behind one of the most common mutations that help cancer cells replicate limitlessly. Approximately 85 percent of cancer cells obtain their limitless replicative potential through the reactivation of a specific protein called telomerase (TERT). Recent cancer research has shown that highly recurrent mutations in the promoter of the TERT gene are the most common genetic mutations in many cancers, including adult glioblastoma and hepatocellular ...

RAND study finds association between teen sleep patterns and alcohol or marijuana use

2015-05-18
Adolescents who sleep less or stay up later are significantly more likely to have used alcohol and marijuana over the past month when compared to their peers who report better sleep patterns, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Studying adolescents in Southern California, researchers found that the association between sleep and alcohol/marijuana use was consistent even after controlling for other known risk factors, such as depression. The findings, published online by the journal Sleep Health, were generally consistent across racial and ethnic groups. "Our ...

Singing spiders, bleating pandas, better headphones and more

2015-05-18
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 18, 2015 - Wind turbines causing cluckus interruptus in prairie chickens, tranquility at a conservation center, better blood pressure monitors with wearables, improved voice recognition software, language emergence with cochlear implants, and a vibrational analysis of graphite tennis rackets are just some of the highlights from the lay-language versions of papers to be presented at the 169th meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), held May 18-22 in Pittsburgh. These summaries are posted online in the ASA's Pressroom; many contain sounds, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Program takes aim at drinking, unsafe sex, and sexual assault on college campuses

Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.

Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis

KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision​

Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

Doubling down on metasurfaces

New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders

Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana

PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation

ICRAFT breakthrough: Unlocking A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy

How VR technology is changing the game for Alzheimer’s disease

A borrowed bacterial gene allowed some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet

Balance between two competing nerve proteins deters symptoms of autism in mice

Use of antifungals in agriculture may increase resistance in an infectious yeast

Awareness grows of cancer risk from alcohol consumption, survey finds

The experts that can outsmart optical illusions

Pregnancy may reduce long COVID risk

Scientists uncover novel immune mechanism in wheat tandem kinase

Three University of Virginia Engineering faculty elected as AAAS Fellows

[Press-News.org] Stress levels linked to risk of liver disease death, study shows