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

Use of osteoporosis drugs have dropped following media reports of safety concerns

2015-06-15
(Press-News.org) Following a decade of steady growth, use of bisphosphonates--medications that are effective for treating osteoporosis--declined in the United States by more than 50% from 2008 to 2012.

The sudden drop seemed to occur after media reports highlighted safety concerns, such as the development of certain fractures that occurred rarely in long-term users, despite the fact that the US Food and Drug Administration and the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research did not recommend any specific safety restrictions on bisphosphonates. The findings are published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

"Our study documents a dramatic drop in osteoporosis medication use by patients. Whether it will impact the long-term bone health of the nation remains to be seen," said senior author Dr. Timothy Bhattacharyya.

INFORMATION:



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Study provides insights on chronic lung disease

2015-06-15
A new study shows that shorter telomeres--which are the protective caps at the end of a cell's chromosomes--are linked with worse survival in a progressive respiratory disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). In patients with IPF, excessive scar tissue forms in the lungs. The average telomere length of IPF patients was significantly shorter than that of healthy individuals. Also, the telomere length of patients with IPF who died from their disease during the study was shorter than that of patients who survived. The Respirology results support the theory that ...

Elder abuse is common around the world

2015-06-15
A new global review reveals that elder abuse--which includes psychological, physical, and sexual abuse; neglect; and financial exploitation--is common among community-dwelling older adults and is especially prevalent among minority older adults. Older adults with cognitive and physical impairments or psychosocial distress are also at increased risk of elder abuse. In North and South American epidemiological studies, the prevalence of elder abuse ranged from about 10% among cognitively intact older adults to 47% in older adults with dementia. In Europe, the prevalence ...

Body's response to injury and inflammation may hinder wound healing in diabetes

2015-06-15
One of the body's own tools for preventing wound infections may actually interfere with wound healing, according to new research from Boston Children's Hospital. In a study published online in Nature Medicine, scientists from the hospital's Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine (PCMM) found they could speed up wound healing in diabetic mice by keeping immune cells called neutrophils from producing bacteria-trapping neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). The study, led by PCMM senior investigator Denisa Wagner, Ph.D., and postdoctoral fellow Siu Ling Wong, Ph.D., ...

Newfound groups of bacteria are mixing up the tree of life

Newfound groups of bacteria are mixing up the tree of life
2015-06-15
University of California, Berkeley, scientists have identified more than 35 new groups of bacteria, clarifying a mysterious branch of the tree of life that has been hazy because these microbes can't be reared and studied in the lab. The new groups make up more than 15 percent of all known groups or phyla of bacteria, the scientists say, and include the smallest life forms on Earth, microbes a mere 400 nanometers across. The number of new bacterial phyla is equal to all the known animal phyla on Earth. The scientists, who recently also identified nine new groups of microbes ...

Study estimates deaths attributable to cigarettes for 12 smoking-related cancers

2015-06-15
Researchers estimate that 48.5 percent of the nearly 346,000 deaths from 12 cancers among adults 35 and older in 2011 were attributable to cigarette smoking, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine. Researcher Rebecca L. Siegel, M.P.H., of the American Cancer Society, Atlanta, and coauthors provide an updated estimate because they note smoking patterns and the magnitude of the association between smoking and cancer death have changed in the past decade. While smoking prevalence decreased from 23.2 percent in 2000 to 18.1 percent in 2012, some ...

World's thinnest lightbulb -- graphene gets bright!

Worlds thinnest lightbulb -- graphene gets bright!
2015-06-15
New York, June 15 -- Led by Young Duck Kim, a postdoctoral research scientist in James Hone's group at Columbia Engineering, a team of scientists from Columbia, Seoul National University (SNU), and Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) reported today that they have demonstrated -- for the first time -- an on-chip visible light source using graphene, an atomically thin and perfectly crystalline form of carbon, as a filament. They attached small strips of graphene to metal electrodes, suspended the strips above the substrate, and passed a current through ...

Genetic switch lets marine diatoms do less work at higher CO2

2015-06-15
Diatoms in the world's oceans exhale more oxygen than all the world's rainforests. These tiny drifting algae generate about 20 percent of the oxygen produced on Earth each year and invisibly recycle gases enveloping our planet. How diatoms will respond to the rising carbon dioxide levels is still unknown. A new study by the University of Washington and Seattle's Institute for Systems Biology, published June 15 in Nature Climate Change, finds the genetic ways that a common species of diatom adjusts to sudden and long-term increases in carbon dioxide. 'There are certain ...

Active clinician support and assistance are critical to successfully quitting smoking

2015-06-15
Does participation in the annual lung cancer screening currently recommended for people with high-risk smoking histories encourage those who are still smoking to quit? A new study from a Massachusetts General Hospital research team (MGH) finds that the answer may depend on the level of support given by patients' primary care providers. In the report receiving online publication in JAMA Internal Medicine, the team finds that, while providers' asking such patients about smoking did not increase their likelihood of quitting, providing more direct assistance - such as talking ...

Scientists find genetic variants key to understanding origins of ovarian cancer

2015-06-15
LOS ANGELES -- New research by an international team including Keck Medicine of USC scientists is bringing the origins of ovarian cancer into sharper focus. The study, published online June 15 in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Genetics, highlights the discovery of three genetic variants associated with mucinous ovarian carcinomas (MOCs), offering the first evidence of genetic susceptibility in this type of ovarian cancer. The research also suggests a link between common pathways of development between MOCs and colorectal cancer and for the first time identifies a gene ...

First full genome of a living organism assembled using technology the size of smartphone

2015-06-15
TORONTO, June 15 -- Researchers in Canada and the U.K. have for the first time sequenced and assembled de novo the full genome of a living organism, the bacteria Escherichia Coli, using Oxford Nanopore's MinIONTM device, a genome sequencer that can fit in the palm of your hand. The findings, which were published today in the journal Nature Methods, provide proof of concept for the technology and the methods lay the groundwork for using it to sequence genomes in increasingly more complex organisms, eventually including humans, said Dr. Jared Simpson, principal investigator ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Keeping pediatrics afloat in a sea of funding cuts

Giant resistivity reduction in thin film a key step towards next-gen electronics for AI

First pregnancy with AI-guided sperm recovery method developed at Columbia

Global study reveals how bacteria shape the health of lakes and reservoirs

Biochar reimagined: Scientists unlock record-breaking strength in wood-derived carbon

Synthesis of seven quebracho indole alkaloids using "antenna ligands" in 7-10 steps, including three first-ever asymmetric syntheses

BioOne and Max Planck Society sign 3-year agreement to include subscribe to open pilot

How the arts and science can jointly protect nature

Student's unexpected rise as a researcher leads to critical new insights into HPV

Ominous false alarm in the kidney

MSK Research Highlights, October 31, 2025

Lisbon to host world’s largest conference on ecosystem restoration in 2027, led by researcher from the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon

Electrocatalysis with dual functionality – an overview

Scripps Research awarded $6.9 million by NIH to crack the code of lasting HIV vaccine protection

New post-hoc analysis shows patients whose clinicians had access to GeneSight results for depression treatment are more likely to feel better sooner

First transplant in pigs of modified porcine kidneys with human renal organoids

Reinforcement learning and blockchain: new strategies to secure the Internet of Medical Things

Autograph: A higher-accuracy and faster framework for compute-intensive programs

Expansion microscopy helps chart the planktonic universe

Small bat hunts like lions – only better

As Medicaid work requirements loom, U-M study finds links between coverage, better health and higher employment

Manifestations of structural racism and inequities in cardiovascular health across US neighborhoods

Prescribing trends of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists for type 2 diabetes or obesity

Continuous glucose monitoring frequency and glycemic control in people with type 2 diabetes

Bimodal tactile tomography with bayesian sequential palpation for intracavitary microstructure profiling and segmentation

IEEE study reviews novel photonics breakthroughs of 2024

New method for intentional control of bionic prostheses

Obesity treatment risks becoming a ‘two-tier system’, researchers warn

Researchers discuss gaps, obstacles and solutions for contraception

Disrupted connectivity of the brainstem ascending reticular activating system nuclei-left parahippocampal gyrus could reveal mechanisms of delirium following basal ganglia intracerebral hemorrhage

[Press-News.org] Use of osteoporosis drugs have dropped following media reports of safety concerns