Personalized medicine, not X-rays, should guide forearm fracture treatment in older adults

The new findings will guide future treatments of distal radius fracture

2021-06-18

(Press-News.org) A decade-long study of the most common forearm fracture in older adults revealed that personalized medicine catering to a patient's individual needs and environment, not age or X-rays, should guide treatment options.

Led by a Michigan Medicine physician, the research team examined treatment outcomes over two years for patients who fractured their distal radius, the larger of two bones in the forearm. They found no one-size-fits all method for treating the fracture, which more than 85,000 Medicare beneficiaries sustain annually.

"Traditionally, surgeons look at these broken bones on X-rays, and they have to assess various ways of fixing it based off fracture anatomy and patient age," said Kevin Chung, M.D., study lead and Charles B. G. De Nancrede Professor of Surgery at Michigan Medicine. "However, in older patients, we determined that the patient-centered care in tailoring particular treatments to their needs, social environment and risk tolerance for surgery are all considerations in prescribing treatment."

The new study, published in END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

An acceleration of coastal overtopping around the world

2021-06-18

By combining satellite data and digital models, the researchers have shown that coastal overtopping, and consequently the risk of flooding, is set to further accelerate over the 21st century, by up to 50-fold under a high emission global warming scenario, especially in the tropics. This increase is principally caused by a combination of sea level rise and ocean waves. Low-lying coastal regions host nearly 10% of the world's population. In addition to ongoing erosion and rising sea levels, these areas and their unique ecosystems are facing destructive hazards, including episodic flooding due to overtopping of natural/artificial protection, as in the case of Hurricane Katrina, ...

mRNA vaccine yields full protection against malaria in mice

2021-06-18

Scientists from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and Naval Medical Research Center partnered with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Acuitas Therapeutics to develop a novel vaccine based on mRNA technology that protects against malaria in animal models, publishing their findings in npj Vaccines. In 2019, there were an estimated 229 million cases of malaria and 409,000 deaths globally, creating an extraordinary cost in terms of human morbidity, mortality, economic burden, and regional social stability. Worldwide, Plasmodium falciparum is the parasite species which ...

System linked to operational hospitals, shorter lockdowns, lives saved

2021-06-18

A staged alert system, designed by scientists and public health officials to guide local policies, helped one city prevent hospital surges and long lockdowns, according to new research published in the journal Nature Communications. In a new study led by The University of Texas at Austin COVID-19 Modeling Consortium in collaboration with Northwestern University, researchers describe the system that has guided COVID-19 policies in Austin, Texas, for more than a year, helping to safeguard the health care system and avoid costly measures. It tracks the number of new daily COVID-19 hospital admissions and triggers changes in guidance when admissions cross specific threshold values. While using this staged alert system, the Austin metropolitan area has sustained the ...

Bio-inspired hydrogel protects the heart from post-op adhesions

2021-06-18

A hydrogel that forms a barrier to keep heart tissue from adhering to surrounding tissue after surgery was developed and successfully tested in rodents by a team of University of California San Diego researchers. The team of engineers, scientists and physicians also conducted a pilot study on porcine hearts, with promising results. They describe their work in the June 18, 2021 issue of Nature Communications. In rats, the hydrogel prevented the formation of adhesions altogether. In a small pilot study, porcine hearts treated with the hydrogel experienced less severe adhesions that were easier to remove. In addition, the hydrogel did not appear to cause chronic inflammation. Adhesions--organ tissue sticking to surrounding tissue--are a relatively ...

Breathing new life into existing tech: FT-IR spectrometer shows molecular orientation

2021-06-18

"Any problem can be solved with a little ingenuity". While they may not be the originators of this quote, recent work from researchers at Osaka Prefecture University into understanding the molecular orientation of hybrid thin-film material is a concrete example of its central message. "We wanted everyone to have access to this knowledge," states research lead Professor Masahide Takahashi of the OPU Graduate School of Engineering. Using laboratory-grade equipment with 3D printable optical setups, his research group has established an easy, versatile, yet highly sensitive approach ...

Tai chi shows promise for relief of depression and anxiety in stroke survivors

2021-06-18

Sophia Antipolis - 18 June 2021: A small feasibility study has suggested that tai chi has the potential to reduce depression, anxiety and stress plus improve sleep in people who have had a stroke. The research is presented today at EuroHeartCare - ACNAP Congress 2021, an online scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1 Depression occurs in approximately one-third of stroke survivors and is linked with greater disability and mortality rates.2,3 Individuals with post-stroke depression frequently also report anxiety, stress, and poor sleep.4-6 Tai chi focuses on releasing tension in the body, incorporating mindfulness and imagery into movement, increasing awareness and efficiency of breathing, and promoting overall relaxation of body and mind. "Mind-body ...

Depression in dads of preemies deserves more attention

2021-06-18

While postpartum depression in new mothers is well recognized and known to increase if the newborn requires intensive care, depression in new fathers has not received much attention. A large study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that both parents with a baby in the NICU are at risk, with depression symptoms identified in 33 percent of mothers and 17 percent of fathers. Strikingly, the probability of reporting depression symptoms declined significantly for mothers but not for fathers after the baby came home. "Our findings point to the need for increased attention to the mental health of new fathers, during their baby's NICU stay and after discharge," said lead author Craig F. ...

Meringue-like material could make aircraft as quiet as a hairdryer

2021-06-18

An incredibly light new material that can reduce aircraft engine noise and improve passenger comfort has been developed at the University of Bath. The graphene oxide-polyvinyl alcohol aerogel weighs just 2.1kg per cubic metre, making it the lightest sound insulation ever manufactured. It could be used as insulation within aircraft engines to reduce noise by up to 16 decibels - reducing the 105-decibel roar of a jet engine taking off to a sound closer to that of a hair-dryer. The aerogel's meringue-like structure makes it extremely light, meaning it could act as an insulator within aircraft engine nacelles, with almost no increase ...

Surprising spider hair discovery may inspire stronger adhesives

2021-06-18

Just how do spiders walk straight up -- and even upside-down across -- so many different types of surfaces? Answering this question could open up new opportunities for creating powerful, yet reversible, bioinspired adhesives. Scientists have been working to better understand spider feet for the past several decades. Now, a new study in END ...

There's a good reason online retailers are investing in physical stores

2021-06-18

Researchers from Colorado State University, Amazon, and Dartmouth College published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines the role of physical stores for selling "deep" products. The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled "How Physical Stores Enhance Customer Value: The Importance of Product Inspection Depth" and is authored by Jonathan Zhang, Chunwei Chang, and Scott Neslin. While some traditional offline retailers are struggling and are closing stores (e.g., Macy's, Walgreens), online retailers are opening them (e.g., Amazon, Warby Parker). This conflicting trend ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Future parents more likely to get RSV vaccine when pregnant if aware that RSV can be a serious illness in infants

Microbiota enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis-secreted BFT-1 promotes breast cancer cell stemness and chemoresistance through its functional receptor NOD1