Study finds changes in wealth tied to changes in cardiovascular health

WHAT: Two U.S. Phase 1 clinical trials of a novel candidate malaria vaccine have found that the regimen conferred unprecedentedly high levels of durable protection when volunteers were later exposed to disease-causing malaria parasites. The vaccine combines live parasites with either of two widely used antimalarial drugs--an approach termed chemoprophylaxis vaccination. A Phase 2 clinical trial of the vaccine is now underway in Mali, a malaria-endemic country. If the approach proves successful there, chemoprophylaxis vaccination, or CVac, potentially could help reverse the stalled decline of global malaria. Currently, there is no vaccine in widespread use ...

What The Study Did: This crossover trial found that perceived breathing resistance at peak exercise is uniquely and significantly elevated when exercise stress testing (EST) is performed while wearing a mask. Performing EST with a mask yielded lower peak exercise oxygen uptake and heart rates as compared with no mask. However, each experimental condition resulted in peak exercise values that generally remained within normal limits, and no EST required termination due to clinically indicated safety concerns. Thus, although it is possible that wearing a mask exerted a physical limitation on exercise capacity, the clinical relevance of such a possibility is not supported by these data. Authors: Matthew Kampert, D.O., M.S., ...

What The Study Did: Researchers in this randomized clinical trial found that a large proportion of patients who canceled visits and procedures early in the COVID-19 pandemic didn't reschedule once reopening occurred. A single message targeted directly to these patients didn't affect the return to in-person visits within a month but it resulted in a small increase in re-engagement through telemedicine and rescheduling of future visits. Authors: Anne R. Cappola, M.D., Sc.M., of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, ...

What The Study Did: National survey data were used to estimate how common psoriasis is among adults in the United States and how this has changed since 2003. Authors: April W. Armstrong, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2021.2007) Editor's Note: The article includes conflicts of interest disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, ...

What The Study Did: Researchers investigated the association between a midlife change in wealth and the risk of cardiovascular event after age 65. Authors: Muthiah Vaduganathan, M.D., M.P.H., of Brigham and Women's Hospital Heart & Vascular Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/  (doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2021.2056) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest disclosures. Please see the articles for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflicts of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support. INFORMATION: Media ...

What The Study Did: This survey study investigated the association between general surgery resident grit, which was defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals, and burnout and thoughts of attrition and suicide. Authors: Karl Y. Bilimoria, M.D., M.S., of Northwestern University in Chicago, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2021.2378) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support. INFORMATION: Media ...

Boston - Data has historically shown that the majority of patients insured through Medicaid, as well as the uninsured, seek inpatient hospital care and services at safety-net hospitals. The Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid to increase access to public insurance options for low-income individuals and families, as well as improve access to specialty medical care services. Results of a new study led by researchers at Boston Medical Center (BMC) show, however, that this expansion did not lead patients receiving care at safety-net hospitals to transfer their care to non-safety-net hospitals. Published in JAMA Network Open, the national data review showed that discharges from safety-net ...

Maunakea and Haleakala, Hawai'i - Astronomers have discovered the smallest and most massive white dwarf ever seen. The smoldering cinder, which formed when two less massive white dwarfs merged, is heavy, "packing a mass greater than that of our Sun into a body about the size of our Moon," says Ilaria Caiazzo, the Sherman Fairchild Postdoctoral Scholar Research Associate in Theoretical Astrophysics at Caltech and lead author of the new study appearing in the July 1 issue of the journal Nature. "It may seem counterintuitive, but smaller white dwarfs happen to be more massive. This is due to the fact that white dwarfs lack the nuclear burning that keep up normal stars against their own self gravity, and their size is ...

Tokyo, Japan - Believe it or not, steel has something in common with bacterial appendages: they can both undergo a special type of physical transformation that remains puzzling. Now, researchers from Japan and China have used direct microscopic observations to provide more clarity to how this transformation occurs. In a study recently published in Nature Communications, researchers from The University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science and Fudan University Department of Physics have revealed previously unknown physical details that underpin crystalline solid-to-solid phase transitions in soft materials, ...

Japanese and Zambian scientists have shown that environmental lead poisoning in children affects not only their own health and wellbeing, but the vitality and mental health of their mothers, as well. Lead poisoning is a common pediatric problem caused by the environment, and is easily preventable. Due to their smaller size and mass, infants and children are at a higher risk of negative effects compared to adults. Chronic lead poisoning leads to fatigue, sleeping problems, headaches, stupor, and anemia. The population of Kabwe, Zambia, is exposed ...