PROVIDENCE, R.I. - In a recent study, nearly half of all veterans who died from drug overdoses while prescribed opioids for pain were also receiving benzodiazepines, or benzos, which are common medications for the treatment of anxiety, insomnia and alcohol withdrawal. Veterans prescribed higher doses of benzodiazepines while concurrently receiving opioids were at greater risk of overdose death than those on lower doses of benzodiazepines. The results of the study by researchers from Rhode Island Hospital, Boston Medical Center, and the Veteran Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare ...

This news release is available in Spanish. From the east of France all the way to Russia the hazel dormouse now inhabits practically the whole of Europe. However, on the Iberian Peninsula it is absent just where its first remains were found and which had come from the Miocene, an epoch in which it developed between 23 and 5 million years ago. After spreading to other parts of Europe, it was no longer found in the peninsular fossil register since the start of the Pliocene (at least 4.5 million years ago.) Yet on the Gipuzkoan site of Lezetxiki (Arrasate-Mondragon) ...

Clinicians are challenged every day to make difficult decisions regarding patients' suicide risk. Using Veterans Health Administration (VHA) health system electronic medical record data, Veterans Affairs (VA) and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) scientists were able to identify very small groups of individuals within the VHA's patient population with very high, predicted suicide risk -- most of whom had not been identified for suicide risk by clinicians. Such methods can help the VHA to target suicide prevention efforts for patients at high risk, and may have ...

Physical activity decreases substantially over time in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at all levels of severity, according to a new study from researchers in Germany. This decline in physical activity is accompanied by a worsening of lung function and health status, and sustained physical inactivity is associated with progression of both exercise intolerance and muscle depletion. "Physical inactivity is associated with morbidity and mortality in COPD, but the association between objectively measured physical activity and other disease components ...

WASHINGTON --Simply asking the question, "Do you want more pain medication?" resulted in satisfactory pain control in 99 percent of emergency department patients participating in a study. The study of a new evidence-based protocol to treat acute, severe pain in emergency department patients was published online yesterday in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("Efficacy of an Acute Pain Titration Protocol Driven by Patient Response to a Simply Query: 'Do You Want More Pain Medication?'"). "The crowded conditions in most emergency departments in the U.S. are not conducive to ...

A recent study from the University of Eastern Finland in collaboration with Deakin University, Australia, shows that recurrent major depressive disorder (MDD) in men is associated with lower bone density. The use of antidepressants was also associated with lower bone mineral density (BMD), but this association was dependent on the person's weight and site of bone measurement. Osteoporosis is a common disorder and an underlying factor in fragility fractures. Especially in women, the menopause increases the risk of osteoporosis. Other risk factors include low levels of ...

The team headed by Dr. Kathrin Suttner, who, together with Prof. Dr. Carsten Schmidt-Weber, heads the airway immunology research group at the Helmholtz Zentrum München and Technische Universität München, concentrated its work on the so-called naive CD4+ T cells. They are a precursor form of T cells and form the basis for immunological memory*. Impaired development of these cells can influence the entire immune system and lead to illnesses such as allergies and asthma. Protein atlas on T cell precursors The scientists specifically examined proteins on ...

Clinicians at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have elucidated a mechanism involved in determining the lifespan of antibody-producing cells, and identified a promising new biomarker for monitoring autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and lupus erythematosus. The so-called humoral immune response is mediated by plasma cells and plays a central role in combating infections. Plasma cells secrete antibodies - a class of proteins that specifically recognize infectious pathogens and facilitate their destruction. Individual plasma cells make only a single ...

Rome, Italy, 12 June 2015: The results of a systematic review of published studies presented today at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2015) Press Conference showed that biologics improve both absenteeism (not showing up for work) and presenteeism (being at work but not functioning fully) in patients with chronic inflammatory arthritides. Rheumatic conditions are the most frequently cited reason for absence from work, and these findings suggest that biologics could significantly reduce the economic burden of these diseases. Chronic inflammatory ...

Rome, Italy, 12 June 2015: The results of a study presented today at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2015) Press Conference showed that people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are less likely to be protected by hepatitis B vaccination than the general population. Within the trial only 11% of those with the condition responded to the vaccine, compared with 83% of those without RA, suggesting that people with RA may still be at risk of infection in spite of vaccination. "The majority of RA patients tested as part of our study were not protected ...

Rome, Italy, 12 June 2015: The results of a study presented today at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2015) showed that inspiratory muscle training (IMT) significantly improves lung strength and efficiency in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a condition often associated with breathing difficulties. These findings demonstrate that just eight weeks of IMT provide greater improvements in lung function than conventional treatment options. AS is a painful and progressive form of arthritis caused by chronic inflammation of the joints ...

Rome, Italy, 12 June 2015: The results of a study presented today at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2015) demonstrated for the first time that treatment-naive patients with early Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) have myocardial and vascular abnormalities, even at the earliest stage of their disease. These findings suggest that patients may develop early cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle), increasing their risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality from the time of their diagnosis. Cardiomyopathy is a serious condition and a leading ...

Rome, Italy, 12 June 2015: The results of a study presented today at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2015) identified that the cytokine (cell signalling protein) Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is a crucial factor in the development of blood-induced cartilage damage. This finding opens up the possibility that a treatment targeting IL-1β could provide a new way to protect cartilage after a joint bleed, which in turn should significantly reduce subsequent disability.1 Exposure of joint cartilage to blood can occur after joint trauma, ...

Rome, Italy, 12 June 2015: Two new studies presented at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2015) have shown the importance of using ultrasound to identify those Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients in clinical remission who would benefit from more intensive treatment. Many patients deemed to be in clinical remission still have active joint disease without any obvious symptoms or physical signs, but with risk of further progression of joint damage. Using ultrasound to predict the risk of flare and exacerbation of symptoms will allow these patients ...

Rome, Italy, 12 June 2015: The results of a study presented today at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2015) Press Conference showed that the chickenpox (varicella) vaccine can be effective and safe even in children with paediatric rheumatic disease receiving immunosuppression treatment. By using a checklist to pre-screen children, the investigators were able to identify diverse patient groups suitable for vaccination, protecting them from a potentially life-threatening infection. Rheumatic diseases are autoimmune diseases, arising when the ...

Rome, Italy, 12 June 2015: Three new studies presented at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2015) have provided valuable guidance on measuring fatigue and optimising its treatment in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients, and in patients with other rheumatic diseases. Fatigue remains a frequent and debilitating problem for patients with RA that needs to be addressed. Findings from these studies show: Chronic fatigue in RA patients has been identified as not being well managed by healthcare professionals, with 79% claiming their fatigue had ...

Rome, Italy, 12 June 2015: The results of a study presented today at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2015) Press Conference revealed that DNA methylation - a mechanism that regulates gene expression - could influence the progression of structural damage to the joints and spine in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Study findings showed significant associations between a low methylation score and more radiographic progression (X-ray) of the disease, and implicated smoking in worsening of disease outcome. DNA methylation is one of several epigenetic ...

Older patients with asthma are at increased risk for treatment failure, particularly those patients being treated with inhaled corticosteroids, according to a new study. "Asthma morbidity and mortality are known to be increased in middle-aged and older patients, and gender may also affect the incidence and course of the disease, but the impact of age and gender on asthma treatment response is not well understood," said study author Michael E. Wechsler, MD, MMSc, professor of medicine and director of the Asthma Program at National Jewish Health in Denver. "In our study ...

The new threshold for diabetes in pregnancy recently introduced by the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) misses a significant number of women at risk of serious complications, a report published today in the Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) shows. A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals Foundation Trust have discovered that the proposed new NICE thresholds are less effective than international thresholds set by World Health Organization (WHO) at ...

Among children with chronic kidney disease, those with lower vitamin D levels had higher levels of blood markers related to kidney dysfunction as well as greater kidney function loss over time. Five-year kidney survival was 75% in patients with vitamin D levels 50 nMol/L at the start of the study and 50% in those with lower levels. There is a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in children with chronic kidney disease. Washington, DC (June 11, 2015) -- Maintaining normal vitamin D levels helps preserve kidney function in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD), ...

WASHINGTON -- Messages with images depicting the harsh realities of melanoma are more powerful than the text-only warning required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in persuading women to reconsider indoor tanning. This is according to a new study by Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers. The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, is the first to examine use of persuasive messaging and graphic imagery for indoor tanning device warnings -- the source of thousands of skin cancer cases, including melanoma, each year. "In ...

DALLAS, June 11 -- Intense education can help stroke survivors quickly recognize symptoms of a subsequent stroke and seek prompt treatment, according to a study in Stroke, journal of the American Heart Association. Few stroke patients arrive at an emergency department within three hours of symptom onset. The U.S. FDA has approved the clot-busting drug tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, to be given within three hours of symptom onset, while the American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association suggest it can be given up to 4.5 hours in some patients. A study ...

A 1995 Connecticut law requiring a permit or license - contingent on passing a background check - in order to purchase a handgun was associated with a 40 percent reduction in the state's firearm-related homicide rate, new research suggests. Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, part of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, compared Connecticut's homicide rates during the 10 years following the law's implementation to the rates that would have been expected had the law not been implemented. The large drop in homicides was ...

Boston, MA - More than half of all children and adolescents in the U.S. are not getting enough hydration--probably because they're not drinking enough water--a situation that could have significant repercussions for their physical health and their cognitive and emotional functioning, according to the first national study of its kind from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study also found racial/ethnic and gender gaps in hydration status. Black children and adolescents were at higher risk of inadequate hydration than whites; boys were at higher risk than girls. The ...

Though many people believe they can recognize when someone is lying, detecting deception is difficult. Accuracy rates in experiments have proven to be only slightly greater than chance, even among trained professionals. But a new study published recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) finds that groups are consistently more accurate in distinguishing truths from lies than one individual is. In 'Group discussion improves lie detection,' by University of Chicago Booth School of Business Professor Nicholas Epley and Chicago Booth doctoral student ...