Heart attack patients with a history of depression presenting at emergency departments were less likely to receive priority care than people with other conditions, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100685.pdf. Several studies indicate that people with heart attacks and depression have worse outcomes than people without, although emergency department care has not been looked at as a possible contributor. In the United States, more than six million patients with mental health issues ...

A medical journal's revenue source can affect drug recommendations, with free journals positively recommending specific drugs while journals funded solely by subscriptions usually recommending against the use of the drugs, states a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100951.pdf. Little is known about corporate influence on educational medical journals, although physicians rely heavily on journals for continuing medical information. Many of these journals, which rely solely on advertising ...

A small difference in DNA sequence predicts the degree of disability after a stroke, according to a paper published online on February 28 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org). Stroke, the consequence of disturbed blood flow to the brain, can impair speech, movement and vision, but it is currently difficult for clinicians to predict the severity of these side effects or the long-term prognosis. Strokes result in the death of brain cells called neurons. Angeles Almeida and co-workers found that variations in a gene known to control cell death—Tp53—influence ...

Doctors should transition their patients from pediatric to adult medical care for congenital heart disease during early adolescence, experts recommend in a scientific statement published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. "It's not as simple as getting the name of a new doctor and going to see them when a patient turns 18," said Craig Sable, M.D., co-chair of the statement committee and director of echocardiography and cardiology fellowship training at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "There are multiple steps associated ...

Soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages such as fruit drinks are associated with higher blood pressure levels in adults, researchers report in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. In the International Study of Macro/Micronutrients and Blood Pressure (INTERMAP), for every extra sugar-sweetened beverage drunk per day participants on average had significantly higher systolic blood pressure by 1.6 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and diastolic blood pressure higher by 0.8 mm Hg. This remained statistically significant even after adjusting for differences ...

STANFORD, Calif. — A pediatric brain tumor that causes gruesome suffering is finally yielding its secrets. For the first time, scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have cultured human cells from this cancer, Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, and used those cells to create an animal model of the disease. Their discoveries will facilitate research on new treatments for DIPG, a tumor of school-aged children that is now almost universally fatal. The advances come thanks to the parents of young cancer victims, who donated their deceased children's brain ...

BOSTON, Feb. 28, 2011 – A change in the formulation of tenofovir gel, an anti-HIV gel developed for vaginal use, may make it safer to use in the rectum, suggests research presented today at the 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). In laboratory tests of rectal tissue, researchers from the Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) found the reformulated gel was less harmful to the lining of the rectum than the original vaginal formulation, and just as effective in protecting cells against HIV. Researchers are now testing the reformulated gel in ...

TEMPE, Ariz. – A team of researchers from Arizona State University, Stanford University and Carnegie Institution for Science has found that converting large swaths of land to bioenergy crops could have a wide range of effects on regional climate. In an effort to help wean itself off fossil fuels, the U.S. has mandated significant increases in renewable fuels, with more than one-third of the domestic corn harvest to be used for conversion to ethanol by 2018. But concerns about effects of corn ethanol on food prices and deforestation had led to research suggesting that ...

Using underwater speakers to play noise at levels similar to those produced by recreational speedboats, the researchers found that three-spined sticklebacks exposed to even brief noise playback made more foraging mistakes and were less efficient at consuming the available food compared to those in quiet conditions. Dr Julia Purser, the study's lead author, said: "The fish appeared to be distracted by the addition of noise to their environment. Much as you or I might struggle to concentrate on a difficult assignment when faced with loud construction noise, these stickleback ...

The first findings from the world's largest study of households are now published. The Understanding Society publication reveals a comprehensive snap shot of UK households. Starting in 2009, the year when Britain officially entered recession for the first time since 1991 and the Copenhagen climate summit ended in more questions than answers, the study offers an unprecedented insight into 40,000 UK households as they respond to regional, national and international change. The publication offers a window into British society in the 21st century. With data on our working ...

Increased hospital spending at high-cost hospitals does not appear to be associated with better short-term survival rates for patients with sepsis, according to a report in the February 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Sepsis affects approximately 750,000 patients each year in the United States and is in many ways a model condition for examining the relationship between hospital spending and patient outcomes and for identifying potential opportunities to improve the value of hospital care," the authors write as background ...

Older patients are willing to take medications for cardiovascular disease prevention, but only if the drug has much more benefit than risk, according to a report published online first by the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The paper will be published in the June 27, 2011 print issue of the journal. "Quality-assurance and pay-for-performance initiatives increasingly encourage adherence to evidence-based guidelines for the prevention or management of particular diseases," the authors provide as background information in the article. "However, ...

Many patients, especially those with limited literacy, may self-administer prescription medications more times a day than is necessary, which may lead to missed or incorrectly administered dosing, according to a report in the February 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "According to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the average adult in the United States fills nine prescriptions annually, while adults older than 65 years fill on average 20 prescriptions a year," the authors write as background information in the article. ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research that reveals how maternal antibodies block an immune response to the measles virus is a first step toward improving current childhood vaccination practices, scientists say. Maternal antibodies are passed to fetuses during pregnancy and to newborns in their mothers' milk. The antibodies protect infants against disease in the first months of life, but that protection comes at a cost: Their presence also interferes with the generation of a natural immune response to vaccination. As a result, most babies receive measles immunizations at the age ...

CHICAGO --- Many older patients, who take an average of seven medicines a day, are so confused by the vague instructions on prescription bottles that they don't realize they can combine their medications to take them more efficiently. A new Northwestern Medicine study shows patients thought they had to take seven medicines at least seven and up to 14 separate times a day. "A complex and confusing regimen means people are less likely to take their drugs properly, and that means they are not getting the full benefits of their medicine," said Michael Wolf, associate professor ...

Physicians can have an influence on their overweight and obese patients by counseling them to prevent further weight gain and by helping patients to have a more realistic perception of their weight, which may lead to behavioral changes, according to two reports in the February 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In background information in the articles, the authors comment that the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity is now a worldwide problem that is associated with higher risk of death, and the development of certain ...

Faced with the risk of developing side effects, even ones as mild as fatigue, nausea and fuzzy thinking, many older patients are willing to forego medications that provide only average benefit in preventing heart attack, according to a report by Yale School of Medicine researchers. "These patients are willing to take medications for cardiovascular disease prevention, but only if they are not linked to what are generally considered to be acceptable side effects," said first author Terri R. Fried, M.D., professor of internal medicine/geriatrics at Yale School of Medicine, ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Lodgepole pine, a hardy tree species that can thrive in cold temperatures and plays a key role in many western ecosystems, is already shrinking in range as a result of climate change – and may almost disappear from most of the Pacific Northwest by 2080, a new study concludes. Including Canada, where it is actually projected to increase in some places, lodgepole pine is expected to be able to survive in only 17 percent of its current range in the western parts of North America. The research, just published in the journal Climatic Change, was done by ...

Indonesia has promised to become a world leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In 2009, the president committed to a 26% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to below 'business-as-usual' levels. Of this total, 14% would have to come from reducing emissions from deforestation or forest degradation. Investments by foreign governments and other bodies are expected to raise total emission reduction from 26% to 41%. While international negotiations on rules about how to reduce emissions and slow global warming are slow but ongoing, the Indonesian and Norwegian ...

Fear of free radicals may be exaggerated, according to scientists from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet. A new study, published in the Journal of Physiology, shows that free radicals act as signal substances that cause the heart to beat with the correct force. Free radicals are molecules that react readily with other substances in the body, and this can have negative effects on health in certain circumstances, through the damage caused to cells. Free radicals can be counteracted by substances known as 'antioxidants', which are common ingredients in ...

Nearly two-thirds of the hospital in-patients who took part in a survey had experienced pain in the last 24 hours and 42% of those rated their pain as more than seven out of ten, where ten was the worst pain imaginable, according to the March issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing. Although eight out of ten patients had been asked about their pain levels by staff, less than half of those had been asked to rate their pain on a simple numeric scale. Researchers from Uppsala University, Sweden, studied 759 patients aged from six weeks to 95, with parents completing the ...

Blindly copying what your parents did – no matter how stupid it may seem – could be the best strategy for the long-term success of your genes, according to research by the Universities of Exeter and Bristol. The findings of the study, published in Ecology Letters, show that apparently mindless survival strategies – such as the long-distance migration of many animals to breed at the place they were born – may not be as impractical as they appear. Using mathematical models, researchers compared the evolutionary success of straightforward copying strategies with that of ...

The bones of people who died up to a hundred years ago are being used in the development of new treatments for chronic back pain. It is the first time old bones have been used in this way. The research is bringing together the unusual combination of latest computer modelling techniques developed at the University of Leeds, and archaeology and anthropology expertise at the University of Bristol. With Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding, spines from up to 40 skeletons housed in museums and university anatomy collections are being analysed ...

The SWAN (Simulating WAves Nearshore) wave prediction model developed at TU Delft has been a huge international success for many years. This model predicts the distribution of wave heights close to the shore. It was recently expanded to include the SWASH (Simulating WAves till SHore) model, which enables the modelling of wave behaviour right up to the shore, including how they break and overflow. Over a 1,000 institutes worldwide use the SWAN computer model which is available within the public domain (GNU GPL license, http://www.swan.tudelft.nl). This model was recently ...

The starting point for this research is the recent and relentless transformation processes that the traditional irrigation network in the Mediterranean region has undergone and the subsequent degradation of some of its landscape, of great value from the point of view of productivity, patrimony and identity. The study deals with the relation between water and the agricultural landscape as well as the treatment of patrimonial values in public actions. "It is vital that hydraulic policy and modernization projects for watering infrastructure be designed based on the principle ...