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Reducing non-urgent ER visits will yield little to no savings for health care system

Reducing non-urgent visits to emergency departments – a growing focus of both private and public insurance plans – will yield little to no savings for the health care system, according to a paper published online yesterday in Annals of Emergency Medicine.

16 Jul 2012

Research roundup: Medication adherence, performance at community health centers

For people diagnosed with depression, it's important that they adhere to their medication regimen so that they avoid recurrent episodes. But because of Medicare's Part D coverage gap, financially burdened seniors might not take their prescriptions as recommended. This study looked at Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with depression in 2007.

14 Jul 2012

Researchers evaluate new social media tool to treat type I and II diabetes

Researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine are evaluating a new social media tool called Wellaho to treat patients with type I and II diabetes. The clinical trial will study whether the use of social networking can improve patient-physician interactions and the patient's overall health and wellbeing.

13 Jul 2012

Opioids for chronic noncancer pain discouraged

US experts have called for more selective and cautious opioid prescribing for chronic noncancer pain, because of concerns over misuse of the drugs and continued uncertainty over when and for how long they should be prescribed.

12 Jul 2012

Rheumatoid arthritis risk reduced by moderate alcohol consumption

Moderate consumption of alcohol is associated with a reduced risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, suggests a study published on bmj.com today.

11 Jul 2012

Connections between daily stressors of police work and obesity, suicide

The daily psychological stresses that police officers experience in their work put them at significantly higher risk than the general population for a host of long-term physical and mental health effects. That's the overall finding of a major scientific study of the Buffalo Police Department called Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress (BCOPS) conducted over five years by a University at Buffalo researcher.

11 Jul 2012

RA patients do not receive fewer cancer screening tests than general population: Study

New research reveals that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients do not receive fewer cancer screening tests than the general population. Results of the study, funded in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), found that RA and non-RA patients receive routine screening for breast, cervical, and colon cancer at similar rates.

10 Jul 2012

Federal government commits $11B to expand operating capacity of FQHC and look-alike clinics

The federal government has committed $11 billion to expand the operating capacity of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), which receive federal funding and enhanced Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement, and "look-alike" clinics that receive enhanced reimbursement but no federal grants.

10 Jul 2012

Hormone therapy still an acceptable treatment for menopausal symptoms: New joint statement

After 10 years of debate regarding the risks and benefits of hormone therapy, 15 top medical organizations have come together to issue a statement of agreement regarding the benefits of hormone therapy for symptomatic menopausal women. It was July 9, 2002, when the controversial, highly publicized Women's Health Initiative (WHI) published its assessment of hormone therapy for the prevention of chronic disease and concluded that risks exceeded benefits.

10 Jul 2012

DNA from CF patients with and without chronic infections points to unsuspected mutation

Comparing the DNA from patients at the best and worst extremes of a health condition can reveal genes for resistance and susceptibly. This approach discovered rare variations in the DCTN4 gene among cystic fibrosis patients most prone to early, chronic airway infections.

9 Jul 2012

Sports medicine education lacking in UK undergraduate medical degrees

In a Comment published alongside The Lancet Series on sport and exercise medicine, Rod Jaques of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine UK, and Mike Loosemore of University College London, UK, highlight the lack of specialised training in sports medicine in undergraduate medical training.

6 Jul 2012

Diabetes on the rise among Chinese teenagers

A study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found Chinese teenagers have a rate of diabetes nearly four times greater than their counterparts in the United States. The rise in the incidence of diabetes parallels increases in cardiovascular risk, researchers say, and is the result of a Chinese population that is growing increasingly overweight.

6 Jul 2012

Study examines patterns in QOL of Parkinson's disease patients prior to diagnosis

Growing evidence suggests that Parkinson's disease (PD) often starts with non-motor symptoms that precede diagnosis by several years. In the first study to examine patterns in the quality of life of Parkinson' disease patients prior to diagnosis, researchers have documented declines in physical and mental health, pain, and emotional health beginning several years before the onset of the disease and continuing thereafter.

3 Jul 2012

Clergy's practice of putting others first can be detrimental to their own health

Clergy's practice of putting others first can be detrimental to their own health, say researchers at Duke University.

29 Jun 2012

U-M-built microsystem measures trace amounts of air contaminants in homes

A lab-on-a-chip technology that measures trace amounts of air contaminants in homes was successfully field-tested by researchers at the University of Michigan.

28 Jun 2012

First Edition: June 26, 2012

Today's headlines include reports setting the scene for Thursday's Supreme Court decision that will determine the health law's future.

26 Jun 2012

STOP Obesity Alliance releases new bulletin for state leaders

The Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance today released a new bulletin for state leaders that offers information on ways to integrate obesity into a state's essential health benefits package.

26 Jun 2012

Cancer survivors benefit from healthy lifestyle

Australia’s first community-based Cancer Survivors Centre, which is based at the University of New South Wales, has joined the Dry July campaign in a bid to pinpoint the vital role a healthy lifestyle plays in fending off cancer and the after-effects of the disease.

26 Jun 2012

Study: 40 million Americans ages 12 and older have addiction disease

Forty million Americans ages 12 and older have addiction involving nicotine, alcohol or other drugs, a disease affecting more Americans than heart conditions, diabetes or cancer according to a five-year national study released today by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA Columbia).

26 Jun 2012

Uncontrolled symptoms of pediatric asthma found in 50% of children

Asthma is a serious disease that when left undertreated, can be deadly. In fact, asthma accounts for 4,000 deaths annually in the United States alone. And according to a new International Consensus (ICON) on Pediatric Asthma, an alarming 50 percent of children worldwide have uncontrolled symptoms, despite today's available treatments.

25 Jun 2012