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New report highlights the need for disclosing Alzheimer's diagnosis to patients

The Alzheimer's Association's 2015 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report, released today, found that only 45 percent of people with Alzheimer's disease or their caregivers say they were told the diagnosis by their doctor.

24 Mar 2015

Study shows link between palliative care knowledge and less end-of-life disruption

When a nursing home patient is dying, aggressive interventions such as inserting a feeding tube or sending the patient to the emergency room can futilely exacerbate, rather than relieve, their distress. Palliative care focuses nursing home resources on providing comfort at the end of life, but nursing directors vary widely in their knowledge of it.

23 Mar 2015

Hypermethylation serves as protective barrier inhibiting development of ALS, FTD

Penn Medicine researchers have discovered that hypermethylation - the epigenetic ability to turn down or turn off a bad gene implicated in 10 to 30 percent of patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD) - serves as a protective barrier inhibiting the development of these diseases.

21 Mar 2015

Living near greened vacant lots reduces stress

Greening vacant lots may be associated with biologic reductions in stress, according to a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Residents who walked near newly greened vacant lots had significantly lower heart rates compared to walking near a blighted, or neglected, vacant lot.

20 Mar 2015

Home care and hospice providers set to participate in NAHC's March on Washington

This weekend, hundreds of home care and hospice providers arrive in Washington, DC, for the National Association for Home Care & Hospice March on Washington taking place March 22-25, 2015. NAHC’s conference will raise awareness of key policy issues impacting providers and their ability to care for the growing number of Americans who rely on home health.

20 Mar 2015

New approach to improve cardiac regeneration

The heart tissue of mammals has limited capacity to regenerate after an injury such as a heart attack, in part due to the inability to reactivate a cardiac muscle cell and proliferation program. Recent studies have indicated a low level of cardiac muscle cell (cardiomyocytes) proliferation in adult mammals, but it is insufficient to repair damaged hearts.

19 Mar 2015

Penn researcher named a recipient of 2015 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize

University of Pennsylvania cancer and HIV expert Carl June, MD, has been named one of two recipients of the 2015 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize for his outstanding work in cancer immunotherapy. Since 1952, the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize has been awarded to scientists who have made great advancements in the fields in which Paul Ehrlich worked, in particular immunology, cancer research, microbiology, and chemotherapy.

12 Mar 2015

Greystone expands with acquisition of Autumn Health Care's skilled nursing facilities in Ohio

Greystone Healthcare Management Corp. continues to grow its network of healthcare facilities, home health agencies and hospice care services in Florida and Ohio with the acquisition from Autumn Health Care of its 10 skilled nursing facilities, with a total of 614 beds, in the central Ohio area.

9 Mar 2015

Population-based approach to health planning can prevent disparities in access to stroke care, says study

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States, but access to rapid EMS care and appropriate stroke care centers with the ability to deliver acute stroke therapies can drastically mitigate the debilitating effects of a stroke.

9 Mar 2015

UF researchers find that people with brain tumor fare better with personal insurance

Brain tumor patients who are uninsured or use Medicaid stay hospitalized longer and develop more medical complications than those with private insurance, University of Florida Health researchers have found.

4 Mar 2015

OTC medications, dietary and herbal supplements cause drug-induced acute liver failure

Drug-induced acute liver failure is uncommon, and over-the-counter medications and dietary and herbal supplements -- not prescription drugs -- are its most common causes, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

4 Mar 2015

Scientists find gorilla origins in two human AIDS virus lineages

Two of the four known groups of human AIDS viruses (HIV-1 groups O and P) have originated in western lowland gorillas, according to an international team of scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Montpellier, the University of Edinburgh, and others.

3 Mar 2015

Successful cognitive behavioral therapy for childhood anxiety provides long-term benefits

Penn Medicine researchers found that patients who did not respond to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety in childhood had more chronic and enduring patterns of suicidal ideation at 7 to 19 years after treatment.

3 Mar 2015

Two widely used targeted therapy drugs not effective in preventing return of kidney cancer

Two widely used targeted therapy drugs— approved by the FDA for use in metastatic kidney cancer —are no more effective than a placebo in preventing return of the disease to increase life spans of patients suffering from advanced kidney cancer after surgery, according to new results to be presented by a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center during the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

24 Feb 2015

Study results pave way for new clinical trial for glioblastoma patients

Immune cells engineered to seek out and attack a type of deadly brain cancer were found to be both safe and effective at controlling tumor growth in mice that were treated with these modified cells, according to a study published in Science Translational Medicine by a team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research.

19 Feb 2015

Organizational culture may increase use of evidence-based treatments for adolescents with psychiatric disorders

Many mental health therapists use treatments that have little evidence to support them. A new multi-institution study led by Penn Medicine has found that an organization's culture and climate are better predictors of the use of evidence-based practices than an individual therapist's characteristics in the treatment of children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders.

18 Feb 2015

New study indicates that cancer patients rarely push for unnecessary tests, treatments

Physicians often blame patient demands for contributing to high medical costs, however, a new study involving more than 5,000 patient-clinician visits indicates that cancer patients rarely push for unnecessary tests and treatments from their health care providers.

16 Feb 2015

Consortium formed to develop program to improve health outcomes for Ebola patients

Scripps Translational Science Institute will lead a consortium of four partners to develop a program through which wearable, wireless health sensors, a wireless vital signs monitoring platform and advanced analytics technology will be tested in a new "precision medicine" approach designed to improve health outcomes for Ebola patients, increase the safety of health care workers and reduce risk of spreading the virus to others.

16 Feb 2015

New Penn Medicine study reveals how sleep deprivation increases intake of fat

Experts have warned for years that insufficient sleep can lead to weight gain. A new Penn Medicine study found that not only do we consume more food following a night of total sleep deprivation, but we also we consume more fat and less carbohydrates and a region of the brain known as the salience network is what may lead us to eat more fat.

15 Feb 2015

Peanut-shaped exercise ball promotes positive labor outcomes, reduces duration of delivery process

According to a new study by nurse researchers at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, a Phoenix hospital part of Banner Health, a peanut-shaped exercise ball can be a highly effective tool to accelerate the labor process for women with an epidural. The research shows women utilizing the peanut ball were half as likely to undergo a cesarean surgery and delivered babies faster than those who did not use the ball.

12 Feb 2015