Chronic Disease News and Research

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Study: Palliative care can improve seriously ill patient’s experience of care

Palliative care provided by specialist medical and nursing teams to patients with complex health needs significantly improves their experience of care, new research from Trinity College Dublin shows.

2 May 2018

The Impact of Air Pollution on Childhood Asthma

It is a well-established fact that air pollution in towns and cities affects our health. Dr Haneen Khreis discusses the latest research into the effect of air pollution on childhood asthma, and the steps that transport policy makers can take to reduce the prevalence of the condition.

1 May 2018

How a drug company under pressure for high prices ratchets up political activity

Business looked challenging for Novo Nordisk at the end of 2016. As pressure mounted over the pharma giant's soaring insulin prices, investors drove its stock down by a third on fears that policymakers would take action, limit prices and hurt profits.

30 Apr 2018

Alcoholic drinks affect oral bacteria tied to diseases

When compared with nondrinkers, men and women who had one or more alcoholic drinks per day had an overabundance of oral bacteria linked to gum disease, some cancers, and heart disease. By contrast, drinkers had fewer bacteria known to check the growth of other, harmful germs.

24 Apr 2018

Tattoo sensor: A needleless glucose monitor for diabetes patients

For Angela Valdez, being diagnosed with diabetes was an awakening. The disorder ran in her family, but she didn't think it would happen to her. And when it did, she acted by modifying her diet and physical activity. She was doing everything right--almost.

20 Apr 2018

Study shows testosterone deficiency in men is associated with chronic diseases

A male's total testosterone level may be linked to more than just sexual health and muscle mass preservation, a new study finds. Low amounts of the hormone could also be associated with chronic disease, even among men 40 years of age and younger.

19 Apr 2018

Wide-scale distribution of naloxone effectively prevents overdose deaths, study finds

A new study in The Lancet Public Health shows the rapid expansion of British Columbia's Take Home Naloxone program significantly reduced the number of fentanyl-related overdose deaths in 2016.

18 Apr 2018

New computational framework accurately predicts drug-drug and drug-food interactions

A Korean research team from KAIST developed a computational framework, DeepDDI, that accurately predicts and generates 86 types of drug-drug and drug-food interactions as outputs of human-readable sentences, which allows in-depth understanding of the drug-drug and drug-food interactions.

18 Apr 2018

Drug test spurs frank talk between hypertension patients and doctors

There’s an irony at the heart of the treatment of high blood pressure. The malady itself often has no symptoms, yet the medicines to treat it — and to prevent a stroke or heart attack later — can make people feel crummy.

18 Apr 2018

Some human cancers may be result of evolutionary accidents, research finds

New research, published in Biological Reviews and conducted by researchers from the University of Liverpool and Escola Superior de Ciências da Saúde (Brasília, Brazil) has found some type of cancers unique to humans may be a result of evolutionary accidents.

17 Apr 2018

AASM position statement: Medical cannabis not be used for treatment of sleep apnea

Medical cannabis and synthetic marijuana extracts should not be used for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, according to a position statement from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

16 Apr 2018

Is there such a thing as normal aging?

For 93-year-old Joseph Brown, the clearest sign of aging was his inability the other day to remember he had to have his pants unzipped to pull them on.

11 Apr 2018

Poverty linked to increased risk of death and disability from NCDs in lower income countries

Poverty increases the risk of death and disability from non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes in low- and middle-income countries, a new systematic review shows. Researchers also found evidence that developing an NCD increases the risk of falling into poverty in these countries.

5 Apr 2018

Older Americans are hooked on vitamins despite scarce evidence they work

When she was a young physician, Dr. Martha Gulati noticed that many of her mentors were prescribing vitamin E and folic acid to patients. Preliminary studies in the early 1990s had linked both supplements to a lower risk of heart disease.

4 Apr 2018

Study finds connection between obesity and sociodemographic, economic characteristics

Nearly 70 percent of the U.S. adult population meets the definition of overweight or obese, but a new study by University of Arkansas researchers shows the problem isn't randomly distributed across the country. Instead, obesity is concentrated in areas with social and demographic factors that create what researchers term an "ecology of disadvantage."

4 Apr 2018

Higher protein intake may not benefit older adults

Regardless of whether an adult is young or old, male or female, their recommended dietary allowance for protein, set by the Institute of Medicine, is the same: 0.8-g/kg/day. Many experts and national organizations recommend dietary protein intakes greater than the recommended allowance to maintain and promote muscle growth in older adults.

2 Apr 2018

Scrutinizing Medicare coverage for physical, occupational and speech therapy

For years, confusion has surrounded the conditions under which older adults can receive physical, occupational and speech therapy covered by Medicare.

29 Mar 2018

Lifting therapy caps proves a load off Medicare patients’ shoulders

Physical therapy helps Leon Beers, 73, get out of bed in the morning and maneuver around his home using his walker. Other treatment strengthens his throat muscles so that he can communicate and swallow food, said his sister Karen Morse. But in mid-January, his home health care agency told Morse it could no longer provide these services because he had used all his therapy benefits allowed under Medicare for the year.

14 Mar 2018

Black men’s blood pressure is cut along with their hair

Amid the buzz of hair clippers and the beat of hip-hop, barber Corey Thomas squeezes in a little advice to the clients who come into his Inglewood, Calif., shop for shaves and fade cuts. Watch what you eat, he tells them. Check your blood pressure. Don't take life so hard.

13 Mar 2018

Study reveals new strategy to prevent mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus

A clinical study coordinated by the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development and Chiang Mai University with their Thai, American, and French partners, strengthens the case for a new strategy to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the hepatitis B virus.

8 Mar 2018