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Targeting noradrenergic system combats gait freezing in Parkinson’s patients

Methylphenidate may be a useful treatment for patients with advanced Parkinson's disease receiving subthalamic nucleus stimulation who experience gait hypokinesia and freezing, show findings from a randomized trial.

14 Jun 2012

First inventory of microbial diversity in the world's oceans

The landmark publication this week of a "map" of the bacterial make-up of healthy humans has deep roots in an unexpected place: the ocean.

14 Jun 2012

Multimedia intervention effective in changing patients' perceptions, attitudes toward clinical trials

Seeking ways to change cancer patients' perceptions and negative attitudes towards clinical trials participation, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center conducted a study offering two different kinds of intervention to two groups of adults with cancer who had not previously been asked to participate in clinical trials. They found a multimedia psychoeducational intervention to be more effective in changing patients' perceptions and negative attitudes toward clinical trials than standard educational literature.

14 Jun 2012

Clinical trials can benefit under-represented populations in developing countries

While conducting more clinical trials in developing countries can help under-represented populations benefit from new medical developments, trials in low-income settings face challenges such as complicated regulations, Trudie Lang of the Centre for Tropical Medicine at the University of Oxford and Sisira Siribaddana of the University of Rajarata and the Institute of Research & Development in Sri Lanka write in an essay published Tuesday in PLoS Medicine.

14 Jun 2012

Mixed picture for pulse pressure effect on surgical outcomes

Two studies published in Anesthesia and Analgesia have muddied the water regarding the effect of preoperative pulse pressure on perioperative outcomes.

13 Jun 2012

Rising blood sugar points to developing stroke risk

People with prediabetes have a somewhat increased risk for stroke, say the authors of a meta-analysis.

13 Jun 2012

Reproductive stage progression linked to worsening bipolar disorder

Results from a US study of women with bipolar disorder suggests that the illness may worsen with progression toward the later stages of reproductive life.

13 Jun 2012

Hot weather increases death risk in psychosis patients

Hot weather is associated with increased mortality rates among patients with psychosis, dementia, or substance use disorder, UK research shows.

13 Jun 2012

$Environmental factors more important than genetic for vertebral fracture$

Environmental factors more important than genetic for vertebral fracture

Individual-specific environmental factors such as lifestyle have a greater influence on vertebral fracture risk than genetic factors, suggest study findings.

13 Jun 2012

Multipronged approach relieves osteoarthritis pain

Using behavioral weight-management strategies alongside standard pain-coping skills training reduces the level of disability and pain experienced by overweight or obese individuals with osteoarthritis, US study results suggest.

13 Jun 2012

Serum PFOA levels increase cardiovascular risk factors

Serum levels of perfluorooctanoic acid, which is found in Teflon and Gore-Tex, appear to be associated with cardiovascular disease risk, even at levels commonly found in the general population, Korean investigators have discovered.

13 Jun 2012

Ventral rectoplexy helps recover sexual function

Laparoscopic ventral rectoplexy may reduce sexual dysfunction in women with complex posterior floor prolapse, say researchers who found many patients appreciated having postoperative investigation of their symptoms.

13 Jun 2012

NCATS' Therapeutics Discovery program gains more industry collaborators

Five additional pharmaceutical companies have joined a National Institutes of Health-led effort to help scientists research promising new treatments for patients. Funding and molecular compound information is available now for the initial phase of the recently unveiled Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules program.

13 Jun 2012

New study on motor chunking

You pick up your cell phone and dial the new number of a friend. Ten numbers. One. Number. At. A. Time. Because you haven't actually typed the number before, your brain handles each button press separately, as a sequence of distinct movements.

13 Jun 2012

A father's love contributes more to a child's development

A father's love contributes as much - and sometimes more - to a child's development as does a mother's love. That is one of many findings in a new large-scale analysis of research about the power of parental rejection and acceptance in shaping our personalities as children and into adulthood.

13 Jun 2012

Omega-3 probably does not reduce cognitive decline in older people

Older people who take omega-3 fish oil supplements are probably not reducing their chances of losing cognitive function, according to a new Cochrane systematic review.

13 Jun 2012

Study compares stress levels in individuals across the U.S.

Until now, comparing stress levels in individuals across the United States over time was not possible due to a lack of historical data that tracks stress using accepted comparable measures.

13 Jun 2012

Researchers hope to use experiences of people with long-term T1D to benefit others

Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center, supported by JDRF, have completed a study of 158 people who have lived with type 1 diabetes (T1D) for 50 years or more with eye examinations at Joslin over many decades of follow-up, and have concluded that a high proportion of this unique group of patients developed little to no diabetic eye disease over time.

13 Jun 2012

INTERACT program can reduce unnecessary hospitalizations in SNFs

There are more than 1.6 million Americans currently living in nursing homes, and approximately 60 percent are sent to emergency rooms and 25 percent are admitted to a hospital in a year. Although hospitalizations are often required for medical reasons, experts suggest that 28 to 40 percent of these admissions could be avoided with enhanced care in the skilled nursing facility (SNF).

13 Jun 2012

Type 1 diabetes on the rise among young people in the U.S.

Jeffrey Brewer, president and CEO of JDRF, the leading global organization focused on type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, issued the following statement today in response to a new study showing an increase in T1D among young people in the United States.

13 Jun 2012