Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Medications commonly prescribed for schizophrenia linked to cognitive impairment

Writing in the May 14, 2021 issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry, a multi-institution team of scientists led by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that medications commonly prescribed to reduce the severity of physical and mental health symptoms associated with schizophrenia may have a cumulative effect of worsening cognitive function in patients.

18 May 2021

COVID-19 pandemic causes disproportionate rise in cardiovascular deaths among racial, ethnic minorities

In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States experienced higher rates of heart disease and cerebrovascular disease deaths, relative to the corresponding months the previous year.

18 May 2021

COVID-19 public health interventions reduced other respiratory infections

Wearing masks and quarantining while sick has helped mitigate the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). An indirect benefit of these efforts appears to be a decrease in flu cases and other respiratory infections. New research led by Lisa G. Winston of the University of California, San Francisco, confirmed COVID-19 public health interventions helped decrease the number of airborne viruses.

18 May 2021

New method can predict suicide risk

A team of Welsh academics has developed a new method of supporting health professionals to make clinical decisions about people who may be at risk of taking their own lives.

18 May 2021

A promising drug delivery system for therapeutics that shut down harmful genes

Viruses attack the body by sending their genetic code -- DNA and RNA -- into cells and multiplying. A promising class of therapeutics that uses synthetic nucleic acids to target and shut down specific, harmful genes and prevent viruses from spreading is gaining steam.

18 May 2021

Preoperative testing is often unnecessary for low-risk surgeries, shows study

Before undergoing surgery, patients often go through a number of tests: blood work, sometimes a chest X-ray, perhaps tests to measure heart and lung function.

18 May 2021

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines safe and effective for pregnant and breastfeeding women

The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought untold devastation in its wake, with its rapid and asymptomatic spread to hundreds of millions of people the world over. Vaccines have been hailed as the way out of this situation, and a dozen or so are being rolled out in many different countries.

18 May 2021

Researchers receive $4.5 million grant to improve quality of care for people with cardiovascular disease

Researchers from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center have received a $4.5 million grant over three years from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to lead a statewide network of primary care providers, health systems, and academic centers to identify, develop, and implement patient-centered approaches to improve quality of care and outcomes for people with cardiovascular disease.

18 May 2021

Study raises more concerns about the use of combined EPA/DHA through supplements

Doctors often recommend Omega-3s to help patients lower their cholesterol and improve heart health. Those Omega-3s can come from fatty fish like salmon and mackerel, or supplements that often contain a combination of the acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

17 May 2021

Study shows how Swedish people perceive information about COVID-19

Swedes' confidence in government officials varies greatly depending on their political leanings. Politicians are perceived as more in agreement when it comes to their views on how the corona pandemic is being handled in Sweden.

17 May 2021

Employment for frontline healthcare workers should be conditional on COVID-19 jab, argue ethicists

Employment for frontline healthcare workers should be conditional on COVID-19 vaccination, and unless they have a valid medical reason for not getting the jab, persistent refusniks should be temporarily redeployed to protect their colleagues and patients, argue ethicists in the Journal of Medical Ethics.

17 May 2021

Patients embrace telehealth-supported access to health care during the pandemic

The expansion of telehealth-supported access to health care during the COVID-19 pandemic was roundly embraced by general practice patients, according to new Flinders University research.

17 May 2021

Genomic study tracks the rise of multidrug resistant E.coli

Antibiotic resistance in E.coli has been steadily increasing since the early 2000s despite attempts to control it, a new study suggests.

17 May 2021

Study highlights the need for more personalized approach to measuring BMI

The results of an extensive new study funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Ethnic-specific BMI cut-off points for obesity based on type 2 diabetes mellitus risk: a cohort study of 1.5 million people in England, presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO) and published simultaneously in the leading journal, The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology reveal that inaccurate and outdated interpretations of the standard Body Mass Index (BMI) values for patients from BAME backgrounds in England could potentially be putting their health at risk.

17 May 2021

Early detection of ovarian cancer does not translate into saving lives

Researchers in the UK have established that although a method of screening can detect ovarian cancer early and before women develop symptoms, it does not translate into saving lives.

17 May 2021

$Researchers compare characteristics and outcomes of hip fracture patients during pre- and post-COVID-19 outbreak$

Researchers compare characteristics and outcomes of hip fracture patients during pre- and post-COVID-19 outbreak

The COVID-19 pandemic has been shown to have caused a significant strain on the healthcare system and resources in the United States.

17 May 2021

SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617 variant shows modest resistance to vaccine-induced antibodies

The World Health Organization (WHO) has labeled the double mutant B.1.617 variant — first discovered in India —a variant of concern for its high transmission rate and ability to evade immune responses. New research posted to the preprint server bioRxiv finds B.1.617 can modestly reduce neutralizing antibody responses generated from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

16 May 2021

New benefit expands community urgent care services for veterans

Two years ago, the Veterans Affairs healthcare system (VA) began rolling out a new benefit, enabling Veterans to receive urgent care from a network of community providers - rather than visiting a VA emergency department or clinic.

14 May 2021

$Proper seatbelt use can help reduce pediatric spinal fractures$

Proper seatbelt use can help reduce pediatric spinal fractures

Two thirds of all pediatric spinal fractures, especially in the adolescent population, occur in motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) where seatbelts are not utilized, reports a study in Spine. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

14 May 2021

A magnetofluidic platform for SARS-CoV-2 variant and respiratory pathogen detection

Recent research published on the medRxiv* server has developed a portable, magnetofluidic cartridge platform, for automated PCR testing in <30 min, for rapid multiplexed screening of pathogens. A multidisciplinary team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine developed these cartridges for multiplexed detection of SARS-CoV-2 with distinctive variant mutations or with Influenza A and B.

13 May 2021