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Opioid misuse greatly increases chance of major depressive episode among teen girls

New research by Keith Chan of UAlbany's School of Social Welfare shows that among girls ages 12-17, the misuse of opioids greatly increases the chance of having a major depressive episode. Prescription opioids may include oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl.

1 Nov 2019

Physical activity can reduce risk of death among older adults

For older adults, being physically active is an important part of overall good health. In fact, experts say that nine percent of all premature deaths are caused by not getting enough physical activity. Physical activity is known to reduce deaths from heart disease, diabetes, chronic lung disease, and mental illness.

1 Nov 2019

Low blood oxygen more common in sick children than previously thought

Low blood oxygen is more common in sick children than previously thought, and strongly increases children's risk of death, Australian-led research has found.

1 Nov 2019

Study: Checkpoint inhibitor prolongs survival in patients with head and neck cancers

The checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) offers patients with advanced head and neck cancers longer survival time, according to a new global study led by Yale Cancer Center (YCC). The data was published today in the journal The Lancet.

1 Nov 2019

Chest infections cause 1 in 7 child deaths

The number of deaths in children due to lower respiratory infections (LRIs) such as pneumonia and influenza has come down considerably. Yet, they still account for the highest number of deaths in children under 5 years of age, at one in seven of all deaths in this age group, according to a detailed study published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

31 Oct 2019

Study shows how measles virus causes immune amnesia

Over the last decade, evidence has mounted that the measles vaccine protects in not one but two ways: Not only does it prevent the well-known acute illness with spots and fever that frequently sends children to the hospital, but it also appears to protect from other infections over the long term.

31 Oct 2019

Study identifies a kinase as potential target to treat heart failure

An unexplored kinase in heart muscle cells may be a good target to treat heart failure, a disease that is only incrementally delayed by existing therapies.

31 Oct 2019

An infectious disease expert may reduce risk of death for patients with sepsis

When people with severe sepsis, an extreme overreaction by the body to a serious infection, come to the emergency room, they require timely, expert care to prevent organ failure and even death.

31 Oct 2019

UW Medicine expert highlights healthcare disparities in black women

Dr. Kemi Doll, a UW Medicine gynecologic oncologist, has long studied endometrial cancer. It's work that reflects a bigger issue, she says: "Healthcare for black women isn't really the same as it is for everyone else, especially when it comes to reproductive care."

31 Oct 2019

Study identifies local traffic exhaust as a risk factor for stroke

High levels of traffic exhaust at one's residence increases the risk of stroke even in low-pollution environments, according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and other universities in Sweden.

30 Oct 2019

New evidence that backs women's choice on where to give birth

Healthy women have more than twice the chance of a normal labor and birth in a planned birth center birth compared to a planned hospital birth, a major Australian study has found.

30 Oct 2019

Wearable accelerometers are reliable predictors of mortality risk in older adults

A federally funded study by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers shows that wearable accelerometers - mechanical sensors worn like a watch, belt or bracelet to track movement - are a more reliable measure of physical activity and better than patient surveys and other methods used by physicians at assessing five-year risk of death in older adults.

30 Oct 2019

Beckman Coulter receives BARDA funding to develop novel sepsis detection algorithm

Beckman Coulter, Inc., a Danaher company, today announced that it has initially been awarded a contract of $1.25 million, with potential to be awarded an additional $6.5 million if all contract options are exercised, from the DRIVe (Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures) established by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, under the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, within the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

From Beckman Coulter Diagnostics 30 Oct 2019

Five surgeons receive ACS/Pfizer Surgical Humanitarian Awards

Last night, five surgeons received the 2019 American College of Surgeons (ACS)/Pfizer Surgical Humanitarian Awards and Surgical Volunteerism Awards in recognition of their selfless efforts as volunteer surgeons who provide care to medically underserved patients.

30 Oct 2019

IU researcher receives NIH grant to perform clinical trial on cirrhosis

An Indiana University School of Medicine researcher has been awarded a five-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for a clinical trial, aimed at providing new avenues to improve liver function for patients with alcoholic cirrhosis.

30 Oct 2019

A healthy diet also helps the environment

We have been advised time and again to eat a healthy and balanced diet. A new study has revealed that eating a healthy diet not only benefits the individual but also the environment. Researchers from the University of Oxford was published in the latest issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study is titled, “Multiple health and environmental impacts of foods”.

29 Oct 2019

Living through Hurricane Katrina linked to higher mortality rate among breast cancer patients

Breast cancer patients who endured Hurricane Katrina in 2005 have a 15% higher mortality rate than those patients not exposed to the storm, according to a University of Michigan researcher.

29 Oct 2019

Researchers receive NCI grant to increase colorectal cancer screening in Appalachia

Cancer-control researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute and the University of Kentucky aim to increase colorectal cancer screening and follow-up care among underserved individuals in Appalachia through a multi-institutional $5.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute.

29 Oct 2019

Early detection, treatment may reduce risk of death from systemic JIA-associated lung disease

For thousands of children living with the debilitating disease systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, a class of medications known as "biologics" have produced dramatic, life-changing improvements.

29 Oct 2019

Medicare fraud and abuse associated with patient mortality, hospitalizations

Patients treated by health care professionals later excluded from the Medicare program for committing fraud and abuse were between 14 to 17 percent more likely to die than similar patients treated by non-excluded physicians, nurses, and other professionals, according to a new study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

29 Oct 2019