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LSUHSC to advance research on social, genetic, environmental and behavioral determinants of future obesity

Melinda Sothern, PhD, CEP, Professor and Director of the Behavioral and Community Health Sciences Program at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health, has been awarded $675,000 in grant funding to advance her research on the role of social, genetic, environmental and behavioral determinants of future obesity.

7 Dec 2012

CBT may help reduce depression in people who have not responded to antidepressants

For the first time in a large-scale randomised trial, scientists have demonstrated that people with depression who have not responded to treatment with antidepressants are three times more likely to get better if they receive cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in addition to antidepressants and usual care.

7 Dec 2012

BMI may influence which blood pressure treatments work best

According to new research published Online First in The Lancet, body mass index (BMI) may influence which blood pressure medications work best at reducing the major complications of high blood pressure (strokes, heart attacks, and death).

7 Dec 2012

More work needed to predict, prevent zoonotic pandemics

We are on the brink of being able to predict zoonotic pandemics, say public health researchers in The Lancet. However, more work will be required to turn this goal into a reality.

7 Dec 2012

Modified CKD model aids risk prediction in African Americans

Screening African Americans for microalbuminuria at either 5- or 10-year intervals would be highly cost-effective using a modified version of the CKD Health Policy Model, US researchers report.

7 Dec 2012

Drug offers alternative treatment strategy for insomnia

Orexin receptor antagonism may offer a novel treatment approach to insomnia, clinical findings suggest.

7 Dec 2012

Prosthetic joint infection guidelines released

The Infectious Diseases Society of American has released guidelines for the diagnosis and care of patients with a prosthetic joint infection.

7 Dec 2012

Optimal detection of glaucoma progression remains unclear

There is poor agreement between visual field testing and scanning laser polarimetry in the detection of glaucoma progression among healthy eyes, eyes with suspicion of glaucoma, and glaucomatous eyes, report US researchers.

7 Dec 2012

Pay for performance may have reduced UK mortality rates

The introduction in 2008 of a US-based “pay-for-performance” scheme into National Health Service hospitals in the northwest of the UK resulted in a significant decrease in mortality rates, particularly for pneumonia, study findings show.

7 Dec 2012

Noncoding DNA sequence required for epidermal differentiation

The differentiation of human epidermis is controlled and stabilized by a long noncoding RNA termed terminal differentiation-induced noncoding RNA acting through a post-transcriptional mechanism, the results of an innovative US study indicate.

7 Dec 2012

Diabetes drug may improve ovarian cancer survival

Women with ovarian cancer who are also receiving metformin for diabetes have significantly improved survival rates compared with their counterparts without diabetes, study findings show.

7 Dec 2012

Pesticides in tap water may increase food allergy risk

Having a high level of urinary dichlorophenols is associated with the presence of food sensitization and allergies, say researchers.

7 Dec 2012

Adiponectin level may underpin atherogenic haptoglobin phenotype

Researchers have suggested an active role for adiponectin in the pathophysiology of vascular disease in patients with diabetes, which depends on their haptoglobin phenotype.

7 Dec 2012

CRP40 may have pathogenic role in schizophrenia

Gene expression of catecholamine-regulated protein 40 is dysregulated in people with schizophrenia, study findings show.

7 Dec 2012

ADHD comorbidity confounds brain findings in bipolar disorder

Structural brain abnormalities found in patients with bipolar disorder may have been wrongly attributed to the condition and in fact be associated with comorbid attention–deficit hyperactivity disorder, US researchers believe.

7 Dec 2012

Cell phone dependence ‘just as real as substance addiction’

Cell phone and instant messaging addictions are similar to compulsive buying or substance addiction and are driven by materialism and impulsiveness, says a Baylor University study in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions.

7 Dec 2012

Bypass option for ‘unclippable’ giant cerebral aneurysms

Extracranial–intracranial bypass is a “durable” treatment option for giant middle cerebral artery aneurysms that cannot be clipped, say US researchers.

7 Dec 2012

Study reveals increase in incidence of dialysis-requiring acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI), an abrupt or rapid decline in kidney function, is a serious and increasingly prevalent condition that can occur after major infections, major surgery, or exposure to certain medications.

7 Dec 2012

Kidney cancer survival rates: an interview with Dr Wong-Ho Chow

There are two major forms of kidney cancer. One is called renal cell cancer, which is an adenocarcinoma that occurs in the renal parenchyma. The other major type is called renal pelvis cancer, which is mostly of transitional cell type and they form in the centre of the kidney where the urine collects.

7 Dec 2012

JAACAP editorial addresses 'translation gap' in autism research

An editorial published in the November 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) discusses the challenge of translating scientific research in autism into clinical practice, and presents a series of studies published over several months that address this 'translation gap'.

7 Dec 2012