Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

Sleep problems can influence a person's diet

Sleep problems can influence a person's diet.

16 Jun 2007

Lack of sleep compromises airport baggage screeners' ability to detect rare targets

A lack of sleep may affect the performance of airport employees, which can, in turn, compromise the safety of airline passengers.

16 Jun 2007

CPAP is the best treatment for sleep apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a major public health problem that, if untreated, can be deadly.

14 Jun 2007

Mild cognitive disorder often an early symptom of Alzheimer's disease

Using new MRI techniques to analyze tissue composition and structure in the brain, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the National Institute on Aging successfully detected mild cognitive disorder (MCI), a condition in which patients suffer mild memory problems and is often an early symptom of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

14 Jun 2007

Doctors do not address patients by name in half of first-time visits

...even though nearly all patients want this personal greeting, according to new research from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

14 Jun 2007

Continuous positive airway pressure improves sleep in patients with both Alzheimer's and a sleep-related breathing disorder

Patients with both Alzheimer disease and a sleep-related breathing disorder (SRBD) experience disrupted sleep, resulting in increased nocturnal awakenings and a decreased percentage of REM sleep.

14 Jun 2007

Addressing multiple unhealthy behaviors at once may be more effective than sequential approach

Physicians trying to help patients change more than one behavioral risk factor may have more success approaching several topics at once rather than addressing them separately over time, according to a report in the June 11 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

14 Jun 2007

Do pay-for-performance incentives improve quality of care?

Pay-for-performance incentives have been proposed as a method to improve the quality of care received by patients.

5 Jun 2007

Wide range of sleep-related disorders associated with abnormal sexual behaviors, experiences

A paper published in the June 1st issue of the journal SLEEP is the first literature review and formal classification of a wide range of documented sleep-related disorders associated with abnormal sexual behaviors and experiences.

3 Jun 2007

Leading psychiatrist appointed to independent inquiry into the deaths of people with learning disabilities

In the light of her research showing that adults with learning disabilities were 58 times more likely to die before the age of 50 than the rest of the population, Professor Sheila Hollins has been appointed by Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt to an independent inquiry into unequal health outcomes for people with learning disabilities.

1 Jun 2007

Interventions for pediatricians only partially successful

Continuing medical education, newsletters and resource guides were only partially successful in changing the way that pediatricians handled behavioral health problems, according to a follow-up study at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

1 Jun 2007

JRRD releases issue on pain

Effects of depression and pain severity on satisfaction in medical outpatients: Analysis of the Medical Outcomes Study, pg. 143 Patient satisfaction is a critical measure of healthcare quality.

1 Jun 2007

Interventions for Pediatricians only partially successful

30 May 2007

Caring for grandchildren does not have negative impacts on grandparents' health

Despite previous research findings that showed negative health impacts on grandmothers who care for their grandchildren, new research conducted by Linda Waite, the Lucy Flower Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago, and researchers at three other universities shows caring for grandchildren generally does not have dramatic and widespread negative impacts on grandparents' health.

30 May 2007

Depression among type 2 diabetes rural Appalachian clinic attendees

In Appalachia, diabetes hits hard. Depression does, too. Together, they form a difficult pair to beat.

28 May 2007

Regular aspirin intake only reduces incidence of colorectal tumors that overexpress COX-2

Aspirin therapy's ability to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, an association seen in a large number of studies, appears to depend on the drug's inhibition of the COX-2 enzyme, the action that also underlies aspirin's usefulness for treating pain and inflammation.

24 May 2007

University of Alabama at Birmingham opens adult Down Syndrome clinic

UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) has opened one of the few clinics in the nation dedicated to providing services to adult patients with Down Syndrome.

24 May 2007

COX inhibitors may weaken protective qualities of estrogen therapy

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found in a database study of women heart patients that COX inhibitors such as traditional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may undermine any purported protection against heart disease in participants taking estrogen therapy.

24 May 2007

Large trial to identify the long-term health effects of West Nile virus infection

UT Southwestern Medical Center has joined a national clinical trial to identify the long-term health effects of West Nile virus infection and to learn more about the disease's progression, symptoms and mortality.

18 May 2007

Quality improvement effort pays off in diabetes care

Spending money to improve diabetes care at federally qualified community health centers is a sound investment, according to one of the first studies to examine the clinical and economic impact of quality improvement on diabetes care.

18 May 2007