Like it or not, social media is among the most common ways people communicate worldwide. And while that has attracted some criticism, researchers say that Facebook updates might help in understanding the onset and early years of mental illness. “Facebook is hugely popular and could provide us with a wealth of data to improve our… Continue reading Facebook and Diagnoses of Illness
Category: Medical Care
Lifesaving Care Can Vary Widely Among Hospitals
Having major surgery comes with many risks, including problems that can crop up hours, days or even weeks after the patient leaves the operating room. These complications can be deadly, or require far more care in the hospital and beyond before the patient recovers. A new study shows just how much that care can cost,… Continue reading Lifesaving Care Can Vary Widely Among Hospitals
Simple Measures Cut Sepsis Deaths Nearly in Half
Hospitals should prepare simple standardized treatment protocols for early recognition and treatment of sepsis, a condition in which infections spread to the bloodstream. That’s the finding of researchers who were able to cut the number of patients who died from sepsis, by 40% (from 12.5% to 7.1%) after the introduction of relatively easy steps at… Continue reading Simple Measures Cut Sepsis Deaths Nearly in Half
Many Patients Released before Vital Signs Are Stable
Twenty percent of people hospitalized are released before all vital signs are stable, a pattern that’s been linked to an increased risk of death and hospital readmission, a new study by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers shows. As hospital stays have shortened dramatically over the past 30 years, there is increasing concern that patients are… Continue reading Many Patients Released before Vital Signs Are Stable
E. Coli to The Rescue?
Researchers experimenting with harmless strains of E. coli —the majority of E. coli are safe and important to healthy human digestion have developed an E. coli-based transport capsule designed to help next-generation vaccines do a more efficient job than today’s immunizations. The research, described in a study published in the journal Science Advances, highlights the… Continue reading E. Coli to The Rescue?
Give Cardiac Patients More Time to Come Out of Coma
Physicians may be drawing conclusions too soon about survival outcomes of patients who suffered a cardiac arrest outside the hospital, according to new research. A study led by Bentley Bobrow, MD, professor at the University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix and co-director of the Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center – Phoenix,… Continue reading Give Cardiac Patients More Time to Come Out of Coma
Foot Wrap Offers Alternative to Medication for Restless Legs Syndrome
Authors from Lake Erie Research Institute in Pennsylvania report an adjustable foot wrap used to treat restless legs syndrome (RLS) is 1.4 times more effective than the standard pharmaceutical treatment. The pilot study published on June 27th 2016 in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. A release from the association reports that the eight-week… Continue reading Foot Wrap Offers Alternative to Medication for Restless Legs Syndrome
Mobility Program Offers A Better Life after Hospitalization
Hospitalized patients who took part in a mobility program were less likely to experience a decline in mobility than those who had the usual care during hospitalization, according to investigators from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Patients who participated in the mobility… Continue reading Mobility Program Offers A Better Life after Hospitalization
Patients Trust Doctors Who Acknowledge Their Own Bias
Patients tend to trust doctors more if they disclose a bias toward their specialty, research shows. In fact, though, such an admission should be a bit of a red flag to a patient. Doing research in a real-world health care setting, a Cornell expert and her colleagues have found that when surgeons revealed their bias… Continue reading Patients Trust Doctors Who Acknowledge Their Own Bias
Navigating the Hospice Learning Curve
About twenty years ago a group of friends and I visited an acquaintance who was in a special hospice wing of a local hospital. We were told he had been taken there to die. We visited, and the next day he died. For several years after this experience, my immediate association with the word “hospice”… Continue reading Navigating the Hospice Learning Curve
Two Kinds of Medicare
Seniors who get their health coverage through Medicare Advantage plans, which are run by health insurance companies, are likely to be healthier than those who get the coverage directly from the federal government. Writing in JAMA Internal Medicine, a University of Michigan Medical School team drew their findings from data on a representative sample of… Continue reading Two Kinds of Medicare
Getting Rid of Soapy Stuff Improves Injectable Medicine
Researchers have developed a drug-making technique designed to reduce serious allergic reactions and other side effects from anti-cancer medicine, testosterone and other drugs that are administered with a needle. Developed by University at Buffalo researchers, the breakthrough removes potentially harmful additives – primarily soapy substances known as surfactants – from common injectable drugs. “We’re excited… Continue reading Getting Rid of Soapy Stuff Improves Injectable Medicine
New Study Suggests Patients May Shower Earlier after Knee Replacement Surgery
A study suggests it may not be necessary for knee replacement patients to wait up to two weeks after surgery before showering, as many surgeons require. The study from Loyola Medicine compared patients who were allowed to shower two days after surgery with patients who had to wait 10 to 14 days. Researchers performed bacterial… Continue reading New Study Suggests Patients May Shower Earlier after Knee Replacement Surgery
Medical Error 3rd Leading Cause of Death in U.S.
Analyzing medical death rate data over an eight-year period, Johns Hopkins patient safety experts have calculated that medical error is the third most frequent reason for death. That means more than 250,000 deaths per year are due to medical mistakesin the U.S. Their figure, published May 3 in The BMJ, surpasses the U.S. Centers for… Continue reading Medical Error 3rd Leading Cause of Death in U.S.
How to Remember What The Doctor Said
No matter what your age, it is easy to forget a lot of what your doctor says. Sometimes, what she/he says may be hard to understand, or frightening, making it harder to absorb the information. Ideally, you may be able to bring someone along to help you understand and remember what the doctor is saying… Continue reading How to Remember What The Doctor Said
A Change in Heart-Resuscitation Procedure?
Administering heart resuscitation drugs to patients whose cardiac arrest is witnessed at the time of the attack can improve survival, but needs to be done through an IV line rather than directly into bone marrow as is more commonly done by paramedics, a new study involving UT Southwestern Medical Center emergency physicians and Dallas-Fort Worth… Continue reading A Change in Heart-Resuscitation Procedure?
The Organ Transplant Gap
In the circle of life, everyone dies. But what if a part of you could continue living, even after your body has expired? Thanks to modern medicine, you could extend life for others if you choose to donate your body’s organs, eyes and tissue after your death. What a remarkable, even heroic gift. Personally, organ… Continue reading The Organ Transplant Gap
Doctors Offer Solutions to Rising Drug Costs
The American College of Physicians (ACP) today released a new policy paper calling for changes that could slow the rising cost of prescription drugs. The paper, Stemming the Escalating Cost of Prescription Drugs, was published in Annals of Internal Medicine. “In the United States we pay comparatively much more for prescription drugs than other countries,… Continue reading Doctors Offer Solutions to Rising Drug Costs