A new Brandeis University study of twins shows that genes play a significant role in the level of hearing loss that often appears in late middle age. The research, in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, examined genetic and environmental factors affecting hearing loss in the frequency range of speech recognition.
A new Mayo Clinic study found a nationwide decrease in the need for liver transplant in patients with hepatitis B, which coincides with the increasingly widespread use of oral antiviral medications to slow disease progression. The study will be presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases in Boston.
People with rheumatoid arthritis have a higher risk for developing heart disease than the general population; however, it is difficult to identify which patients are at increased risk. Researchers at Mayo Clinic have developed a simple approach to predict heart disease in these patients within ten years of their initial diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.
Mayo Clinic researchers have shown that an immunosuppressive drug used in organ transplant cases is effective in reducing flare-ups in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). SLE results in inflammation of connective tissues and can involve the skin, joints and kidneys. Its cause is unknown. The findings were announced today at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology in Boston.
Strategies for decreasing a child’s risk for obesity often focus on improving eating habits and maintaining a high level of physical activity. While this is one way to address the issue, another way to reduce the risk of childhood obesity could simply come down to positive parenting, according to a Temple University study published in the November issue of Child Abuse & Neglect.
Several complications can be seen after pancreatic surgery, most notably bleeding, infections and anastomotic dehiscence. Bowel obstruction can also be seen due to internal hernias or anastomotic strictures. A more unusual etiology for bowel obstruction in this setting is intussusception.
Surgical confusions—for instance, operations involving the wrong site, the wrong patient or the wrong procedure—occur infrequently in eye surgery procedures, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Although most surgical confusions cause little or no permanent injury, they may involve serious consequences for the patient, physician and profession, yet could often be prevented.
Asking patients with focal epilepsy (also known as partial seizures, which usually involve focal areas of the body and altered consciousness) how often they have seizures does not appear to provide an accurate count, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Reminding patients to record their seizures in a diary may not help, because patients may be unaware of some seizures.
A diet rich in leafy vegetables may minimize the tissue damage caused by heart attacks, according to researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Their findings, published in the November 12 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that the chemical nitrite, found in many vegetables, could be the secret ingredient in the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet.
A comparison of illness and death rates for 13 vaccine-preventable diseases in the U.S., before and after use of the vaccine, indicates there have been significant decreases in the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths for each of the diseases examined, according to a study in the November 14 issue of JAMA.