With improvements in surgical technique and increases in the number of dangerously obese children, a group of four hospitals is starting a study examining how children respond to various types of weight loss surgery.
1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East leader Dennis Rivera accepts new post to become chair of SEIU Healthcare.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have developed two strategies to reactivate the p53 gene in mice, causing blood, bone and liver tumors to self-destruct.
The topology of plant-pollinator networks can be explained by relatively simple rules incorporating both “complementarity” and “barrier” traits, thus providing insights into the possible evolutionary and ecological processes driving the pattern.
The delayed winter weather has finally arrived in Western Pennsylvania and with the colder, drier air and bitter wind, people must take precautions to care for their skin.
For the most part, dementia and delirium have been viewed as separate and distinct conditions. But a special section of the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, appearing in January 2007, looks at their interface, asking: Can delirium itself lead to the development of a cognitive disorder? Do delirium and dementia represent opposite ends of the same spectrum of disease, rather than two separate conditions?
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the School of Arts and Sciences have shown that a well-known protein structure acts as a molecular spring, explaining one way that clots may stretch and bend under such physical stresses as blood flow. This knowledge will inform researchers about clot physiology in such conditions as wound healing, stroke and cardiovascular disease.
Nurses with higher levels of hopefulness are more likely to report feeling confident and competent in their ability to care for dying children and their families. Based on a survey of hundreds of pediatric nurses, researchers found that nurses who were more confident about their skills also were more likely to have received education in palliative care — the practice of providing high-quality, responsive care to patients with a life-threatening illness.
A new study shows that more people were at risk of anthrax infection in the Oct_2001 attack on US Senator Tom Daschle’s office than previously known. The research is published in the January 15 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online. On the other hand, the study shows, prompt intervention with antibiotics and vaccination appeared to be highly effective against the disease.
This year, tens of thousands of heart patients will have high-tech devices implanted in their chests. Called ICDs or implantable cardioverter defibrillators, the expensive devices are designed to shock damaged hearts back into rhythm and save patients from sudden cardiac death. But a new study finds that while many of these patients will benefit from their ICDs, a large number won’t — and a simple heart-rhythm test can tell who’s who.