Health News

Drug reduces hospitalizations and cost of treating young children with sickle cell anemia

Date: Sep-05-2013
A drug proven effective for treatment of adults and children with sickle cell anemia reduced hospitalizations and cut annual estimated medical costs by 21 percent for affected infants and toddlers, according to an analysis led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The report appears in the advance online edition of the journal Pediatrics. The study is the largest ever focusing on the economic impact of the drug hydroxyurea in children with the inherited blood disorder...

Y-chromosome mutations reveal precariousness of male development

Date: Sep-05-2013
The idea that men and women are fundamentally different from each other is widely accepted. And throughout the world, this has created distinct ideas about which social and physical characteristics are necessary in each gender to maintain healthy human development. However, social revolutions throughout the last century have challenged traditional ideas about not only which traits are normal and necessary for survival, but also how humans acquire them. Thanks to a new study from researchers at Case Western Reserve University, science is continuing the charge...

Researchers create tool to predict kidney failure or death after injury

Date: Sep-05-2013
Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have developed a risk score calculation that can help predict which patients with rhabdomyolysis (a condition that occurs due to muscle damage) may be at risk for the severe complication of kidney failure or death. This research was published online September 2, 2013 in JAMA Internal Medicine. Rhabdomyolysis occurs when muscles are crushed and rupture, leaking toxic compounds into the circulation and can be caused by any condition that damages skeletal muscle and causes injury...

Facebook intervention leads to increased HIV testing among high-risk men

Date: Sep-05-2013
Peer-led Facebook groups are an acceptable and effective tool for increasing home-based HIV testing among at-risk populations. HIV infection is a major health concern for men who have sex with men (MSM), especially among African Americans and Latinos who have high rates of incident cases and new diagnoses. Online social networking has grown exponentially in this population, suggesting that social media platforms could be used to relay HIV prevention messages. This is important because those who seek sex online may be at increased risk for HIV...

Fear of holes may stem from evolutionary survival response

Date: Sep-05-2013
What do lotus flowers, soap bubbles, and aerated chocolate have in common? They may seem innocuous, even pleasant, but each of these items is a trigger for people who report suffering from trypophobia, or the fear of holes. For trypophobes, the sight of clusters of holes in various formations can cause intensely unpleasant visceral reactions. New research from psychological scientists Geoff Cole and Arnold Wilkins of the University of Essex suggests that trypophobia may occur as a result of a specific visual feature also found among various poisonous animals...

Topical use of corticosteroids by pregnant women appears not to be associated with pregnancy outcomes

Date: Sep-04-2013
The use of topical corticosteroids by pregnant women does not appear to be associated with pregnancy outcomes including orofacial cleft, low birth weight, preterm delivery, fetal death, low Apgar score and mode of delivery, according to a study by Ching-Chi Chi, M.D., M.M.S., of the Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taiwan, and colleagues.  The study included 2,658 pregnant women exposed to topical corticosteroids and 7,246 pregnant women not exposed...

Study examines long-term effects of continuation phase cognitive therapy on relapse rate of higher-risk depressive patients

Date: Sep-04-2013
For patients with recurrent major depressive disorder that have undergone acute phase cognitive therapy (CT), continuation phase CT (C-CT) does not appear to have greater preventive effects on relapse compared with patients taking fluoxetine (an antidepressant drug) after treatment is stopped, according to a study by Robin B. Jarrett, Ph.D., of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, and colleagues...

Study finds low rate of physicians' mention of sunscreen use at patient visits

Date: Sep-04-2013
Physicians mention sunscreen at a low rate during patient visits, even to patients with a history of skin cancer, according to a study by Kristie L. Akamine, M.D., Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C., and colleagues.  Researchers used the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to identify patient visits to nonfederal outpatient physician offices at U.S. ambulatory care practices from January 1989 through December 2010 during which sunscreen was recommended.  According to the results, physicians mentioned sunscreen at about 12.8 million visits (0.07 percent)...

Study examines functional outcome in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis

Date: Sep-04-2013
Reduced neurocognitive performance, functional impairments, and nonpositive mild symptoms at baseline appear to be associated with an increased risk of poor functional outcomes in patients at clinical high risk for psychosis, according to a study by Ricardo E. Carrion, Ph.D., of Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, N.Y., and colleagues...

Cognitive-behavioral prevention program associated with reduced rate of depressive episodes in at-risk youth

Date: Sep-04-2013
A cognitive-behavioral prevention (CBP) program appears to sustain positive effects compared with usual care in preventing the onset of depressive episodes in at-risk youth, according to a study by William R. Beardslee, M.D., of Boston Children's Hospital, and colleagues.  A total of 316 adolescent (ages 13-17 years) children of parents with current and/or prior depressive disorders participated in the randomized clinical trial, with 33 months of follow-up conducted...