Health News

Study estimates costs of health-care-associated infections

Date: Sep-04-2013
A study estimates that total annual costs for five major health care-associated infections (HAIs) were $9.8 billion, with surgical site infections contributing the most to overall costs, according to a report published by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. HAIs are associated with high costs and better evaluation of the cost of these infections could help providers and payers justify investing in prevention, according to background information in the study by Eyal Zimlichman, M.D., M.Sc...

Gap in earnings persists between male and female physicians, research letter suggests

Date: Sep-04-2013
A gap in earnings between male and female U.S. physicians has persisted over the last 20 years, according to a research letter by Seth A. Seabury, Ph.D., of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and colleagues. Using nationally representative data from the March Current Population Survey (CPS) from 1987 to 2010, the researchers estimated trends in the male-female earnings gap among physicians, other health care workers, and workers overall...

Following a Mediterranean diet not associated with delay to clinical onset of Huntington's disease

Date: Sep-04-2013
Adhering to a Mediterranean-type diet (MedDi) does not appear associated with the time to clinical onset of Huntington disease (phenoconversion), according to a study by Karen Marder, M.D., M.P.H., of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, N.Y., and colleagues. The Mediterranean diet, a diet high in plant foods (e.g...

Penn biologists show that generosity leads to evolutionary success

Date: Sep-04-2013
With new insights into the classical game theory match-up known as the "Prisoner's Dilemma," University of Pennsylvania biologists offer a mathematically based explanation for why cooperation and generosity have evolved in nature. Their work builds upon the seminal findings of economist John Nash, who advanced the field of game theory in the 1950s, as well as those of computational biologist William Press and physicist-mathematician Freeman Dyson, who last year identified a new class of strategies for succeeding in the Prisoner's Dilemma. Postdoctoral researcher Alexander J...

Risk factors for cardiovascular problems found to be inverse to disease and deaths

Date: Sep-04-2013
Despite living with the highest risk factors for heart disease, people in high income countries suffer less from serious cardiovascular disease, says an international study by the global PURE (Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology ) collaboration and led by McMaster University researchers. At the same time, the study found that people in low income countries, although living with fewer risk factors for heart disease, have a higher incidence of serious cardiovascular disease including death. "These findings were a total surprise," says Dr...

Maternal posttraumatic stress disorder associated with increased risk for child maltreatment

Date: Sep-04-2013
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in mothers appears to be associated with an increased risk for child maltreatment beyond that associated with maternal depression, according to a study published by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication. The psychopathology of a caregiver is understood to be an important risk factor for child maltreatment and maternal depression is associated with an increased use of corporal punishment and physical abuse of children...

New test could predict pre-eclampsia risk

Date: Sep-04-2013
There is currently no way to predict which first-time moms are at risk for high blood pressure during pregnancy, called pre-eclampsia. But researchers in the UK have discovered blood proteins that could forecast whether a woman in her first pregnancy is at risk for the condition Pre-eclampsia (PE), which accompanies protein in urine, can quickly develop into a life-threatening condition for both mother and baby. Often, the only cure is to deliver the baby prematurely, which carries risks of its own...

Brain imaging study reveals the wandering mind behind insomnia

Date: Sep-04-2013
A new brain imaging study may help explain why people with insomnia often complain that they struggle to concentrate during the day even when objective evidence of a cognitive problem is lacking. "We found that insomnia subjects did not properly turn on brain regions critical to a working memory task and did not turn off 'mind-wandering' brain regions irrelevant to the task," said lead author Sean P.A...

Women in rich countries are living longer

Date: Sep-04-2013
Women in developed countries are living longer, but the gap in life expectancy between older women in rich and developing nations is widening, says a new report published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization. The authors of the report - "Global mortality trends and patterns in older women" - wrote that measures taken in the world's most advanced economies to reduce non-communicable diseases have extended the life spans of women aged 50 years and older over the last two to three decades...

Undiscovered mammal viruses total 320,000, study shows

Date: Sep-04-2013
Scientists say there are approximately 320,000 viruses present in mammals that are yet to be discovered, according to a study published in the journal mBio. Researchers from the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and EcoHealth Alliance say that uncovering the majority of these viruses could be critical for early detection and developing cures for disease outbreak in humans...