Health News

Genetic Variations Impact Warfarin Doses For African Americans

Date: Jun-06-2013
A common genetic variation that can impact the therapeutic dose of the blood-thinning drug warfarin among African Americans has been found, according to a new report in The Lancet. The finding revealed that people of African ancestry who have the rs12777823 variant require a notably lower dose of warfarin to achieve all the advantages, compared to those without this single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)...

Atrial Fibrillation Linked To Faster Cognitive Decline, Even Without Stroke

Date: Jun-06-2013
People with atrial fibrillation tend to have faster cognitive decline, even among those who have not experienced a stroke, researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham reported in the June 5th issue of Neurology. Atrial fibrillation is an irregular heart rhythm caused by chaotic electrical signals, which are generated in the atria (chambers) of the heart. Atrial fibrillation raises the risk of stroke, heart failure, blood clots and other cardiovascular complications. Approximately 2.7 million people in the USA today live with atrial fibrillation...

Research On Household Air Pollution Should Be A Global Health Priority

Date: Jun-06-2013
Addressing the burden of household air pollution from solid fuel combustion - the leading environmental cause of death and disability in the world - has led to the implementation of many important interventions to promote access to improved stoves and clean fuels, but there is little demonstrated evidence of health benefits from most of these programs or technologies. Such are the conclusions of a new Policy Forum article published in this week's PLOS Medicine by authors who also outline a set of research priorities for addressing household air pollution...

UCLA Scientists Isolate And Characterize New Population Of Stress-Resistant Pluripotent Stem Cells In Fat Tissue Removed During Liposuction

Date: Jun-05-2013
Cell Population Could Revolutionize Regenerative Medicine Researchers from the UCLA Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology have isolated a new population of primitive, stress-resistant human pluripotent stem cells easily derived from fat tissue that are able to differentiate into virtually every cell type in the human body without genetic modification...

When Angry, Talk: Describing Emotional Situations Alters Heart Rate, Cardiac Output

Date: Jun-05-2013
Physiological reactions to emotional situations depend on whether someone is asking The act of describing a feeling such as anger may have a significant impact on the body's physiological response to the situation that elicits the emotion, according to research published June 5 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Karim Kassam from Carnegie Mellon University and Wendy Mendes from the University of California San Francisco...

Feeling Happy Or Sad Changes Oral Perceptions Of Fat For Mildly Depressed Individuals

Date: Jun-05-2013
Oral perceptions of fat, taste stimuli altered by mood, state of mind Subjects with mild, subclinical depression rate the taste of high-fat and low-fat foods similarly when in a positive or negative mood, according to research published June 5 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Petra Platte and colleagues from the University of Wurzburg, Germany. The researchers examined how non-pathological levels of depression, anxiety and experimentally manipulated moods could affect participants' oral perceptions of fat and other taste stimuli like sweet, sour, bitter and umami flavors...

Ultra High-Risk Patients With Schizophrenia At Long-Term Risk For Psychotic Disorder

Date: Jun-05-2013
JAMA Psychiatry Study Highlights Ultra high-risk (UHR) patients with schizophrenia appear to be at long-term risk for psychotic disorder, with the highest risk during the first two years after entry to a specialist clinic according to a study by Barnaby Nelson, Ph.D., of the University of Melbourne, Australia. The study included 416 UHR patients in a follow-up of a group of UHR patients who were recruited to participate in research studies between 1993 and 2006. Researchers assessed the transition to psychotic disorder in UHR patients up to 15 years after study entry...

Postoperative Patient Care Program Associated With Reduction Of Common Postoperative Complications

Date: Jun-05-2013
JAMA Surgery Study Highlights A study by Michael R. Cassidy, M.D., and colleagues at the Boston University Medical Center, suggests that I COUGH, a standardized postoperative care program emphasizing patient education, early mobilization, and pulmonary interventions, is associated with reduced risk of postoperative pneumonia and unplanned intubation...

UK GPs At High Risk Of Burnout

Date: Jun-05-2013
Nearly half of all General Practitioners (GPs) in the UK are at a very high risk of burning out and are jeopardizing their mental health, according to a PULSE survey. PULSE is a UK medical journal that focuses on general practice (primary care). According to the study, 72% of primary care physicians throughout the country are showing high levels of "emotional exhaustion". A GP (General Practitioner) is a primary care physician, a family doctor. PULSE researchers used the validated Maslach Burnout Inventory tool and found that 43% of GPs surveyed were at a very high risk of burnout...

A Third Of Autism Cases Also Have ADHD Symptoms

Date: Jun-05-2013
According to new research carried out at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, nearly a third of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) between the ages of four to eight also showed clinically significant symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The study, which was published in Autism: The International Journal and Practice, identified a significant co-occurrence of ADHD and ASD...