Health News

Improving Outpatient Management Could Reduce The High Rate Of Readmission Of Kidney Transplant Patients

Date: Oct-18-2012
Three in 10 patients receiving a kidney transplant require readmission to the hospital within 30 days of discharge following surgery, according to a Johns Hopkins analysis of six years of national data. The findings, published online in the American Journal of Transplantation, suggest more needs to be done to manage patients outside the hospital to keep them from costly and potentially preventable return visits. Readmissions are said to cost the U.S. health care system $25 billion a year...

Abstinence Following Chronic Alcohol Abuse Leads To Recovery Of Brain Volumes, Varying For Different Brain Regions

Date: Oct-18-2012
Chronic alcohol abuse can severely damage the nervous system, particularly cognitive functions, cerebral metabolism, and brain morphology. Building upon previous findings that alcoholics can experience brain volume recovery with abstinence, this study found that recovery of cerebral gray matter (GM) can take place within the first two weeks of abstinence, but may vary between brain regions. Results will be published in the January 2013 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View...

Too Many Carbs, Too Much Sugar May Increase Risk Of Cognitive Impairment

Date: Oct-18-2012
People 70 and older who eat food high in carbohydrates have nearly four times the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment, and the danger also rises with a diet heavy in sugar, Mayo Clinic researchers have found. Those who consume a lot of protein and fat relative to carbohydrates are less likely to become cognitively impaired, the study found. The findings are published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. The research highlights the importance of a well-rounded diet, says lead author Rosebud Roberts, M.B., Ch.B., a Mayo Clinic epidemiologist...

Genetic Protection Against Arsenic

Date: Oct-18-2012
Evolution has not only controlled human development over millions of years, it also has an impact on modern man. This is one of the conclusions of a study of Argentinian villagers in the Andes, where the water contains high levels of arsenic. A gene variant that produces efficient and less toxic metabolism of arsenic in the body was much more common among the villagers than among other indigenous groups in South or Central America. The study was a collaborative effort by Karin Broberg from Lund University and Carina Schlebusch and Mattias Jakobsson from Uppsala University in Sweden...

Smoking In Cars Produces Harmful Pollutants At Levels Above WHO Indoor Air Quality Standards

Date: Oct-18-2012
Such exposure is likely to affect health of child passengers, say researchers Smoking during car journeys pumps harmful particulate matter into the indoor air space at levels that far exceed World Health Organization guidance - even when the windows are open or air conditioning is switched on - finds the largest study of its kind, in Tobacco Control. Such levels of exposure are likely to affect the health of any child passengers, say the authors...

Sick Doctors Returning To Work Struggle With Feelings Of Shame And Failure

Date: Oct-18-2012
Their professional identity is shattered and they fear colleagues' disapproval Doctors who have been on long term sick leave find it hard to return to work because they are overwhelmed with feelings of shame and failure, and fear the disapproval of colleagues, finds research published in the online journal BMJ Open. The authors call for cultural change, starting in medical school, to allow doctors to recognise their own vulnerabilities and cope better with both their own and their colleagues' ill health...

Cranberry Fails To Prevent UTI And Bladder Infections

Date: Oct-18-2012
Researcher Dr. Ruth Jepsen has recently concluded in a new study, published in The Cochrane Library, that cranberry extract does not prevent urinary tract infections (UTI) and bladder infections, such as cystitis, while any slight advantage would only be seen in women with recurrent UTIs. Cranberries and cranberry juice have been long used to ward off UTIs, however, it is unclear how exactly they prevent infection. One theory suggests, certain sugars and flavanol compounds, present in cranberries, deter bacteria from sticking to cells that line the urinary tract. Dr...

New Medicated Chewing Gum Can Prevent Motion Sickness

Date: Oct-18-2012
Individuals with motion sickness may receive more benefits from a newly developed type of medicated chewing gum than traditional oral solid dosage forms. The finding is being revealed October 14th to 18th at the 2012 AAPS (American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists) Annual Meeting and Exposition in Chicago, Ill., an international event which is expecting an attendance of over 8,000...

Age Of First Sexual Experience Determines Relationship Outcomes Later In Life

Date: Oct-18-2012
The age of a person's first sexual experience can determine romantic outcomes later in life, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin have reported in a new study published in Psychological Science. According to the study, parents should be concerned with the age that their children are beginning to take part in sexual activity, because the time when they start to explore sexuality is a key time of development of mental and physical health. The report states that long-term sexual outcomes may be affected as well...

Lefty And Righties Benefit Differently From Naps

Date: Oct-18-2012
Results of a new study presented at Neuroscience 2012, the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience, has suggested the right hemisphere of the brain performs important tasks during its resting state, implying different end results for left-handed people and right-handed people, who use the right and left sides of their brains differently...