February 2012
59 posts
6 tags
Stress & Decisions
“Trying to make a big decision while you’re also preparing for a scary presentation? You might want to hold off on that. Feeling stressed changes how people weigh risk and reward. A new article published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, reviews how, under stress, people pay more attention to the upside of a possible...
1 tag
$1675 for step 2 cs/ck?
my credit card is gently weeping
9 tags
Gender Identity Problems Risky for Youths
“Young people who believe they were born into the wrong sex are at risk for abuse, post-traumatic stress, and self-harming behavior, and an American clinic is now offering medical treatment for these individuals, researchers found.
In a study that asked young adults about their gender behavior and beliefs in childhood, 39% of women who had exhibited the highest level of nonconformity...
8 tags
Hep C Deaths > HIV Deaths in Americans
“More Americans now die from hepatitis C infection than from HIV, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
The rate of HIV deaths has been falling while the rate for hepatitis C has been rising and the two curves crossed each other in 2007, according to Kathleen Ly, MPH, and colleagues.
In that year, they wrote in the Feb. 21 issue of Annals of Internal...
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Bias Against Pregnant Surgical Residents
“Women who become pregnant during their surgical residency still face negative reactions from other trainees and faculty, according to a new survey.
Among 749 recently minted female surgeons, 67% indicated that some stigma was attached to pregnancy during their training, although that was less (P<0.001) than the 76% of women in surgical practice for at least 30 years who believed it was...
9 tags
Circadian Rhythms and Adverse Immune Outcomes
“The molecular response of an organism — be it mouse or man — to pathogenic invasion is controlled by circadian rhythms, researchers found.
In mice exposed to infection at the highest and lowest time of activity in the 24-hour light-dark cycle of an immune protein known as toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), those whose exposure was at the nadir of TLR9 expression had much more severe...
7 tags
Misery isn't the only one that loves company:...
“Companionship might be the key for better healing following a stroke, according to a preclinical study presented at the recent International Stroke Conference in New Orleans.
Mice that were socially isolated tended to have greater ischemic infarct volumes relative to mice paired with a stroke partner or a healthy partner. In addition, the solitary mice had significantly decreased levels of...
9 tags
Wii Workout Improves Stroke Patient CV Function &...
“A short but intense Wii-based program not only improved physical function in stroke patients, but added a beneficial cardiovascular challenge, a small study found.
Among the 25 patients, peak heart rate significantly increased from early to late therapy (P<0.001), and was 34.4% higher on average than resting heart rate by late therapy, according to Penelope McNulty, PhD, from the...
7 tags
Pediatric Infectious Disease Case (True Life...
16 year old male presents to ED with new-onset severe jaundice, transient rash, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and decreased appetite. Patient’s girlfriend had mono 2 months ago, but monospot test at primary care physician was negative 2 days prior to presentation. No lymphadenopathy or sore throat. Physical exam reveals hepatomegaly and temperature 102 F. Labs showed anemia,...
6 tags
Watch Out for Levamisole in Cocaine Users
“Half of a group of cocaine users tested positive for levamisole, a potentially hazardous veterinary drug that cocaine dealers often use to prepare street product, investigators reported here.
Preliminary data from an ongoing study showed that 24 of 46 cocaine-positive urine samples also contained the anthelmintic, which has been banned for human use in the United States since 2000.
Four...
6 tags
Treating Children's Sleep Apnea May Help...
“Using positive airway pressure (PAP) to treat obstructive sleep apnea in children and teens appears to improve neurobehavioral outcomes, even with suboptimal adherence, researchers found.
After three months, PAP was associated with gains in symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), sleepiness, behavior, and quality of life (P≤0.005 for all), according to Carole Marcus,...
7 tags
Pain Patch for HIV Neuropathy Voted Down
“By a vote of 12-0, an FDA advisory panel said a capsaicin skin patch did not relieve neuropathic pain from HIV.
The dermal patch (Qutenza), which contains a synthetic form of capsaicin — the ingredient that makes chili peppers hot — is already approved to treat pain associated with shingles. NeurogesX, which markets the patch, is seeking to expand the marketing indication to...
6 tags
Treatment of UTI: Not All Drugs Created Equal
“For uncomplicated bladder infections, cefpodoxime (Vantin) may not be a viable antibiotic alternative to fluoroquinolone ciprofloxacin (Cipro, Proquin), a randomized trial suggested.
More women needed further treatment after a short course of the cephalosporin than after the same duration of ciprofloxacin (clinical cure rate 82% versus 93%), Thomas M. Hooton, MD, of the University of...
7 tags
Beware of Untreatable Gonorrhea!
“Gonorrhea is putting up increasing resistance to the last antibiotic class highly effective against it, the CDC has again warned.
The prevalence of gonorrhea resistant to the cephalosporin cefixime (Suprax) was just 0.1% in 2006 but had jumped 17-fold to 1.7% as of mid-2011, Gail A. Bolan, MD, director of sexually transmitted disease prevention at the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues...
9 tags
Psych Symptoms Prevalent in Kids with HIV
“In a snapshot study of children and adolescents with HIV, about a third met criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder, researchers reported.
But there were only a few associations between psychiatric disorders with such HIV variables as viral load, and a clear picture did not emerge from those that were found, according to Sharon Nachman, MD, of Stony Brook University in Stony Brook,...
9 tags
Psych Symptoms Prevalent in Kids with HIV
“In a snapshot study of children and adolescents with HIV, about a third met criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder, researchers reported.
But there were only a few associations between psychiatric disorders with such HIV variables as viral load, and a clear picture did not emerge from those that were found, according to Sharon Nachman, MD, of Stony Brook University in Stony Brook,...
4 tags
Increasing Shortages in Infectious Disease Meds
“More and more drugs for infectious diseases are in short supply, with serious consequences, according to a study published online January 19 in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
The number of infectious disease drug shortages rose from 6 in 2005 to 17 in 2010, report Milena M. Griffith, PharmD, an infectious diseases fellow at Midwestern University in Downers Grove, Illinois, and colleagues.
...
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Abortion Doesn't Increase Risk of Psych...
“Women with a history of inpatient psychiatric care are not at increased risk for readmission following a first-time, first-trimester induced abortion, according to a new study.
In this subgroup of women, the risk of readmission is similar before and after a first-trimester abortion, the researchers note. However, this is in marked contrast to an increased risk for readmission within the...
7 tags
Meta-Analysis: Marijuana Within 3 Hours of Driving...
“Drivers who consume cannabis within a 3-hour period before driving are nearly twice as likely to cause a serious car accident, resulting in serious injury or death, as those who are not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, a new meta-analysis shows.
The systematic review of observational studies examining the risk for vehicular collision after consuming cannabis is the first of its...
9 tags
Morning After Pill In University Vending Machine
“Federal authorities on Wednesday were investigating Shippensburg University’s use of a vending machine to dispense morning-after contraceptive pills to students on the central Pennsylvania campus.
The Food and Drug Administration’s probe is aimed at determining whether the school vending machine is in line with a federal requirement that any female under age 17 have a...
5 tags
Multiple Exposures to General Anesthesia in First...
“Children exposed to general anesthesia multiple times during the first two years of life have an increased likelihood of later developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a retrospective cohort study found.
In adjusted analyses, children who underwent two or more surgeries or procedures requiring general anesthesia had more than double the risk for later ADHD (HR 2.49, 95%...
5 tags
Last Patients on ICU Rounds Get Least Time
“Clinical staff spent significantly less time with intensive care unit patients at the end of rounds as compared with the beginning, preliminary results from a small clinical study showed.
The time decreased by about a minute per patient as clinical staff members made rounds in a 12-bed cardiothoracic intensive care unit (ICU). Comparison of the first four and last four patients seen on...
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Physical Punishment (Including Spankings) No Good...
“Physical punishment of children, such as spanking, is increasingly linked with long-term adverse consequences, researchers wrote.
An analysis of research conducted since the 1990 adoption of the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child suggests that no studies have found positive consequences of physical punishment, according to Joan Durrant, PhD, of the University of Manitoba in...
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Risk Factors Pinpoint NICU Mortality Risk in Low...
“A set of maternal and neonatal risk factors appear to be useful in predicting which extremely-low-birth-weight infants will die after leaving the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), researchers found.
In a retrospective study, black race, unknown health insurance status, and an extended NICU stay were associated with a greater likelihood of dying within 18 to 22 months (P<0.02 for...
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Peds Criteria for MRSA Osteomyelitis Unreliable
“A common clinical method for gauging risk that theStaphylococcus aureus causing a child’s osteomyelitis will be methicillin-resistant is unreliable, a researcher said here.
The so-called Boston algorithm may have been accurate when and where it originated, but it was no help at all in assessing MRSA risk more recently in a major pediatric hospital in Arizona, according to a poster...
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Awesome: Wall Street Genotype
“Successful stockbrokers have specific genetic traits that distinguish them from other business specialists and probably from traders who take too many risks or who are too timid or indecisive.
Genotyping of 60 experienced stockbrokers revealed a predomination of an allelic pattern associated with dopamine receptor 4 promoter and catecholamine-O-methyltransferase, both of which modulate...
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1 Year of US Child Abuse Costs Millions Over Years
“The lifetime costs — including healthcare, lost productivity, and criminal justice costs — of all the children abused in the U.S. over a single year total up to $124 billion, researchers reported.
The figure, expressed in 2010 dollars, is based on an estimated lifetime cost of $210,012 for each nonfatal case and nearly $1.3 million for each fatal case, according to Xiangming...
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Negative Social Interactions May Increase...
“Negative social interactions may increase proinflammatory cytokine reactivity, new research suggests. When chronic, this reactivity has been associated with hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, depression, and some cancers.
In a prospective study of more than 100 healthy young adults, stressful or “hostile” interactions during daily living were associated with...
5 tags
New York Girls Experience "Mystery Illness"
“Movement disorder experts assert that a psychogenic disorder is to blame for a cluster of more than a dozen adolescent girls at an upstate New York school experiencing Tourette’s-like tics, twitches, stuttering, and spasms, but the diagnosis has plenty of skeptics, ranging from famed activist Erin Brockovich to some of the girls’ own parents.
Authorities in LeRoy, New York,...
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Maternal Support Builds Brain Development in...
“Early maternal support and nurturing has a strong positive effect on brain development in young children, new research shows.
In a longitudinal study, researchers found that supportive caregiving during the preschool years predicted larger hippocampal volume at school age in nondepressed children.
‘This particular publication is unique in that it combines observational data of...
6 tags
Massage and Exercise Recovery
“Ten minutes of massage therapy can help repair exercise-induced muscle damage by subduing inflammation and renewing mitochondria. This mechanism is similar to the way nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) work. Data from the small controlled study also debunk the notion that massage clears lactic acid from tired muscles.
Mark Tarnopolsky, MD, PhD, and colleagues from the Department...
6 tags
Massage and Exercise Recovery
“Ten minutes of massage therapy can help repair exercise-induced muscle damage by subduing inflammation and renewing mitochondria. This mechanism is similar to the way nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) work. Data from the small controlled study also debunk the notion that massage clears lactic acid from tired muscles.
Mark Tarnopolsky, MD, PhD, and colleagues from the Department...
8 tags
Psychiatric Pharmaceutical Agents as Efficacious...
“Psychiatric drugs and general medical drugs are equally efficacious, according to a review of a large number of meta-analyses.
Stefan Leucht, MD, from the Technische Universität Munich in Germany, and colleagues sought to provide a panoramic overview of the efficacy of general medication and then fit psychiatric drugs into that overview.
“It turned out that psychiatric drugs fell...
8 tags
Obesity and Mental Illness
“A “complex interplay” of neurobiological, psychological, and socioeconomic factors contribute to the dangerous association between obesity and mental illness, according to 2 clinical reviews published in the January issue of theCanadian Journal of Psychiatry.
In the first article, investigators discuss in detail how these factors relate to specific disorders, and how...
6 tags
Long Hours and Depression
“Working overtime appears to be a risk factor for depression, new research shows.
In a prospective cohort study led by Marianna Virtanen, PhD, from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland, British civil servants who worked 11 or more hours a day had an almost 2.5-fold greater risk of having a major depressive episode than their counterparts who worked 7 to 8 hours a...
Watchthedailywhat:
Super Bowl Halftime Show of the Day: Bridgestone presents a medley of Madonna songs featuring LMFAO, M.I.A. Nicki Minaj, Cee Lo Green, and, of course, Madge herself.
Eat your heart out, Elton!
[yardie.]
ALL HAIL THE QUEEN
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Areas of Concentrated Risk of Lyme Disease
The eastern half of the United States contains 2 main foci with a high mean density of infected ticks that can cause Lyme disease. One focus is between southern Maine and northern Virginia, and the other is primarily in Wisconsin, northern Minnesota, and an area of northern Illinois.
Concerned that human tick reports are unreliable for determining areas where Lyme disease is endemic, researchers...
6 tags
Hallucinogenic Psilocybin from Mushrooms Potential...
“A new imaging study supports a growing body of evidence that the hallucinogen psilocybin, the active ingredient in ‘magic mushrooms’, may have potential in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and possibly cluster headaches.
A study of 30 healthy volunteers showed decreased brain blood flow and venous oxygenation in the cingulate cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex after...
2 tags
STOP EVERYTHING... and watch this. →
4 tags
Physicians Employed By Hospitals Increases by 34%
“Hospitals employed some 211,500 physicians in 2010, a 34% increase since 2000, according to the latest survey statistics from the American Hospital Association (AHA), as analyzed by Medscape Medical News.
During that same period, the number of allopathic and osteopathic physicians in patient care and other healthcare roles increased from about 733,000 to 858,000, for only a 17% gain,...
6 tags
Early Elective Deliveries Decreased
“The rate of early elective newborn deliveries — those before 39 completed weeks that are not medically indicated — declined on average from 17% in 2010 to 14% in 2011 among hospitals surveyed by the Leapfrog Group, a quality-improvement organization.
Furthermore, 39% of reporting hospitals in 2011 kept the rate of these problematic deliveries at or below 5% — a target set by Leapfrog —...
7 tags
Oral HPV More Prevalent in Med, Spread by Sex
“A major study of oral infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) — now known to cause of a subset of oropharyngeal cancer — has found a much higher incidence in men than in women and has established sexual transmission as the main way it spreads. It also raises questions about whether existing HPV vaccines offer protection.
There is a rising incidence in oral HPV infection and in...
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