All news from Emergency Medicine

Immediate Care Visits Emergency Room

Treatment for new health problems, or acute care visits, encompass over one-third of all ambulatory care delivered in the United States. Given the high costs of emergency departments, many insurance plans have created incentives to encourage patients to receive that care elsewhere.

In response to patient expectations for more convenience and too long wait times at traditional physician outpatient practices, alternative care facilities such as urgent care centers, retail clinics, and telemedicine have rapidly emerged. The study was published today in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers document that among private health plan enrollees, in recent years, there has been a substantial shift from emergency departments to urgent care centers when it comes to patients receiving care for low-acuity conditions.

Single Living Cell Monitoring Of Protein

Researchers have developed a new method developed by bioengineers has disentangled the 'see-saw' balance of protein synthesis and degradation in single cells. The amount of proteins inside cells fluctuate over time and this affects various functions of the cells themselves. Cells are constantly synthesizing and degrading proteins, and studies have shown that this "see-saw" actually impacts the function of the cell itself. The study was published in Molecular Cell.

Role Of Palliative Care In The Current HIV Treatment Era

As antiretroviral therapy has led to longer life expectancy among people living with HIV, the prevalence of aging-related and another comorbid disease has also increased in this population. A 2016 study, for example, projected a 44% increase in infection-unrelated malignancies over a 5-year period and a 28% reduction in infection-related malignancies.

Additionally, data show that cancer is the leading non-AIDS cause of death in people living with HIV, and this situation does not appear to be improving. The study was published in Lancet HIV.

Modifying Maternal Sleep Position in Late Pregnancy Through Positional Therapy

A new study suggests that an intervention to reduce supine sleep in late pregnancy may promote maternal and fetal health. Results show that the median time spent sleeping supine was reduced significantly from 48.3 minutes during the control night to 28.5 minutes during the intervention night.

The improvement was observed in both maternal and fetal parameters during the intervention night, with an increase in median minimum maternal oxygen saturation, fewer maternal oxygen desaturations, and fewer fetal heart rate decelerations. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

Mosquito-Transmitted Diseases: Fight at no Cost to End Users

Vector-borne diseases account for more than 17 % of all infectious diseases, causing over 700 000 deaths annually, according to a factsheet by the World Health Organization (WHO). These are infections transmitted by vectors like mosquitoes, ticks, flies, sandflies and fleas. Under an initiative to support research in this field, the EU-funded INFRAVEC2 project recently unveiled its revamped online shop and website.

Infectious Disease Outbreaks in Central Africa

The Central Africa region is experiencing rapid urbanization and economic growth, and infrastructure development. These changes, while generally positive and welcome, also make the region more vulnerable to explosive infectious disease outbreaks, according to an international group of scientists.

Sentence Reduction Affected By Mental Illness

Just last week, the Victorian Court of Appeal significantly reduced the sentence given to Akon Guide, a mother who killed three of her children after driving her car into a lake in Melbourne. The main reason for the 8½ year sentence reduction was that the trial judge had not sufficiently taken Guide's major depression into account.

Insights into Zika Mechanism, Findings

Researchers report a comprehensive analysis of interactions between Zika virus proteins and native human proteins. One of their findings gives insight into how Zika escapes immune signaling and where the virus proliferates inside the cell.