News about 8 October, 2018

Development & Validation Of A Measure to Assess Patients’ Threat Perceptions In the ED

A brief tool assessing emergency department (ED) threat perceptions has clinical utility for providers to identify patients at risk for developing cardiac-induced PTSD and is critical to inform research on whether threat may be modified in-ED to reduce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) incidence. That is the finding of a study to be published in the October 2018 issue of Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM), a journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM).

Opioid Abuse as Maladaptive Coping to Life Stressors in U.S. Adults

Health, family and romance problems appear to be the particular life stressors most associated with increased risk for using opioids to cope, and individuals with low self-esteem appear to be at risk for these connections. The research team, which included Binghamton University graduate student Damla Aksen, surveyed 1,000-plus adults about five life stressors, self-esteem, and indications of opioid use.

Examining the data, they found that poor self-esteem was associated with high opioid use and that poor self-esteem was a significant mediator between each life stressor (health, family, romance) and increased risk for opioid use. The study was published in the Journal of Drug Issues.

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement With Shorter Hospital Display

In the largest multi-institutional study to date, led by researchers from Penn Medicine, the team found that among patients who underwent a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), a high number experienced severe and moderate cases of prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM), meaning the implanted heart valve is too small for the patient which can lead to inadequate blood flow.

The team also found that the risk of death and of heart failure readmissions were 19% and 12% higher, respectively, after one year as compared to patients without severe PPM. Results of the study were presented today as a late-breaking abstract at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2018 meeting in San Diego and simultaneously published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Gene Involved In The Body's Circadian Rhythms As Potential Target

Scientists with the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute say a gene involved in the body's circadian rhythms is a potential target for therapies to help patients with a deadly form of brain cancer known as glioblastoma. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Cholera: Suspected Cases Soar in Yemen's Hodeida

Suspected cholera cases have nearly tripled in the past three months in Hodeida, the Yemeni port city on the front line between a pro-government alliance and rebels, Save the Children said. 

Incorporation Of Macrophages Into Engineered Skeletal Muscle Enables Enhanced Muscle Regeneration

Biomedical engineers have found a critical component for growing self-healing muscle tissues from adult muscle the immune system. The discovery in mice is expected to play an important role in studying degenerative muscle diseases and enhancing the survival of engineered tissue grafts in future cell therapy applications. The study was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Digestive Problems Linked with Viruses found in Blood, Findings

While studying viruses best known for infecting the brain, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis stumbled upon clues to a conundrum involving a completely different part of the anatomy: the bowel, and why some people possibly develop digestive problems seemingly out of the blue.

Addition of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy vs Medical Therapy Alone for Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) added to standard medical therapy (MT) seems beneficial for sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). The study was published in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

A New Way to Eliminate Clogged Arteries Revealed

Researchers have proposed a unique study in humans to reduce the early onset of atherosclerosis, the buildup of the artery-clogging plaque that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

New Therapies For Type 1 diabetes

Researchers have identified a key target of the immune response that causes type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an incurable autoimmune disease caused by the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas by immune cells called T cells.

This study, published in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences).

A specific type of T cell, a CD4⁺ T cell, recognizes a part of the beta cell (called an antigen) as foreign, initiating the immune response. Researchers have long been searching for the identity of the antigen that drives the disease.

Earlier work from A/Prof Mannering’s group showed that CD4⁺ T cells in the pancreas of an organ donor who had type 1 diabetes responded to a specific part of insulin’s precursor, proinsulin, known as C-peptide.

Device to Detect Mosquito Species Common for Disease Introduced

Standing just three matchboxes tall, a new device out of the University of Texas is expected to make surveillance of a mosquito species known for carrying deadly diseases quick and easy.

Change Kickoffs to Reduce Concussions in Football, Experts Say

How best to reduce concussions and other brain injuries that occur in American football continues to perplex scientists, coaches, and fans at all levels of the sport, but a new study published in JAMA points to one way to make the sport safer: move the kickoff line.