In a study of 142 patients preparing for cancer surgery, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have evidence that psychological or social risk factors such as depression, limited resilience and lack of emergency resources along with standard medical risk factors such as high blood pressure or diabetes are linked with higher risks of surgical complications.…
An international panel of the foremost researchers on infectious disease and antimicrobials has formed new guidelines on the use of polymyxins, a class of antibiotics employed as a last resort to treat deadly, drug-resistant bacteria. The guidelines, published last month in Pharmacotherapy, set new standards for the clinical use of polymyxins, including on maximum dosage, treatment strategies…
Erectile dysfunction (ED), also as impotence, is a type of sexual dysfunction by the inability to develop or maintain an erection of the penis during sexual activity. Erectile dysfunction can have psychological consequences as it can tie to relationship difficulties and self-image. Treatment involves addressing the underlying causes, lifestyle modifications, and addressing psychosocial issues. In many…
Across the United States, millions of individuals face serious, life-limiting illness like cancer; heart disease and stroke, respiratory disease and diabetes. The final year of life with serious illness can be filled with emotional distress and uncertainty about treatment options. When people with serious illness have conversations with their doctors and nurses about their personal values, goals,…
GE Research and Feinstein Institute for Medical Research bio electronic medicine teams have demonstrated potentially breakthrough non-invasive methods to regulate dysfunction in the body’s metabolic or inflammatory control systems using ultrasound. Because The findings were reported in this week’s edition of Nature Communications. This article follows a medical first from The Feinstein Institute and GE…
The release of neurotransmitters and hormones in the body is tightly controlled by complex protein machinery embedded in cell membranes. Manipulating that machinery with drugs could improve treatment of disorders ranging from diabetes to Parkinson’s disease. Progress has been slow, however; because of the lack of an animal model to test the effects of potential…
Young Brisbane twins, a boy, and a girl have been identified as only the second set of semi-identical, or sesquizygotic; twins in the world and the first to identified by doctors during pregnancy. The now four-year-old boy and girl are identical (monozygotic) on their mother’s side sharing 100 % of their mother’s DNA; but are…
Patients who use a simple waiting room tool are more prepared and more likely to begin heir primary care visit by communicating their top priorities, according to a study published in the March/April issue of the Annals of Family Medicine. Richard W. Grant, M.D., M.P.H., from Kaiser Permanent Northern California in Oakland; and colleagues designed and…
Authors of a paper recently published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society describe factors that influenced the new National Institute of Health policy that requires funded scholars to eliminate arbitrary age limits in their work. Camille P. Vaughan, M.D., from Emory University in Atlanta; and colleagues explore how age-related changes to the NIH research…
A new, oral drug that effectively lowers cholesterol looks set for clinical approval. The latest trials of the drug have shown that it is safe when used in conjunction with widely prescribed statins. The new study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, was the largest study to date to test the efficacy of bempedoic…
Over the past four decades, policies and programs have promoted energy efficient design and retrofits of residential housing in the United States in an effort to reduce energy expenses and carbon dioxide emissions (e.g., Hens et al., 2001; Schweitzer, 2005; Tonn et al., 2018). So more than seven million existing homes have participated in energy…
Rejection of any kind is always hard to deal with, but when one’s body rejects a precious organ transplant, the consequences can be devastating. Professor A. Vathsala, Co-director of the National University Centre for Organ Transplantation at the National University Hospital (NUH) and Professor of Medicine; shared that between 30% to 40% of kidney transplants…