Exercise has no effect on risk of knee osteoarthritis
...www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/arthritiscare ) examined the effects of physical activity over a long period in older adults, many of whom were overweight, and found that exercise neither protects against nor increases the risk of knee OA. Led by David T. Felson of the Boston University School of Medicin...Erectile dysfunction influenced by race and ethnicity
...c populations. Previous epidemiologic studies have examined the prevalence of erectile dysfunction in populations largely of Caucasian men. Translation of the sexual medicine findings of one population group to another can only really be done by directly studying the specific ethnic/racial group." ...Inadequate communication reduces benefits of mammogram screening for black women
...ive hospital-based facilities in Connecticut. They examined whether black women were as likely as white women to self-report results that matched the mammography radiology report. A second objective was to determine how the results of a screening mammogram affected the communication of those results. Mammo...Worldwide Parkinson's cases will double in next 25 years
...logist Ray Dorsey, M.D., and a team of researchers examined the projected population growth in the five largest countries in Western Europe (France, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy) and the 10 most populous nations worldwide (China, India, Indonesia, the United States, Brazil, Pakistan, Banglade...RAND study of Los Angeles County neighborhoods and their impact on children enters second phase
...rhoods influence children. Published results have examined whether Los Angeles youngsters are ready for school, probed neighborhood factors that may contribute to obesity, and provided the first concrete estimate of the number of undocumented immigrants who have health insurance. About 3,000 families parti...Can epilepsy patients predict their seizures?
...how accurate patient predictions were, researchers examined 71 patients who had at least one seizure during the past year, but not more than one per day. Patients were asked to keep a daily log in which they predicted how likely they were to experience a seizure in the coming 24 hours. Fifty-seven patients e...Daily use of antidepressants associated with increased risk of fracture in older adults
...er five years for incident fractures. Researchers examined the relationships between SSRI use, bone mineral density (BMD) and falls. Participants who used the medication at the beginning of the study and at year five were considered to be recurrent users. BMD of the lower spine and hip were measured at the b...What are the challenges faced by research ethics committees in Africa?
...d or IRB in the US). A new study in PLoS Medicine examined how well these research ethics committees are functioning in Africa. In the study, by Nancy Kass, Adnan Ali Hyder (both at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics) and their colleagues in ten African co...Research ethics committees in Africa report inadequate funding, staffing and training
...chool of Public Health. "Our case study closely examined how these committees function in Africa. The results can now help us better understand some very real, on-the-ground challenges they face," said Adnan A. Hyder, MD, MPH, PhD, core faculty of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and Assista...Common blood pressure drug treats muscular dystrophy in mice
...bility to repair muscle in DMD. So the researchers examined muscles from mice genetically engineered to have DMD and found evidence of increased TGF-beta activity. The team treated one group of DMD mice with TGF-beta-blocking protein and another group with losartan. Both groups of treated mice showed compl...Mayo Clinic Cancer Center -- Surgery and adjuvant therapy may work for pancreatic cancer
...logists from Mayo's Arizona and Minnesota campuses examined the records of 472 consecutively-treated patients. The patients all had surgery with negative margins (some healthy tissue cut out around the cancerous cells), between 1975 and 2005, to remove pancreatic adenocarcinoma. They excluded patients who h...New screening process helps better diagnose oral cancers
...atients with early stage oral cancer are typically examined by their doctor for suspicious areas in the mouth and throat area. Doctors in this study wanted to test the value of two diagnostic aids in evaluating lesions in the oral cavity. Chemiluminescent light, or brand name Vizilite and toluidine blue, a ph...Swishing once a day with mouthrinse poses no harm to dental work
...y's (AGD) clinical, peer-reviewed journal, authors examined mouthrinses containing essential oils and the effects they have on restorative materials in the mouth. Restorative materials studied in this article included amalgams (silver/mercury mixture used for fillings), glass ionomers (used to cement gold an...Hospital death rate study reveals wide variations
...lead author Dr Ann Tourangeau. 19 variables were examined to gauge their effect on 30-day death rates. Key findings included: A ten per cent increase in the proportion of Registered Nurses employed was associated with six fewer deaths per 1000 discharged patients. The death rate also went down by nin...JRRD releases single-topic issue focused on vision rehabilitation
... Using Longitudinal Study on Aging (LSOA) data, we examined the associations between self-reported dual impair... Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The measures examined include the Blind Rehabilitation Service Functional Outcomes Survey, the Functional Assessment of Se...New study focuses on radiation-associated cancer risks
...Michael Goitein, Winifed Wong and Harald Paganetti examined data on radiation-induced neoplastic transformation of mammalian cells in vitro and on the risk of an increase in cancer incidence after radiation exposure in mice, dogs, monkeys, the atomic bomb survivors, persons exposed occupationally, and patient...Less experienced surgeons performing new techniques in coronary surgery on black patients
...d by less experienced surgeons." The researchers examined 15,313 CABG patients and found: 31% of black and 23% of white CABG patients underwent off-pump surgery. The higher rates of black patients arose mostly from surgeons who perform fewer off-pump procedures rather than surgeons who perform many off-pump...Study finds major variation in Medicare Rx drug costs
...One bright spot in the study came when the authors examined a scenario under which a diabetic patient who did not need insulin to control his blood sugar levels at the start of the year suddenly needed insulin added to his drug regimen. Because Part D participants can only switch plans at the end of the cal...Improved adherence to certain medications associated with longer survival following heart attack
...M.D., of the University of Toronto, and colleagues examined the relationship between drug adherence and death ...r than to healthy adherer effects, the researchers examined 3 medication classes, 2 of which are associated with proven mortality benefits (statins and beta-blo......fferent types of alcohol consumption measures that examined both drinking pattern as well as overall consumption." Graham is the corresponding author for the study. "This is an important study of a large national sample of Canadian women and men," added Sharon C. Wilsnack, Chester Fritz Distinguished Profes...