Futurity.org » public health

Missed Rx: Does doctor listen or lecture?

David Orenstein-Brown — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:20:23 +0000

BROWN (US) — Doctors rely on orders, rather than problem-solving, when talking with HIV-positive patients about taking their medication.

According to the analysis of hundreds of recorded office visits, doctors and nurse practitioners typically issued orders and asked closed or leading questions when talking to their HIV-positive patients about adherence to antiretroviral therapy.

Attempts at problem-solving with patients who had lapsed occurred in less than a quarter of visits, say the Brown University researchers.

Arthritis risk higher in poor neighborhoods

Rebecca Scott-Melbourne — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:48:57 +0000

U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — People living in poor neighborhoods are 42 percent more at risk of getting arthritis than those that live in affluent areas, new research shows.

Published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research, a study reveals that more than 30 percent of people living in socially disadvantaged areas reported having arthritis—as opposed to 18.5 percent in wealthier areas.

When mom nurtures, kids’ brains grow

Jim Dryden-WUSTL — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:39:24 +0000

WASHINGTON U.-ST. LOUIS (US) — Children whose mothers nurture them have brains with a larger hippocampus—a region vital for learning and memory.

The research by child psychiatrists and neuroscientists at Washington University in St. Louis is the first to show that changes in this critical region of children’s brain anatomy are linked to a mother’s nurturing.

Vitamin B6 may beat malaria pathogen

Andrew Duff-Southampton — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:13:26 +0000

U. SOUTHAMPTON (UK) — New research on vitamin B6 could lead to drugs that target the pathogen that causes malaria.

The University of Southampton research will enable scientists to learn more about the nature of the enzymes required for vitamin biosynthesis by the malaria-causing pathogen Plasmodium.

After 3 days, lung bacteria are unstoppable

Leslie Lang-UNC — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:44:35 +0000

UNC-CHAPEL HILL (US) — A deadly plague bacterium is able to transform the lungs into a breeding ground for other microbes—often escaping detection until it is too late for medical treatment.

Most other microbes that infect the lungs trigger an antimicrobial response within a few hours after infection. This early inflammatory response is generally sufficient to eliminate microorganisms with no more than mild respiratory symptoms. But the pneumonic plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, hides out for about 36 hours when the lungs are “quiet,” not inflamed, and symptoms are completely absent.

Homeless curb drinking with open alcohol policy

Molly McElroy-UW — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:08:00 +0000

U. WASHINGTON (US) — According to researchers, it may be counterproductive to ban alcohol from housing for chronically homeless alcoholics.

A study of a controversial housing project that allows chronically homeless people with severe alcohol problems to drink in their apartments found that during their first two years in the building residents cut their heavy drinking by 35 percent.

Obesity is painful, study of 1 million finds

Jacob Levich-Stony Brook — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:40:12 +0000

STONY BROOK (US) — A clear association between obesity and pain—with higher rates of pain identified in the heaviest people—was found in a study of more than one million Americans.

“Our findings confirm and extend earlier studies about the link between obesity and pain. These findings hold true after we accounted for several common pain conditions and across gender and age,” says Arthur Stone, professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stony Brook University.

Years after Katrina, minds slow to recover

Morgan Kelly-Princeton — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:38:03 +0000

PRINCETON (US) — Survivors of Hurricane Katrina have struggled with poor mental health for years, according to a new study of low-income mothers in the New Orleans area.

The researchers were able to collect data on the participants before Katrina and nearly five years after the August 2005 storm, finding a persistence of poor mental health and gaining insights into how different types of hurricane-related stressors affect mental health.

Calculation may lowball heart attack risk

Marla Paul-Northwestern — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:48:34 +0000

NORTHWESTERN (US) — Men and women may have a false sense of security about their chances of having a heart attack or stroke based on the current practice of calculating a patient’s risk 10 years into the future.

As reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, the research shows a young or middle-aged adult who is at low risk in the short term may be at very high risk in the long term—if he or she has just one or two risk factors such as higher than optimal cholesterol or blood pressure levels.

For smokers, lead linked to kidney cancer

A'ndrea Elyse Messer-Penn State — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:30:03 +0000

PENN STATE (US) — Higher than normal levels of lead in the blood may double a smoker’s risk of developing kidney cancer, new research shows.

“Past studies (in cadavers) have shown that, compared with kidneys from individuals without cancer, kidneys from individuals with cancer have higher lead levels,” says Emily B. Southard, medical student at Penn State College of Medicine.