Editor's Pick
Fewer registered nurses linked to increased mortality risk in wards
December 12th, 2018 Admission to a hospital ward with below average numbers of fully trained (registered) nurses to care for patients is linked to a 3% rise in the risk of death for each day the shortfall persists, suggests UK research. But plugging the gap with...
Resistance to second-line ARTs increasing in SA
December 12th, 2018 An increasing number of HIV patients in the Western Cape and other parts of South Africa are experiencing resistance to second-line antiretroviral therapy (ART). The Star reports that this was revealed by the fifth South African National HIV...
Promising results from treating childhood epilepsy with cannabinoids
December 12th, 2018 Interest has been growing in the use of cannabinoids – the active chemicals in cannabis or marijuana – for the treatment of epilepsy in children. A recent analysis of relevant published studies indicates that this strategy looks...
Why patients lie to their doctors
December 5th, 2018 A study has found that 60% to 80% of people surveyed have not been forthcoming with their doctors about information that could be relevant to their health. Besides fibbing about diet and exercise, more than a third of respondents didn't speak up...
Uninfected babies born to HIV-infected mums face higher risks
December 5th, 2018 HIV-uninfected children born to mothers with HIV are prone to more severe infections, almost double the risk of dying before their first birthday, and are more likely to be born prematurely than children born to mothers without HIV, found a Botswana...
Extreme heat exacerbating global health risks — UN scientific report
December 5th, 2018 Crop yields are declining. Tropical diseases like dengue fever are showing up in unfamiliar places, including in the US. Tens of millions of people are exposed to extreme heat. The New York Times reports that these are the stark findings of a...
Approval for first medical Tx for children with peanut allergies in 2019
November 28th, 2018 The first medical treatment for children with peanut allergies is likely to be approved next year but there are concerns about its affordability, even though it consists essentially of peanut flour. The Guardian reports a study in the US and at the...
Allergy shots may help with severe atopic dermatitis
November 28th, 2018 A medically-challenging case presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting found that allergy shots provided significant benefits to the eczema symptoms suffered by a 48-year-old man. "The...
Half of older patients exposed to potentially inappropriate prescribing
November 28th, 2018 Around half of older patients are exposed to potentially inappropriate prescribing, each year, and hospitalisation is independently associated with an increased risk, finds a study in Ireland. Inappropriate prescribing can include the...
Sweetened drinks pose greater diabetes risk than other sugary foods
November 28th, 2018 Sweetened drinks pose a greater risk of type 2 diabetes than most other foods containing fructose, a naturally occurring sugar, finds an evidence review. The findings suggest that fruit and other foods containing fructose seem to have no harmful...
Sucking baby's dummy clean lowers child's allergic response
November 21st, 2018 Research presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting suggests a link between parental sucking clean their baby's dummy (pacifier) and a lower allergic response among young children. "We...
Thrill-seeking heart patients rarely experience significant events
November 21st, 2018 A significant number of patients participated in thrill-seeking activities even after hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) diagnosis and while these activities are often associated with mild symptoms, they rarely lead to significant events. Adults...
Energy drinks notably diminish blood vessel function in young adults
November 21st, 2018 Young, healthy adults experienced acute, significant diminished blood vessel function soon after consuming one energy drink, according to preliminary research from a small study to be presented in Chicago at the American Heart Association's...
Many benefits of singing for Parkinson's disease patients
November 21st, 2018 Singing may provide benefits beyond improving respiratory and swallow control in people with Parkinson's disease, according to a pilot study from Iowa State University. The results revealed improvements in mood and motor symptoms, as well as reduced...
First causal linking of social media use and decreased well-being
November 14th, 2018 The link between the two has been talked about for years, but a causal connection had never been proven. For the first time, University of Pennsylvania research led by psychologist Melissa G Hunt and based on experimental data, connects Facebook,...