Category: Health News

New movement monitoring system helping prevent falls in the elderly

Technology that allows BMW’s assembly lines to run more efficiently is now being used to accurately indicate when residents in Assisted Living Facilities (ALF) are at increased risk of falling. William Kearns, president of the International Society for Gerontechnology and associate professor at the University of South Florida College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, collected

The effect of night shifts: Gene expression fails to adapt to new sleep patterns: Genes related to the immune system and metabolic processes did not adapt to new sleeping and eating patterns

Have you ever considered that working night shifts may, in the long run, have an impact on your health? A team of researchers from the McGill University affiliated Douglas Mental Health University Institute (DMHUI) has discovered that genes regulating important biological processes are incapable of adapting to new sleeping and eating patterns and that most

Prescription drug monitoring programs may have negative unintended consequences: Study shows programs may be linked to fatal drug overdoses

Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are a key component of the President’s Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan and considered a critical tool for reducing prescription opioid-related illness and death. The results of a study just conducted at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and University of California, Davis, show there is insufficient evidence to

Financial strain has major impact on patients’ health care decisions

Financial strain is the single most important factor in making health care decisions for low-income individuals, who often forgo care in favor of basic needs like food and rent, researchers in UT Southwestern’s Center for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) found. In addition, low-income individuals are often reluctant or too embarrassed to discuss their financial hardships

Fancy gyms aren’t always best – here’s why

If you want to get stronger and feel better after exercising – which is important because it encourages you to keep exercising – you don’t need a fancy gym, our recent study shows. Earlier studies have shown that a pleasant hospital environment, with large windows that look out over nature, can speed a patient’s recovery,

Emojis used to develop a modern face scale for product testing

A recent study by sensory researchers at Kansas State University’s Olathe campus finds that emojis are a viable alternative to words when it comes to accurately measuring how kids feel about food, products and other experiences. The results appear in the study, “The emoji scale: A facial scale for the 21st century,” which was published

More americans DOA from gun, knife wounds

(HealthDay)—Victims of gunshots or stabbings are much more likely to die before arriving at U.S. trauma centers than 10 years ago. This suggests the intensity of violence is increasing, a new study contends. “The data we found suggest that a greater proportion of patients injured by penetrating trauma are dying in the prehospital setting compared

Grown adults also suffer from dramatic night terrors 

It’s not just children! Grown adults also suffer from dramatic night terrors Shockingly, around 20 per cent of six-year-olds have nightmares each week But, while 15 per cent of children have night terrors, so do 2 per cent of adults They occur in the non-REM stage of sleep, so people act out what’s happening Gasping

Are you using your asthma inhaler the WRONG way?

As Britain’s asthma death rate rises by 20 per cent: Are you using your inhaler the WRONG way? Circa 1,400 UK people suffer fatal attacks, annually – up a fifth over five years Asthma UK estimates up to one in three patients is making their condition worse Young children sometimes struggle to breathe in sufficiently

EPO protects preemies’ brains by modifying genes essential for generating new brain cells: Modified genes are essential for neurogenesis and responding to environmental stressors

Erythropoietin (EPO) helps to protect and repair vulnerable brains though it remains a mystery how the anemia drug does so. Genetic analyses conducted by a multi-institutional research team finds that EPO may work its neuroprotective magic by modifying genes essential for regulating growth and development of nervous tissue as well as genes that respond to

Health gadgets experts say are worth buying

From a water spout that clears blocked sinuses to the fork that helps you eat less: Health gadgets experts say are worth buying! Whether it’s to lose weight, sleep better or help you manage after an operation, there’s always a new gadget claiming to boost our health in some way.  We waste billions on such

Neuro filter sharpens visual processing: Findings provide a more comprehensive account of how we ‘see’ the world

Blurry and clear versions of an image are represented similarly in the brain, according to a neuroimaging study published in eNeuro. The research shows how the visual system fills in missing information to maintain perception when visibility is low. Vision arises from a “bottom-up” process that transduces light into neural signals and a “top-down” process

Women’s preference for masculine faces not linked with hormones

Data from almost 600 participants show that women’s perceptions of male attractiveness do not vary according to their hormone levels, in contrast with some previous research. The study findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “We found no evidence that changes in hormone levels influence the type of

For mothers with advanced cancer, parenting concerns affect emotional well-being

Parenting concerns contributed significantly to the psychological distress of mothers with late-stage cancer, according to a study by University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers. Cancer is the leading cause of disease-specific death for parenting-age women in the United States, and women with incurable cancer who have children can have increased rates of