To protect themselves from the potential harms of low value care, patients must take an active role in clinical decision making, according to the authors of a Perspective published today by the Medical Journal of Australia. Professor Ian Scott, Director of Internal Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, and Professor
It had been a long four years since that July night when Marianne Sarcich first felt the lump in her right breast as she toweled off from a shower. Breast cancer. The cancer was caught early enough that it had not spread to other parts of her body, but doctors said she would need a
New UCLA research suggests that elderly patients of female physicians are more likely than those of male physicians in the same outpatient practice to be vaccinated against the flu. This trend holds for all racial and ethnic groups studied and could provide insight into improving vaccination rates for influenza, COVID-19 and other illnesses, according to
Did catching Covid-19 help these patients fight cancer? One saw his tumours vanish, another went into remission. Now doctors are asking if their immune response was key – and if it could also be triggered by the vaccine When doctors at a hospital in Cornwall carried out a follow-up check last summer on a 61-year-old
The World Health Organization said Wednesday that ivermectin—touted by some on social media as a COVID-19 “miracle cure”—should not be used to treat coronavirus patients. In response to the swirl of claims around the cheap anti-parasite drug, the WHO issued guidelines saying ivermectin should only be used on COVID-19 patients in clinical trial settings. The
The World Health Organization said Wednesday that ivermectin—touted by some on social media as a COVID-19 “miracle cure”—should not be used to treat coronavirus patients. In response to the swirl of claims around the cheap anti-parasite drug, the WHO issued guidelines saying ivermectin should only be used on COVID-19 patients in clinical trial settings. The
Tiny magnet could help patients avoid the need for second breast cancer surgery by making operations more precise Most women diagnosed with breast cancer have surgery to remove it. A new technique being trialled aims to make operations more precise. Samantha Matthews, 48, a head of university admissions from Surrey, was one of the first
Two-thirds of patients with chronic endocrine health problems who need close monitoring say they would like to continue with telemedicine follow-up visits after the COVID-19 pandemic ends, according to a survey that will be presented virtually at ENDO 2021, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting. Three-quarters of providers also said they want to continue with telehealth
A newly developed smartphone app may help patients with chronic kidney disease keep up to date on their medications and accurately follow their prescriptions to safeguard their health. The app was tested in a study that will appear in an upcoming issue of CJASN. For individuals with chronic conditions, not taking their prescribed medications properly
Machine learning can be used to comb through online reviews of substance use treatment facilities to home in on qualities that are important to patients but remain hard to capture via formal means, such as surveys, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania show. The researchers found that professionalism and
As integral members of stroke treatment teams, nurses coordinate patient assessment and collaborate care among multiple health care professionals to facilitate the best possible outcomes for patients with acute ischemic stroke. Nurses also advocate for patients and their caregivers to ensure they receive appropriate information and education to successfully navigate phases of treatment in the
Patients with dementia may benefit from being referred to specialist palliative care—a branch of medicine that focuses on optimizing quality of life and providing relief from symptoms—but who should be referred, and when? A recent analysis of published studies on the topic found a lack of consensus regarding referral criteria for palliative care in patients
Female physicians have better patient outcomes compared with their male peers, while female patients are less likely to receive guideline-recommended care when treated by a male physician, according to a systematic review from the American College of Cardiology’s Cardiovascular Disease in Women section published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. While
A new study led by VCU Massey Cancer Center researcher Jeanine Guidry, Ph.D., found that parents of children with cancer were more likely to believe misinformation and unverifiable content associated with COVID-19 than parents of children with no cancer history. “These findings help us better understand the spread and threat of COVID-19 misinformation,” said Guidry,
Treating severe COVID-19 patients with the anticancer drug bevacizumab may reduce mortality and speed up recovery, according to a small clinical study in Italy and China that was led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden between February and April 2020. On average, blood oxygen levels, body temperature and inflammatory markers significantly improved in patients
Researchers from the Departments of Cell Biology and Medical Physiology at the University of Seville have identified that a high expression of the human protein VRK1 is associated with tumor aggressiveness and low survival among neuroblastoma patients. Aggressive neuroblastoma is one of the most common solid childhood cancers and causes disproportionately high mortality in affected
A recent analysis examines research on the use of depression screening tools in patients with kidney failure. The results appear in an upcoming issue of CJASN. People with kidney failure experience depression at rates higher than the general population. Medicare requires routine depression screening for patients with kidney failure, but no clear guidance on which
Two large recent studies show that people hospitalized for COVID-19 in March were more than three times as likely to die as people hospitalized for COVID–19 in August. The first study used data from three hospitals in New York City. The chance of death for someone hospitalized for the coronavirus in those hospitals dropped from
Adults from underrepresented racial groups who have acute heart blockages and cardiac arrests received fewer early interventions, had longer hospital stays and higher death rates than their white counterparts, according to preliminary research to be presented at the American Heart Association’s Resuscitation Science Symposium 2020. Researchers set out to investigate whether health inequities exist for
The very heart of inpatient care for psychiatric patients is socialization, group therapy, shared meals, and a standard two people per room. Then COVID-19 hit with the accompanying public health warnings to isolate, socially distance, and wear masks. That sent clinicians and staff from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) moving
