(HealthDay)—Psychiatric inpatients at community-based hospitals are twice as likely to experience adverse events (AEs) or medical errors (MEs) as inpatients at Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals, according to a study published in the November issue of Medical Care. Sara W. Cullen, Ph.D., from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues retrospectively reviewed medical records […]
Combination immunotherapy drugs herald new hope for melanoma patients with long term survival rates
A combination of two immunotherapy drugs, ipilimumab and nivolumab, has stopped or reversed the progression of advanced melanoma for five years or more in one in two patients, according to a study led by The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. Just 10 years ago, only 1 in 20 patients with advanced melanoma would survive for […]
Heart failure care must address patients’ broader health if survival rates are to be improved
Research published in JAMA Cardiology today presents new evidence that might explain why the prognosis of heart failure patients has improved so little over the past decade. Findings show that a decline in cardiovascular deaths has been offset by an increase in the number of deaths from infections and respiratory problems, highlighting the importance of […]
Providing more testing choices does not increase colorectal cancer screening rates
Offering patients the choice between home screening or in-office colonoscopy does not increase participation in colorectal cancer screening, according to a new Penn Medicine study. However, the framing of choice did impact patient decision-making, as the proportion of colonoscopies—the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening—fell when the home screening option was presented as an available […]
Skin cancer rates have soared by 45% in ten years
Skin cancer rates have soared by 45% in ten years in both young and old patients ‘because of rise of package holidays in the 1970s and a more recent surge in cheap flights’ The deadliest form of skin cancer – melanoma – has risen drastically since 2004 It’s become the fifth most common cancer in […]
‘Striking’ differences in rates of HIV/AIDS within African nations
Despite the rapid scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) since 2000, HIV/AIDS is still the most common cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa, according to data from the Global Burden of Disease. A new scientific paper reveals striking variation in HIV prevalence at provincial and district levels. The paper, published in Nature, provides precise geographic estimates […]
Rates of dementia have dropped 15% per decade since the 1980s
Rates of dementia have dropped 15% per decade since the 1980s but experts warn soaring obesity crisis threatens to undo the hard work Scientists led by Harvard Studied almost 60,000 people from 1988 to 2015 They found over time people have become less and less likely to get dementia Rates are rising because of growing […]
Women’s hormones play role in drug addiction, higher relapse rates
Women’s hormonal cycles may not only make them more prone to drug addiction but also more affected by triggers that lead to relapse, a new Vanderbilt University study revealed. The findings are especially significant since there are virtually no addiction studies in women that account for these cycles. Erin Calipari, an assistant professor of pharmacology […]
Daily aspirin could boost survival rates from head and neck cancer
Daily aspirin could boost survival rates from head and neck cancer by up to 78% Researchers at the University of California San Francisco looked at five-year survival rates for people diagnosed with the disease They found a third or more patients benefited from the pill Regular use of aspirin or ibuprofen could dramatically boost survival […]
HPV vaccination rates remain critically low among younger adolescents in the US
Only about 16 percent of U.S. adolescents have been fully vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV) by the time they turn 13, despite national recommendations that call for vaccination at 11 to 12 years of age. Published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, the new findings highlight the need for stronger efforts to encourage HPV vaccination […]