by The Endocrine Society For migraine sufferers with obesity, losing weight can decrease headaches and improve quality of life, researchers from Italy and the United States report. The results of their meta-analysis will be presented Saturday, March 23 at ENDO 2019, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in New Orleans, La. “If you suffer from migraine headaches and are obese, losing weight will ameliorate the quality of your family and social life as...
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Ankle exoskeleton fits under clothes for potential broad adoption
A new lightweight, low-profile and inexpensive ankle exoskeleton could be widely used among elderly people, those with impaired lower-leg muscle strength and workers whose jobs require substantial walking or running. Developed by Vanderbilt mechanical engineers, the device is believed to be the first ankle exoskeleton that could be worn under clothes without restricting motion. It does not require additional components such as batteries or...
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Are preventive drugs overused at the end of life in older adults with cancer?
WILEY A new study reveals that preventive medications–such as those to lower blood pressure or cholesterol, or to protect bone health, among others–are commonly prescribed during the last year of life of older adults with cancer, even though they are unlikely to provide meaningful benefits. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings point to the need for efforts...
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Effective fear of heights treatment using a smartphone virtual reality app
by University of Twente A fully self-guided treatment using virtual reality (VR) is effective in reducing fear of heights. A team of researchers from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) and the University of Twente, led by Dr. Tara Donker, developed ZeroPhobia, a treatment delivered through a smartphone app and a basic VR viewer. The results of the study were published in JAMA Psychiatry. Two to five percent of the population suffers from fear of heights. Through...
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Can you ‘catch’ cancer?
Parasitic worms cause cancer — and could help cure it FRONTIERS Billions worldwide are infected with tropical worms. Unsurprisingly, most of these people live in poor countries, kept poor by the effects of worm-related malnourishment. What may surprise many is that worms also cause the majority of cancer cases in these countries. Published in Frontiers in Medicine as a special article...
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Medications to treat opioid addiction are effective, though not widely used
by Neil Schoenherr, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis With more than 2 million Americans suffering from an opioid use disorder and the escalating rate of deaths from opioidoverdoses reaching about 130 per day, efforts to date have had little impact in curbing this crisis across the country. As a result, a committee of the National Academies...
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Two Ways to Reduce Blood Thinner Risks That Lead to GI Bleeding
For some patients on blood thinners, gastrointestinal bleeding caused by those medications is an adverse event that can be disabling or even fatal. New research highlights two strategies to potentially reduce the risk. Some patients are simply taking too many blood-thinning drugs that increase their bleeding risk, while others could start another medication to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, Michigan Medicine investigators say. And those takeaways build on...
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Damage done by antibiotics could last for a year or maybe even be permanent
Everyone knows that antibiotics kill useful bacteria found in human gut. Some doctors prescribe probiotics to go with antibiotics to reduce potential adverse side effects. However, most people think that these negative effects are temporary. Now scientists from UCL found that the composition of oral and gut microbiomes is changed for at least a year...
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Breast Implant Safety Under Debate With New Cancer Risks
Medical experts, patients, and industry representatives review the risks and benefits of breast implants at a two-day public hearing held by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. For years, there’s been an endless debate on the safety of breast implants. On one side, there are multitudes of women who have gone through breastimplants without any problems. On the other hand, there have...
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Patients say lack of physician guidance and fear of side effects are why they don’t take statins as prescribed
AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION DALLAS, March 27, 2019 — Despite national guidelines indicating that statins can lower risk of heart attack and stroke, many patients who could benefit do not take them. More than half of eligible patients say they were never offered the cholesterol-lowering drugs; the experience of side effects or fear of side effects were reasons for stopping or refusing statins, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open...