High-quality primary care is the foundation of a high-functioning health care system. It ensures patients have access to essential services, prevents emergency department visits and hospital admissions, leads to better health outcomes, and improves quality of care and equity. The secret sauce that allows high-quality primary care to deliver on all these benefits is long-term relationships between patients...
Category: <span>Clinical Practice</span>
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All you need to know about agitated depression
Depression tends to involve feelings of hopelessness, sadness, or helplessness. However, some people also experience agitation, including symptoms of anxiety and restlessness. Agitated depression is not a medical term, but some people use it to describe the combination of anxiety and depression. Agitation can occur with major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. In this article,...
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DIET AND EXERCISE REVERSE LIVER DAMAGE
New research suggests intensive lifestyle interventions are an effective way of treating and improving liver disease. In the study of 24 patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a common liver disease caused by excessive fat buildup, one group followed a restricted diet and a high intensity interval training exercise program for 10 months. They dramatically...
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Study reveals 85% of women prefer choice between self-sampling and traditional cervical screening
Research highlights growing demand for more flexibility and accessible cervical cancer testing options. Peer-Reviewed Publication Queen Mary University of London A new study led by researchers at Queen Mary University of London reveals women would welcome the option to choose between self-sampling and traditional screening done by a nurse or doctor for human papillomavirus (HPV)-based...
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Ketamine pioneer Dr. Carlos A. Zarate Jr. reshapes depression treatment landscape
Genomic Press Interview reveals personal journey and scientific breakthroughs of NIH Distinguished Investigator Reports and Proceedings Genomic Press image: Carlos A. Zarate Jr, MD, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, USA. Credit: Carlos A. Zarate Jr, MD, Bethesda, Maryland – 10 October 2024. In a revealing Genomic Press Interview published on 10...
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The Biology of ‘Precancer’: Stopping Cancer Before It Starts
Some breast cancer types are more likely than others to recur. Researchers have known this for more than a decade. But they have long wondered why. “How did those tumor types arise?” said Christina Curtis, PhD, a professor of medicine, genetics and biomedical data science at Stanford University, Stanford, California. “They’re all breast cancers. They’re all...
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Heavy smokers can benefit from lung cancer screening using low-dose CT
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Lung cancer screening using low-dose computed tomography (CT) offers more benefits than harms for heavy active and former smokers: The procedure can prevent some people from dying from lung cancer and may also prolong overall survival. This conclusion was already drawn in the benefit assessment published by the German Institute for Quality and...
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Smoking cessation may reduce opioid prescriptions: Study
Correlation between state smoking rates and prescription opioid dispensing rates, pre and post pandemic, 2019 versus 2022. Notes: US states and DC. The fit lines are estimated by linear regressions. Sources: Authors’ calculations using BRFSS data and CDC-reported data. Credit: American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2024.07.010 Smoking is recognized as a leading cause of preventable...
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Understanding aging through the lense of gut microbiome
The composition of the gut microbiome exhibits genus-level variations across different age groups. The early-age gut microbiome is shaped by the embryonic environment, type of delivery, and exposure to microbes through breast/formula feeding. During weaning, the microbiome undergoes changes from a simple (less diverse) to a complex (more diverse) microbial mixture and attains stability until...
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Ghost Fat: The Unseen Consequences of Weight Loss
612 Many people who lose weight, whether through diet and lifestyle changes, medication, or bariatric surgery, recognize their body has changed. While they also experience improvements in quality of life and psychosocial areas, that’s not true for everyone. Some patients don’t “see” they’ve lost weight — a phenomenon referred to as “phantom fat,” “ghost fat,” or “vestigial body image.”...