New research expands on a 2015 pilot study to demonstrate that nonoperative management of uncomplicated appendicitis is a safe and effective option in a variety of healthcare systems.
Appendicitis is the most common cause for emergency abdominal surgery in childhood, affecting 80,000 children in the United States each year, but nonoperative treatment options are viable. A study performed by the Midwest Pediatric Surgery Consortium, led by Peter Minneci, MD, and Katherine Deans, MD, co-founders and directors of the Center for Surgical Outcomes Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and published online today in JAMA, found that antibiotics alone successfully treated children with uncomplicated appendicitis and was associated with fewer disability days at one year.
Of 1,068 patients from 10 health centers enrolled in the study, 67.1% of those who elected to initially manage their care through antibiotics alone experienced no harmful side effects and did not later require an appendectomy by their one-year follow-up. Patients in the non-operative group experienced an average of 6.6 disability days, compared to the 10.9 days in the surgery group. Non-operative management was also associated with fewer disability days for caregivers.
Read More at JAMA.
Release date: 27 July 2020
Flu, Pneumonia Vaccinations Tied to Lower Risk of Alzheimer’s Dementia
Three research studies reported at AAIC 2020 suggest:
“With the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines are at the forefront of public health discussions. It is important to explore their benefit in not only protecting against viral or bacterial infection but also improving long-term health outcomes,” said Maria C. Carrillo, Ph.D., Alzheimer’s Association chief science officer.
“It may turn out to be as simple as if you’re taking care of your health in this way — getting vaccinated — you’re also taking care of yourself in other ways, and these things add up to lower risk of Alzheimer’s and other dementias,” Carrillo said. “This research, while early, calls for further studies in large, diverse clinical trials to inform whether vaccinations as a public health strategy decrease our risk for developing dementia as we age.”
Release date: 27 July 2020
Source: Alzheimer’s Association
Midwest Pediatric Surgery Consortium finds antibiotics alone successfully treat uncomplicated appendicitis in children
New research expands on a 2015 pilot study to demonstrate that nonoperative management of uncomplicated appendicitis is a safe and effective option in a variety of healthcare systems.
Appendicitis is the most common cause for emergency abdominal surgery in childhood, affecting 80,000 children in the United States each year, but nonoperative treatment options are viable. A study performed by the Midwest Pediatric Surgery Consortium, led by Peter Minneci, MD, and Katherine Deans, MD, co-founders and directors of the Center for Surgical Outcomes Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and published online today in JAMA, found that antibiotics alone successfully treated children with uncomplicated appendicitis and was associated with fewer disability days at one year.
Of 1,068 patients from 10 health centers enrolled in the study, 67.1% of those who elected to initially manage their care through antibiotics alone experienced no harmful side effects and did not later require an appendectomy by their one-year follow-up. Patients in the non-operative group experienced an average of 6.6 disability days, compared to the 10.9 days in the surgery group. Non-operative management was also associated with fewer disability days for caregivers.
Read More at JAMA.
Release date: 27 July 2020
Source: Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Wealthier men are more likely to develop high blood pressure
Working men with higher incomes are more likely to develop high blood pressure, reports a study presented at the 84th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Japanese Circulation Society (JCS 2020).
JCS 2020 takes place online from 27 July to 2 August in conjunction with the Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology Congress 2020 (APSC 2020). Joint scientific sessions are being held by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and JCS as part of the ESC Global Activities programme.1
“Men with higher incomes need to improve their lifestyles to prevent high blood pressure,” said study author Dr. Shingo Yanagiya of the Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan. “Steps include eating healthily, exercising, and controlling weight. Alcohol should be kept to moderate levels and binge drinking avoided.”
Read More at European Heart Journal.
Release date: 27 July 2020
Source: European Society of Cardiology
Meditation linked to lower cardiovascular risk
Meditation was linked to lower cardiovascular risk in a study by Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center researchers and colleagues.
Previous studies have suggested that meditation may have beneficial effects on a number of conditions. A 2017 American Heart Association scientific statement suggests that meditation may be of benefit for cardiovascular risk reduction. Data show that it may help with blood pressure, cholesterol level, quitting smoking, and overall cardiovascular health. However, this connection is far from definitive. By using a large national database with many participants, the authors of the new study sought further evidence on how meditation impacts cardiovascular risk.
Release date: 10 July 2020
Source: Veterans Affairs Research Communications
Regular physical activity seems to enhance cognition in children who need it most
An international collaboration headed by the University of Tsukuba in Japan has shown that regular physical activity can enhance cognitive functions, especially in those who have the most room for improvement
A common school-age stereotype is that smart kids are unathletic. However, as a recent study lead by Associate Professor Keita Kamijo at the University of Tsukuba and Assistant Professor Toru Ishihara at Kobe University shows, physical activity is linked to better cognitive ability, which is in turn related to academic performance in school. Understanding the effects of physical activity on cognition has been difficult for several reasons. “Previous studies looked at the issue too broadly,” explains Professor Kamijo, “When we broke down the data, we were able to see that physical activity helps children the most if they start out with poor executive function.”
Executive functions refer to three types of cognitive skills. The first is the ability to suppress impulses and inhibit reflex-like behaviors or habits. To assess this ability, children were asked to indicate the color in which words like “red” and “blue” were displayed on a computer screen. This is easy when the words and colors match (“red” displayed in red font), but often requires inhibition of a reflex response when they don’t (“red” displayed in blue font). The second skill is the ability to hold information in working memory and process it. This was evaluated by testing how well children could remember strings of letters that vary in length. The third cognitive skill is mental flexibility. This was measured by asking children to frequently switch the rules for categorizing colored circles and squares from shape-based to color-based.
The article, “Baseline cognitive performance moderates the effects of physical activity on executive functions in children,” was published in Journal of Clinical Medicine.
Release date: 15 July 2020
Source: University of Tsukuba
Exploring how a scorpion toxin might help treat heart attacks
“Moving Pieces in a Cellular Puzzle: A Cryptic Peptide from the Scorpion Toxin Ts14 Activates AKT and ERK Signaling and Decreases Cardiac Myocyte Contractility via Dephosphorylation of Phospholamban”
Journal of Proteome Research
Scientists are discovering potential life-saving medicines from an unlikely source: the venom of creatures like snakes, spiders and scorpions. Scorpion venom, in particular, contains a peptide that has beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system of rats with high blood pressure. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Journal of Proteome Research say they know a little more about how that happens.
Release date: 15 July 2020
Source: American Chemical Society
Does eating fish protect our brains from air pollution?
Older women who eat more than one to two servings a week of baked or broiled fish or shellfish may consume enough omega-3 fatty acids to counteract the effects of air pollution on the brain, according to a new study published in the July 15, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Researchers found that among older women who lived in areas with high levels of air pollution, those who had the lowest levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood had more brain shrinkage than women who had the highest levels.
“Fish are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids and easy to add to the diet,” said study author Ka He, M.D., Sc.D., of Columbia University in New York. “Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to fight inflammation and maintain brain structure in aging brains. They have also been found to reduce brain damage caused by neurotoxins like lead and mercury. So we explored if omega-3 fatty acids have a protective effect against another neurotoxin, the fine particulate matter found in air pollution.”
Release date: 15 July 2020
Source: American Academy of Neurology
Blood iron levels could be key to slowing ageing
Genes that could help explain why some people age at different rates to others have been identified by scientists.
The international study using genetic data from more than a million people suggests that maintaining healthy levels of iron in the blood could be a key to ageing better and living longer.
The findings could accelerate the development of drugs to reduce age-related diseases, extend healthy years of life and increase the chances of living to old age free of disease, the researchers say.
Release date: 17 July 2020
Source: University of Edinburgh
Young Adults May Face Severe COVID-19
Smoking Habits Trump Asthma, Obesity in Risk Factors for Otherwise Healthy Population.
As the number of young adults infected with the coronavirus surges throughout the nation, a new study by researchers at UC San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospitals indicates that youth may not shield people from serious disease.
The study looked at data drawn from a nationally representative sample of approximately 8,400 men and women ages 18 to 25 and concluded that overall “medical vulnerability” was 33 percent for males and 30 percent for females. The impact of smoking surpassed other less common risks, the UCSF researchers reported in their study, which publishes in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
Release date: 12 July 2020
Source: University of California – San Francisco
Keeping innocent people out of jail using the science of perception
Salk scientists devise a new lineup method to help eyewitnesses more accurately identify suspects
People wrongfully accused of a crime often wait years—if ever—to be exonerated. Many of these wrongfully accused cases stem from unreliable eyewitness testimony. Now, Salk scientists have identified a new way of presenting a lineup to an eyewitness that could improve the likelihood that the correct suspect is identified and reduce the number of innocent people sentenced to jail. Their report is published in Nature Communications
Release date: 14 July 2020
Source: Salk Institute