Posts Tagged ‘science’

More information needed to determine the effectiveness of different types of decision aids for advanced care planning

Main Point:

Decision aids are underutilized for advanced care planning and their effectiveness is not well documented.

Published in:

Annals of Internal Medicine

Study Further:

An advanced care plan is a directive that explains a patient’s goals and preferences for future care in the event of serious illness or injury. Currently, less than 50 percent of severely or terminally ill patients have an advance directive in their medical record and physicians are only about 65 percent accurate in predicting patient preferences for intensive care. Decision aids are intended to help patients consider options in health care so that they may develop an advanced care plan, but little is known about their effectiveness. Read more…

Safety lapses at government labs raise serious bioterror concerns

Main Points:

Recent safety lapses at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Institute of Health (NIH) facilities illustrate a new and grave bioterror threat: the risk for disease and death emanating from biocontainment laboratories themselves, according to a commentary being published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Read more…

Early menopausal hormone therapy shows no effect on atherosclerosis progression

Main Point:

Early initiation of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) improves some markers of cardiovascular disease (CVD) but does not affect the progression of atherosclerosis.

Published in:

Annals of Internal Medicine

Study Further:

CVD is the leading cause of death in women and incidence increases after menopause. Research suggests that cardiovascular benefits of MHT may be limited to women who begin treatment at a younger age, closer to menopause, or both. Read more…

The Source of The Sky’s X-Ray Glow

Main Point:

In findings that help astrophysicists understand our corner of the galaxy, an international research team has shown that the soft X-ray glow blanketing the sky comes from both inside and outside the solar system.

Published in:

Nature

Study Further:

The source of this “diffuse X-ray background” has been debated for the past 50 years. Does it originate from the solar wind colliding with interplanetary gases within our solar system? Or is it born further away, in the “local hot bubble” of gas that a supernova is believed to have left in our galactic neighborhood about ten million years ago?

The scientists found evidence that both mechanisms contribute, but the bulk of the X-rays come from the bubble. The solar wind, a stream of charged particles continuously emitted by the Sun, appears to be responsible for at most 40 percent of the radiation, according to new findings published in the journal Nature.

“The overarching science goal of our work is to try to answer questions like: What does the local astrophysical environment look like? And what is the environment in which the Sun was born?” said Susan Lepri, an associate professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences in the University of Michigan College of Engineering.

“It’s part of trying to understand our place in the universe.” Read more…

Less than 1% of UK public research funding spent on antibiotic research in past 5 years

Main Point:

Less than 1% of research funding awarded by public and charitable bodies to UK researchers in 2008–13 was awarded for research on antibiotics.

Published in:

The Lancet Infectious Diseases

Study Further:

The study, which is the first detailed assessment of public and charitable funding to UK researchers focusing on bacteriology and antibiotic research, suggests that present levels of funding for antibiotic research in the UK are inadequate, and will need to be urgently increased if the growing crisis of antibiotic resistance is to be tackled effectively by UK researchers. Read more…