Hospitals are working harder than ever to prevent hospital-acquired infections, but a nationwide survey shows few are aggressively combating the most common one — catheter-associated urinary tract infections. In the survey by…
Tag Archives | university of michigan health system
Depression symptoms increase over time for addiction-prone women
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Unlike alcohol abuse problems and antisocial behavior, depression doesn’t decline with age in addiction-prone women in their 30s and 40s — it continues to increase, a new study led by University of Michigan Health System rese…
Peer support offers promise for reducing depression symptoms
Peer support offers promise as an effective, low-cost tool for fighting depression, a new study by the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and University of Michigan Health System finds.
Programs in which patients and volunteers share information were …
Older adults often excluded from clinical trials
Older individuals, who constitute a rapidly growing population in the United States, account for a disproportionate share of health care utilization and cost.
Yet more than half of clinical trials exclude people based on their age or age-related …
Hurdles ahead for health care reform primary care model, U-M study shows
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Provisions of new federal health care reforms will move the country toward a primary care medical home for patients, but the nation may not have enough primary care doctors to handle the workload, according to a study by the Un…
Follow-ups prove powerful tool for treating depression in primary care
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In the 15 minutes a primary care doctor typically has with a patient, she’s expected to diagnose the current ailment, help manage ongoing health issues and provide preventive care. In this setting, confronting all but the most …
U-M researchers receive largest single collection of psoriasis DNA samples
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Millions of Americans struggling with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are one step closer to a cure with the release of the first National Psoriasis Victor Henschel BioBank DNA samples for use in research at the University of M…
The common cold coughs up a $40 billion annual price tag
Chances are you or someone you know is battling with a nasty cold right now. The cold bug is definitely biting its way into work places and schools all across the country, forcing millions of people to stay home. Catching a cold isn’t cheap. A new study published in the February 24th edition of Archives of Internal Medicine reports that the cost to the U.S. economy is $40 billion a year – substantially more than other conditions such as asthma, heart failure and emphysema.
Shortage of vaccines leaves many doctors scrambling
An ongoing national shortage of a vaccine that prevents meningitis and pneumonia in children has left doctors scrambling to provide even the minimum number of shots, and has exposed gaps in the nation’s “patchwork” vaccine system, the first-ever in-depth study of the problem finds.
Study links yo-yo dieting to poor post-menopause heart health
The quest for a fashion model’s figure leads many girls and women to a cycle of weight loss and weight gain called yo-yo dieting. Some women never succeed in achieving or maintaining their desired weight, although some do. Researchers at the VA/Ann Arbor Healthcare System and the University of Michigan Health System are cautioning all women who yo-yo diet. Those who gain and/or lose at least 10 pounds in a yearlong period at least five times over a lifetime may be setting themselves up for heart problems after menopause.
FDA approves psoriasis drug
Alefacept, a specially designed molecule that blocks a specific immune-system reaction involved in the painful skin condition psoriasis, was approved for marketing today under the name Amevive. Biogen, Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., will market the drug. Alefacept traces its roots to research done at the U-M in the mid-1990s by a team led by former dermatology faculty member Kevin D. Cooper, M.D. The University and Biogen share the patent on the engineered molecule with Cooper, who is now chair of dermatology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
Study: 15 percent of pregnant women drink alcohol
Despite widespread warnings about the potential risk of drinking alcohol during pregnancy, fifteen percent of pregnant women in a newly published study said they had drunk alcohol at least once during their pregnancies. And although most of those women reported on an anonymous survey that they’d had less than one drink a week, some acknowledged drinking more than that on a regular basis, or said they’d had at least one binge of five or more drinks at once.
Cocaine harms brain’s ‘pleasure center’
New research results strongly suggest that cocaine bites the hand that feeds it, in essence, by harming or even killing the very brain cells that trigger the “high” that cocaine users feel. This most comprehensive description yet of cocaine-induced damage to key cells in the human brain’s dopamine “pleasure center” may help explain many aspects of cocaine addiction, and perhaps aid the development of anti-addiction drugs. It also could help scientists understand other disorders involving the same brain cells, including depression.
Firefly molecule could quickly shed light on how well new drugs work
The process that makes fireflies glow bright in the summer night can also shed light on how well new medicines work, showing immediately whether the drugs are effective at killing cells or causing other effects. That’s the conclusion of a team of scientists who report that they have inserted the gene for a firefly’s glow-producing molecule into mice with cancer, and kept it from producing its telltale beacon of light until the cells started to die in response to cancer treatment.
Study: ER could be front line for stroke prevention
The emergency room may be a prime location for stroke prevention, as well as stroke treatment, a new study finds. That’s because patients with a high stroke risk due to heart rhythm problems are likely to turn up at the ER for symptoms of their irregular heartbeat, giving doctors a chance to make sure they’re on the best drugs to prevent a stroke.
Drug significantly improves pain in fibromyalgia patients
A drug called pregabalin has been shown to be an effective and safe treatment for pain in patients with fibromyalgia, according to study data being presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology. The drug, Pregabalin, also was shown to improve sleep and fatigue levels, the data demonstrate. Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain that is frequently associated with fatigue and sleep disturbances. It is estimated to affect two percent of the population, or 5.6 million Americans, and occurs most frequently in women.
Exercise, talk therapy may help relieve Gulf War veterans’ illness
Regular exercise and a form of group talk therapy can alleviate some symptoms commonly associated with Gulf War veterans’ illnesses, according to newly released results of a study involving veterans who report such symptoms. Fatigue, distress, mental health, and mental ability all improved after three months of low-impact exercise, weekly group sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), or both together. The gains were significantly greater than those made by veterans who were given usual care. Physical function improved more in those who had CBT than in those who didn’t.
Brain study of back pain sufferers yields intriguing results
Patients with lower back pain that can’t be traced to a specific physical cause may have abnormal pain-processing pathways in their brains, according to a new study led by Michigan researchers. The effect, which as yet has no explanation, is similar to an altered pain perception effect in fibromyalgia patients recently reported by the same research team.
Women’s stroke symptoms differ from men’s
A new study documents for the first time a significant difference in the way women and men describe their symptoms while they’re having a stroke. And that difference may be affecting how women receive emergency stroke treatment. On the whole, the study found, women were 62 percent more likely than men to say they were feeling sensations that aren’t on the list of “traditional” stroke symptoms. Because emergency responders and emergency room doctors often go by patients’ descriptions and the traditional symptom list when trying to diagnose and treat a suspected stroke, women’s symptoms may be overlooked during the precious hours when stroke therapies work best.