Tag: Health & Medicine
Barriers, Enablers Affect Lower-limb Amputees’ Community Walking
Since walking in the community is essential to participate in work, leisure, social activities and family roles, a study explored potential barriers and enablers for people with lower-limb amputations who use a prosthesis to walk in public. The study found many barriers, but enablers were also identified. Three focus groups (n = 14 participants) using purposive sampling...
U.S. Healthcare Spending Highest Among Developed Countries
The United States, on a per capita basis, spends much more on healthcare than other developed countries; the chief reason is not greater healthcare utilization, but higher prices, according to a study from a team led by a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH) researcher. The researchers determined that the higher overall healthcare...
Exercise May Help Fight Depression in Seniors
Kinesiologists at McMaster University have found that physical activity may help fight depression in seniors by stimulating muscle-generated mood boosters. The findings, published in the American Journal of Physiology—Cell Physiology, reveal that the underlying mechanisms that make us feel good when we exercise persist into old age and highlight the importance of staying active. “A...
Research Finds Individualized Diets Most Effective for Managing Blood Sugar
An individualized diet based on a person’s genetics, microbiome, and lifestyle is more effective in controlling blood glucose (sugar) levels than one that considers only nutritional composition of food, Mayo Clinic researchers have confirmed. The research published in JAMA Network Open demonstrates that each person’s body responds differently to similar foods, due to the unique composition...
Proteins Regenerate Residual Bone and Joints After Amputation
Researchers at Texas A&M University and Tulane University have found that treating amputation wounds in mice with two proteins encouraged growth of the residual bone and joint. Because the human skeletal structure is similar to a mouse, the researchers are optimistic that one day the discovery will help people with amputations regrow limbs. The research...
Our Bodies May Cure Themselves of Diabetes in the Future
Diabetes is caused by damaged or non-existing insulin cells’ inability to produce insulin, a hormone that is necessary in regulating blood sugar levels. Many diabetes patients take insulin supplements to regulate these levels. In collaboration with other international researchers, researchers at the University of Bergen (UiB) have discovered that glucagon-producing cells in the pancreas can...
Experimental Stem Cell Therapy Speeds Up Wound Healing
The healing of wounded skin in people with diabetes can be sped up by more than 50 percent using injections of stem cells taken from bone marrow, a new study in mice shows. The research, led by scientists at the New York University (NYU) School of Medicine, focused on a chain of events in diabetes...
Prices Rising Even for Older Drugs
It’s no secret that drug prices are increasing, but to what extent are rising costs explained by the advent of newer, better drugs? A study from the University of Pittsburgh found that new drugs entering the market do drive up prices, but drug companies are also hiking prices on older drugs. The paper, published in...
Three Tips for Sticking With Your New Year’s Resolutions
By February, nearly 80 percent of Americans will give up on their New Year’s resolutions, but Tomeka Flowers, a Houston Methodist behavioral development coordinator and certified lifestyle coach, says making a few simple changes can help people reach their goals. “The majority of New Year’s resolutions are about getting healthy—eating better, drinking more water, and...
Adjustable Sockets May Help Control Fluid Volume in Residual Limb
Existing prosthetic technologies’ adjustable sockets and locking pin tethers can be used in novel ways to help maintain residual limb fluid volume in active prosthesis users with transtibial amputations. Researchers examined if either of two accommodation strategies executed during resting—socket release with full socket size return and socket release with partial socket size return—enhanced limb...
Depression Often Follows Dysvascular Amputation
Individuals undergoing lower-limb amputations secondary to dysvascular disease were found to have depressive symptoms during the first year after the procedure, according to a study published online December 31, 2018, in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Patients were surveyed four times (perioperative period and six weeks, four months, and 12 months post-amputation) at...
TMR on Transtibial Amputees Reduces Initial Phantom Limb Pain
Physicians at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine are pioneering the use of primary targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) to prevent or reduce debilitating phantom limb and residual limb pain in individuals with transtibial amputations. Primary TMR has shown to reduce phantom limb and residual limb pain, as reported in recent...
Less Exercise May Still Yield Benefits
A Beaumont Health study featured in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, found that middle-aged and older women who exercise moderately to vigorously, three times a week for at least 30 minutes, were able to significantly reduce cardiac risk factors in just six months....
NAAOP Webcast: Fellowship Program Extended to 2019
The National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics and Prosthetics (NAAOP) has released its latest webcast in which General Counsel Peter Thomas, JD, comments on the success and extension of its fellowship program as well as the upcoming pre-midterm elections, which could include a number of bills that will impact the healthcare area. The NAAOP...
NIH, DOD to Develop Limb Loss and Preservation Registry
A new database supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DOD) aims to establish the number of people in the United States living with limb loss and to provide insight on their challenges and needs. The Limb Loss and Preservation Registry, expected to be operational in 2020, will be...
Cancer, Flu, Pneumonia, and You
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expects flu season to begin ramping up in the next few months. According to the CDC, the flu season often begins increasing around October with peak flu season occurring between December and February. If you have or have had cancer, keep in mind the following points to help you...
Fall Risk Greater for Amputees With Vascular Comorbidities
A study published September 4 in the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation determined that while people with vascular-related amputations were less likely to fall than those with nonvascular-related amputations, people with concurrent vascular comorbidities were more likely to fall than those without. As part of the study, researchers investigated the impact of balance...
Late-life Healthcare Spending Not Wasteful
End-of-life healthcare spending in the United States is not wasteful, a new study says; many recipients of such expenditures aren’t certain to die, as the thinking goes. Rather, they represent a pool of sicker individuals whose odds are harder to predict. The findings contradict a common view that in America, large amounts of healthcare...
Study Determines Effects On Chronic Pain Of Discontinuing Opioid Treatment
Stopping long-term opioid treatment does not make chronic, non-cancer-related pain worse and, in some cases, makes it better, Washington State University (WSU) researchers have found. “On average, pain did not become worse among patients in our study a year after discontinuing long-term opioid therapy,” said Sterling McPherson, PhD, associate professor and director for biostatistics and...
Senators Push Bill to Expand Access to Therapeutic Shoes for People With Diabetes
Senators Susan Collins,(R-ME) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) have introduced the “Promoting Access to Diabetic Shoes Act,” legislation that would give people with diabetes better access to therapeutic shoes. The senators say the legislation would allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants (PAs) to certify patients’ need for the shoes. While nurse practitioners and PAs often act...
New Prosthetic Ankle Adapts to Rough Terrain and Stairs
Sasser tests the prosthetic ankle. Photograph courtesy of Vanderbilt University. The Vanderbilt University lab of Michael Goldfarb, PhD, has completed testing of a smart prosthetic ankle that can respond to varying terrain and stairs. The ankle’s motor, actuator, sensors, and chip work together to either conform to the surface the foot is contacting or remain...
AARP and AARP Foundation File Amicus in Support of ACA
AARP and AARP Foundation have asked the U.S. District Court to accept an amicus brief supporting the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The brief explains many ways in which the ACA has benefited older adults and emphasizes the importance of protections for people with preexisting conditions and the limits on...
Scheduled or Spontaneous Exercise? Which Motivates You More?
A study has found that older adults seem to be more motivated by scheduled workouts, including the role of a fitness coach or a significant person involved in their exercise goals, compared to those getting exercise only through spontaneous physical activity. Researchers tested a mathematical and psychological model on two different groups of older adults:...
Online Physician Reviews May Be Misleading
Physician satisfaction scores on online third-party review sites tend to be skewed and can easily mislead patients, according to a new study by Cedars-Sinai investigators. Since research shows that patients largely trust these ratings as their sole source of information when choosing a physician, this distortion may have significant consequences. “Patients put so...