Cart is empty Despite the harm that excessive alcohol consumption can cause in a community, use of some alcohol-related enforcement strategies remained low or decreased from 2010 to 2019, according to a new report in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. In particular, researchers found a drop in enforcement of underage drinking laws.
Exposure to anti-seizure medications does not harm neurological development in young children, new study finds
Most mothers who took prescription anti-seizure medications during pregnancy can breathe a sigh of relief: A new study published today in The Lancet Neurology has found that young children who were exposed to commonly-prescribed medications in utero do not have worse neurodevelopmental outcomes than children of healthy women.
Private equity takeovers of health care services linked to patient harm
Private equity ownership of health care services such as nursing homes and hospitals is associated with harmful impacts on costs and quality of care, suggests a review of the latest evidence published by The BMJ today.
Disrupted access to health care during pandemic linked to avoidable hospital admissions
People who experienced disrupted access to health care (including appointments and procedures) during the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to have potentially preventable hospital admissions, finds a study published by The BMJ today.
AI must not worsen health inequalities for ethnic minority populations, say epidemiologists
Scientists are urging caution before artificial intelligence (AI) models such as ChatGPT are used in health care for ethnic minority populations. Writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, epidemiologists at the University of Leicester and University of Cambridge say that existing inequalities for ethnic minorities may become more entrenched due to systemic biases in the data used by health care AI tools.
Cognitive rescue in aging through prior training
A new research paper titled “Cognitive rescue in aging through prior training in rats” has been published in Aging.
Researchers find behavioral economics strategies can help patients quit smoking after a cancer diagnosis
Researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found that cancer patients who continued to smoke after their diagnosis were significantly more likely to receive treatment for tobacco use when “nudges” to provide tobacco treatment were directed at clinicians through the electronic health record. The findings strengthen the case for using behavioral economics, or targeting predictable patterns in human decision-making to overcome barriers to changes in behavior, to improve outcomes for patients treated for cancer.
Treatment at the first signs of MS could mean lower risk of disability later
People who start taking medication soon after the first signs of multiple sclerosis (MS) may have a lower risk of disability later, according to a study published Neurology.
Excessive drinking during the pandemic increased alcoholic liver disease death rates
Excessive drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic increased alcoholic liver disease deaths so much that the condition killed more Californians than car accidents or breast cancer, a KFF Health News analysis has found.
New Alzheimer’s drug is first to show it slows disease. But It’s facing a rocky rollout
Eisai Co.’s breakthrough Alzheimer’s drug—the first to show it slows the brain-destroying disease—is facing a rocky rollout as doctors grapple with logistical issues, insurance uncertainties and complicated safety testing requirements.