Hospital emergency codes are used to swiftly alert staff to something requiring a quick response, but a recent study suggests many health care workers can’t accurately identify them. To learn more, researchers focused on five Georgia health care facilities. The study included 304 employees and codes for 14 emergencies. On average, participants could correctly identify… read on > read on >
By the time they’re teenagers, babies born prematurely may be getting poorer school grades than their non-preemie peers. Researchers found that babies born before 34 weeks of pregnancy had lower scores on math and language tests during their teen years compared to kids born at 40 weeks. However, the study did not find a significant… read on > read on >
Some college athletes take longer to recover from a concussion, but a new study offers them some good news. They may still be able to return to play — after one extra month of recovery, researchers report Jan. 18 in the journal Neurology. “Although an athlete may experience a slow or delayed recovery, there is… read on > read on >
A recent study suggests that Parkinson’s disease, in which parts of the brain are progressively damaged over many years, may actually start in the gut. Nearly 30% of the gut bacteria in patients with Parkinson’s disease differed from those without the disease, according to the study from British and U.S. researchers. Study co-author Ayse Demirkan,… read on > read on >
Television ads for drugs are filled with glowing images of people living their best lives, all thanks to that new med they’ve been prescribed. But drugs being touted on TV often have little to no benefit compared to other treatments, a new study published online Jan. 13 in JAMA Network Open finds. Fewer than one-third… read on > read on >
In today’s highly polarized political environment, is it possible to stay up-to-date with the news of the day without getting totally stressed out? If not, is there a way to limit the emotional and physical fallout? Or is all that individual stress in service of a greater societal good? New research paints a complex picture… read on > read on >
While appendicitis is a common emergency, Black people experiencing its symptoms more often have a delayed diagnosis. But that doesn’t happen in lower-quality hospitals that serve more Black patients, according to new research. There, Black people are diagnosed more quickly. “There is clearly a benefit to patients being treated in predominantly minority-serving hospitals when they… read on > read on >
U.S. health officials say they plan to investigate whether some nursing homes are falsely labeling patients as schizophrenic so they can administer sedating antipsychotic drugs to them. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) noted that evidence of this abuse has grown over decades. It plans to launch an investigation of select nursing homes… read on > read on >
While childhood obesity gets a lot of attention, some kids struggle with the opposite issue — they have trouble gaining weight. So, how can parents know if their child is “too skinny?” While the best resource is likely a child’s pediatrician, experts have also weighed in on the topic. “Underlying health conditions can result in… read on > read on >
