Psychological stress has been proposed as a risk factor for melanoma, but clinical evidence is limited. A recent British Journal of Dermatology study funded by the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology looked for a potential link between the death of a partner, which is one of the most stressful life events, and melanoma. The…
Smoking doubles the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis and continuing to smoke after being diagnosed has negative effects on patients. In an Arthritis Care & Research study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis who smoked, certain healthcare factors were linked with a higher likelihood that patients would quit smoking. In the study that included 507 patients…
New research indicates that a prior induced abortion poses only a very small risk of negative effects on births from subsequent pregnancies, but the risk is higher if the abortion is performed later in the pregnancy. The Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica study included 418,690 first-time mothers with singleton births between 1996 and 2013 in…
In an Acta Paediatrica study, exclusive breastfeeding for the first 3 months was linked with a lower risk of respiratory allergies and asthma when children reached 6 years of age. In the study of 1,177 mother-infant pairs, a third of the children were exclusively breastfed until the age of 3 months. By the age of…
In the past two decades, death rates after liver transplantation have dropped by more than half in the UK, according to a recent analysis of almost 10,000 liver transplant recipients published in BJS (British Journal of Surgery). During this time period, survival over the first 3 years has improved to 83.1% in 2012-2016 (from 71.7%…
To address obesity worldwide, changes are needed in both the availability of treatments and the attitudes of clinicians. That’s the conclusion of a survey-based study of health professionals. In the Clinical Obesity study, investigators surveyed 274 respondents from a total of 68 low, middle, and high income countries. Respondents in most countries stated that there…
Individuals who undergo weight loss surgery may face an elevated risk of bone fractures, according to a study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine. The study included 2,007 Swedish patients with obesity who were treated with weight loss surgery (either gastric bypass, gastric banding, or vertical banded gastroplasty) and 2,040 matched patients who did…
Use of antibiotics during pregnancy does not appear to affect children’s weight in subsequent years, but use during infancy may increase their risk of becoming overweight or obese. The findings come from an analysis published in the journal Obesity. When investigators examined all relevant published studies that looked at the use of antibiotics during pregnancy…
In a study of Americans over age 50 years who died between 2004 and 2014, individuals who were characterized as lonely based on survey results were burdened by more symptoms and received more intense end-of-life care compared with non-lonely people. In the 2,896-participant study, which is published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society,…
Middle school football players greatly reduce the chance of head injuries if they wear padded helmets and use safe tackling and blocking techniques, according to Rutgers researchers. The study was published in the journal Neurosurgery. With youth players representing 70 percent of all amateur and professional football participants, attention is turning to the safety of…