Many antibiotic substitutions for self-reported penicillin allergies likely unnecessary

Hospitalized patients who report an allergy to penicillin are often prescribed alternative antibiotics for infection that can be harmful, even though diagnostic testing or evaluations would show that the vast majority of these reported allergies could be disproven, according to researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital. In a national study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the…

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Study asks who’s playing ‘hard-to-get’ and who’s attracted by the ploy

LAWRENCE — Playing “hard-to-get” is an age-old gambit for dating and mating, familiar to moviegoers, readers of literature and any admirer who’s ever been “left on read.” Research just published in the peer-reviewed journal Personality and Individual Differences looks at the psychological underpinnings of making yourself seem more desirable by withholding obvious signs of romantic…

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For cardiac rehab patients, in-home portable air cleaners lower fine-particle pollutant exposure

June 30, 2020 – Using an in-home portable air cleaner (PAC) can significantly reduce exposure to fine-particle air pollutants – a major risk factor for cardiovascular events in people with pre-existing heart disease, reports a pilot study in the July issue of Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention. The journal is published in the Lippincott…

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COVID-19 causes ‘hyperactivity’ in blood-clotting cells

Changes in blood platelets triggered by COVID-19 could contribute to the onset of heart attacks, strokes, and other serious complications in some patients who have the disease, according to University of Utah Health scientists. The researchers found that inflammatory proteins produced during infection significantly alter the function of platelets, making them “hyperactive” and more prone…

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MIPT bioinformaticians find way to personalize drug prescription against stomach cancer

Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and their colleagues have developed the first technique for personalizing stomach cancer therapy based on RNA sequencing of tumor cells. The study, supported by the Russian Science Foundation, was published in Cold Spring Harbor Molecular Case Studies. Stomach cancer is the fifth-deadliest oncological disease. It is…

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