ScienceDaily: Living Well News

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• Mysterious polio-like illness found in five California children
• Climate change won't reduce deaths in winter, British study concludes
• Acupuncture holds promise for treating inflammatory disease
• Reducing HIV transmission among drug injectors lowers AIDS mortality in heterosexuals
• Correctional officer stress studied: Conflicts between work, family life common
• Rural primary care physicians are committed to professionalism, quality improvement
• Red meat allergies likely result of lone star tick
• Color vision problems become more common with age, study shows
• Hypnosis therapy shown to decrease fatigue levels in breast cancer patients
• Gaps in inpatient psychiatry for Ontario youth, study concludes
• Chronic fatigue syndrome: The male disorder that became a female disorder
• Public defibrillator shortage helping to boost heart attack deaths away from hospital
• Patient consent to research not always necessary, bioethicists say
• HPV vaccination associated with reduced risk of cervical lesions in Denmark
• Insurance status may influence transfer decisions in trauma cases, study reveals
• Zoonotic feline tularemia prevented by finding influential geospatial factors

Mysterious polio-like illness found in five California children Posted: 23 Feb 2014 06:51 PM PST Researchers have identified a polio-like syndrome in a cluster of children from California over a one-year period, according to a case report released. Polio is a contagious disease that sometimes caused paralysis. The United States experienced a polio epidemic in the 1950s, until a vaccine was introduced. The five children experienced paralysis of one or more arms or legs that came on suddenly and reached the height of its severity within two days of onset. Three of the children had a respiratory illness before the symptoms began. All of the children had been previously vaccinated against poliovirus. The children were treated but their symptoms did not improve and they still had poor limb function after six months.

Climate change won't reduce deaths in winter, British study concludes Posted: 23 Feb 2014 10:17 AM PST Climate change is unlikely to reduce the United Kingdom's excess winter death rate, which was a previous hypothesis. The study debunks the widely held view that warmer winters will cut the number of deaths normally seen at the coldest time of year. The study found that from 1951 to 1971, the number of cold winter days was strongly linked to death rates, while from 1971 to 1991, both the number of cold days and flu activity were responsible for increased death rates. However, their analysis showed that from 1991 to 2011, flu activity alone was the main cause in year to year variation in winter mortality.

Acupuncture holds promise for treating inflammatory disease Posted: 23 Feb 2014 10:16 AM PST Electroacupuncture may reduce inflammation that causes sepsis death, a recent study has shown. This research shows physical evidence of acupuncture's value beyond any that has been demonstrated before, and also shows potential benefits not just for sepsis, but for treating other inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and Crohn's disease. While investigating acupuncture mechanisms, the researchers also have determined that fenoldopam, a dopamine receptor agonist, also shows promise as a pharmaceutical sepsis treatment.

Reducing HIV transmission among drug injectors lowers AIDS mortality in heterosexuals Posted: 21 Feb 2014 09:57 AM PST A recent study sheds light on the pathways connecting HIV epidemics in different populations, concluding that programs for people who use drugs -- like syringe exchange, HIV counseling and testing, and drug abuse treatment -- are associated with subsequent lower rates of AIDS incidence and death among heterosexuals. The study also highlights a link between racial/ethnic residential segregation and rates of AIDS incidence and mortality among heterosexuals and points to evidence pairing social causations like income inequality with mortality.

Correctional officer stress studied: Conflicts between work, family life common Posted: 20 Feb 2014 08:25 AM PST Conflicts between work and family life were the most significant issues that affect work stress and job satisfaction among correctional officers, a new study has found. As a result of the study, pointers have been published by the authors to help correctional officers reduce stress, from maintaining a healthy eating and exercise regime, to reducing drug and alcohol intake and getting enough sleep.

Rural primary care physicians are committed to professionalism, quality improvement Posted: 20 Feb 2014 08:25 AM PST Although studies show the quality of care delivered to rural patients is as good or better than that available in urban areas, the belief persists that top-quality primary care is only available in big cities. Now a new study finds few meaningful differences between rural and urban primary care physicians on key measures of professionalism, including their attitudes about participation in quality care improvement.

Red meat allergies likely result of lone star tick Posted: 20 Feb 2014 07:27 AM PST Lone star tick bites are likely the cause of thousands of cases of severe red meat allergies that are plaguing patients in Southeastern United States including Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia and spreading up the Eastern Seaboard along with the deer population. The allergy can cause hives and swelling, as well as broader symptoms of anaphylaxis including vomiting, diarrhea, trouble breathing, and a drop in blood pressure. Persons with the allergy can go into a delayed anaphylactic shock four-six hours after eating red meat.

Color vision problems become more common with age, study shows Posted: 20 Feb 2014 07:26 AM PST Abnormal color vision increases significantly with aging -— affecting one-half or more of people in the oldest age groups, reports a study. While few people younger than 70 have problems with color vision, the rate increases rapidly through later decades of life, with the majority of problems encountered with the blue-yellow colors.

Hypnosis therapy shown to decrease fatigue levels in breast cancer patients Posted: 20 Feb 2014 05:33 AM PST Breast cancer patients receiving radiotherapy showed decreased fatigue as a result of cognitive behavioral therapy plus hypnosis, according to a study. The average patient in a treatment group had less fatigue than 79 percent of patients in a control group at the end of radiotherapy. Six months after the end of radiotherapy, the average patient in a treatment group had less fatigue than 95 percent of patients in a control group.

Gaps in inpatient psychiatry for Ontario youth, study concludes Posted: 20 Feb 2014 05:33 AM PST A first of its kind benchmarking survey was used to evaluate the state of inpatient psychiatry settings and services for youth at hospitals across Ontario. On average, the province's services are comparable to other settings internationally, helping youth with the most severe and complex mental health problems, but also show similar signs of inconsistency across settings in the types and quality of inpatient care.

Chronic fatigue syndrome: The male disorder that became a female disorder Posted: 20 Feb 2014 05:31 AM PST Previously long-term fatigue was considered a male disorder caused by societal pressures. Today women comprise the majority of these patients, and they feel that their condition is their own fault. Not only has the fatigued patient changed gender. Previously doctors believed that long-term fatigue was a neurological, physical disorder, while today it is categorized primarily as psychological in nature. And while in the past, society was thought to be the cause of the disorder, today the individual is supposedly to blame.

Public defibrillator shortage helping to boost heart attack deaths away from hospital Posted: 19 Feb 2014 05:52 PM PST The restricted availability of defibrillators, and poor understanding of how to use them, are helping to boost the number of deaths from heart attacks occurring outside hospitals, suggests a study of one English county. This is despite several campaigns to increase the numbers of these life-saving devices in public places, and the acknowledgement of the importance of their role in the English government's Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy, published last March, say the authors.

Patient consent to research not always necessary, bioethicists say Posted: 19 Feb 2014 02:31 PM PST Under the right conditions, full informed consent is not ethically required for some types of health research, according to a commentary from leading bioethics experts. The position is a considerable break from ethics principles that have guided research ethics and regulation for decades. The commentary addresses two concepts generating debate in the healthcare and bioethics fields: the idea of learning healthcare systems, and randomized comparative effectiveness research, in which patients are randomly assigned to different, widely used treatments for their condition.

HPV vaccination associated with reduced risk of cervical lesions in Denmark Posted: 19 Feb 2014 01:28 PM PST A reduced risk of cervical lesions among Danish girls and women at the population level is associated with use of a quadrivalent HPV vaccine after only six years, according to a new study.

Insurance status may influence transfer decisions in trauma cases, study reveals Posted: 19 Feb 2014 01:28 PM PST Emergency rooms are less likely to transfer critically injured patients to trauma centers if they have health insurance, according to a new study. The counterintuitive finding suggests that insured patients are more at risk for receiving sub-optimal trauma care than uninsured patients are. The researchers found that insured patients initially taken to a non-trauma center had a 13 to 15 percent higher rate of admission — and were likely at risk for receiving worse care — than uninsured patients.

Zoonotic feline tularemia prevented by finding influential geospatial factors Posted: 19 Feb 2014 09:45 AM PST An epidemiologist is helping cats, pet owners and soldiers stay healthy by researching feline tularemia. Researchers have found that a certain combination of climate, physical environment and socio-ecologic conditions are behind tularemia infections among cats in their region. More than 50 percent of all tularemia cases in the U.S. occur in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Francisella tularensis, a bacterium that causes tularemia, commonly circulates among ticks, rabbits and rodents in the wild, but also frequently infects domestic cats. Tularemia is a zoonotic disease that can spread to humans through ticks or insect bites, eating undercooked rabbit meat, close contact with infected animals or even through airborne means. If left untreated, it can cause death in humans and animals.

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