A new study found that expanding health coverage to people without it leads to demonstrable improvements in health, particularly for those with heart disease or diabetes. Uninsured adults who gained Medicare coverage had 10 fewer major cardiac complications by age 72 compared to expected.
The study found that anthracycline-based chemotherapy improves disease-free and overall survival rates more than non-anthracycline-based regimens for women with HER2-positive tumors. However, the treatment showed no significant benefit for patients with HER2-negative breast cancer.
Cancer risk increases with age, yet elderly nursing home residents receive relatively few cancer care services. According to a recent study, only 28% of patients with late-stage cancer received hospice care, highlighting the need for further investigation into cancer care in this population.
Travelers to tropical regions are at risk of contracting neglected tropical diseases, including filarial infections that can cause elephantiasis and river blindness. The GeoSentinel Surveillance Network collected data on traveler diagnoses, revealing immigrants from endemic regions were most likely to acquire these infections.
A new screening strategy has been developed to detect Chagas disease in children, which could lead to improved diagnosis and treatment in low-resource settings. The strategy uses data from insecticide spraying campaigns to target diagnostic testing, identifying over 83% of infected children.
A mutation in the dynein protein may cause inherited neuropathy by disrupting cargo transport in sensory nerve cells, leading to severe proprioception defects and early-onset locomotion problems. This study provides crucial clues for developing better treatments for peripheral neuropathy.
Researchers identified brain regions that fire up more when people make impulsive decisions, a key finding linking thinking patterns to addiction. The study suggests raising dopamine levels may be an effective treatment for addiction, offering new approach to therapy and potential subtypes of alcoholics.
A genetic mutation known to affect Ashkenazi Jewish breast cancer patients is also prevalent among Hispanic and young African-American women. Research found that 3.5% of Hispanic women had the BRCA1 mutation, while 16.7% of African-American women under 35 did so.
Breast cancer patients who received tamoxifen or chemotherapy had a reduced risk of developing a second cancer in the other breast. Chemotherapy was associated with a 43% risk reduction, lasting up to 10 years, while tamoxifen use resulted in a 34% risk reduction that persisted for five years.
Researchers found that omega-3 fatty acid DHA increases LR11 production, protecting against Alzheimer's disease. Low levels of LR11 lead to toxic plaques associated with the disease.
Large numbers of poor Americans are suffering from parasitic infections like toxocariasis, cysticercosis, and toxoplasmosis. These neglected diseases disproportionately affect minority populations living in inner cities and poor rural areas, causing significant health issues such as lung disease, epilepsy, and congenital birth defects.