Social Sciences

PHILADELPHIA – An important clinical repercussion in the treatment of epilepsy has been discovered by a research team led by Scott Mintzer, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Neurology and the Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. The team has determined that two of the most commonly prescribed anti-seizure medications may lead to significantly increased levels of cholesterol, C-reactive protein and other markers of cardiovascular disease risk. The finding – set to be published in the March 18th online edition of…

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Scientists are closer to understanding which proteins help control blood sugar, or glucose, during and after exercise. This understanding could lead to new drug therapies or more effective exercise to prevent Type 2 diabetes and other health problems associated with having high blood sugar. Insulin resistance happens when insulin produced by the body doesn't properly stimulate the transport of glucose into the cells for energy. Too much glucose in the bloodstream can cause a host of medical problems, including Type 2 diabetes, said Gregory Cartee, professor at the…

Millions more patients could benefit from taking statins, drugs typically used to prevent heart attacks and strokes, than current prescribing guidelines suggest, Johns Hopkins doctors report in a new study. Doctors have long known that statins can help prevent subsequent heart attacks and strokes in patients who have already had one of these cardiovascular events. Additionally, statins have been shown to have a protective effect for patients who haven't yet had a heart attack or stroke but are at high risk for developing cardiovascular disease. Consequently, doctors currently prescribe…

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- To look at Matthew Houdek, you could never tell he was born with virtually no left ear. A surgery at Loyola University Health System made it possible for Houdek to be fitted with a prosthetic ear that looks just like the real thing. Ear-nose-throat surgeon Dr. Sam Marzo implanted three small metal screws in the side of Houdek's head. Each screw is fitted with a magnet, and magnetic attraction holds the prosthetic ear in place. It takes only a few seconds for Houdek to put his prosthetic ear on in the morning and take it off when he showers or goes to bed. It doesn't fall off…

Screening for prostate cancer can reduce deaths by 20%, according to the results of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) published online 1700 hours CET, today 18 March (NEJM, Online First*). ERSPC is the world's largest prostate cancer screening study and provides robust, independently audited evidence, for the first time, of the effect of screening on prostate cancer mortality. The study commenced in the early 1990s involving eight countries – Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland - with an overall follow-up of up to 12…

Photodetectors -- devices found in cell phones, digital cameras and other consumer gadgets that utilize photoconducting materials -- are a green technology in performance (converting light into electricity), but the manufacture of very powerful photodetectors needs to be improved before they can qualify for solid green status. This is especially true if photoconducting materials are to be widely used for producing solar energy. Northwestern University researchers have designed a high-performing photoconducting material that uses zinc oxide -- an environmentally friendly inorganic compound…

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- A new vaccine has the potential to be the first to prevent maternal and congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, according to a University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) study published in the March 19 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. Each year in the US, nearly 30,000 babies are born with congenital CMV, the most common virus transmitted by a pregnant woman to her unborn child, and nearly 8,000 of these children suffer permanent hearing, cognitive or motor impairments. Although the first vaccine trials for CMV took place nearly 30 years ago, an…

ATLANTA— Although paying finder's fees to researchers and clinicians to identify study participants could compromise the recruitment process and harm human lives, many medical schools fail to address this conflict of interest in their Institutional Review Board (IRB) policies. Leslie Wolf, an associate professor of law at Georgia State University, studied the IRB policies posted on the Web sites of 117 medical schools that received National Institutes of Health funding. Among the study's findings, Wolf revealed that less than half of the IRB policies discuss finder's fees or bonus payments…

Being satisfied with one's appearance is one of the most important prerequisites for a positive self image. However, in today's appearance culture it is the rule rather than the exception that children and young people are dissatisfied with their appearance. Those children who are teased or subject to bullying are particularly critical of their appearance - and they tend to be this way over a long period. This is revealed in a new thesis in psychology from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. In her thesis Carolina Lunde has followed almost 1,000 children between the ages of 10 and 14. The…

Athens, Ga. – A new study by psychologists at the University of Georgia shows for the first time that whites' beliefs about diversity can hurt or help their minority peers. The large-scale survey results, just published in the online version of the journal Psychological Science, reveal that minority employees feel less committed to their work when white employees promote "colorblindness." Yet when white workers champion multiculturalism, the research finds, their minority peers feel more connected to their jobs. "Contrary to popular beliefs, workplaces that downplay racial and ethnic…