Health

An international team of researchers led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has grown ‘miniature kidneys’ in the laboratory that could be used to better understand how kidney diseases develop in individual patients. The mini kidneys, known as kidney organoids, were grown outside the body from skin cells derived from a single patient who...

Researchers at Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University created decision models capable of predicting which patients might need more treatment for their depression than what their primary care provider can offer. The algorithms were specifically designed to provide information the clinician can act on and fit into existing clinical workflows. Depression is the most commonly occurring...

First study to demonstrate relationship between green space and mental wellbeing at an individual level published Using data from 25,518 people, the researchers show that Londoners who live within 300m of green space have significantly better mental wellbeing Proximity to green space was more important than lifestyle factors such as employment, income, and general health....

Voters may form false memories after seeing fabricated news stories, especially if those stories align with their political beliefs, according to research in Psychological Science. The research was conducted in the week preceding the 2018 referendum on legalizing abortion in Ireland, but the researchers suggest that fake news is likely to have similar effects in...

People who frequent electronic dance music (EDM) parties often use multiple drugs simultaneously and experience adverse effects with some ending up in the emergency department, say researchers at New York University School of Medicine and Rutgers University. The study, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, is the first to survey adverse effects associated with...

In a first-ever randomized trial, patients at a short-term inpatient program began long-term outpatient treatment with buprenorphine before discharge, with better outcomes than detox patients. Three out of four people who complete an inpatient opioid withdrawal management program–commonly known as “detox”–relapse within a month, leading to a “revolving door” effect. Few successfully transition from the...

Patients are positively influenced by hospital advertising. Older patients and those with more restrictive forms of insurance are less sensitive to ads. Wealthy patients and patients who live far from a hospital respond well to advertising. A blanket ban on hospital advertising can lead to hospital readmissions. Should hospital advertising be banned? A few policymakers...

A research study into New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) – formerly referred to as ‘legal highs’ – provides new evidence about why young people were attracted to the drugs, and the health and social risks associated with taking them. The study was carried out by an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Queen’s University Belfast. The research...

Biomedical engineers at The University of Texas at Austin may have found a way for people to get better shuteye. Systematic review protocols — a method used to search for and analyze relevant data — allowed researchers to analyze thousands of studies linking water-based passive body heating, or bathing and showering with warm/hot water, with...

Virtually every day, millions of children and adolescents are being bombarded by sexually explicit direct-to-consumer advertising, despite pharmaceutical CEOs’ claims to the contrary. Leading business ethicist Denis Arnold from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte co-authored the study, “Self-Regulation in the Pharmaceutical Industry: The Exposure of Children and Adolescents to Erectile Dysfunction Commercials,” published...