Studies and Analyses

New technology has allowed researchers from the University of Chicago to measure, for the first time, how closely well-trained hospital staff comply with established guidelines for cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The results reveal room for improvement.

In the 19 January 2005 issue of JAMA, the researchers show that, even in the hospital setting, chest compressions during CPR are often too slow, too shallow and too frequently interrupted, and ventilation rates are usually

According to conventional wisdom, old dogs and new tricks aren’t a good match. But a new study of beagles finds that regular physical activity, mental stimulation, and a diet rich in antioxidants can help keep aging canine–and perhaps human–brains in tip-top shape. The research, supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is among the first to examine the combined effects of these interventions and suggests that diet and mental e

Infertility prevents roughly 6.1 million people in the United States from having children. As a result, infertile individuals and couples commonly seek to become parents through assisted reproductive technology (ART). Since 1981, approximately 177,000 babies have been born via ART: and, in one year alone (2000), some 100,000 cycles of ART were attempted, resulting in 60,253 live births. Beyond the factors of infertility and a candidate’s ability to afford treatment, little is known about the qual

Researchers led by a Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School team found that wheezing — a key physiological component of asthma — requires the interaction of genes in several locations. The work, involving multiple independent verification, demonstrates the complexity of the genetic predisposition to asthma.

The study, “Interacting genetic loci cause airway hyperresponsiveness,” appears online in Physiological Genomics, published by the American Physiological

Researchers have found that a single mutation in a recently discovered Parkinson’s disease gene is responsible for 5 percent of inherited Parkinson’s disease cases. The finding opens the door to the possibility of genetic screening for the LRRK2 gene mutation, which is believed to be the most common genetic cause of inherited Parkinson’s disease identified to date.

The study, conducted by William C. Nichols, PhD, a geneticist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital M

Combination of behavioral enrichment and antioxidant supplementation in diet reveal clear-cut benefits

A new study of beagles led by researchers at the University of Toronto at Scarborough underscores the importance of using a combination of diet and behaviour therapies to curb the progressive decline in the ability to learn that occurs with advanced aging. “We were really surprised just how clear-cut the benefit is of using a combined therapy,” says lead investigator and psycho