Studies and Analyses

New studies by an international team of scientists led by Joslin Diabetes Center have found variations in a gene that help explain why people with type 2 diabetes are at much greater risk for coronary artery disease, the leading cause of death for this group.
“We now have potential gene markers to help identify diabetes patients at increased risk for heart disease,” said Alessandro Doria, M.D., Ph.D., Investigator in Joslin’s Genetics and Epidemiology research section, Director of Josli

Sinusitis and bronchitis take a significant toll on a person’s ability to participate in everyday life and have a sizable economic impact, accounting for more than 30 million missed workdays each year, according to survey results released by Berrylin J. Ferguson, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.O.A., associate professor of otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Both of these bacterial infections occur most frequently during the cold and flu season – November through Januar

The first study of the patient’s perspective on errors in medicine may have health care professional rethinking what is important to their patients.

The study, published in the Annals of Family Medicine, suggests that patients are more disturbed with lack of access to and relationships with their physicians than technical errors in diagnosis and treatment.

Although much has been written about medical errors since the controversial To Err is Human: Building A Safer He

University of Illinois at Chicago researchers are comparing two drugs used to treat pediatric bipolar disorder patients to evaluate how the drugs affect brain function in children with the disorder.

“More and more clinicians are using second generation anti-psychotics to treat children with bipolar disorder, but there are no randomized controlled trials of these medications,” said Dr. Mani Pavuluri, director of the Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinic at UIC and principal investiga

A study conducted by researchers at Case Western Reserve University found that patients who used a relaxation technique, called “systematic relaxation,” experienced a substantial decrease in pain after undergoing surgery. The systemic relaxation technique, which consists of sequentially relaxing each major muscle group in the body, was shown to improve comfort by more than 50 percent compared to patients not using the technique. Patients in the study could also request pain medication.

A new study that will look at 50,000 sisters of women diagnosed with breast cancer opened today for enrollment across the United States. The Sister Study, conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, will investigate environmental and genetic causes of breast cancer. The Sister Study is the largest study of its kind to look at breast cancer risk factors.

Women of all backgrounds and ethnic groups are elig