Programming electronic health records to make generic drugs the default choice when physicians write prescriptions may offer one way to reduce unnecessary spending and improve health care value in the face of spiraling U.S.

Anna Duerr ・November 17, 2014

Most patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs)—small devices placed in a person’s chest to help treat irregular heartbeats with electrical pulses, or shocks—haven’t thought about device deactivation if they were to develop a serious illness from which they were not expected to recover.  But given changes in healthcare, there may be a new reason to do so.  A n

Anna Duerr ・November 17, 2014

Black patients who have been diagnosed with heart failure are no less likely than white patients to get atrial fibrillation (an irregular heartbeat, or arrhythmia), according to a new study led by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, which was presented today at the 201

Anna Duerr ・November 17, 2014

Members of the public in counties with higher median household incomes are more likely to step into action to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, when they witness someone have a cardiac arrest, according to a new study led by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Anna Duerr ・November 17, 2014

Members of the public in counties with higher median household incomes are more likely to step into action to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, when they witness someone have a cardiac arrest, according to a new study led by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Anna Duerr ・November 16, 2014

Those experiencing psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis are at higher risk for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and cardiovascular death, according to a multi-institutional study led by Penn Medicine researchers published online last month in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Greg Richter ・November 13, 2014

In multiple sclerosis, the immune system goes rogue, improperly attacking the body’s own central nervous system. Mobility problems and cognitive impairments may arise as the nerve cells become damaged.

Katherine Unger Baillie ・November 11, 2014

Oncology researchers studying gene mutations in the childhood cancer neuroblastoma are refining their diagnostic tools to predict which patients are more likely to respond to drugs called ALK inhibitors that target such mutations. Removing some of the guesswork in diagnosis and treatment, the researchers say, may lead to more successful outcomes for children with this often-deadly cancer.

Karen Kreeger ・November 10, 2014