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Health Sciences
Penn Medicine Analysis Shows that One-Third of Americans Do Not Have Access to Stroke Center Within One Hour
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States, but access to rapid EMS care and appropriate stroke care centers with the ability to deliver acute stroke therapies can drastically mitigate the debilitating effects of a stroke. A population-based approach to health planning would prevent disparities in access to specialized stroke care, says new Penn Medicine research.
Penn Scientists Describe the Function of an Enzyme Critical to Male Fertility
Researchers are one step closer to unraveling the extraordinarily complex series of processes that lead to an event crucial to human reproduction: the creation of sperm.
Twitter Chatter Predicts Health Insurance Marketplace Enrollment, Penn Study Shows
An increase in Twitter sentiment (the positivity or negativity of tweets) is associated with an increase in state-level enrollment in the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) health insurance marketplaces — a phenomenon that points to use of the social media platform as a real-time gauge of public opinion and provides a way for marketplaces to quickly identify enrollment changes and emerging issues.
Penn Medicine: Gorilla Origins of the Last Two AIDS Virus Lineages Confirmed
Two of the four known groups of human AIDS viruses (HIV-1 groups O and P) have originated in western lowland gorillas, according to an international team of scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Montpellier, the University of Edinburgh, and others.
Penn Surgeon Makes Life-saving Donation to Ukrainian Children’s Hospital
By Madeleine Stone @themadstone
Prescription Drug-Induced Liver Failure is Uncommon; Over-the-Counter Medications and Dietary/Herbal Supplements are Most Common Causes, Penn Study Finds
Drug-induced acute liver failure is uncommon, and over-the-counter medications and dietary and herbal supplements -- not prescription drugs -- are its most common causes, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The findings are published in the current issue of Gastroenterology.
Successful Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Youth Leads to Decreased Thinking about Suicide, Penn Medicine Study Finds
Penn Medicine researchers found that patients who did not respond to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety in childhood had more chronic and enduring patterns of suicidal ideation at 7 to 19 years after treatment. This study adds to the literature that suggests that successful CBT for childhood anxiety confers long-term benefits. The complete study is available in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
Penn Vet Researchers Identify Effective Treatment for Niemann Pick Type C
Niemann Pick Disease type C, or NPC, is a disease most people have never heard of, affecting just one person in 150,000. Yet the disease is a devastating one. Frequently diagnosed in children in their elementary school years, sufferers usually die by the time they’re 20.
Penn Medicine Physician Finds No Preventive Benefits for Widely Used Kidney Cancer Drugs
Two widely used targeted therapy drugs— approved by the FDA for use in metastatic kidney cancer —are no more effective than a placebo in preventing return of the disease to increase life spans of patients suffering from advanced kidney cancer after surgery, according to new results to be presented by a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania’s
Eczema Medication Unlikely to Increase Risk of Cancer in Children, Penn Team Finds
The topical eczema medicine pimecrolimus appears unlikely to be associated with an increased risk of cancer in children, based on a group of children who were followed for 10 years, according to study published online this week in JAMA Dermatology.
In the News
Bird flu suspected in deaths of 200 snow geese in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley
Stephen Cole of the School of Veterinary Medicine says that indoor cats are contracting bird flu through raw pet foods of poultry origin or raw milk products.
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The surgeon general calls for new warning labels on alcohol—here’s the truth about how it impacts your health
Henry Kranzler of the Perelman School of Medicine says that alcohol’s effects on the brain are observed more readily because it’s the organ of behavior.
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Tuberculosis rates plunge when families living in poverty get a monthly cash payout
Aaron Richterman of the Perelman School of Medicine says that there are large and underappreciated benefits of cash-transfer programs, such as potentially ending a tuberculosis epidemic.
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Cancer breakthrough as ‘speckles’ may reveal best treatment
A paper co-authored by PIK Professor Shelley Berger finds that patterns of “speckles” in the heart of tumor cells could help predict how patients with a common form of kidney cancer will respond to treatment options.
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Scientists are racing to develop a new bird flu vaccine
Drew Weissman and Scott Hensley of the Perelman School of Medicine are testing a vaccine to prevent a strain of H5N1 bird flu in chickens and cattle.
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