Health Sciences

Penn Study Shows Hospital Nurses Dissatisfied With Health Benefits

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found that nearly 41 per cent of nurses working in American hospitals and health-care settings were dissatisfied with their health-care benefits.  The figure is more than double that of nurses working in other settings and indicates broad-based disincentives for attracting nurses to work at the bedside.

Joy McIntyre

Immune Cells Protect Body from Invaders, According to Penn Researchers

PHILADELPHIA - So-called barrier sites -- the skin, gut, lung – limit the inner body’s exposure to allergens, pollutants, viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Understanding how the immune system works in these external surfaces has implications for understanding such inflammatory diseases as asthma, psoriasis, IBD, and food allergies, all of which occur at the body’s barriers.

Karen Kreeger

New Study from Penn Medicine: Antidepressant Use Reduced Hot Flashes in Menopausal Women

“Our findings suggest that among healthy women who were not depressed or anxious, a 10 to 20 milligram dose of escitalopram – which is well below the dosage level for psychiatric use – provides a nonhormonal, off-label option that is effective and well-tolerated in the management of menopausal hot flashes,” said Elle

Olivia Fermano

Researchers Uncover New Gene for Heart Failure in Caucasians

Nearly five million Americans live with heart failure, with as many as 700,000 new cases diagnosed each year. In addition to lifestyle factors, scientists have shown that heart failure has a strong heritable component, but identifying the responsible genes has been a major challenge.

Jessica Mikulski



In the News


Fortune

California declares a state of emergency as a new severe bird flu case was discovered. What it means for the rest of the country

Scott Hensley of the Perelman School of Medicine says the latest H5N1 bird flu strain might have a greater potential to adapt and cause severe disease in humans.

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The New York Times

Is protein powder a scam?

Colleen Tewksbury of the School of Nursing and Perelman School of Medicine says that the vast majority of people in the U.S. already get enough protein from the foods they eat and don’t need to take it in supplement form.

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NPR

For kids with rare genetic disorders, customized CRISPR treatments offer hope

Scientists at Penn are trying to develop a template for groups of rare conditions that are similar enough to be affected by a single, easily adaptable gene-editing treatment.

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Today

I’m an orthopedist. Seven things I never do to keep my muscle and bones healthy

Samir Mehta of the Perelman School of Medicine says that older adults playing sports need to understand who their competition is and make sure they’re playing with people who are at the appropriate level.

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Runner’s World

These 10 expert-backed tips will help boost your running recovery

John Vasudevan of the Perelman School of Medicine offers tips to boost recovery from a running workout, such as making sure the breathing rate is increased enough to be properly warmed up.

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