Welcome to Pocket Science: a glimpse at recent research from Husker scientists and engineers. For those who want to quickly learn the “What,” “So what” and “Now what” of Husker research.
As we enter the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere and the possibility of extreme heat becomes more common, it’s important to stay up-to-date on the science of heat waves and take measures to protect ourselves from this growing public health threat.
Whether it’s a lack of appropriate services, time or simply a ‘she’ll be right’ approach, farmers often face many barriers when it comes to seeking health care, say researchers at the University of South Australia.
Women are less willing to take risks than men because they are more sensitive to the pain of any losses they might incur than any gains they might make, new research from the University of Bath School of Management shows.
Patients receiving neuromuscular blocking medications as part of their anesthetic regimen should be carefully monitored to ensure the best care and outcomes, according to recent—and independently developed—guidelines from the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC). Today, the organizations published a joint letter in Anesthesiology, ASA’s peer-reviewed medical journal, encouraging widespread implementation of the recommendations in the guidelines.
New research suggests that the immune system’s ability to respond to spinal cord injuries diminishes with age – and identifies potential avenues to improve that response and help patients heal.
One of the core symptoms experienced by patients with fibromyalgia is chronic pain. A team from the LWL Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, has investigated the brain changes that are related to the disorder.
For patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA), a combination of intravenous and periarticular corticosteroids does not improve pain control – but, may improve key indicators of functional recovery in the days after surgery, reports a trial in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio in partnership with Wolters Kluwer.
The mental distress of cognitive dissonance – encountering information that conflicts with how we act or what we believe – can lead to added pressure on the neck and low back during lifting and lowering tasks, new research suggests.
A team of engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder has designed a new class of tiny, self-propelled robots that can zip through liquid at incredible speeds—and may one day even deliver prescription drugs to hard-to-reach places inside the human body.
The biology underpinning a rare genetic mutation that allows its carrier to live virtually pain-free, heal more rapidly and experience reduced anxiety and fear, has been uncovered by new research from UCL.
With the current trend of fitness consciousness, many people have taken up long-distance running as a part of their exercise regime. They also participate in various local, national, and global marathons.
Researchers at the University of Warwick and The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough have led a clinical trial, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), on a new treatment which can help people stop needing to use opioid painkillers to manage chronic pain.
Study estimates there will be over 800 million cases of low back pain in 2050, a 36 percent increase from 2020. With an ageing population, researchers say we must ‘put the brakes’ on low back pain cases before the burden becomes too great for our healthcare system.
Title 42, the United States pandemic rule that had been used to immediately deport hundreds of thousands of migrants who crossed the border illegally over the last three years, has expired. Those migrants will have the opportunity to apply for asylum. President Biden's new rules to replace Title 42 are facing legal challenges. Border crossings have already risen sharply, as many migrants attempt to cross before the measure expires on Thursday night. Some have said they worry about tighter controls and uncertainty ahead. Immigration is once again a major focus of the media as we examine the humanitarian, political, and public health issues migrants must go through.
According to a new Johns Hopkins Medicine study, low pain self-efficacy can predict daily pre-surgery prescribed opioid use among patients seeking elective spine surgery.
In Sörmland, Sweden, music therapy is offered as a method of treatment for people living with chronic pain. Currently, the effects of what is known as the FMT method are being investigated through a research project at Mälardalen University (MDU).
A group led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and University of Alabama at Birmingham took on the challenge of investigating the process that leads to neuropathy with the goal of identifying strategies to prevent or control it.
Prostate cancer frequently metastasizes to the bone and is incurable. Moffitt Cancer Center researchers are working to identify new treatment options for this subset of patients. In a new article published today in Science Advances, a team of Moffitt scientists demonstrates that chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapy is an effective antitumor approach in mouse models of bone metastatic prostate cancer.
Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey’s largest and most comprehensive health network, announced that nationally recognized orthopedic surgeons are partnering with the network to launch Orthopedic Specialists of New Jersey.
Strategies to treat pain without triggering dangerous side effects such as euphoria and addiction have proven elusive. Now scientists at Washington University School of Medicine have identified a potential pathway to pain relief that neither triggers addiction nor causes hallucinations.
For millions of Americans that suffer from seasonal allergies (pollen and mold), climate change is exacerbating an earlier, longer, and overall worse allergy season.
Cancer patients who use cannabis to address their symptoms have less pain and sleep better, according to new University of Colorado Boulder research. But they also experience another, unexpected, benefit: After a few weeks of sustained use, they seem to think more clearly.
Young women who experience a heart attack have more adverse outcomes and are more likely to end up back in the hospital compared to men of a similar age in the year following discharge. According to a study, second heart attack and chest pain due to the heart are the most common causes of rehospitalization, but non-cardiac hospitalizations showed the most significant disparity.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine say they have evidence from a new study in rats that spinal cord stimulation (SCS) may be useful in reducing chronic pain in people undergoing active treatment with a common anti-cancer drug.
A pilot study conducted at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) shows evidence that a mid-calf nerve block is a safe and effective regional anesthetic option for foot and ankle surgeries and may enable faster recovery of motor function of the ankle joint compared with a popliteal block. These findings were presented at the 2023 Spring American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) Annual Meeting.
In a study conducted at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), researchers found that the use of peripheral nerve blocks in total knee and total hip arthroplasty were associated with a consistent reduction in risk for postoperative complications in patients with a lower comorbidity burden. In particular, the most consistent reduction in risk of complications and use of hospital resources was in older patients with no comorbidity burden. These findings were presented at the 2023 Spring American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) Annual Meeting and were acknowledged as one of the President’s Choice Abstracts.1
Researcher will discuss the study which involved a sleeping aid known as suvorexant that is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for insomnia, hints at the potential of sleep medications to slow or stop the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
A study, led by University of Oregon neuroscientist Shawn Lockery, points to worms as a useful tool for understanding more about the many roles that cannabinoids naturally play in the body. And it could help researchers develop better drugs that target this system.
The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) recently announced that it has selected 58 distinguished leaders in the profession of nurse anesthesiology as candidates to be inducted into its 2023 Class of Fellows. The inductees will be recognized for their significant contributions to the profession at the AANA Annual Congress, taking place on Aug. 18-22 in Seattle, Washington.
قد يكون لاستخدام الأدوية أفيونية المفعول التي تُصرف بوصفة طبية تأثير سلبي على الوظائف الإدراكية لدى البالغين الأكبر سنًا، وذلك وفقًا لدراسة حديثة أجرتها مايو كلينك، نُشرت في مجلة الجمعية الأمريكية لطب الشيخوخة.
El uso de la prescripción de opioides puede tener un efecto negativo en la función cognitiva de los adultos mayores de acuerdo con un estudio reciente de Mayo Clinic publicado en la revista de la Sociedad Estadounidense de Geriatría.
A study has found that ketamine may be more helpful in preventing postoperative pain among a subset of patients with a higher tendency toward central sensitization as measured by TSP (temporal summation of pain).
A retrospective chart review found a 3.7% occurrence rate of transient neurologic symptoms (TNS) in patients receiving 1.5% mepivacaine during Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP) surgery and suggested a possible association of TNS development with quicker procedures, smaller prostates, lithotomy positioning, and younger age.
Using two targeted injections of local anesthetic medication may provide a comprehensive, effective means of pain control during breast cancer surgery, found a study by researchers at Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
A review of medical literature found that infections following epidural and spinal blocks are rare. Infections following peripheral nerve block catheters are more common but have been less frequently studied; this may necessitate a review of patient and procedural aspects to lower the risk associated with these procedures.