A study of dry eye sufferers who inserted a handheld neurostimulator device in their nose to make their eyes produce more tears experienced significant relief from their disease, according to research presented at AAO 2017, the 121st Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The device gives patients a new, drug-free alternative to lubricating [...]
Children who are considered to be at risk of developing eye cancer should receive genetic counselling and testing as soon as possible to clarify risk for the disease. This is the consensus of leading ophthalmologists, pathologists and geneticists, who worked for two years to develop the first American guidelines on how to screen for the [...]
A new study recently published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology provides additional support for treatment with vaginal progesterone to reduce the risk of pre-term birth, neonatal complications and infant death in pregnant women with a short cervix. A shortened cervix is the most powerful predictor of pre-term birth. A meta-analysis of individual [...]
New research links vitamin D with better live birth rates in women undergoing assisted reproduction treatment (ART). Researchers from Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research at the University of Birmingham investigated the connection between vitamin D and the outcomes of assisted reproduction treatment, such as IVF and frozen embryo transfer. The team analysed data from [...]
Clinicians are more likely to curb unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions with some psychological approaches known as 'nudges' Low-cost approaches that nudge physicians to reduce unnecessary prescriptions for antibiotics could have a significant impact if clinics adopt them for the long term, a USC-led study finds. Unnecessary antibiotics can harm patients and have contributed to the rise [...]
Healthcare staff who regularly share the emotional, social or ethical challenges they face in the workplace experience less psychological distress, improved teamwork and increased empathy and compassion for patients and colleagues, a new study commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research reports. In the first in-depth study in the UK, researchers from the University [...]
The commonest reason for women being prescribed contraception to make a complaint or compensation claim against their doctor is the development of a recognised complication such as a deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism or infection. A review by the Medical Defence Union (MDU) of over 150 cases related to contraception prescribed mostly by GPs between [...]
The health of people with diabetes is being put at risk due to the failure of doctors to recognise which type of diabetes they have, a new study in the journal Diabetes Care reports. In the first ever study of its kind, researchers from the University of Surrey examined the primary care records of more [...]
People with psoriasis are at a higher risk to develop type 2 diabetes than those without psoriasis, and the risk increases dramatically based on the severity of the disease. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found people with psoriasis that covers 10 per cent of their body or more [...]
Treating type 1 diabetes and some cases of type 2 diabetes has long required painful and frequent insulin injections or a mechanical insulin pump for insulin infusion. But researchers from the University of North Carolina and NC State have now developed what could be a much more patient-friendly option: artificial cells that automatically release insulin [...]
