Could Ultra-processed Foods Be the New ‘Silent’ Killer?

Hundreds of novel ingredients never encountered by human physiology are now found in nearly 60 percent of the average adult’s diet and nearly 70 percent of children’s diets in the U.S. An emerging health hazard is the unprecedented consumption of these ultra-processed foods in the standard American diet. This may be the new “silent” killer, as was unrecognized high blood pressure in previous decades.

Heart transplant patients from socioeconomically distressed communities face higher mortality, organ failure risk

FINDINGS People from socioeconomically distressed communities who underwent heart transplantation between 2004 and 2018 faced a 10% greater relative risk of experiencing graft failure and dying within five years compared to people from non-distressed communities. In addition, following implementation of the 2018 UNOS Heart Allocation policy, transplant recipients between 2018 and 2022 faced an approximately 20% increase in relative risk of dying or experiencing graft failure within three years compared with the pre-policy period.

“Well-being index” predicts population cardiovascular risk

Well-being index (WBI) is a comprehensive measure of an individual’s satisfaction with their career, social and community relationships, finances and health.  Researchers compared results from a Gallup national WBI survey to CDC cardiac death data, and found a nearly 14%…

Mortality, Survival, and Readmissions During a 12-Month Follow-Up After Hip Fracture: Inpatient Rehabilitation Versus Home Rehabilitation

Abstract Purpose  This study compared readmissions, survival, and mortality during a 12-month follow-up period of inpatient rehabilitation and home rehabilitation for older persons who had experienced a hip fracture. Methods  This work was retrospective cohort research. Between January 1 and December 30, 2019, the medical records of 280…

Patients With Alzheimer Disease, Dementia Face 2x Risk of Dying After ICU Discharge

Older adults with Alzheimer disease and related dementia who were admitted to an ICU were much less likely to be discharged home and faced almost twice the risk of dying soon after discharge and within the 12 months afterward.

Coronary Bioresorbable Scaffolds Nearly as Safe and Effective as Conventional Metal Stents for Heart Disease Patients

First-generation bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS) may be just as effective as drug-eluting metallic stents, which are currently the standard treatment for heart disease patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

‘Other’ race/ethnicity linked to higher suicide and overdose risk in military members with mild TBI

Previous studies have reported high rates of death by suicide and drug overdose – including opioid overdose – in military service members with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). A new study finds that those risks are highest among military members with mTBI who identify their racial/ethnic status as “Other,” as opposed to standard racial/ethnic categories, reports the March/April issue of the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation (JHTR). The official journal of the Brain Injury Association of America, JHTR is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

Men Over 65 Are at Greater Risk than Women of Skull Fractures from Falls

Because females 65 and older have an increased rate of falls and facial fractures, researchers compared the risk of skull fracture secondary to head trauma in geriatric female and male patients. Results showed that males had a significantly increased incidence of skull fracture secondary to head trauma, due mostly to falls. This outcome was unexpected, as previous research has indicated females are more susceptible to facial fractures. This trend also was seen across race/ethnicity, though results were only statistically significant for whites.

Upward trend in ‘deaths of despair’ linked to drop in religious participation, economist finds

Over the past 20 years, the death rate from drug poisonings in the U.S. has tripled and suicide and alcoholic liver disease death rates have increased by 30 percent — particularly among middle-aged white Americans. Daniel Hungerman, professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame, and his co-authors studied the connection between a sharp downturn of religious participation in the late 1980s and the swift rise in these “deaths of despair” among white Americans ages 45 to 54 in the early 1990s.

Increasing Robo4 expression may help with infections

The researchers screened a library of drugs using a mouse endothelial cell line to identify pathways that are involved in the regulation of Robo4 and found that two competitive SMAD signaling pathways appear to regulate Robo4 expression. When the researchers treated LPS-injected mice with a drug that inhibits ALK1-SMAD signaling, they observed increased Robo4 expression, decreased vascular permeability, and reduced mortality.

Needs and Challenges for COVID-19 Boosters and Other Vaccines in the U.S.

FAU researchers and collaborators provide the most updated guidance to health care providers and urge how widespread vaccination with these boosters can now avoid the specter of future and more lethal variants becoming a reality.

New Risk Score Predicts Mortality for Atrial Fibrillation Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

Mount Sinai researchers develop new risk stratification tool to optimize patient care and outcomes after TAVR

Feeling Anxious or Blue? Ultra-processed Foods May be to Blame

A study measuring mild depression, number of mental unhealthy days and number of anxious days in 10,359 adults 18 and older found those who consumed the most ultra-processed foods as compared with those who consumed the least amount had statistically significant increases in the adverse mental health symptoms of mild depression, “mentally unhealthy days” and “anxious days.” They also had significantly lower rates of reporting zero “mentally unhealthy days” and zero “anxious days.” Findings are generalizable to the entire U.S. as well as other Western countries with similar ultra-processed food intakes.

Cardiac death rates declined for both Black and white Americans since 1999, but racial disparities persist

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center conducted a comprehensive investigation of national trends in cardiovascular mortality among Black and white women and men across multiple socio-demographic domains and found a decline in cardiovascular mortality rates across all groups over the last 20 years.

Research Shows Alarming Increases in Deaths from Alcoholic Cirrhosis in the U.S.

Researchers conducted an original research study utilizing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) to compare trends in mortality from alcoholic cirrhosis in the U.S. in 1999 with those 20 years later in 2019.

Heart Failure Patients Unvaccinated Against COVID-19 Are Three Times More Likely to Die From It Than Boosted Heart Failure Patients

EMBARGOED UNTIL JUNE 9, 2022, 10AM EST (New York, NY – June 9, 2022) – Heart failure patients who are unvaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, are three times more likely to die if infected with the virus…

Many Historically “Redlined” California Communities Have Higher COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality

One of the legacies of “redlining” may be higher incidence and mortality rates of COVID-19 affecting the largely minority and poor residents of these neighborhoods, according to research published at the ATS 2022 international conference. ” Redlining is a Great Depression-era federal policy in which neighborhoods with large ethnic/racial minority groups were denied federal resources.

For older men, urinary symptoms may affect mortality risk – even if not ‘bothersome’

For men in their fifties and older, moderate to severe lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) such as incontinence and frequent nighttime urination (nocturia) are associated with an increased risk of death during long-term follow-up, suggests a Finnish study in The Journal of Urology®, an Official Journal of the American Urological Association (AUA). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

Patients with rare scleroderma have deadlier organ damage, despite getting standard treatment

Patients with a rare form of scleroderma that causes more skin thickening have a greater chance of dying from related heart, lung and kidney problems, a new study found. This occurs despite the patient population taking drugs used to treat most people with scleroderma. Researchers say it is an opportunity for more targeted drug development.

UCLA-led Research Finds Connections Between Air Quality and COVID Vulnerability

Even as governments across the United States consider lifting mask mandates and relaxing preventative measures as vaccination numbers creep up, new research from a UCLA-led team has found that such basic techniques significantly reduce the risk of getting COVID-19. In addition, the research found that U.S. counties with higher exposures to poor air quality, historically, saw higher county-level COVID-19 mortality rates in 2020.

High readmission rate found for adults with type 1 diabetes hospitalized for diabetic ketoacidosis

One in five adults with type 1 diabetes who require in-hospital treatment of the life-threatening condition diabetic ketoacidosis has an unplanned repeat hospital visit within a month and is twice as likely to die during the second hospitalization, a new study finds. The results, which will be presented at ENDO 2021, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, also identified several factors that increased the readmission risk for these patients.

Does More Physical Activity and Less TV Viewing Reduce the Risk of Death?

Insufficient physical activity and sedentary behavior are both associated with higher risk of chronic disease and death. However, the long-term benefits of interventions to increase physical activity and reduce sitting time are unknown as randomized controlled trials are often infeasible…

Mount Sinai Researchers Build Models Using Machine Learning Technique to Enhance Predictions of COVID-19 Outcomes

Mount Sinai researchers have published one of the first studies using federated learning to examine electronic health records to better predict how COVID-19 patients will progress.

Largest Study of Its Kind Identifies Which COVID-19 Patients Face the Greatest Risk of Mortality During Hospitalization

Hospitalized COVID-19 patients have a greater risk of dying if they are men or are obese or have complications from diabetes or hypertension, according to a new study conducted by University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers. In a study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, the researchers evaluated nearly 67,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in 613 hospitals across the country to determine link between common patient characteristics and the risk of dying from COVID-19.