Closing of local automotive assembly plants may lead to increases in deaths from opioid overdose, according to a study led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts General Hospital. The findings highlight fading economic opportunity as a driving factor in the ongoing national opioid epidemic, and build on previous research that links declining participation in the labor force to increased opioid use in the U.S. The findings are published today in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Tag: Penn Medicine
Brain Tumor Organoids May be Key to Time-sensitive Treatments for Glioblastomas
Lab-grown brain organoids developed from a patient’s own glioblastoma, the most aggressive and common form of brain cancer, may hold the answers on how to best treat it. A new study in Cell from researchers at Penn Medicine showed how glioblastoma organoids could serve as effective models to rapidly test personalized treatment strategies.
Patients with Acute Leukemia Who Are Treated with Common Therapy Have Increased Risk for Heart Failure
Patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are treated with anthracyclines are at a heightened risk of heart failure—most often within one year of exposure to the chemotherapy treatment.
Penn Researchers Uncover Defective Sperm Epigenome that Leads to Male Infertility
Researchers at Penn Medicine created a new mouse model that allows investigators to closely track the defects in sperm from the early stages of sperm development through fertilization and on. The model can lead to a better understanding of not only infertility in men—and ways to potentially reverse it.
Genetic Variant Largely Found in Patients of African Descent Increases Risk for Heart Failure
A genetic variant in the gene transthyretin (TTR) is a more significant cause of heart failure than previously believed. The study also revealed that a disease caused by this genetic variant, called hereditary transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, is significantly underdiagnosed.
People in Counties with Worse Economies Post-Recession Are More Likely to Die from Heart Disease
Communities in the United States that experienced the most economic distress in the wake of the Great Recession saw a significant increase in death rates from heart disease and strokes among middle-aged people, according to a new multi-institution study led by researchers at Penn Medicine.
Early Diagnosis of Pregnancy-Associated Heart Disease Linked to Significantly Better Outcomes
Women who are diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) during late pregnancy or within a month following delivery are more likely to experience restored cardiac function and improved outcomes compared to those who are diagnosed later in the postpartum period.
Eliminating Common Bacterial Infection Significantly Decreases Gastric Cancer Risk
Heliobacter pylori infection, quite common around the world, is linked to gastric cancer. Now, a Penn study shows that successfully wiping out the infection lowers the cancer risk.
Taller People Have Increased Risk for Developing Atrial Fibrillation
Taller people have an increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation, according to a new Penn Medicine study. The research is the among the first to demonstrate that height may be a causal—not correlated—risk factor for AFib.
Penn Researchers Uncover Dose of Medication More Likely to Put Patients with a Rare Autoimmune Disease into Complete Remission
Researchers from Penn compare a lymphoma-dose regimen of rituximab to a rheumatoid arthritis regimen for the treatment of pemphigus.
Penn Medicine Researchers Receive $9.7 Million NIH Grant to Study Traumatic Brain Injuries and Neurodegeneration
An international team of experts led by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Glasgow has been awarded a $9.7 million, five-year grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and National Institute for Aging (NIA) to establish CONNECT-TBI—a program spanning 12 institutions which will study traumatic brain injury (TBI) and related neurodegenerative diseases.
How Oncologists Can Ethically Navigate the “Right-to-Try” Drug Law
The 2018 federal Right to Try Act allows patients with a life-threatening illness to be treated with drugs that have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Many in the oncology community say Right to Try strips away important regulatory protections and view the move as a risky step bound to create ethical dilemmas for physicians whose goal is to guide patients toward safe and appropriate treatment decisions. Oncology is one field at the forefront of requests for unapproved drugs. An interdisciplinary team of bioethicists, oncologists, and lawyers from Penn Medicine and other institutions penned a commentary published online this week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology to offer recommendations to help oncologists navigate this new “Right to Try” world, while maintaining their ethical obligations to patients.
Nationwide Study Aims Improve Long-Term Lung Transplant Outcomes
As part of an effort to improve long-term outcomes, a national team led by a researcher at Penn Medicine has launched a study–funded by a $9.8 million grant from the NIH–to better understand clinical and biological processes that occur after transplant and lead to the development of these complications.
High-Risk Patients Benefit from Undergoing Surgery at Teaching Hospitals
Patients with a high risk of dying after surgery, including those with multiple chronic diseases, benefit from undergoing general or vascular procedures at a major teaching hospital as opposed to a non-teaching hospital, according to a study from researchers at Penn Medicine and CHOP.
Women Have Substantially Less Influence on Twitter than Men in Academic Medicine
Women who are health policy or health services researchers face a significant disparity in social media influence compared to their male peers, according to a new study from researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Although the average number of tweets among all researchers tend to be consistent, women trail behind men in follower counts, regardless of how active they are on Twitter. The findings, which hold implications for larger questions around gender disparities in academic medicine, are published today in JAMA Internal Medicine.
New Opioid Prescription Dosages Drop 22 Percent in Penn Medicine’s New Jersey Practices Following Changes to State Law and Health Record Alerts
The total amount of opioids dispensed per new opioid prescription decreased by 22 percent in Penn Medicine outpatient practices in New Jersey after the state passed a law limiting prescriptions to a five-day supply for new opioid prescriptions. Penn Medicine implemented an electronic health record (EMR) alert, or “nudge,” to notify clinicians if that limit had been reached. The study, published online today in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, is one of the first evaluations of a state law’s impact on prescribing outcomes, and is the first report of an EMR being used to make compliance with prescribing limits easier. Importantly, after the prescribing limit and alert went into effect there was no evidence to suggest pain control worsened.
Treating PE: How Safe and Effective Are New Devices?
A new scientific statement from the American Heart Association identifies the risks and benefits of using novel interventional devices compared to anticoagulation alone to treat patients with pulmonary embolism.
Treating Pulmonary Embolism: How Safe and Effective Are New Devices?
A new scientific statement from the American Heart Association identifies the risks and benefits of using novel interventional devices compared to anticoagulation alone to treat patients with pulmonary embolism.
Penn Medicine Receives $22 Million from NIH HEAL Initiative to Address the National Opioid Crisis
Penn Medicine has been awarded five grants from the NIH HEAL Initiative, totaling more than $22 million to apply scientific solutions to reverse the national opioid crisis.
Oncologists Respond Swiftly to FDA Safety Alerts, Penn Study Finds
Within six months of the FDA’s move to restrict the label of two immunotherapies, usage of those therapies among oncologists dropped by about 50 percent, according to a new study from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
Patients in the U.S. and Canada are Seven Times as Likely as those in Sweden to Receive Opioids After Surgery
Patients in the United States and Canada are seven times as likely as those in Sweden to receive a prescription for opioid medications after surgery, according to a new multi-institutional study led by researchers from Penn Medicine.
Giving Trauma Patients a Hormone that Helps Stabilize Blood Pressure Cuts Blood Transfusions by Half
Giving trauma patients with severe blood loss the hormone arginine vasopressin (AVP) cut the volume of blood products required to stabilize them by half, according to results of a new, first-of-its-kind clinical trial from Penn Medicine. The authors say the study is particularly important for the treatment of patients with gun-related injuries. Each year, there are over 100,00 firearm-related injuries with over 36,000 deaths.
Shorter Rotations in Intensive Care Units Mitigate Burnout Among Physicians
Penn Medicine pilot finds increased job fulfillment, decreased burnout for critical care physicians working seven- versus 14-day rotations PHILADELPHIA – Shortening the length of rotations in a medical intensive care unit (MICU) from the traditional 14-consecutive day schedule to only…