News by Subject Medicine & Health

In the largest genetic study of osteoarthritis, an international team of scientists including researchers from the University of Sheffield, have uncovered 52 new genetic changes linked to the disease, which doubles the number of genetic regions associated with the disabling condition.

A natural immune system response may be responsible for inflicting additional harm in the weeks and months after a spinal injury.

Patients with lupus nephritis and end stage renal disease may benefit from timely kidney transplant, as transplantation was associated with a significant increase in survival in a nationwide cohort study. The main reason for the overall survival benefit was fewer deaths due to cardiovascular disease and infections. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Severe burns can leave physical and psychological scars, especially in children. When a burn patient enters the clinic, doctors use factors such as the depth and size of the burn, as well as the time required for skin healing--or re-epithelialization--to determine the best course of treatment. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research have found another, possibly more accurate way to classify burn severity: analyzing proteins in blister fluid.

The number of Americans taking a dangerous combination of both opioids and benzodiazepines -- a group of drugs commonly prescribed for pain, insomnia and anxiety -- increased by 250 percent over a 15-year period, while there was an 850 percent increase in patients taking benzodiazepines and so-called Z-drugs, according to a new study published in the journal Sleep.

Opioid drugs prescribed to children for pain relief after a typical pediatric orthopaedic procedure may be significantly overprescribed, according to a new study by researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The patients used less than 25 percent of the drugs, suggesting a potential risk of opioid diversion.

A new study finds acupressure could be a low-cost, at-home solution to a suite of persistent side effects that linger after breast cancer treatment ends.

Back pain is among the most frequently reported health problems in the world. New research published in Arthritis Care & Research, an official journal of the American College of Rheumatology and the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals, examines patterns in back pain over time and identifies the patient characteristics and the extent of healthcare and medication use (including opioids) associated with different patterns.

The increase in opioid prescriptions for people over the past decade may have been paralleled by an increase in opioid prescriptions for pets, according to a study from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Veterinary Medicine. The findings, in this first-ever study of veterinary opioid prescriptions, suggest it is possible that misused veterinary prescriptions could contribute to the ongoing opioid epidemic.