News by Subject Social & Behavior

In adults over 70, exposure to general anesthesia and surgery is associated with a subtle decline in memory and thinking skills, according to new Mayo Clinic research. The study analyzed nearly 2,000 participants in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging and found that exposure to anesthesia after age 70 was linked to long-term changes in brain function. The results appear in the British Journal of Anaesthesia.

Discrimination against ethnic minorities on the housing market is declining -- in Germany and other Western European countries and in the USA. But a new meta-study shows that applicants' surnames still influence the selection of new tenants.

Analysis of cancer death data from 2008-2014 in New York state revealed high cancer mortality rates among US-born blacks and Puerto Ricans and relatively low cancer mortality rates among Hispanic South Americans and Asians.

A global review involving almost 20 million people has shown that having diabetes significantly raises the risk of developing cancer, and for women the risk is even higher. Researchers from The George Institute for Global Health also found diabetes (type 1 and type 2) conferred an additional risk for women, compared to men, for leukaemia and cancers of the stomach, mouth and kidney, but less risk for liver cancer.

SF State Assistant Professor of Political Science Marcela García-Castañon researches the important role spousal relationships play in forming political identities among immigrants, especially in today's political climate.

Older Asian-American immigrants are healthier and happier if they are socially active, connected to their families and communities and are able to maintain their cultural values while adapting to western culture, according to a new Rutgers study.

In a new study, researchers found discharge against medical advice as the strongest predictor of 30-day unplanned readmissions in heart attack patients. While only a small number of patients choose to discharge against medical advice following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), these patients are twice as likely to be readmitted to the hospital, according to the study published in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions.