StevenSaus

New research from the University of Southern California indicates cannabis may help individuals reduce or quit opioid use. Lead author Sid Ganesh, a PhD student at USC's medical school, interviewed 30 opioid and cannabis users in Los Angeles. Participants, receiving services from a methadone clinic and syringe exchange, found cannabis useful for managing opioid use due to easier access. The study, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, highlights cannabis's role in easing withdrawal symptoms and cravings.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18587310

Universal free school lunches could lead to fewer obesity cases, improved attendance, and fewer suspensions, according to a study in JAMA Network Open. The Texas A&M-led study reviewed six programs covering over 11,000 schools. Researchers found that universal free school meals were associated with increased meal participation and some positive effects on attendance, particularly for students from food-insecure homes.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/15495672

Routine childhood vaccinations will have prevented hundreds of millions of illnesses, tens of millions of hospitalizations and more than 1 million deaths among people born between 1994 and 2023, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A new report, published Thursday by the CDC, analyzed the benefits of routine childhood immunizations in the United States through the CDC’s Vaccines for Children Program, which launched in 1994. The research also found that the vaccinations saved the country billions of dollars.

Routine childhood vaccinations will have prevented hundreds of millions of illnesses, tens of millions of hospitalizations and more than 1 million deaths among people born between 1994 and 2023, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A new report, published Thursday by the CDC, analyzed the benefits of routine childhood immunizations in the United States through the CDC’s Vaccines for Children Program, which launched in 1994. The research also found that the vaccinations saved the country billions of dollars.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/15454358

A new study suggests virtual reality pain relief interventions may be effective at reducing pain in hospitalized populations with cancer.

A new study suggests virtual reality pain relief interventions may be effective at reducing pain in hospitalized populations with cancer.

As Texas adults struggle to access mental health care, people in San Antonio are turning to faith leaders, new data shows.

People who identify as LGBTQ can face major disparities and stigma when it comes to cancer care, often resulting in later-stage diagnoses and poorer outcomes than other patients.

Dr. Elizabeth Cathcart-Rake, an oncologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, is determined to change that.

This summer, Cathcart-Rake and a team at Mayo launched Rainbows, a cancer clinic tailored to meeting the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, gender-diverse and intersex patients. Rainbows will initially focus on supporting patients with breast cancer, with the goal of eventually expanding to include other types of tumors already treated at Mayo.

Discharged hospital patients can carry superbugs home and infect relatives or caregivers, even if they weren't sickened by the bacteria, per a study in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. The University of Iowa-led research examined 158 million insurance claims from 2001 to 2021, finding methicillin-resistant staph (MRSA) in over 424,000 patients. Family members of hospitalized MRSA patients were 71 times more likely to contract the infection. Exposure to a recently discharged family member raised infection risk by 44%, increasing with longer hospital stays. Researchers recommend hospitals improve MRSA testing at discharge, even for asymptomatic patients.

A deep-learning model performs comparably to an abdominal radiologist when it comes to finding clinically significant prostate cancer on MRI, researchers have reported.

The model shows promise as a way to improve radiologists' diagnostic performance on MRI by increasing cancer detection rates and decreasing false positives, study lead author Naoki Takahashi, MD, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, said in a statement released by the RSNA. The study findings were published August 6 in Radiology.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/15413291

Perceptive announced it performed the world's first fully automated dental procedure using a robot. The system integrates AI, 3D imaging, and robotics, enabling tasks like crown placements in just 15 minutes. Perceptive claims their robotic dentist can diagnose and plan treatments using a 3D volumetric data procedure and an optical coherence technology (OCT) scan. Perceptive's CEO, Chris Ciriello, mentioned that FDA approval could take up to five years.