StevenSaus

Folks with depression who got therapy via text or voice messages fared just as well as those who got weekly video-based telemedicine sessions with a therapist, a new trial has found.

The findings "suggest that psychotherapy delivered via text messages may be a viable alternative to face-to-face or videoconferencing delivery and may allow for more immediate on-demand care," in a time when it's often tough for people to access mental health care, the study authors wrote.

Giving cash to poor people could result in fewer emergency department visits, a new study suggests.

The study published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at almost 2,900 low-income people who applied for a lottery in the Boston suburb of Chelsea, Massachusetts. Nearly 1,750 of them got up to $400 per month from November 2020 to August 2021.

The researchers then looked at health records and found that those who received the money had 27% fewer visits an emergency room in the nine-month period compared with those who didn’t receive the monthly payments.

“We can trust the poor with money,” said co-author Dr. Sumit Agarwal, a physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “There’s this narrative out there that you give people cash and they spend it on drugs and alcohol. I think we’re one of the first studies to really rigorously and empirically show that’s not the case.”

“Patients with lower incomes, those who did not graduate from college and those who are Hispanic and non-white had worse patient-reported outcomes following surgery for [multiligament knee injury] MLKI,” Isabel Chalem, BS, of NYU Langone Health, said in her presentation.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/14831085

The prevalence of cancer survivors in the United States has risen in recent years and is projected to increase more in years to come, according to research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The researchers estimated that, as of January 1, 2022, the prevalence of cancer survivors in the US was 18.1 million. The team noted that this is a nearly 4-fold increase in cancer survivors since the mid-1970s.

The prevalence of cancer survivors in the United States has risen in recent years and is projected to increase more in years to come, according to research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The researchers estimated that, as of January 1, 2022, the prevalence of cancer survivors in the US was 18.1 million. The team noted that this is a nearly 4-fold increase in cancer survivors since the mid-1970s.

Medicare Advantage beneficiaries are less likely to receive intensive treatments or burdensome transfers during the last six months of life compared to those in traditional Medicare, according to a study in JAMA Health Forum. MA enrollees are more likely to receive hospice care and less likely to receive facility-based care post-hospital discharge. Researchers attribute these trends to MA's cost-control focus, while fee-for-service Medicare incentivizes more aggressive treatment. "Financial incentives in Medicare Advantage, the managed care alternative to traditional Medicare, were designed to reduce overutilization," the authors wrote.

Nearly 1 of every 5 uninsured working-age adults across the 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are, according to a new analysis, stuck in a health care limbo known as a “coverage gap.” That means they earn too much money to receive Medicaid but not enough to qualify for financial help to purchase their own plan on the marketplace.

Nearly 7 million seniors, or about 1 in 11 Americans aged 60 and older, faced hunger in 2022, according to a new report by Feeding America. The report revealed that 6.9 million seniors were food-insecure in 2022, with another 4.9 million older adults aged 50 to 59 also experiencing food insecurity. This represents a 25% increase from the previous year.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/14790845

People living in areas with the highest levels of socioeconomic deprivation have more coronary inflammation identified on coronary CT angiography (CCTA) than those living in the least deprived areas, an analysis of the Oxford Risk Factors and Noninvasive Imaging (ORFAN) study shows.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/14790845

People living in areas with the highest levels of socioeconomic deprivation have more coronary inflammation identified on coronary CT angiography (CCTA) than those living in the least deprived areas, an analysis of the Oxford Risk Factors and Noninvasive Imaging (ORFAN) study shows.

People living in areas with the highest levels of socioeconomic deprivation have more coronary inflammation identified on coronary CT angiography (CCTA) than those living in the least deprived areas, an analysis of the Oxford Risk Factors and Noninvasive Imaging (ORFAN) study shows.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/14790838

New research into the 'exomes' of over 44,000 people uncovered many with cancer-causing genes that were otherwise not detected

The mutations were linked to heightened risks for colon, breast and ovarian cancers

People from minority groups may be especially prone to missing out on quality genetic screening