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Healthcare Outcome Boost Needs Better Studies
Evidence suggests that outcomes in many clinical settings leave a lot to be desired, which means that research into quality improvement (QI) in clinical care has the potential to greatly improve the lot of patients. Now a study in the journal Medical Care Research and Review published by SAGE suggests that both theoretical and practical improvements in QI effectiveness studies could make these into much more powerful tools for positive change.

About 20% Of Surveyed Sex Workers Who Use Drugs In Irish Capital Living With HIV, Report Finds
About one-fifth of commercial sex workers surveyed in Dublin, Ireland, are HIV-positive, while 78% of the surveyed group is living with hepatitis C, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs, the Irish Times reports. The report surveyed 35 drug users in the city who are or had been involved in the sex industry. The participants had an average age of 29. The report found that a majority of the sex workers surveyed, or 88%, were receiving methadone treatment but also using other drugs simultaneously. In addition, the report included surveys of health workers, who said that it is becoming increasingly difficult to reach sex workers as they are becoming less visible in the city due to the increased use of mobile technology, such as the Internet and cellular phones, to contact clients (Gartland, Irish Times, 5/13). The researchers made several recommendations to address issues surrounding sex workers, including that the government should continue funding services for the population, the PA/Google.com reports. Teresa Whitaker, a researcher who worked on the report, said, "A dominant theme to emerge from the field work was that drug-using sex workers are vulnerable people with complex and multiple needs that span health, social and legal issues." She added, "For the most part, participants grew up in communities associated with social and economic marginalization and high levels of unemployment. They move more or less continually through drug and alcohol services, homeless hostels, the judicial system and other social care agencies" (PA/Google.com, 5/12).
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Daily Alcohol Intake Can Lead To Binge Drinking
Sipping wine, beer or spirits three to four times per week increases the risk of binge drinking, particularly among young men, according to a new study published in the journal Addiction. Researchers from the Universitçİ de Montrçİal and the University of Western Ontario analyzed the drinking habits of Canadians and found that frequent alcohol consumption can lead to binge drinking among all gender and all age groups.
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Alzheimer's Disease And Traumatic Brain Injury Have Same Type Of Cell Destruction

Researchers in the US found that the destructive cellular pathways that occur following traumatic brain injury are the same as those activated in Alzheimer"s Disease, suggesting that both conditions could be treated with new drugs that target these pathways. They said the findings "cement" the relationship beween traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer"s Disease. The research was led by neuroscientist Mark Burns, who is assistant professor at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) in Washington, DC. A paper on their work is being presented at the Alzheimer"s Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer"s Disease (ICAD 2009) which is taking place from 11 to 16 July in Vienna, Austria. Burns and colleagues found that deactivating the pathways using a gamma secretase inhibitor reduced neuron loss and protected against loss of cognitive and motor function in animals with traumatic brain injury. Gamma secretase inhibitor is a class of drug currently being tested as a therapy for Alzheimer"s Disease. Burns said this study showed that the same drug might work to prevent loss of neurons in both traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer"s Disease. The brains of elderly patients who died from Alzheimer"s Disease often show a build up of a toxic peptide called beta amyloid. The same substance is also found in the brains of around one third of people who have suffered traumatic brain injury, including children. said Burns, who explained in a media statement that people who have suffered such a brain injury are at 400 per cent higher risk of developing Alzheimer"s. When a traumatic injury occurs to the brain, a mass of brain cells or neurons dies, and this is then followed by a second "wave" of beta amyloid build up. This secondary damage can last several months or even years and leaves big holes inside the brain. Amyloid peptides are chains of amino acids made when a longer chain called amyloid precursor protein (APP) is chopped up by enzymes. This is done in two stages: the first stage of cleavage is controlled by the enzyme beta secretase and the second stage is controlled by gamma secretase. Scientists have hypothesized that inhibiting gamma secretase might be a way to treat Alzheimer"s, thus trials are under way for drugs designed to do this. One such gamma secretase inhibitor is DAPT, and in this study Burns and colleagues experimented with DAPT in mice. One group of mice was treated with the drug while another group was bred so they could not produce beta secretase in the first place. They also had a third group of mice who had not been altered or treated, the "normal" controls. Brain injury in the unaltered mice was followed by a rapid accumulation of beta amyloid, and the expected deficits in motor and cognitive function. But mice treated with DAPT and mice that could not produce beta secretase had brain lesions that were up to 70 per cent smaller and suffered less impairment. Burns said they concluded that: "Modulation of beta and gamma secretase may provide novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of traumatic brain injury." According to the Alzheimer"s Association, there are around 5.3 million Americans living with Alzheimer"s disease, which together with dementia triples health care costs of those aged 65 and over in the US. The study was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the Klingel Family Foundation. -- Alzheimer"s Association. s: Georgetown University Medical Center, Alzheimer"s Association. Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today


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