Experiencing five or more severe sunburns between the ages of 15 and 20 increases the risk of melanoma by 80% and nonmelanoma skin cancer by 68%. This study is among the few to examine the relationship between perceived cancer risk, concern about being diagnosed, confidence in health, sunburn history, and the prevalence of sun protection behaviors, all in relation to sociodemographic factors in U.S. adults. Findings reveal statistically significant associations between the number of sunburns and sociodemographic factors.
Read more …Blind to the burn: Misconceptions about skin cancer risk in the US
As many as half of nursing home residents are cognitively impaired and may be unable to communicate symptoms such as pain or anxiety to those caring for them. Therefore, information needed for the evaluation of symptoms and subsequent treatment decisions typically does not reliably exist in nursing home electronic health records. A new paper reports on the novel adaptation of a commonly used symptom assessment instrument to more comprehensively acquire this difficult-to-obtain data with the ultimate goal of enabling knowledge-based expansion of palliative care services in nursing homes to address residents' symptoms.
Read more …Assessing pain, anxiety and other symptoms of nursing home residents unable to speak for themselves
Researchers have studied a new method to deliver antibiotics, specifically gentamicin, directly into the bladder tissue to better treat UTIs. They did this by creating nanogels combined with a special peptide (a small protein) that helps the drug get inside the cells where the bacteria are hiding. The results demonstrate that this approach proved highly effective when tested in animal models with UTIs, eliminating over 90% of the bacteria from the bladder.
Read more …Promising new research shows potential to cure recurrent urinary tract infections