Mammography results poorly communicated to blacks
African American women are less likely than whites to receive adequate communication of their mammography results, a new study conducted in Connecticut shows.
When a black woman’s results were abnormal, they were more likely to be poorly communicated to her than when the results were normal. But the reverse was true for whites.
Experimental vaccine given during pregnancy reduces stillbirths from common virus
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed an experimental vaccine that reduces stillbirths among rodents born to mothers infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV) - a common virus that can also cause mental retardation and hearing loss in newborn children who were infected in early fetal life.
Estimates place the number of U.S. children born with CMV each year at about 40,000, and there is no vaccine or treatment for pregnant women who have the infection. In a 2000 report, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences listed as a top priority the development of a vaccine to prevent cytomegalovirus during pregnancy.
Surgery linked to breast cancer racial disparity
Racial disparity in death rates between African American and other women with breast cancer may be due in part to surgery which may encourage the growth of the tumour, an international team of researchers said.
African American women are often diagnosed with breast cancer at an earlier age and have a higher risk of dying from the illness. The average age when their disease is detected is 46, compared to 57 years old for white women.
Distress may persist after waking during surgery
Patients who wake up from general anesthesia during surgery and have a clear memory of the event may develop acute distress and emotional reactions, investigators in Sweden report, and in some patients, long-term psychological symptoms may persist.
Dr. Peter Samuelsson and his associates, from County Hospital in Kalmar, interviewed 2,681 consecutive surgical patients between 2001 and 2002 who underwent general anesthesia 1 to 3 days earlier.
