Latest News Releases 24 May

A team of researchers from the UK and Japan has found that the tiny defects which limit the efficiency of perovskites – cheaper alternative materials for solar cells – are also responsible for structural changes in the material that lead to degradation.

Processes in the human body could turn groups of harmless immune cells into ruthless killers, capable of attacking other cells infected with viruses or parasites, and potentially tumour cells, a new study reveals.

The risk of having a future stroke caused by a severe blockage in an artery in the neck that is not currently causing any symptoms is so low that most patients with this condition — asymptomatic carotid stenosis — could potentially be treated with the newest medications and may not require surgery, new Kaiser Permanente research suggests.

A widely used and inexpensive Type 2 diabetes drug, once hoped to hold enormous promise in treating breast cancer, does not prevent or stop the spread of the most common forms of the disease, according to new findings.

About The Study: In this cohort study of 173 health care workers, inpatients, and guardians and 45 participants in a community facility, secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was significantly less common, and viable virus was detected for a shorter duration in fully vaccinated individuals than in partially vaccinated or unvaccinated individuals.

Bottom Line: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to make a recommendation about screening for primary open-angle glaucoma in adults, the most common form of glaucoma. Glaucoma affects an estimated 2.7 million people in the United States and is the second-leading cause of irreversible blindness in the U.S. and the leading cause of blindness in Black and Hispanic/Latino individuals. The USPSTF routinely makes recommendations about the effectiveness of preventive care services, and this recommendation concurs with its 2013 statement on screening for glaucoma.

Bottom Line: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to make a recommendation about screening for impaired visual acuity in older adults. This recommendation applies to asymptomatic adults age 65 or older who present in primary care without known impaired visual acuity and are not seeking care for vision problems. Impairment of visual acuity is a serious public health problem in older adults. The number of adults age 60 years or older with impaired visual acuity (defined as best corrected visual acuity worse than 20/40 but better than 20/200) was estimated at 2.9 million in 2015. The USPSTF routinely makes recommendations about the effectiveness of preventive care services, and this recommendation concurs with its 2016 statement on screening for impaired visual acuity in older adults.