Here are 10 articles on some of the most interesting medical research study findings and advancements from the week of May 30.
1. Research led by the University of Colorado Boulder found opioids like morphine actually caused an increase in chronic pain in lab rats, a finding which may spell bad news for humans. Read more.
2. The standards used by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve new cancer drugs have been called into question for the lack of evidence supporting the fact that they can lengthen life or maintain quality of life, according to a recent study. Read more.
3. A research team from the University of Oxford in the U.K. identified genes in children that increase their risk of bacteraemia, a deadly blood infection that leads to complications for millions worldwide. Read more.
4. Patients hospitalized with sepsis who have undergone a solid organ transplant are more likely to survive than sepsis patients who have not had a solid organ transplant. Read more.
5. Changes in staff scheduling were linked to a 26 percent increase in hospital readmissions 28 days post-discharge at a large Canadian teaching hospital, according to a study in The American Journal of Medicine. Read more.
6. A concerted effort across 603 hospitals showed promise in reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infections among patients, according to a new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Read more.
7. Researchers from the University of Oklahoma in Norman have unlocked a new antibiotic formulation that is effective in treating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and other antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Read more.
8. A study published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases suggests Americans fail to fully grasp how antibiotic resistance develops or why it is important. Read more.
9. As the day concludes, so does mental strength. As a result, physicians tend to prescribe more antibiotics late in the day compared to earlier. Read more.
10. The Candida fungus was found on the majority of cellphones belonging to employees from a hospital in Poland, according to research published in BMC Infectious Diseases. Read more.