UCLA research reveals how a year of change affected Californians ’ health
Although more Californians than ever had health insurance in 2020, disparities in access to health care among the state ’s racial and ethnic groups was magnified during a year of unprecedented challenges and changes.Those are among the key findings of the latestCalifornia Health Interview Survey, which is conducted by theUCLA Center for Health Policy Research. The survey included responses from 22,661 California households, including 21,949 adults, 1,365 adolescents and 3,548 children.“This is one of the most important data releases in the survey’s 20-year history because it sheds light on how impactful the pandemic ...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - September 22, 2021 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
UCLA receives $13 million contract to expand COVID-19 testing
A new $13.3 million contract from the National Institutes of Health ’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative, or RADx, will enable theDavid Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA to expand its capacity to process COVID-19 tests.UCLA ’s diagnostic laboratory will be able to process up to 150,000 COVID-19 tests per day usingSwabSeq, a sequencing technology developed at UCLA. The technology pools thousands of saliva samples and returns individual test results in less than 24 hours.“UCLA developed SwabSeq and brought the technology to market in only six months — a process that normally takes years,” saidEleaza...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - September 20, 2021 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Do doctors treat pain differently based on their patients ’ race?
Physicians prescribed opioids more often to their white patients who complained of new-onset low back pain than to their Black, Asian and Hispanic patients during the early days of the national opioid crisis, when prescriptions for these powerful painkillers were surging but their dangers were not fully apparent,according to a UCLA study.The findings suggest that doctors may have commonly dispensed pain treatments unequally based on race and ethnicity. The study shows that physicians were more likely to prescribe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs — a less-powerful alternative — to their patients of color...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - September 10, 2021 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Scientists develop brain organoids with complex neural activity
Researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have developed brain organoids — 3D brain-like structures grown from human stem cells — that show organized waves of activity similar to those found in living human brains.Then, while studying organoids grown from stem cells derived from patients with the neurological disorder Rett syndrome, the scientists were able to observe patterns of electrical activity resembling seizures, a hallmark of the condition.The study, published today in the journal Nature Neuroscience, broadens the list of brain conditions that can...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - August 23, 2021 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Vaping just once raises oxidative stress levels in nonsmokers, increasing disease risk
The risk that both tobacco and electronic cigarettes can pose to regular smokers ’ health has been well documented, but a new UCLA study illustrates just how quickly vaping can affect the cells of even healthy younger nonsmokers.The findings,published today in JAMA Pediatrics, show that a single 30-minute vaping session can significantly increase cellular oxidative stress, which occurs when the body has an imbalance between free radicals — molecules that can cause damage to cells — and antioxidants, which fight free radicals.“Over time,this imbalance can play a significant role in causing certain illnesses, inc...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - August 9, 2021 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
