Researchers amass abortion data
Article Abstract:
Information about where abortions are available, how many are performed, who provides them and who received them is becoming progressively less available due to harassment from anti-abortion groups. The Alan Guttmacher Institute, New York, NY, has begun a survey to determine the answers to these questions and other issues regarding reproductive health. Statistics show that the highest abortion rate is found among unmarried, nonwhite and non-Hispanic women who are under age 30 and have a family income of less than $11,000. An important finding was that over 50 percent of abortion patients in 1987 stated that they were using contraception during the month they became pregnant. This contradicts the belief that women who have abortions are not willing to use birth control or lack the knowledge to do so. When asked why they were having an abortion most women said that they felt their existing responsibilities made it difficult for them to begin or expand their families. Seventy-five percent reported that having a child would conflict with work, school or other obligations. Some said they could not afford to raise a child or did not wish to marry the father or be a single mother. The vast majority of abortions are now performed in outpatient clinics. Most surgeons, general or family practitioners and obstetrician-gynecologists said that they are not morally or religiously opposed to abortion.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1989
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After two decades, Penn State researchers may be near perfecting replacement hearts and lungs
Article Abstract:
Researchers hope to make artificial implantable human hearts available for clinical use by the year 2000. Currently, artificial heart devices are used with mixed success as a bridge to heart transplantation. Unfortunately, the demand for heart transplants far exceeds the supply, mostly because of the limited number of donor hearts. Information from artificial hearts already implanted in calves and goats and information from a man who lived with an artificial heart for 16 months suggest long term use may be feasible. The goal is to implant a device into humans that allows them to leave the hospital, cuts their dependency on drug therapy and permits them to lead a fairly normal life. Research on artificial implantable lungs is moving more slowly. Lung replacement is not viewed as a bridge to transplantation, but rather a way of buying time for the patient's own lungs to heal.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1993
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Researchers look forward to sea granting gifts
Article Abstract:
Researchers are investigating many marine organisms as potential sources of new antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs. Cryptophycins and scytophycins are two compounds isolated from blue-green algae that inhibit the growth of cancer cells by destabilizing microtubules and inhibiting actin microfilaments. Researchers are working on ways to synthesize the chemicals more cheaply. A compound isolated from the Caribbean sea whip and named cyclomarin has anti-inflammatory properties. It belongs to a group of chemicals called pseudopterosins, which contain four amino acids that were unknown until now. Didemnins and eudostomins are antiviral agents isolated from marine invertebrates. The search for drugs from the sea arose because many researchers have reached a dead end in the search for new drugs from soil microorganisms.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1996
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- Abstracts: Investigation results in disciplinary action against researchers, retraction of articles. Synthetic vascular graft trials start; endothelialization seen as possible
- Abstracts: The implications of sleep disturbance epidemiology. Evidence-based medicine meets cost-effectiveness analysis
- Abstracts: Are racial differences in the prevalence of diabetes in adults explained by differences in obesity? Prenatal magnesium sulfate exposure and the risk for cerebral palsy or mental retardation among very low-birth-weight children aged 3 to 5 years
- Abstracts: Economic and policy implications of early intervention in HIV disease. How many physicians can we afford?