Monthly Archives: March 2020

A mother’s intuition: successful trial of labor after Cesarean when women make an informed decision

Woman consulting pregnant woman

Repeat Cesarean births can carry high risks for mothers, but so can labor for women with a history of Cesarean birth. A new study, published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, which selected women at low risk of complications from labor and provided them with information on the risks and benefits of both repeat Cesarean and labor, found that more than half of the women chose trial of labor and that the vast majority of those who did so successfully avoided repeat Cesarean with very few complications. In this blog post, the author of this study summarizes the findings and recommendations for practice.

Medical Evidence

Solidarity in Social Distancing: Flattening the Curve

Figure 1_Flattening the Curve

“This is an unprecedented time and although social distancing may be thought to be a dramatic measure, in truth, together as a unified society, we can help slow down the spread of COVID-19.” Dr. Vijayan writes why social distancing is so important in these times, and why we must all work together.

Health

Highlights of the BMC series: February 2020

Grieving parents and what they need to know when their babies are stillborn • CoCites: a citation-based search method for scientific literature • Playing sport while injured might cause arthritis • How many words are Australian children hearing in their first year of life? • Call for Papers – Cross-journal thematic series on ecological and evolutionary developmental biology • Image of the month: Macroevolutionary bursts and constraints generate a rainbow in a clade of tropical birds

Biology Health

Living safely at home during old age – expanding the health care paradigm

adult-aging-alone-american

Many people live independently at home well into old age. As they age, they may experience a range of limitations that result in chronic care needs. Integrated approaches to primary and community care are increasingly being implemented as a way to better address these long-term and often complex needs. In this blog post, the author of a recent scoping review in BMC Geriatrics discusses the benefits of and challenges of of integrated care and the safety considerations important to older adults.

Health

Removing the Barriers for CKD Management

This week in BMC Nephrology, an article by Neale et al. evaluated the barriers and enablers to the detection of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the primary healthcare setting. In this BMC Nephrology World Kidney Day blog, Blog Editor Dr. Daphne Harrington Knicely examines the benefits of early CKD detection and management and how we can enhance efforts in primary healthcare for early CKD diagnosis.

Medicine Open Access

Why do some people eat their placenta?

placenta-2433431_640

Human placentophagy, the practice of eating one’s own placenta, has gained popularity in recent year, despite a lack of reliable evidence of the expected benefits of the practice. A new paper in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth examines the reasons why some new mothers engage in the practice. In this blog post, the lead author of the study summarizes their findings, including the reasons the practice has become so popular, and highlight some concerns as well.

Health

Memory decline and depression in older adults: Is it a chicken and egg question or can we identify a directional relationship?

Older adults often report memory problems even when cognitive testing is normal. A new analysis in BMC Geriatrics shows that healthcare providers should take note of these memory complaints as they can predict later depressive symptoms. In this blog post, the authors of this study explain how they reached this finding and what it means.

Health