Diabetes medications vary in ability to reduce heart attacks and strokes
A new study led by Kaiser Permanente researchers compared how well 4 different types of glucose-lowering medications reduced the risk of heart attack and stroke for patients with type 2 diabetes, providing important new information for these patients and their physicians. The study, published in JAMA ...
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Insomnia increases depression risk for breast cancer survivors
Breast cancer survivors face a high risk of major depressive disorder, also known as clinical depression, particularly if they also have insomnia, according to findings from a new study of Kaiser Permanente ...
Some UTIs may be caused by contaminated meat
Nearly 1 in 5 urinary tract infections (UTIs) in Southern California could be due to E. coli strains transmitted through contaminated meat, according to a new study of Kaiser Permanente Southern California ...
Physicians develop program to better control patient blood sugars
After COVID-19 hit in 2020, some physicians within Kaiser Permanente grew concerned that their patients with diabetes weren’t achieving healthy blood sugar control. Even when they came into the office ...
New study looking at millions of vaccinated and unvaccinated people found no increased risk of death among COVID-19 vaccine recipients
October 22, 2021COVID-19 vaccine recipients had lower non-COVID-19 death rates than people who weren’t vaccinated, according to Kaiser Permanente research published Oct. 22, 2021 in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. “Despite numerous studies showing the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, some people have remained hesitant to get vaccinated,” said lead author Stanley ...Read more...Kaiser Permanente study to assess COVID-19 antibodies in employees, physicians
October 22, 2021A physician investigator in the Southern California Permanente Medical Group received a grant to study antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccination among health care workers. The study will also help learn more about the impact of booster vaccination and the rates of asymptomatic COVID-19 infection among the vaccinated. Kaiser Permanente Southern California is inviting up to 2,000 ...Read more...Five questions for … Dr. Debbie Malden
October 19, 2021Debbie Malden, DPhil, MSc, is an epidemiologist with research experience in large-scale prospective cohort studies. Before joining Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Malden completed her DPhil at the University of Oxford, assessing risk factors for cardiovascular disease among a half million U.K. adults using both observational and genetic epidemiological techniques. In addition to her research on chronic disease, ...Read more...Sleep aids increase fracture risk in breast cancer survivors
October 8, 2021About 40% of breast cancer survivors use prescription medications to alleviate sleep problems, but these medications can increase their risk of bone fractures, according to research from Kaiser Permanente in Southern California published Sept. 29, 2021 in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. For many of the 3.8 million breast cancer survivors living in the United States, getting ...Read more...COVID-19 delta variant associated with increased risk of severe disease
October 7, 2021Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente Southern California found that COVID-19 cases caused by the delta variant increased rapidly from April 15 to July 21, particularly among people ages 18 to 44. The study was published October 7, 2021, in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, known as MMWR. ...Read more...COVID-19 severity associated with air pollution from non-freeway traffic
October 7, 2021A study of Kaiser Permanente Southern California members diagnosed with COVID-19 found that patients who had recently lived in areas with higher levels of air pollution from non-freeway roadways had a higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes. “Our analysis suggests that traffic-related air pollution may be a contributor to the severity of COVID-19,” said the study’s ...Read more...Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness wanes over time
October 4, 2021A recent study led by Kaiser Permanente found the Pfizer-BioNTech, BNT162b2, mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective against hospitalization for 6 months after full vaccination, even in the face of widespread transmission of the delta variant. The study was published in The Lancet. (An earlier draft of the study was previously posted on The Lancet ...Read more...5 questions for … Dr. Sarah Carter
September 15, 2021Sarah Carter, DPhil, MA, is a postdoctoral research fellow at Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s Department of Research & Evaluation. She completed her doctoral work at the University of Southampton in England, where she studied childbirth intervention in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS). She is currently studying pre- and perinatal maternal health, environmental exposures, ...Read more...Vulnerable populations sought virtual care during pandemic
September 13, 2021Kaiser Permanente Southern California patients who were Latinx or low-income had the largest percentage increase in use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Kaiser Permanente research recently published in Journal of Medical Internet Research. Increases in telehealth visits during the COVID-19 pandemic varied across age, sex, race/ethnicity, and household income groups, while decreases in ...Read more...Infant lung disease rates drop dramatically over 10-year effort
September 1, 2021Over the last decade, rates of a chronic lung condition known as bronchopulmonary dysplasia have dropped from 20% to less than 2% among very preterm babies at Kaiser Permanente Panorama City. As reported in JAMA Network Open, this decrease is associated with a novel system of care designed by Kaiser Permanente Southern California researchers. Meanwhile, the ...Read more...