Oxford University Press's
Academic Insights for the Thinking World
In anticipation of Heart Failure Awareness Day, we’re running a series of blog posts on this dangerous disease. To kick us off today, we chatted with Professors Theresa MacDonagh, past Chair of the British Society for Heart Failure, and Andrew Clark, Chair-elect, about the diagnosis of heart failure and the importance and benefit of adequate treatment.
By Sinéad Donnelly
A palliative medicine physician colleague of mine asked an audience of physicians where they would like to die: at home, hospice or hospital? Sitting in the audience I can only remember the number in favour of the third option. One person – and that was me.
What is the relationship between a Mediterranean diet and the risk of hyperuricemia in the elderly? Dr. Salas-Salvado joins us to discuss his most recent research in the The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences.
What is the relationship between atherosclerosis and acute myocardial infarction? How do aldosterone blockers reduce mortality? What steps are doctors taking toward personalized cardiac medicine? What are the new drugs and devices to treat hypertension? What is salt’s role in the human diet? The international cardiology community examined these questions and more at the Cardiology Update 2013 in Davos, Switzerland earlier this year.
By Dr. Anna Middleton
The American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) has recently published recommendations for reporting incidental findings (IFs) in clinical exome and genome sequencing. These recommendations advocate actively searching for a set of specific IFs unrelated to the condition under study. For example, a two-year-old child may have his (and his parents’) exome sequenced to explore a diagnosis for intellectual disability and at the same time will be tested for a series of cancer and cardiac genetic variants.
Are humans the only species to cry for emotional reasons? How are tears linked to human evolution and the development of language, self-consciousness, and religion? Which parts of the brain light up when we cry? How is crying related to empathy and tragedy? Why can some music bring people to tears? Below, you can listen to Michael Trimble talk about the topics raised in his book Why Humans Like to Cry: Tragedy, Evolution, and the Brain.
By David Haberman
If I have learned anything as a lifelong student of the world’s multitude of religious traditions, it is that reality for humans is malleable and quite varied — nothing is essential in human experience. Almost everything gets filtered through and shaped by a particular cultural lens. Something as simple as a tree is not so simple after all.
Happy World Penguin Day! And what better way to celebrate than by looking at photos of penguins waddling, swimming, diving, and generally looking adorable. Penguin facts are lifted from the Oxford Index’s overview page entry on penguins (on the seabird, not the 1950s R&B group).
By Johanna Daily
The WHO’s Sixtieth World Health Assembly proclaimed the 25th of April as World Malaria Day in recognition of the continued high mortality caused by this parasitic infection, particularly in young children. The goal of World Malaria Day is “to provide education and understanding of malaria as a global scourge that is preventable and a disease that is curable.”
By Marie-Louise Bird
If you live a long way from the equator, the amount of daylight that you have access to in summer compared to winter varies hugely. For example at 41 degrees (Launceston in Tasmania, Australia, Boston MA, USA and Portugal, Europe) the length of daylight varies from just over 9 hours in winter to over 15 in summer and even more dramatic at 53 degrees, with hours of daylight from 7.5 in winter to 17 in summer. It is not surprising that this will have impact on the total amount of physical activity that people perform in the different seasons with less activity in winter (14% at 41 degrees south).
By John Horgan
On 24 April 1993, the city of London was brought to a standstill. A massive terrorist bomb exploded at the NatWest tower, killing one person and injuring at least 40 more. The truck bomb, planted by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) was designed to strike at the financial heartland of London, and it succeeded. In addition to the human casualties, what has since become known as the Bishopsgate bomb caused $1 billion in financial damages.
By Karen Dill-Shackleford
Mike was a doctoral student profoundly appreciated and esteemed by faculty, peers, staff, and all who came in contact with him. As is typical in our community, Mike was already a successful mid-career professional. He worked in the tech world and brought his expertise to us. He didn’t have a background in research psychology, but in the last year of his doctoral program, his work was published on nine occasions.
By Dr Victor Pace
Dementia is always in the news nowadays. Every day brings a new story: of poor care, of concerns about future numbers, of some new approach to treatment. From something that was never spoken about, it has moved centre stage, stemming from the combined realisation that many of us or our loved ones will develop it as we all live longer, and that the care people with dementia receive is grossly inadequate. This is difficult to remedy as care will become even more expensive as the number of dementia patients grows. Dementia has replaced cancer as the dreaded disease of the twenty first century.
By David Moon
When I started researching the environmental history of Russia’s steppes, I planned my visits to archives and libraries for conventional historical research. But I wanted to get a sense of the steppe environment I was writing about, a context for the texts I was reading; I needed to explore the region. I was fortunate that several Russian and Ukrainian specialists agreed to take me along on expeditions and field trips to visit steppe nature reserves.
By Frank Zelko
Forty-three years have passed since Senator Gaylord Nelson’s teach-in first made its mark on America. Since then, Earth Day has become as regular a fixture on the US calendar as Labor Day and Halloween, albeit without the shopping and candy.
By Maureen Duffy
Journalists want to report the news not be the news. But in the case of Ann Curry, the former Today show co-host who was pushed into stepping down from the co-anchor slot last June, she has become the news. New York Times reporter Brian Stelter’s recent feature article about morning television and the toxic culture at NBC’s Today show provides more than enough information to conclude that Ann Curry was a target of workplace mobbing.