Opioid painkillers prescribed by surgeons have gone down in recent years but the decline has slowed since the pandemic

Winter surges in infectious diseases can ruin holidays, but vaccination against COVID-19, flu, RSV, whooping cough and pneumonia can help.

Inadequate health coverage is a particular problem for commercially insured children, according to a Michigan Medicine and Columbia study. The research shows that coverage gaps are affecting publicly insured children as well.

The use of telehealth remains high, with over 20% of American adults taking appointments online. These visits include video calls with registered dietitian nutritionists, who have a critical role in helping patients take on lifestyle changes through medical nutrition therapy. With a focus on the changing digital landscape, researchers at Michigan Medicine found that telemedicine patients with hyperlipidemia — an excess of cholesterol or fats in the blood — experienced similar positive health benefits compared to those who had in-person visits.

Teams from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Michigan design a comprehensive study that integrates multiple analytic approaches that has linked a regulatory gene network and functional defects in insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells to type 2 diabetes.

The Michigan Medicine finding suggest a need for more education and screening of older adults for cannabis-related risks.

To improve coordinated community response to opioid overdoses, University of Michigan researchers are placing near-real time data in the hands of public health and safety officers. The Michigan System for Opioid Overdose Surveillance, was created in 2016 in response to the opioid crisis through a partnership between the University of Michigan Injury Prevention Center and the Michigan High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas.

A Michigan Medicine research team developed a prescription wristwatch that continuously monitors the wearer’s heart rhythm and uses a unique algorithm to detect atrial fibrillation. The clinical-grade device, called the Verily Study Watch, proved very accurate at identifying atrial fibrillation in participants.

Michigan Medicine researchers have found that growing bacteria on agar mixed with organs is an efficient and effective way to study infectious pathogens.