Improving Community Health Through Research
The Rochester Epidemiology Project has laid the foundation for hundreds of research studies to try and answer questions about health care issues that affect our community. Listed below are a few of the recent studies that have published results using the REP.
May 31, 2013
Peripheral arterial disease - a common circulation condition - sometimes requires amputation of limbs. Surgeons can use other interventions such as stents and balloons. Using the Rochester Epidemiology Project, Dr. Peter Gloviczski and his team found that when these other treatments were used, overall rate of amputation decreased in the population.
More Information: Mayo Clinic News - Procedure saving limbs of more peripheral arterial disease patients
May 13, 2013
A recent study by Dr. Barbara Yawn (REP community advisory group co-chair) and her colleagues found that patients who were diagnosed with herpes zoster were more likely to have serious or permanent eye complications. Reviewing linked records through the Rochester Epidemiology Project, they were able to find that 2.5% of patients with herpes had eye involvement. Some patients required corneal transplants and long-term treatment. Herpes zoster can be prevented by receiving the zoster vaccine.
More Information: Mayo Clinic Proceedings - Herpes zoster eye complications: Rates and trends
May 3, 2013
Dr. Sprung and his team used the Rochester Epidemiology Project and the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Registry to look at 900, 45+ year-old, Olmsted County residents who had dementia between 1985 and 1994. These researchers note that while other factors may influence the development of dementia, receiving general anesthesia for surgery to not worsen or contribute to the development of dementia in elderly patients.
More Information: Mayo Clinic Proceedings – Anesthesia and incident dementia: A population-based, nested, case-control study
May 1, 2013
A recent study presents findings around the risk of receiving an oophorectomy after undergoing a hysterectomy. The research team found that the incidence of such cases is under 10%, which is about 2% greater than for women who never received a hysterectomy.
More Information: Obstet Gynecol – Risk of oophorectomy after hysterectomy
April 3, 2013
Using the Rochester Epidemiology Project, a new study has reported an association between diabetes with an increased risk of mild cognitive impairment in elderly patients. The authors note that while other factors such as sex and subtype may contribute to varying risks of this association, they encourage prevention and maintenance of diabetes to reduce overall risk of mild cognitive impairment.
More Information: Alzheimers Dement. - Association of diabetes with amnestic and nonamnestic mild cognitive impairment.
April 3, 2013
Some patients who are diagnosed with epilepsy do not respond to anti-epileptic medication and have persistent seizures; they have "medically intractable" epilepsy. Using the Rochester Epidemiology Project, Dr. Elaine Wirrell and her team studied data from 1980 to 2009 to look for possible factors that can predict which cases of epilepsy are "medically intractable". They found that pediatric patients with neuroimaging abnormalities had a higher risk of doing poorly with anti-epileptic medication alone. For this group, they recommend that surgery be considered early on in addition to medication to help manage seizures.
More Information: Epilepsia - What predicts enduring intractability in children who appear medically intractable in the first 2 years after diagnosis?
To find more publications of research studies supported by the Rochester Epidemiology Project, visit our Publication Search page.
On this page, you can search hundreds of publications supported by the REP and related to almost every disease imaginable.
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