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• Risk factors may inform breast cancer screening

  hoosing when to start regular breast cancer screening is a complicated decision for individual women and their providers. For most women, increasing age is the biggest risk factor for breast cancer, which is much more common at age 60 than at 40. But two new articles on other risk factors may inform guidelines and clinical practice about screening mammography from age 40 to 49.
• Naturopathic care can improve blood sugar, mood in diabetes

  A new joint study by Group Health Research Institute and Bastyr University Research Institute found that type 2 diabetes patients who received naturopathic care (as an adjunct to conventional care) had lower blood-sugar levels, better eating and exercise habits, improved moods, and a stronger sense of control over their condition than did patients receiving only conventional care.
• Problems in cancer care are not uncommon

  Cancer care is increasingly complex, and as many as one in five cancer patients may experience “breakdowns” in their care, according to a new study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Such breakdowns include communication problems between patients and their care providers, as well as more traditional medical errors; both types of problems can create significant harms. In the study, communication problems outnumbered problems with medical care.
• GHRI hosts HMO Research Network’s 2012 conference

  Whether or not the Affordable Care Act is upheld, the United States must figure out how to get more bang for the health care buck. To the rescue: the HMO Research Network (HMORN).
• Beyond gridlock and gloom

  Research on innovations has a compelling future
• Can collaborative care help patients with alcohol use disorders?

  The NIAAA recently awarded Group Health Research Institute $3.2 million over five years to study whether people with alcohol use disorders can reduce their unhealthy drinking through a collaborative-care intervention.
• Installing gun cabinets in homes improves safe firearm storage

  Installing a gun cabinet dramatically reduces unlocked guns and ammunition in the home, according to a study in rural Alaska villages where the residents are primarily Alaska Native people. Group Health Research Institute Senior Investigator David Grossman, MD, MPH, led the research.