News

People with type 2 diabetes may develop diabetic retinopathy, an eye condition that can lead to vision loss. Now, a study of over 77,000 Kaiser Permanente Southern California members shows that greater severity of diabetic retinopathy is strongly associated with a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes, congestive heart failure, and death from any cause. “Preventive ...

One type of pneumonia vaccine, the PCV13 vaccine, may affect the course of COVID-19 for some older adult patients, new research shows. The Kaiser Permanente study was published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. “Kaiser Permanente members who received the PCV13 vaccine appeared to be diagnosed with COVID-19 less often, and when they were, they seemed ...

Shireen Fatemi, MD, FACE, FACP, an endocrinologist at Kaiser Permanente Panorama City Medical Center, has been named the 2020 Southern California Permanente Medical Group Researcher of the Year. The award has been given each year since 2007 to recognize a physician or surgeon for his or her outstanding contributions to the research community. Dr. Fatemi ...

As the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, researchers and physicians at Kaiser Permanente Southern California are analyzing the data collected and lessons learned over the first year of the pandemic to find better ways to test, treat, and care for patients. On January 26, a few of the researchers and scientists shared their latest projects at a ...

Kristen Choi, PHD, MS, RN, is a child/adolescent psychiatric nurse and health services researcher who is also an adjunct investigator with the Department of Research & Evaluation. She is an assistant professor at the UCLA School of Nursing and associate director of nursing for the UCLA National Clinician Scholars Program. Dr. Choi studies health services ...

A Kaiser Permanente Southern California study of 3,500 women showed that pregnant women with high levels of PDBE-47, a chemical used in flame-retardant fabrics, were at increased risk of giving birth early in the pregnancy. The study, “Women with high plasma levels of PBDE-47 are at increased risk of preterm birth” was published recently in the ...

Kaiser Permanente researcher seeks to reduce heart disease by finding better ways to prevent, detect, and treat high blood pressure, known as a “silent killer.” Epidemiologists are scientists who study patterns of diseases and health conditions in large populations. Early in her career as an epidemiologist, Kristi Reynolds, PhD, MPH, decided to focus on heart health. ...

A study among Kaiser Permanente members in Southern California shows that allowing patients to self-order a colorectal cancer screening test online improves rates of testing completion. The rates of both completion and follow-up activities were higher among patients who ordered the tests themselves than those who received the test kit automatically in the mail when ...