Women in US need more breastfeeding support
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A number of factors influence whether a women will give up breastfeeding before the baby can derive any health benefits from it, new research suggests—but with more encouragement and help many more women might persevere.
Numerous studies have documented the health benefits of breastfeeding for the infant, such as a decreased risk of upper respiratory infections and possibly even a reduced risk of dying. Still, many women forgo breastfeeding altogether or stop it after just a few days or weeks, despite recommendations that a few months of breastfeeding is needed to see a benefit.
Study finds kids with weak hearts can exercise
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Children born with heart defects who have traditionally been told not to exercise can improve their heart function through programs that involve exertion, according to a U.S. study published on Monday.
“With the approval of a pediatric cardiologist, and after careful exercise testing, exercise is generally safe and tolerable for children with congenital heart defects,” said Jonathan Rhodes, a cardiologist at Children’s Hospital in Boston who led the study published in the December issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Heparin Antibodies May Pose Risk in Heart Surgery Patients
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New research suggests that patients who develop antibodies to the anti-clotting drug heparin nearly double their risk of death or serious complication after heart surgery.
“Complications after heart surgery are typically attributed to the surgery alone,” said Thomas Slaughter, M.D., co-principal investigator on the project and a professor of anesthesiology at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. “Our study examined whether development of heparin antibodies before surgery poses an independent risk.”
Survival rate still poor when bone cancer returns
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Although as many as 70 percent of patients who have the localized stage of the bone cancer osteosarcoma survive after surgery and chemotherapy, the overall survival rate after recurrence is less than 30 percent, researchers report.
However, lead investigator Dr. Paul A. Meyers told Reuters Health, “the chances of survival are better for patients whose recurrence is detected after a longer interval from the completion of initial therapy and for patients whose recurrence is limited to fewer sites.”
Blunt trauma raises heart attack risk
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New research supports the idea that that blunt trauma can lead to a heart attack.
“A direct trauma to the heart, namely blunt cardiac injury, created the greatest risk for heart attack, while abdominal or pelvic trauma seems to be important in persons 46 years or older,” said Dr. Rovshan M. Ismailov from the University of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia.
Bacterial vaginosis makes viral shedding more likely
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Women with bacterial vaginosis are four times more likely to shed cytomegalovirus in their lower genital tract than women without bacterial vaginosis, a new study shows.
Bacterial vaginosis, the most common type of vaginal infection in women of childbearing age, occurs when there is imbalance in the bacteria of the vagina favoring certain “bad” microbes over “good” ones. A foul-smelling vaginal discharge is a common symptom of the disease, which if not treated with antibiotics can lead to complications, such as infection of the womb.
Bush claims progress against AIDS in Africa
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President George W. Bush claimed progress on Thursday in the battle against AIDS in Africa, saying U.S. efforts were helping 400,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa get treatment. Bush said the U.S.-backed Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief was helping provide medical treatment in Uganda, Kenya, Botswana and Namibia.
“These countries, and many others, are fighting for the lives of their citizens, and America is now their strongest partner in that fight,” he said at an event marking World AIDS Day.
Pope says abstinence helping beat AIDS in Africa
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Pope Benedict on Thursday said programmes based on promoting abstinence and marital fidelity were seeing success in combating the spread of HIV/AIDS in several parts of Africa.
But for the second day running in comments about AIDS, the Pope avoided a specific mention of the Roman Catholic Church’s controversial ban on condoms.
In an address to the new ambassador from South Africa the Pope said the Catholic Church was well respected by African governments for its efforts to help address social problems.
Alzheimer’s May be Insulin-Dependent Disease
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Insulin and associated signaling molecules begin to disappear from the brain during early Alzheimer’s, suggesting the possibility of therapy to boost levels of insulin in the brain, researchers here reported. They call Alzheimer’s “type 3 diabetes.”
Mean levels of insulin, the signaling molecule insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), and its receptor decline significantly in the brain during the early stages of Alzheimer’s, compared with normal controls, and decrease by 80% or more in late-stage disease, according to Suzanne M. de la Monte, M.D., and colleagues at Brown Medical School here.
Allergic Teen Dies After Kissing Boyfriend
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A 15-year-old girl exquisitely sensitive to peanuts died after kissing her boyfriend who had eaten a peanut butter snack hours earlier.
Christina Desforges died a week ago at Chicoutimi Hospital here 155 miles north of Quebec City, several days after a severe reaction to the kiss from her boyfriend. According to published reports, Desforges had been immediately treated with a shot of adrenaline. The hospital declined to offer any further details.
Alzheimer’s patients get less breast cancer therapy
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Women with Alzheimer’s disease receive less treatment for breast cancer than do comparable female Medicare beneficiaries, the results of a new study indicate. However, this pattern is not necessarily inappropriate, the authors note in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Dr. Sherri Sheinfeld Gorin and colleagues from Columbia University, New York, examined the use of breast cancer treatment in patients with Alzheimer’s disease based on data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registry and Medicare billing records.
AIDS expert reports progress toward HIV vaccine
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A scientist who helped to discover HIV said he has made progress toward producing an AIDS vaccine and hopes to launch a clinical trial in about a year.
Dr. Robert Gallo, the director of the University of Maryland’s Institute for Human Virology, said the results of animal studies are encouraging.
Anaphylaxis Requires Prompt and Appropriate Treatment
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Anaphylaxis is a multiple-organ hypersensitivity reaction that needs immediate and appropriate treatment. It is important for both patients at risk and clinicians to be aware of the symptoms, as well as appropriate protocols of treatment, according to research presented at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Anaheim.
“Anaphylaxis affects many areas of the body, and involves all systems,” said Phillip E. Korenblat, M.D., a professor of clinical medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo. It is generally characterized by the presence of significant skin, gastrointestinal, respiratory, or cardiovascular involvement.
Young women asking for the morning-after pill at UK pharmacies will be offered fast-tracked screenin
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Young women asking for the morning-after pill at pharmacies will be offered fast-tracked screening for Chlamydia, the UK’s most common sexually transmitted infection, in a University of Manchester study.
It is thought that up to one in ten young people under 25 have Chlamydia, a sexually transmitted infection that often has no symptoms and can lead to infertility, although it is very easily treated with just one dose of four tablets in the majority of cases.
Overproducing Leptin Receptors in Fat Cells Key to Halting Weight Gain
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A new study by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center suggests that when fat cells increase in size – as they do during the development of obesity – the cells progressively lose receptors for the hormone leptin, a powerful stimulus for fat burning.
Leptin, a hormone produced by the body’s fat cells and involved in the regulation of body weight, was first discovered in 1994. It was thought leptin itself would be a key to curing obesity in humans, but the hypothesis did not readily translate into weight loss in obese people. Using mouse models, UT Southwestern researchers have now shown that if enough receptors are present on the fat cells, it is impossible for the cells to store fat and obesity would be blocked.
