Statins seen beneficial for nearly all diabetics
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Statins—the best-selling class of cholesterol-fighting drugs—should be considered as standard therapy for all diabetics, apart from children and pregnant women, researchers said on Friday.
A group of British and Australian investigators said the largest study of its kind, involving a pooled analysis of clinical trials involving nearly 19,000 patients with diabetes, found there was a clear benefit in taking statins.
After five years, 42 fewer people with diabetes had major vascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes, for every 1,000 allocated statin therapy.
Scientists associate 6 new genetic variants with heart disease risk factor
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Using new techniques for rapidly scanning the human genome, researchers have associated levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, two fats in the blood, to 18 genetic variants, six of which represent new DNA regions never before associated with the traits. The findings, appearing in the January 13 advance online issue of Nature Genetics, help explain some of the variability in cholesterol and triglyceride levels that arises from genes. With the potential to help predict a patientТs genetic risk of heart disease, the six new loci may point to novel aspects of cholesterol metabolism and could also spur new cholesterol-lowering drugs.
Heart disease is a leading cause of death around the world. Researchers have known for decades that one of the strongest predictors of heart disease risk is the level of cholesterol in the blood. While differences in lifestyle, such as diet and exercise, can influence a personТs cholesterol levels, differences in genes can too. Some of these culprit genes are already known, but it is clear that many others remain to be found. УBy uncovering the genetic determinants of cholesterol levels and, in turn, heart disease risk, we may be able to identify high-risk patients who can benefit from early interventions, in addition to expanding our knowledge of cholesterol biology and opening doors to new treatments,Ф said first author Sekar Kathiresan, director of preventive cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and a genetics researcher in the Program in Medical and Population Genetics at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.
Heart Patients Find Education Programs Lead to Better Health
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Older women heart patients benefit from educational programs as a supplement to clinical care to help significantly lower cardiac symptoms, lose weight and increase physical activity, a new study shows.
Different program formats produce different results for this notoriously difficult to treat patient population.
The new research from the University of Michigan suggests that if hospitals and clinicians offered specially designed group or individual programs, depending on the desired outcome, female heart patients over 60 would need less health care and have a better quality of life.
Celebrate American Heart Month by Eating Red
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“Go red” or “wear red” have become universal mantras for promoting heart-health during February, American Heart Month. But health and nutrition experts say we should also be eating red to protect our hearts. Americans are encouraged to discover the power of eating heart-healthy red foods during the first-ever National Eat Red Week, Feb. 4-10.
Why eat red? Science suggests the pigments that make up the red color in many fruits and vegetables like, tart cherries and tomatoes, are powerful disease-fighting antioxidants that may help reduce inflammation associated with atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries and reduce certain risk factors for heart disease.
Sex Keeps Love Alive Throughout Adult Life
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Sex, as well as romance, is an important part of couple’s lives and health well into their retirement years. Researchers at the University of Chicago have conducted some of the nation’s most comprehensive studies of sexual behavior, looking at sexuality from early adulthood until late in life. Their work shows that sexuality remains an important part of life as people age and that the frequency of sexual activity, for those who are active, declines only slightly from the 50s to the early 70s.
Study Shows Link Between TCE Exposure, Parkinsonism
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Industrial workers who worked with trichloroethylene (TCE) may face a greater risk for parkinsonism, a study by a team of University of Kentucky researchers shows.
The team, led by Don M. Gash and John T. Slevin of the UK College of Medicine, identified a number of industrial workers who exhibited symptoms of parkinsonism, a group of nervous disorders with symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease. The workers had experienced long-term exposure to TCE, a degreasing agent widely used in industry that also has been found in drinking water, surface water and soil due to runoff from manufacturing sites where it has been used.
Quit Smoking? Move to California
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Sun. Sand. Surf. And no smoking. California’s attitude toward smoking may be the best recipe for success when trying to quit. New research shows that social pressure plays a key role in getting smokers to quit.
By analyzing the smoking patterns of Asian immigrants from countries where smoking is socially acceptable, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown that smokers are far more likely to try to quit when living where smoking is not socially acceptable. And the more these smokers try to quit, the more they succeed.
Help! I’m Sick. How Do I Handle My Diabetes?
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Runny nose. Upset stomach. Whatever illness it is, it can make you feel miserable. It is hard enough to be under the weather but it is even more difficult to handle being sick if you have diabetes.
According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), people with diabetes who develop an illness are at risk for serious complications if they don’t take care of their diabetes. Blood glucose levels can increase or decrease to dangerous levels if left unchecked. Ketones, a waste product created when the body begins to use stored fat for energy, can build up, especially in those with type 1 diabetes, if a person does not take insulin at regular intervals. Left unmonitored, high ketone levels can lead to ketoacidosis, which can lead to coma or death.
Reversal of Alzheimer’s Symptoms Within Minutes
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An extraordinary new scientific study, which for the first time documents marked improvement in Alzheimer’s disease within minutes of administration of a therapeutic molecule, has just been published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation.
This new study highlights the importance of certain soluble proteins, called cytokines, in Alzheimer’s disease. The study focuses on one of these cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF), a critical component of the brain’s immune system. Normally, TNF finely regulates the transmission of neural impulses in the brain. The authors hypothesized that elevated levels of TNF in Alzheimer’s disease interfere with this regulation. To reduce elevated TNF, the authors gave patients an injection of an anti-TNF therapeutic called etanercept. Excess TNF-alpha has been documented in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer’s.
Newer Meningitis Vaccine Appears Safe and Effective for Infants
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A vaccine not yet licensed in the United States produces immunity against four strains of meningococcal disease and is well tolerated when administered to infants, according to a study in the January 9/16 issue of JAMA.
It is estimated that 1,400 to 2,800 cases of invasive meningococcal disease occur in the United States each year, and that ten to 14 percent of people who contract the disease will die. The U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices now advises immunization with a tetravalent vaccine (serogroups A, C, W-135, and Y) for all 11- to 18-year-olds. However, the currently licensed vaccine is poorly immunogenic in infancy, when the highest rates of disease are observed, according to background information in the article.
Children with congenital hypothyroidism are at risk of adult obesity due to early adiposity rebound.
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There is some evidence that children with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) are heavier than their reference population. There are few data on adults with CH. The timing of adiposity rebound (AR) in childhood has been shown to have strong correlations with adult obesity. Our aims were to study the timing of AR and factors affecting AR in children with CH.The timing of AR was examined in a retrospective study of children with CH with growth data at least up to 5 years of age.
Alcohol and Pregnancy
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Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can be harmful to you and your growing baby. Thus, the best course is not to drink at all during pregnancy.
Protect Your Baby
Some things — such as alcohol — can harm your baby’s health. The degree of harm depends on the amount of alcohol you drink, how often you drink, and when in pregnancy you drank alcohol. Early pregnancy, when many of the baby’s organs are forming, is a time to be extra careful.
Alcohol quickly reaches the fetus through your bloodstream. It crosses the placenta to the baby.
Bacterial infections in premature babies more common than previously realized
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Premature babies are subject to a host of threats that can result in fetal/neonatal disease. In a study published in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, researchers from the University of AlabamaЦBirmingham Medical School and the Drexel University College of Medicine found that genital mycoplasmas are a frequent cause of congenital fetal infection. 23% of neonates born between 23 and 32 weeks of gestation have positive umbilical blood cultures for two genital mycoplasmas (bacteria lacking cell walls): Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis.
Although Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis are found in 80% of vaginal and cervical fluids, infants are not generally screened for these bacterial infections. The finding that about one-quarter of early preterm infants is already infected at birth is important in reducing adverse outcomes. These newborns had a higher incidence of neonatal systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), higher incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), higher serum concentrations of interleukin (IL)-6 and more evidence of placental inflammation than those with negative cultures. The earlier the gestational age at delivery, the higher the rate of a positive umbilical cord blood culture.
Congestive heart failure leads to greater disability, nursing home admissions
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Medical breakthroughs in recent decades have allowed heart attack survivors and other heart-disease patients to live longer. But as their hearts decline into congestive heart failure, an increasing number will experience disability and the need for nursing-home care.
A new study from the University of Michigan Health System and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System sheds light on the degree of disability among people with CHF, as well as the implications for the health care system, community care facilities, families and the patients themselves.
Pollution shrinks foetus size: Brisbane study finds
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Exposure to air pollution significantly reduces foetus size during pregnancy, according to a new study by Brisbane scientists.
Queensland University of Technology senior research fellow Dr Adrian Barnett said the study compared the foetus sizes of more than 15,000 ultrasound scans in Brisbane to air pollution levels within a 14km radius of the city.
