Fasting may cut risks of heart disease, diabetes
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Routine periodic fasting, which is practiced by some members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), may reduce the risks of heart disease and diabetes, according to findings from the Intermountain Heart Collaborative Study conducted in Utah.
The Utah population has one of the lowest rates of death from cardiovascular disease in the U.S., likely due to the lifestyle of members of the LDS—particularly low rates of smoking—lead investigator Dr. Benjamin D. Horne told Reuters Health.
However, as smoking rates have dropped in other states, Utah still has one of the lowest heart disease death rates, Horne said. “There should have been some convergence of disease rates because Utah’s smoking prevalence can’t decline as much as other states,’ but that is not what we have observed.”
Biomarkers for identifying infant infections
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Infection is the leading cause of infant deaths worldwide, and particularly a common killer of weaker, pre-term infants. Current diagnostic tests can be slow and non-specific, but researchers have now identified potential biomarkers in the blood that can rapidly identify both the onset of infection and type of microbe.
The circulatory system is a major hotbed of immune system activity, so Stephen Kingsmore and colleagues analyzed plasma samples from 107 infected and non-infected premature infants to try and identify proteins that could reliably identify an infected state.
Their analysis revealed eight proteins, associated with immune responses like inflammation and blood coagulation, which were consistently over-expressed in infected neonates. In addition, the relative levels of these serum proteins could provide insight into the type of infection (for example, the inflammatory proteins IL-6 and IL-8 were 1000-fold higher in streptococcus infections compared to other types).
People With Intellectual Disabilities Face Health Care Hurdles
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People with intellectual disabilities face a variety of barriers when it comes to organizing their health care, and there’s little research to direct health care providers in helping them, according to a new review of studies.
“At a personal level, there are communication problems. They’re not able to communicate their health issues as well as the general population. At a community level, sometimes there are access problems; a lot of people have physical problems also, so they can’t get to the places that provide services,” said Robert Balogh, the lead review author.
Barriers also exist at the health service provider level. “Some of them are not trained to work with that population, are reluctant to see them and they don’t have very good attitudes,” Balogh said.
Vision loss more common in people with diabetes
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Visual impairment appears to be more common in people with diabetes than in those without the disease, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Approximately 14.6 million Americans had diagnosed diabetes mellitus in 2005 and another 6.2 million had undiagnosed diabetes, according to background information in the article. It is estimated that the number of individuals with diagnosed diabetes will increase to 48.3 million by 2050. “Diabetic retinopathy [damage to the retina caused by diabetes], one of the most common microvascular complications of diabetes, is considered to be one of the major causes of blindness and low vision,” the authors write. Although studies suggest that controlling glucose and blood pressure have reduced the rate of retinal diseases, other ocular conditions suffered by diabetic patients, such as cataract and glaucoma, may increase the risk of visual impairment. Additionally, decreased vision caused by an abnormal shape of the cornea is also common among people with diabetes.
Cancer Screening Rates Low Among Older Medicaid Patients
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Only about half of Medicaid recipients age 50 and older appear to receive recommended screening tests for colorectal, breast and cervical cancer, according to a report in the October 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
These three types of cancer are potentially curable when detected early, and eliminating disparities in screenings is part of the government’s Healthy People 2010 plan, according to background information in the article. “State Medicaid agencies are in a unique position to monitor and improve the quality of care received by some of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens,” the authors write. “Medicaid is the largest provider of health insurance for minority populations in America. Medicaid recipients, by virtue of Medicaid eligibility criteria, frequently share other characteristics associated with health-related disparities: low income, old age, and/or chronic disability because of advanced disease, physical limitation, severe mental illness or developmental disability.”
C. Annette DuBard, M.D., M.P.H., of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Raleigh, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, and colleagues studied a representative sample of 1,951 North Carolina Medicaid recipients age 50 and older. Medical records were reviewed to determine whether physicians had recommended and patients had received cancer screening examinations.
Elective caesareans double risk of death
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Non-emergency caesareans double the risk of women dying or developing severe complications, according to a study conducted in Latin America.
The large study, led by Dr Jose Villar, an obstetrician at the University of Oxford, also shows that in some cases caesareans increased the risk of death to newborn babies by 70%.
“The message is it is an intervention that is not clinically needed and increases problems for the mother and babies,” says Villar, reporting in the British Medical Journal.
Common gene determines if breast is best
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Breastfeeding is best for your child’s brain as long as a variation of a common gene is present in the baby, researchers say.
Breastfed children with a variant of the FADS2 gene, which is involved in processing fatty acids, score up to seven points higher in IQ tests than bottle-fed children.
But for those children without the variant gene, breastfeeding makes no difference to their intelligence levels.
Stroke Onset Needs to be Treated Like the Emergency Situation It Is
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Technology Can Reverse the Effects of Some Strokes, but Stroke Onset Needs to be Treated Like the Emergency Situation It Is
Thanks to clot-busting drugs, new devices and minimally invasive procedures, patients experiencing the onset of a stroke have improved chances of surviving with fewer – or even no – long-term disabilities. Still, more than two-thirds of survivors will have some type of disability, according to the National Stroke Association. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in America and the number one cause of adult disability.
According to Michael J. Alexander, M.D., director of the Neurovascular Center and director of endovascular neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a good outcome depends on several factors, but nothing is more important than responding quickly and receiving care at a center that is equipped to offer the latest interventions.
Earlier this year, Cedars-Sinai became the first medical center in California to use a new clot-retrieval device for patients with acute stroke. The catheter-delivered Penumbra System received Food and Drug Administration approval in late December 2007 and has been available at Cedars-Sinai since mid-January.
Response to immune protein determines pathology of multiple sclerosis
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New research may help reveal why different parts of the brain can come under attack in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). According to a new study in mice with an MS-like disease, the brain’s response to a protein produced by invading T cells dictates whether it’s the spinal cord or cerebellum that comes under fire. The study—from researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and Washington University in St. Louis—will be published online on October 13th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
In most MS patients, the disease primarily affects the spinal cord and the white matter of the brain. But a small percentage of patients develop an atypical form of the disease, which primarily affects the cerebellum—the part of the brain that controls sensory perception and movement. For these patients, the disease tends to progress more rapidly and the prognosis is particularly bleak.
MS ensues when the body’s T cells invade the brain and trigger nerve-damaging inflammation, in part by secreting proteins called cytokines.
5 Things You Should Know About Stem Cell Research
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In just a few weeks, Michigan voters will have an important decision to make when casting their ballots.
Not just who they want to be president, or to represent them in Congress, but what they want the state to do about stem cells. And the way they vote on a ballot measure called Proposal 2 will determine the fate of a Michigan law that currently restricts research using embryonic stem cells.
Meanwhile, in other states, stem cells are emerging as a key issue in many races.
To cast an educated vote on stem cells, voters in Michigan and beyond must understand a complex, fast-emerging new field of medicine – no easy task. Stem cell research is generating great interest and investment worldwide because it could lead to possible treatments for spinal cord injuries, Parkinson’s disease, juvenile diabetes and other diseases. But some aspects of embryonic stem cell research may pose an ethical or moral dilemma for some people.
Bone fracture ups risk of male breast cancer
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While rare, breast cancer can occur in men and a new study suggests that the risk of developing male breast cancer is increased by having a close relative with breast cancer, being obese and physically inactive, and “somewhat surprisingly,” suffering a bone fracture after the age of 45.
Dr. Louise Brinton of the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland, and colleagues analyzed risk factors for male breast cancer among 324,920 men enrolled in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study. A total of 121 men developed breast cancer during the study.
They found that men with either a sister, brother, or other “first-degree” relative with breast cancer had nearly a two-fold increased risk of developing breast cancer, compared with men without an affected first-degree relative.
Poor sleep may impact elders’ physical abilities
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Poor quality sleep may lead to poorer physical function among otherwise healthy older men, study findings suggest.
“Men with poorer sleep quality, such as frequent awakening episodes, had weaker hand grip, slower walking speed, poorer walking balance, and were less likely to rise from a chair without using their hands,” Dr. Thuy-Tien L. Dam told Reuters Health.
However, “we don’t know what came first or what caused what,” noted Dam, who is currently associated with Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York.
Most women satisfied with cosmetic breast surgery
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In a survey of more than 300 women who had one of several cosmetic breast operations, nearly 97 percent of said that the results met or exceeded their expectations.
And while 43 percent of women said they experienced nipple numbness after cosmetic breast surgery, the problem persisted in only about 5 percent.
The survey included women who were treated over a 5-year period by Dr. Eric Swanson, a plastic surgeon in private practice in Leawood, Kansas.
Chronic lung disease common in older adults
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death globally, and one of every four men and one of every six women will develop COPD if they live to be 95 years old.
Those are the latest findings of the ongoing, population-based Rotterdam Study, presented here this week at the 18th Annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society.
COPD is primarily cause by two principal diseases, emphysema and chronic bronchitis, both of which are strongly linked to smoking. A primary symptom is the difficulty and ultimately inability to move air through the lungs. The symptoms are severely disabling and have life-threatening complications. An estimated 12 million people in the United States have COPD.
New Target for Obesity-Related Insulin Resistance, Type 2 Diabetes
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Building on mounting evidence that implicates infection-fighting cells found in obese fat tissue in the growing problem of insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes, researchers at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine have identified a particular subset of cells that are linked to obesity-associated insulin resistance, and that offer a promising new target for the treatment of diabetes. They showed that depletion of these cells, called CD11c-positive, in obese mice resulted in a reversal of obesity-associated insulin resistance.
The study, led by Jaap Neels, Ph.D., formerly of UC San Diego School of Medicine and now at the Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, and Jerrold Olefsky, M.D., Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Scientific Affairs at UC San Diego, will be published in the October 8 issue of Cell Metabolism.
Obese adipose, or fat, tissue is characterized by the presence of macrophages, specialized cells that usually fight infection. Adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) accumulate in fat tissue as body weight increases. Growing evidence shows that ATMs are a significant contributor to inflammation in obesity – inflammation that leads to insulin resistance, resulting in Type 2 diabetes.
