Blood tests may help predict stroke
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Testing for high blood levels of two proteins involved in inflammation—Lp-PLA2 and CRP—may help identify people who are at increased risk for stroke, new research suggests.
Ultimately, measuring these proteins could help guide preventative strategies or they may even serve as targets for new drugs, according to the report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Many cancer patients continue to smoke
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Many people with cancer continue to smoke after their diagnosis, even though smoking can significantly compromise the outcome of treatment, according to a new study.
In a review of past research, the study authors found that even with the help of smoking cessation therapies, cancer patients often continued to smoke or fell back into the habit. Though smokers who get help quitting appear more likely to succeed, studies have found wide variation in success rates.
Epidemic survivors stress need for mental care
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Joey Lee began suffering severe mood swings, depression and would sob every day for no apparent reason soon after she survived a SARS infection while working as a nurse in a public hospital in Hong Kong in 2003.
Lee and her 8-year-old son, who was not infected, have been seeing a psychologist since. “He would cry all the time and at night, he is terrified that my husband and I will die,” she said.
Distance from facility affects cancer therapy
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The distance a woman has to travel to reach a radiation therapy facility appears to influence whether she receives the recommended treatment for early-stage breast cancer, investigators report. Women who live farther away are also less likely to undergo breast-conserving surgery plus radiation as opposed to mastectomy.
Treatment guidelines recommend breast-conserving surgery plus radiation for early stage breast cancers. However, radiation treatment after surgery involves daily treatments for 5 to 6 consecutive weeks, Lydia Voti, at the University of Miami in Florida, and her colleagues explain.
Height Loss: Why It Happens and How to Prevent It
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As we age, we experience decreases in everything from hair and hearing to memory and muscle. Height is also on the list. Starting at about age 40, people typically lose about half an inch each decade. Why do we shrink, what are the consequences, and what can we do? The December issue of Harvard Health Letter answers these questions.
New findings in patients with pediatric kidney failure
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Two studies just released by physicians at Texas Children’s Hospital are addressing new findings in patients with pediatric kidney failure, and on the growing prevalence of high blood pressure in children.
Dr. Stuart L. Goldstein, medical director of the Renal Dialysis Unit at Texas Children’s Hospital, and associate professor of pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, and Dr. Daniel I. Feig, chief of the Pediatric Hypertension Clinic’s at Texas Children’s and Ben Taub General Hospital, and assistant professor of pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, were two of only five physicians nationwide to have their pediatric projects selected for the conference’s pediatric briefing.
Large-scale international study confirms value of blood test to diagnose heart failure
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A large-scale international study has demonstrated the usefulness of a blood test to confirm or exclude the diagnosis of acute heart failure in emergency room patients and shows that the test also can identify patients at a higher risk for death.
The report from investigators in the U.S., the Netherlands, Spain and New Zealand also clarifies the importance of age-specific levels of a protein called NT-proBNP that definitively diagnose heart failure. The report will appear in the European Heart Journal and is receiving early online release.
Novartis hopes to develop cheap dengue test
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Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG hopes to develop a cheap test to detect dengue fever following the acquisition of vaccine and blood-testing firm Chiron, an executive said.
Thousands of people across Southeast Asia this year have been hit by dengue, a potentially fatal mosquito-borne disease for which there is no vaccine. The disease, which occurs mainly in tropical Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, affects tens of millions of people every year.
Hairdressers at Risk for Occupational Asthma
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The bleaching agents used by hairdressers can cause occupational asthma and rhinitis, say researchers here.
The finding comes from an eight-year series study of 47 hairdressers who were referred to the allergy and immunology unit at the Scientific Institute of Pavia here, according to Gianna Moscato, M.D., head of the allergy unit.
Problem of Emerging Infectious Diseases Likely to Worsen
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Emerging infectious diseases pose a global threat to human and animal health, and the problem is likely to worsen, warns an expert in this week’s BMJ.
The recent emergence of diseases, such as AIDS, SARS and avian flu, have catapulted emerging infectious diseases to the top of the medical and political agendas, and have highlighted the importance of wildlife as reservoirs or vectors for disease, writes Dr Andrew Cunningham.
Time Is Right for Vets and Doctors to Debate Food Policy
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The time is right for vets and doctors to join together to examine the case for radical reform of current food policy, say researchers in this week’s BMJ.
They argue that cheap food, particularly meat, is linked to reduced human health and reduced farm animal welfare, both of which are important matters of public interest that are within the professions’ respective purviews.
Delayed surgery for bladder cancer not harmful
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Contrary to several recent reports, delaying bladder cancer surgery for several weeks after diagnosis does not worsen a person’s odds of surviving the disease, Swedish investigators report in The Journal of Urology. The author of a related editorial, however, contends that the sooner the surgery is performed, the better.
Recent research suggesting that delays between diagnosis and surgery in patients with bladder cancer adversely affects survival is “alarming” because it suggests that slow hospital routines influence patient prognosis, Dr. Fredrik Liedberg and colleagues from Lund University Hospital write.
Osteoporosis linked to heart disease
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People with the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis are at increased risk for having coronary artery disease (CAD), in which plaque build-up starves the heart of its blood supply, investigators in Michigan report. In fact, osteoporosis is a stronger factor than some traditional risk markers for CAD.
“A previous study showed that women with osteoporosis have more strokes and cardiovascular events, such as congestive heart failure and chest pain,” said lead author Dr. Pamela A. Marcovitz. “Also, a radiologist had published a study showing they have higher coronary calcium scores, implying that they have more coronary disease as well.”
Christmas is coming and toys can be dangerous
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Even though toys today are safer than ever before, parents shopping for Christmas presents for their children are being warned to be aware of the hidden hazards some toys present.
Years of work by product safety advocates, parents and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), have ensured the toy market is a relatively safe place.
Stress shown to raise bad cholesterol levels
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British scientists have found that cholesterol levels in healthy adults can be raised by stress.
Experts were already aware that stress can increase heart rate and signs of inflammation, and weaken the immune system, but until now it was not clear whether stress could directly influence levels of cholesterol in the blood.
