Archive for the ‘Health’ Category
A cheap off-patent drug that is commonly used for arthritis could be a wonder treatment for amoebic parasites that infect 50 million people each year, 70,000 of them fatally, a study on Sunday said.
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/health-tip-proper-form-running-110607975.html
MONDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) — Many American teenagers,
including some with a normal, healthy weight, already have one or more
risk factors for heart disease, researchers say.
About 22 percent of today’s teens have borderline-high or already high
LDL cholesterol — that’s the bad type. And 15 percent have pre-diabetes
or diabetes, according to the new research based on data spanning from
1999 to 2008.
When the study authors looked at the year-by-year differences, however,
one risk factor stood out. At the start of the study period, the rate of
pre-diabetes/diabetes was 9 percent. By the end of the study, that number
was 23 percent.
“Pre-diabetes and diabetes increased over time among adolescents,” said
the study’s lead author, Ashleigh May, an epidemiologist at the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
May added that the rate of pre-diabetes/diabetes as well as the other
cardiovascular risk factors went up as weight increased.
The study was released online May 21, and will be published in the June
print issue of Pediatrics.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in U.S. adults,
according to background information in the study. Although most
manifestations, such as stroke and heart attack, don’t occur until
adulthood, there’s been increasing evidence that risk factors for
cardiovascular disease may be evident much sooner. And, with more and more
American children and teens becoming overweight and obese, health experts
are increasingly concerned about the possibility of cardiovascular risk
factors showing up at younger ages.
The current study reviews data from the U.S. National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 through 2008. The survey includes a
nationally representative sample of the U.S. population. For this study,
the investigators focused on the 3,383 teens who were between 12 and 19
years old.
During the study period, 14 percent either had or were at risk for high
blood pressure (prehypertensive/hypertensive), 22 percent had
borderline-high or high bad (LDL) cholesterol levels, and 6 percent had
low levels of the good (HDL) cholesterol.
For the study period overall, 15 percent of teens were classified as
having pre-diabetes or diabetes. The rate of pre-diabetes/diabetes was the
only risk factor that increased from the beginning of the study to the
end.
May noted that this might have more to do with how they tested for
diabetes, as they only measured one fasting blood sugar level. Normally,
diabetes or pre-diabetes isn’t diagnosed unless there are at least two
abnormal fasting blood sugar levels, because levels tend to fluctuate.
In addition, May said the plateauing of the other risk factors appears
to mirror the plateau that has occurred in childhood obesity. But, she
added, both the diabetes trend and the plateauing trend will need more
research over time to see if these trends continue.
The study also found that as weight increased, so did the
cardiovascular risk factors. However, a significant number of
normal-weight children also showed signs of trouble. About 10 percent were
in the pre-hypertensive/hypertensive category, more than 15 percent had
elevated bad cholesterol and more than 10 percent had
pre-diabetes/diabetes, the results showed.
Dr. Dorothy Becker, chief of endocrinology and diabetes at Children’s
Hospital of Pittsburgh, said she wasn’t surprised by the findings, even
that some normal-weight children were showing heart disease risk factors.
She said that anyone who’s eating a diet high in sugar and fat will likely
have problems, even if it isn’t readily apparent in their weight.
“It’s not just what you look like. You can have a pretty lousy
lifestyle without being overweight,” she said.
Doctors, parents, school and hospital administrators, and community
leaders all need to take overweight and obesity seriously, she said.
“Physicians need to say this is important. It’s as big a risk to your
health as smoking or unprotected sex,” Becker said.
The good news is that lifestyle changes can make a difference.
May said that “it’s never too late to improve your lifestyle, physical
activity and eating habits. Changing those things, if they’re on the wrong
course now, can be beneficial.”
Becker agreed. “If teens can lose weight, they’ll have a pretty good
prognosis,” she said. “If they don’t make a change, then they’ll carry all
of these risk factors into adulthood, and that’s like having a ticking
time bomb over your head. You don’t necessarily know when it’s going to go
off, but it’s likely that it will.”
More information
The Weight-control Information Network has advice on helping
your overweight child.
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-teens-heading-heart-trouble-study-130414010.html
A cheap off-patent drug that is commonly used for arthritis could be a wonder treatment for amoebic parasites that infect 50 million people each year, 70,000 of them fatally, a study on Sunday said.
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/health-tip-comforting-babys-pain-110607646.html
MONDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) — Shortness of breath during sexual
activity is common for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD), a new, small study finds.
This breathlessness, also known as dyspnea, can inhibit healthy sex
lives and is more common among COPD patients than even heart failure
patients. COPD is a term used to describe certain lung conditions
including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
“We compared measures of well-being, depression and sexual function
among older patients with severe COPD or heart failure, both of which are
associated with dyspnea during exertion,” said Dr. Ejvind Frausing Hansen,
chief physician at Hvidovre Hospital in Denmark. “Dyspnea at exertion can
also limit daily activities and increase the risk of poor well-being,
social isolation, and depression,” he said in a news release from the
American Thoracic Society.
In conducting the study, the researchers asked 39 patients with COPD
and 22 patients with heart failure about their well-being, symptoms of
depression and sexual function.
The average age of the COPD patients was 66 years and the average age
of the heart failure patients was 64, the study authors noted.
Shortness of breath during sexual activity was reported by 44 percent
of the COPD patients. In contrast, only 5 percent of the heart failure
patients said they had this problem, the investigators found. And, 56
percent of COPD patients said shortness of breath limited their sexual
activity, compared to just 27 percent of heart failure patients.
About one-third of COPD and heart failure patients reported problems
with well-being. Signs of depression were reported by 34 percent of those
with COPD and 37 percent of those with heart failure. An inadequate sex
life was reported by 38 percent of those with COPD versus 32 percent of
those with heart failure.
“Patients with COPD are known to have a high prevalence of sexual
problems,” said Hansen. “Our study shows that depression and poor
well-being are also common in these patients. In our group of patients,
dyspnea that limits sexual activity was more common among COPD patients
than heart failure patients.”
The study’s findings were scheduled for presentation Monday at an
American Thoracic Society conference in San Francisco.
Data and conclusions of research presented at meetings should be
considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical
journal.
More information
The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about COPD.
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/copd-put-damper-sex-life-160413711.html
A cheap off-patent drug that is commonly used for arthritis could be a wonder treatment for amoebic parasites that infect 50 million people each year, 70,000 of them fatally, a study on Sunday said.
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/obese-teens-heart-damage-without-showing-signs-180609035.html
MONDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) — The use of oral contraceptives
by younger women or hormone therapy by older women may be linked with
inflammatory bowel disease, new research indicates.
Birth control pills are associated with a higher risk for Crohn’s
disease, said researcher Dr. Hamed Khalili, a clinical and research fellow
of gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Crohn’s
causes inflammation of the lining and wall of the large or small
intestine, or both. The lining can become so inflamed it bleeds.
Hormone replacement therapy taken by some women after menopause is
linked with ulcerative colitis, the study found. It is a disease of the
colon (large intestine) or rectum. It causes diarrhea, abdominal cramping
and rectal bleeding.
Khalili presented the findings Sunday at the Digestive Disease Week
meeting, in San Diego.
Of the two links they found, Khalili said, the association with birth
control pills and Crohn’s is the most relevant to patients.
That is especially true, he said, for long-term users. “If you took
oral contraceptives for more than five years, you have a threefold
increased risk of Crohn’s disease,” he said.
For the study in younger women, Khalili and his colleagues looked at
about 233,000 women enrolled in the large U.S. Nurses Health Studies I and
II.
He looked at data from the beginning of the first study, 1976, through
2008. He found 309 cases of Crohn’s disease and 362 of ulcerative
colitis.
He compared those who never used birth control pills to those who did.
Current users had a nearly three times greater risk of Crohn’s disease.
Those who used birth control pills had no increased risk of getting
ulcerative colitis compared with never-users.
In the second study, he looked at the data from nearly 109,000 women
past menopause. They were enrolled in the Nurses Health Study that began
in 1976.
He followed them through 2008. He found 138 cases of Crohn’s disease
and 138 of ulcerative colitis.
Those on hormone therapy had a 1.7 times higher risk of ulcerative
colitis, compared to never-users. No link was found with Crohn’s
disease.
While the studies uncovered an association between the hormone-based
therapies and digestive problems, it did not prove a cause-and-effect
relationship.
Still, how to explain the apparent connections? “We probably don’t have
a clear mechanism,” Khalili said.
In animal studies, he said, researchers have found that the colon is
more vulnerable to inflammation when estrogen is given. It changes the
permeability of the colon, he explained.
The link is probably of more concern in younger women, said Dr. David
Bernstein, a gastroenterologist and chief of hepatology at North Shore
University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y.
In the study of older women, “the risk may be present, but it seems to
be quite small,” he said. The link appears stronger, he said, for oral
contraceptive use and Crohn’s disease.
Older women on hormone therapy probably do not need to be concerned,
Bernstein said. More research may clarify that link.
However, “younger women on oral contraceptives need to be told that
there is an increased risk,” he added.
Khalili agreed. He said women on birth control pills who have a strong
family history of IBD should especially be made aware of the research
finding a link. A link is not a cause-and-effect relationship, but simply
an association.
Still, he said, they should be aware, in case they want to pick another
form of birth control.
Digestive Disease Week is jointly sponsored by four societies: the
American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the American
Gastroenterological Association Institute, the American Society for
Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary
Tract.
A co-author on both studies reports consulting work for Pfizer,
Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Bayer AG.
Because this research was presented at a medical meeting, the data and
conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a
peer-reviewed journal.
More information
To learn more about inflammatory bowel disease, visit the American Gastroenterological Association..
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/birth-control-pills-hrt-tied-digestive-ills-180609122.html
A cheap off-patent drug that is commonly used for arthritis could be a wonder treatment for amoebic parasites that infect 50 million people each year, 70,000 of them fatally, a study on Sunday said.
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/night-staffing-critical-care-docs-may-lower-icu-160414196.html
MONDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) — Statin drugs commonly used to
lower cholesterol levels may also slow the unhealthy growth of the
prostate in men with elevated blood levels of prostate-specific antigen,
a new study finds.
Prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, levels are often elevated due to
cancer or other conditions involving the prostate, explained researchers
from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.
The study authors noted that their findings are significant because an
enlarged prostate affects up to 90 percent of men older than 70 years and
can lead to bladder or kidney damage. Many of these men may already be
taking a statin, which include cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Crestor,
Lipitor, Pravachol or Zocor.
“Given that prostate enlargement is an important health problem in the
United States and elsewhere, and will be a larger problem as the
population ages, it’s important to understand and treat its causes,” the
study’s lead author, Dr. Roberto Muller, a urology fellow at Duke, said in
a medical center news release.
The study, which was funded by drug maker GlaxoSmithKline, is scheduled
to be presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Urological
Association in Atlanta.
In the research, Muller and his team sifted through data on more than
6,000 men involved in an unrelated GlaxoSmithKline trial for a prostate
cancer drug. The researchers identified over 1,000 men enrolled in the
study who also took a statin.
Although the men who took these cholesterol drugs tended to be older
and were expected to have enlarged prostates, the study revealed the
prostates of these men were similar in size to those who did not take
statins.
After two years, the researchers also found that the men who took
statins had reduced prostate growth regardless of whether or not they had
taken the prostate cancer drug as part of the larger study.
Specifically, prostate growth was an average 5 percent less in men who
took both a statin and the prostate cancer drug, compared to the men who
only took the cancer medication. For the men taking statins and an
inactive placebo pill, prostate growth was about 4 percent less than the
men taking only the dummy pill.
The researchers noted, however, the benefits of the drugs seemed to
fade after two years.
“We don’t yet understand the mechanisms that might be causing this,”
Muller said in the news release. “Some have suggested that statins may
have anti-inflammatory properties, and inflammation has been linked to
prostate growth, but this needs further study.”
One expert said the findings were interesting, but it’s too soon to
advise a statin as a preventive measure against enlarged prostate.
“Studies such as these are intriguing because we do not yet know the
reason prostates enlarge as men age,” said Dr. Warren Bromberg, chief of
the division of urology and director of the Prostate Cancer Program at
Northern Westchester Hospital Center in Mount Kisco, N.Y. “There are
likely multiple factors that may lead to prostate growth, including
genetic, environmental, and as the article points out, dietary or
behavioral.”
The reduction in prostate growth linked to statin use was “small,”
Bromberg added, and it also seemed temporary.
“Because statins may be associated with significant side effects, I
would advise caution in taking such medications strictly to prevent
prostate growth,” he said.
The study authors noted that men’s lifestyles, including diet and
exercise, affect their prostate health as well as cholesterol levels. The
study was able to show an association between statin use and reduced
prostate growth, but it could not prove cause-and-effect.
Still, the findings do shed light on prostate health generally, Muller
said.
“Prostate enlargement was once considered an inexorable consequence of
aging and genetics, but there is growing awareness that prostate growth
can be influenced by modifiable risk factors,” he explained. “In this
context, the role of blood cholesterol levels and cholesterol-lowering
drugs such as statins warrants further study.”
Findings presented at medical meetings are typically considered
preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about enlarged prostate.
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/statins-may-help-prevent-enlarged-prostate-study-160414274.html
MONDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) — Men with severe gum disease,
known as periodontitis, are at greater risk for impotence, according to a
new study that finds young men and the elderly at particular risk.
The researchers from Taiwan used data from a large study to identify
almost 33,000 men with erectile dysfunction and randomly selected about
162,000 men without this condition.
Of these study participants, about 12 percent had periodontitis. This
group with gum disease included about 27 percent of the men with erectile
dysfunction and about 9 percent of those without sexual problems. The men
were followed for five years.
The study found gum disease was much more prevalent among the men with
erectile dysfunction than the control group. After taking into account
other lifestyle factors, such as income and pre-existing medical
conditions, the researchers found gum disease was still linked to
impotence, particularly in men younger than 30 and those older than
70.
“Understanding all aspects of how and why a health condition occurs is
vital to prevention and treatment goals,” said Dr. Tobias Kohler, a member
of the American Urology Association Public Media Committee, in a committee
news release. “This new study demonstrates how seemingly unrelated
conditions can in fact be connected, underscoring the need for further
research and education.”
The study did not show that gum disease causes impotence, merely that
an association exists between the two.
One expert put forth a theory on a potential link between diseased gums
and erectile dysfunction.
“I think the link between erectile dysfunction and gum disease is
likely due to inflammation in the body, and the damage in the blood
vessels supplying the penis,” said Dr. Aaron Katz, chairman of the
department of urology at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, NY. He
added that men who have periodontitis should avail themselves of good
dental care to help address the problem.
The researchers are from the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital and the
Herng-Ching Lin School of Health Care Administration at Taipei Medical
University. The study was to be presented Monday at a meeting of the
American Urological Association, in Atlanta.
Data and conclusions presented at meetings should be considered
preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
More information
The U.S. National Institutes of Health provides more information on gum disease.
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/severe-gum-disease-impotence-may-linked-180609174.html
MONDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) — In a scenario reminiscent of
the film Fantastic Voyage, researchers have found a way to perform
nearly surgery-free gastric bypass procedures in pigs using only a local
anesthetic.
The procedure, done with moveable magnets, is completed in less than a
half-hour, the researchers said, and reroutes the digestive tract without
leaving behind any foreign material.
Although pigs may not seem to be “the best model for looking at
resolution of obesity and diabetes,” porkers who were treated with the new
system gained less weight than did the controls, said the study’s senior
author, Dr. Christopher Thompson.
Thompson, an assistant professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in
Boston, is presenting his findings at the Digestive Disease Week meeting
of gastroenterologists in San Diego. He spoke to reporters at a Monday
press conference.
Gastric or intestinal bypass surgery is effective treatment against
obesity, diabetes and even some cancers and involves rerouting different
parts of the intestine so that certain areas of the digestive tract are no
longer needed.
The procedure typically involves invasive surgery, with all its
attendant complications and risks.
However, the procedure used in this study is called SAMSEN (for
Self-Assembling Magnets for Endoscopy). Here, researchers inserted two
magnets via a catheter into the foregut and the hindgut of five pigs. Once
inside the intestine, the magnets were manipulated to find each other and
“mate” — squeezing on the unneeded tissue until it died and shriveled
away.
Within a few days this method worked to create a surgical bypass
(formally called an anastomosis) that connected two previously separate
parts of the gastrointestinal tract. Three months after the procedures,
these bypasses were still large and open.
The procedure, if validated in other animal models and in humans, might
someday aid in the fight against obesity, diabetes and even some forms of
cancer, the authors stated.
Similar procedures have been tried before but they involved just one
magnet, meaning that only small bypasses could be performed. This new
system would allow for larger bypasses.
This study was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense as well as
Beacon Endoscopic, which developed the SAMSEN system.
A second study, also being presented at Digestive Disease Week, showed
that a tiny endoscope nicknamed the “mermaid” that is propelled by a
magnet and a fin could safely travel the entire human digestive tract and
provide accurate images of the stomach as well as the small and large
intestines.
Currently, capsule endoscopies rely on the digestive tract’s natural
movements to move it through the system. Not only does this process take
time, but doctors also cannot control the direction of the camera.
The human volunteer in this study was the study’s senior author,
69-year-old Naotake Ohtsuka, president of Mu Ltd., which developed the
device. He is also professor emeritus at Ryukoku University in Seta,
Japan.
“The device moved safely by itself without injuring our volunteer
subject and it took more images than the conventional capsule endoscope,”
Ohtsuka said in the press briefing. “We conclude that the mermaid will be
applied in the clinical diagnosis of the whole digestive tract in the
future.”
In a third and final study being presented at the meeting, researchers
determined that a new high-definition, dual-focus colonoscope may enable
doctors to diagnose during a colonoscopy whether small polyps in the colon
are benign or malignant.
With such a technology, “doctors would feel certain enough in real
practice to do this and not have to send the specimen to a pathology lab,”
said study senior author Dr. Roy Soetikno, a physician with Palo Alto
Veteran’s Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif.
That study was funded by Olympus America, which makes the device and is
currently marketing it.
Findings presented at medical meetings are typically considered
preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
The U.S.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has
more on colonoscopies.
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/moveable-magnets-used-forge-gastric-bypass-pigs-180609750.html
