Health News articles from January 2008

Health News archives from January 2008

Heart attack defined: worldwide consensus on definition leads to better patient aid.
January 1, 2008... All heart attacks are not created equal. There are major differences that affect decisions about testing, treatment, lifestyle changes and prognosis. But until recently, no internationally accepted agreement on how heart attack should be...

Early screening detects lung cancer prior to symptoms.(IN THE NEWS...)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A Canadian study of more than 1,000 high-risk smokers showed that non-invasive, low-dose computed tomography (CT) scanning detects early stage cancer before symptoms appear. A team of radiologists at Princess...

Creatine plus exercise adds to strength in older adults.(IN THE NEWS...)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A regular program of exercise, combined with daily doses of creatine monohydrate (CrM) and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), resulted in improved daily function and increased strength in a group of adults at least 65...

Chemotherapy linked to increase in heart disease.(IN THE NEWS...)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The toxic effects of chemotherapy have been found to increase risk of developing cardiovascular disease, notably the toxic chemicals known as anthracyclines, and trastuzumab (Herceptin). The study, reported in a...

New treatment for stroke effective up to a day after symptoms start.(IN THE NEWS...)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] People treated with the drug minocycline within six to 24 hours after a stroke had significantly fewer disabilities, according to a study published in the October 2, 2007, issue of Neurology. Researchers say...

Statins help preserve lung function.(IN THE NEWS...)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There's new evidence that statins can dramatically slow age-related lung-function decline even in people who smoke. In a study reported recently in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine...

Now we know: why opioids don't work against fibromyalgia pain: recent study reveals reduced opioid receptor availability in the brain; but a new FDA-approved drug brings relief.(BONES & JOINTS)(Report)
January 1, 2008... Many people with the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia report that they do not get relief from pain medication known as opioids. Opioids work by binding to opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord. New research now reveals that...

Pregabalin decreases pain, expedities movement in knww replacement patients.(BONES & JOINTS NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] The nerve pain drug pregabalin (Lyrica) may decrease pain while increasing movement after knee replacement surgery, according to new research presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists 2007 annual...

Meditation may reduce depression associated with RA.(BONES & JOINTS NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) may help ease psychological distress in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a new study in the October 2007 issue of Arthritis Care & Research. MBSR is a meditation training program that...

Breaking a sweat may protect your knees.(BONES & JOINTS NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... Exercise--especially the kind that gets your heart pumping and your body sweating--may actually protect against knee osteoarthritis (OA). The new research, which appears in the October 2007 issue of Arthritis Care & Research, puts to end the...

Acupuncture relieves presurgery pain.(BONES & JOINTS NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... Acupuncture may spell relief for knee pain patients who are awaiting knee replacement surgery, according to a study in the September issue of Rheumatology. Researchers found that people who underwent acupuncture experienced a 10 percent drop in...

Stroke awareness: signs often go unrecognized: getting medical aid in under three hours is crucial to survival.(MIND & MEMORY)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A study of 344 people who experienced a major or minor stroke has found that only about half of them who came to the emergency department (ED) thought they were having a stroke. Yet knowing the signs of a stroke can...

Antidepressants could increase risk of GI bleeding.(MIND & MEMORY NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepres sants doubled the risk of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, according to a study in the October issue of Alimentary Pharmacology &Therapeutics. In patients taking both SSRIs and...

Insulin may improve symptoms of alzheimer's disease.(MIND & MEMORY NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] People with Alzheimer's disease are known to have low insulin levels, which may be a contributing factor to the disease. A study in the October 17, 2007 issue of neurology assessed 25 patients with either AD or...

What causes 'false memories' in older people?(MIND & MEMORY NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... Older adults are more likely to forget past events, and they tend to remember events that never happened, according to a study in the November 2007 issue of the Journal of neuroscience. This occurs because memory is stored in two parts of the...

Relatives of those with Parkinson's have higher risk of Alzheimer's.(MIND & MEMORY NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... The October 2007 issue of Archives of neurology reported that certain relatives of people with Parkinson's disease are up to 73 percent more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than the normal population. A research team at the Mayo Clinic...

Myths, misconceptions, and missed visits = poor eye care: almost half of Americans admit to practices that could be harmful to their vision.(INTERNAL MEDICINE)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Many Americans, including a significant sample of older adults, continue to practice poor eye care even though they consider sight to be their most valued sense. A 2007 survey found that almost half of the...

OTC pain medicines may reduce risk of Parkinson's.(INTERNAL MEDICINE NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Over-the-counter pain medications such as aspirin and ibuprofen may reduce a person's risk of Parkinson's disease by as much as 60 percent, according to a study published in the November 6, 2007 issue of neurology....

Epstein-Barr virus linked to multiple sclerosis.(INTERNAL MEDICINE NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... Researchers have found traces of a virus called epstein-Barr during autopsies of the brains of people who died of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study reported in the Nov. 5 Journal of experimental Medicine. They found Epstein-Barr...

Multi-level advances in prostate cancer treatment: biopsy location is key; surgery offers best long-term survival.(CANCER)(Obituary)
January 1, 2008... The earlier prostate cancer is detected, the better the chance of cure. But estimating the diagnostic accuracy of biopsy for prostate cancer is difficult because men with negative biopsy don't undergo radical prostatectomy to remove the...

Nicotine patch eases post-op pain.(CANCER NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... Application of the same patch that helps smokers kick the habit can reduce the need for opioids and the amount of pain experienced after surgery to remove the prostate In a double-blind random study of 90 nonsmokers undergoing general...

Weight impacts post-colon surgery recovery.(CANCER NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... An increasing body of research has linked obesity with a higher risk of developing colon cancer, though the mechanism is not yet completely clear. But how does obesity affect recovery after treatment? A study published in the Novembers Journal...

Vitamin D supplements could add years to life: lower your risk of death by seven percent with a daily dose of vitamin D.(NUTRITION & FITNESS)
January 1, 2008... Individuals who take vitamin D supplements appear to have a lower risk of death, according to a study published in the September 10, 2007 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. "The daily intake of between 400 and 600 International Units (IU)...

"Pool therapy" reduces osteoarthritis pain.(NUTRITION & FITNESS NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... A review of studies published in a recent issue of The Cochrane Library concluded that exercising in water (also called pool therapy, aquatic therapy, and hydrotherapy) may relieve pain and improve daily function in people with osteoarthritis...

Insoles do not prevent or relieve back pain.(NUTRITION & FITNESS NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... A review of six studies involving more than 2,200 participants found that wearing insoles (shoe orthotics) may be comfortable, but that they do not prevent or help treat back pain The study, which was published in an October 2007 issue of The...

Boiled peanuts healthier than raw, dry, or roasted.(NUTRITION & FITNESS NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... Researchers at Alabama A & M University have discovered that boiling peanuts is an effective method of preserving beneficial phytochemicals. The results of the study were published in an October 2007 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and...

Low HDL levels predict cardiovascular risk.(CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... Very low levels of "good" HDL cholesterol can substantially reduce the benefit of reducing "bad" LDL levels according to a retrospective analysis of 9,770 patients in the Treating to New Targets (TNT) study published in the Sept. 27 New England...

Bypass surgery better for sicker patients.(CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE NEWSBRIEFS)
January 1, 2008... A recent analysis by the Agency for Health care Research (AHRQ) of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services of 23 randomized trials involving 10,000 patients has confirmed that coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is a better choice...

Q & A.
January 1, 2008... Q My husband has been diagnosed with essential tremor, or ET. What is this, and how is it different from Parkinson's disease? What is the treatment? A Parkinson's disease and essential tremor (ET) are both movement disorders characterized...