Health News

Blood pressure lowering drug aliskiren did not improve coronary artery disease for patients with prehypertension AQUARIUS study finds

Date: Sep-05-2013
The blood pressure lowering drug aliskiren did not improve coronary artery disease when given to patients who had prehypertension, results of the Aliskiren Quantitative Atherosclerosis Regression Intravascular Ultrasound Study (AQUARIUS) reveal...

Infections cause lower proportion of lead extractions than expected

Date: Sep-05-2013
Infections cause a lower proportion of lead extractions than expected, according to preliminary results from the ELECTRa Registry presented at ESC Congress 2013 by Dr Maria Grazia Bongiorni from Italy. The European Lead Extraction ConTRolled (ELECTRa) Registry is the first large prospective, multicentre, European controlled registry of consecutive patients undergoing transvenous lead extraction (TLE) procedures in European real world practice. It is carried out by the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) and managed by the ESC's EORP programme...

Low BMI is a risk factor for CVD in hypertensive patients with diabetes

Date: Sep-05-2013
Low BMI is a risk factor for CVD in hypertensive patients with diabetes, according to research presented at the ESC Congress by Dr Takanori Nagahiro from Japan. The findings provide evidence for an obesity paradox in hypertensive patients with glucose intolerance. Dr Nagahiro said: "Obesity is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) but several studies have reported that low body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) was associated with worse cardiovascular outcome compared to middle or higher BMI...

Medication does not slow progression of coronary disease in patients with prehypertension

Date: Sep-05-2013
Among patients with prehypertension and coronary artery disease, use of the renin (an enzyme secreted by the kidneys) inhibitor aliskiren, compared with placebo, did not result in improvement or slowing in the progression of coronary atherosclerosis, according to a study published by JAMA. The study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2013...

Task Force: Not enough evidence to recommend for or against screening for peripheral artery disease in asymptomatic adults

Date: Sep-05-2013
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) found insufficient evidence to recommend for or against using the ankle-brachial index (ABI) as a screening test for peripheral artery disease (PAD) in asymptomatic adults. PAD is a common circulatory problem in which narrowed arteries reduce blood flow to the limbs. In addition to morbidity directly caused by PAD, patients have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) events. Screening asymptomatic patients could reduce patient morbidity and mortality by identifying patients who are at hidden risk for CVD...

Friends' Facebook, Myspace photos affect risky behavior among teens

Date: Sep-05-2013
Teenagers who see friends smoking and drinking alcohol in photographs posted on Facebook and Myspace are more likely to smoke and drink themselves, according to a new study from the University of Southern California (USC). "Our study shows that adolescents can be influenced by their friends' online pictures to smoke or drink alcohol," said Thomas W. Valente, Ph.D., professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the study's principal investigator...

Microencapsulation of brain cancer drug BCNU produces uniform drug release vehicle, injectable through the skull

Date: Sep-05-2013
Consistently uniform, easily manufactured microcapsules containing a brain cancer drug may simplify treatment and provide more tightly controlled therapy, according to Penn State researchers. "Brain tumors are one of the world's deadliest diseases," said Mohammad Reza Abidian, assistant professor of bioengineering, chemical engineering and materials science and engineering. "Typically doctors resect the tumors, do radiation therapy and then chemotherapy...

New research identifies a possible finite number of viruses

Date: Sep-05-2013
EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit organization that focuses on local conservation and global health issues, and the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health announced a new strategy to identify the total number of wildlife viruses that could potentially cause emerging disease outbreaks that threaten both public and wildlife health. Combining field investigations with a new statistical approach, scientists estimate that there may exist a minimum of 320,000 viruses awaiting discovery from mammals alone...

Curvy plastic tube fights obesity, no surgery required

Date: Sep-05-2013
The rapidly growing obesity epidemic and its complications are estimated to cost the American economy over $140 billion annually due to loss of productivity and medical complications. Attempts to solve this problem using weight loss programs have thus far failed due to low compliance. To solve this problem, students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Biodesign program developed a new type of gastric sleeve, called MetaboShield. The endoscopic insertion of the sleeve requires no general anesthesia, no incisions and no tissue damage...

Methylprednisolone injections significantly improve carpel tunnel symptoms, but surgery still likely

Date: Sep-05-2013
Methylprednisolone injections significantly reduce pain and improve function in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in the short term, but only slightly reduce the rate of surgery after one year. CTS is a common condition in which there is excessive pressure on the nerve in the wrist that allows feeling and movement to parts of the hand. Patients are initially treated with wrist splinting, but many go on to have surgery. While surgery often produces good outcomes, recovery can last several weeks and includes lost work time. Thus, finding an effective nonsurgical treatment is desirable...