Health News

Return Of Monday Morning Heart Attacks Suggests Move Toward Normalcy After Hurricane Katrina

Date: Mar-11-2013
The upheaval caused by Hurricane Katrina seems to have disrupted the usual timing of heart attacks, shifting peak frequency from weekday mornings to weekend nights, in a change in pattern that persisted a full five years after the storm, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session...

Employinjg Nurses With Baccalaureates In Nursing Leads To Fewer Patient Deaths

Date: Mar-11-2013
When hospitals hire more nurses with four-year degrees, patient deaths following common surgeries decrease, according to new research by the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing's Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research as reported in the March issue of the prestigious policy journal Health Affairs. Less than half the nation's nurses (45%) have baccalaureate degrees, according to the most recent data available (2008)...

Age At Menarche And Menopause Linked To Heart Disease And Osteoporosis Risk

Date: Mar-11-2013
Chinese women are less likely to develop cardiovascular disease if they have their first menstrual cycle or enter menopause later than their peers, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). The study also found earlier onset of menopause was associated with a higher risk of developing osteoporosis. The risk was significantly lower for women who were older than 50 when they underwent menopause. The findings could be used to identify women who are more likely to face heart disease or osteoporosis...

Molecular Key To Exhaustion Found Following Sleep Deprivation

Date: Mar-11-2013
It happens to everyone: You stay up late one night to finish an assignment, and the next day, you're exhausted. Humans aren't unique in that; all animals need sleep, and if they don't get it, they must make it up. The biological term for that pay-the-piper behavior is "sleep homeostasis," and now, thanks to a research team at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, one of the molecular players in this process has been identified - at least in nematode round worms...

Inactive Children More Likely To Experience Stress Hormone Surges

Date: Mar-11-2013
Exercise may play a key role in helping children cope with stressful situations, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). When they are exposed to everyday stressors, the study found sedentary children had surges of cortisol - a hormone linked to stress. The most active children had little or no increase in their cortisol levels in similar situations...

TV Advertising Of Statins May Have Side Effects

Date: Mar-11-2013
Television advertising may drive over-diagnosis of high cholesterol and over-treatment with statins, according to a new study¹ by Dr. Jeff Niederdeppe from Cornell University in the US and colleagues. It appears that a trip to the doctor enquiring about statins advertised on TV often leads to a prescription. The work appears online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine², published by Springer. Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US, and high levels of LDL-cholesterol, or 'bad' cholesterol, are a major contributor...

From Dolly The Sheep To Generations Of Mouse Clones

Date: Mar-11-2013
Using the technique that created Dolly the sheep, researchers from the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan have identified a way to produce healthy mouse clones that live a normal lifespan and can be sequentially cloned indefinitely. Their study is published in the journal Cell Stem Cell. In an experiment that started in 2005, the team led by Dr. Teruhiko Wakayama has used a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SNCT) to produce 581 clones of one original 'donor' mouse, through 25 consecutive rounds of cloning...

Psychosocial Issues Blamed For Tripling Of Heart Attacks

Date: Mar-11-2013
New Orleans residents continue to face a three-fold increased risk of heart attack post-Katrina - a trend that has remained unchanged since the storm hit in 2005, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session...

Patients Not Given Aspirin Before Angioplasty At Higher Risk Of Mortality

Date: Mar-11-2013
Despite recommendations from leading medical groups, a surprising number of patients are not given aspirin before artery-clearing coronary angioplasty and stenting, and those patients have a significantly higher in-hospital death rate, according to research from a Michigan network being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Aspirin use before angioplasty is a Class I recommendation of the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association, the highest level of evidence for ACC/AHA guidelines...

As GDP Drops In Greece's Financial Crisis, Heart Attack Rates Rise

Date: Mar-11-2013
Heart attack rates have spiked in Greece since the start of the country's financial crisis, especially among women and residents older than 45, according to a study of patient records presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. The study examined the medical records of 22,093 patients admitted to the cardiology department of the General Hospital of Kalamata over an eight-year span, with patients divided into a pre-financial crisis period from January 2004 through December 2007 or the crisis period, January 2008 through December 2011...