Health News

Children With Heart Defects Need Early Evaluation For Related Disorders

Date: Jul-31-2012
Children born with a congenital heart defect should receive early evaluation, prompt treatment and ongoing follow-up for related developmental disorders affecting brain function, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement published in Circulation. Each year in the United States, congenital heart defects - present at birth - affect approximately 36,000 infants, or nine out of every 1,000. Adult survivors now number between 1 and 3 million. Medical advances help most infants born with a congenital heart defect survive into adulthood...

Antibiotic Use Can Be Reduced By Shared Decision-Making Between Doctors And Patients

Date: Jul-31-2012
A training tool that helps physicians involve patients in decision-making can reduce the use of antibiotics for acute respiratory infections, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Antibiotics are prescribed too often for acute respiratory infections, even though many are not bacterial infections and therefore will not respond to antibiotic use. Overuse of antibiotics is a health concern and may be contributing to antibiotic resistance...

Genes That Control The Timing Of Brain Development Implicated In ADHD

Date: Jul-31-2012
Is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) due to a delay in brain development or the result of complete deviation from typical development? In the current issue of Biological Psychiatry, Dr. Philip Shaw and colleagues present evidence for delay based on a study by the National Institutes of Health. The cerebral cortex is the folded gray tissue that makes up the outermost portion of the brain, covering the brain's inner structures. This tissue has left and right hemispheres and is divided into lobes...

News From The Annals Of Internal Medicine For July 31, 2012 Online Issue

Date: Jul-31-2012
1. Task Force Recommends Against Screening ECG for Asymptomatic Adults at Low Risk for Coronary Heart Disease Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women. Certain physical and lifestyle characteristics increase risk for CHD, yet some low-risk patients may suffer a CHD event without warning. Electrocardiogram (ECG) can detect abnormalities that may predict a future CHD event...

Bird Flu That Spread To Seals May Threaten Humans

Date: Jul-31-2012
A new strain of flu virus that started in birds and then jumped to harbor seals may pose a threat to human health and wildlife, according to a new study due to be published this week in mBio, an open access online journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The strain, called H3N8, was found in New England harbor seals. The study authors identified it from a DNA analysis of a virus that was linked to the die-off of 162 New England harbor seals in 2011. The DNA test was done on samples taken during autopsies on 5 of the seals...

Smiling While Stressed Appears To Help The Heart

Date: Jul-31-2012
A new study suggests that holding a smile on one's face during periods of stress may help the heart. The study, due to be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science, lends support to the old adage "grin and bear it", suggesting it may also make us feel better. The study is the work of psychological scientists Tara Kraft and Sarah Pressman of the University of Kansas. They looked at how different types of smiling, and people being aware of smiling, affected their ability to recover from stressful episodes...

Psychological Abuse Can Be Just As Harmful As Physical Abuse On Children

Date: Jul-31-2012
Child abuse experts say psychological abuse can be as damaging to a young child's physical, mental and emotional health as a slap, punch or kick. While difficult to pinpoint, it may be the most challenging and prevalent form of child abuse and neglect, experts say in an American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) position statement on psychological maltreatment in the August issue of the journal Pediatrics...

If Parents Want To Increase Their Children's Activity, They Should Increase Their Own

Date: Jul-31-2012
Parents concerned about their children's slothful ways can do something about it, according to research at National Jewish Health. They can increase their own activity. In the July 2012 issue of the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, Kristen Holm, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at National Jewish Health, and her colleagues report that, when parents increase their daily activity, as measured by a pedometer, their children increase theirs as well. "It has long been known that parent and child activity levels are correlated," said Dr. Holm...

Fatal Flu Virus That Can Jump Species Highlights The Risks Of Pandemic Flu From Animals

Date: Jul-31-2012
A new strain of influenza virus found in harbor seals could represent a threat to wildlife and human health, according to the authors of a study appearing July 31 in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. It is crucial to monitor viruses like this one, which originated in birds and adapted to infect mammals, the authors say, so that scientists can better predict the emergence of new strains of influenza and prevent pandemics in the future...

Recommendations From Guidelines on Obesity In Type 2 Diabetes Are Largely Consistent

Date: Jul-31-2012
Weight reduction, diet, exercise and behavioral therapy advised / strength of the recommendation varies On 10th July 2012, the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) published the results of a literature search for evidence-based guidelines for the treatment of obesity in type 2 diabetes. The aim of the report was to identify those recommendations from current guidelines of high methodological quality that may be relevant for a possible new obesity module in the disease management programme (DMP) for type 2 diabetes...