Health News

Tighter Control Of Blood Sugar Prevents Diabetic Neuropathy, But At What Risk?

Date: Jun-14-2012
Aggressive control of blood sugar levels in diabetes can help to prevent a painful condition affecting patients' nerves, according to a new systematic review in the Cochrane Library. However, the review suggests that optimal target levels need to be established to prevent serious complications. People with diabetes control their blood sugar levels through insulin injections, diet and drugs, to compensate for their bodies producing too little insulin (type 1 diabetes) or becoming resistant to insulin (type 2 diabetes)...

The Role Of Omega-3 In Preventing Cognitive Decline In Older People Questioned

Date: Jun-14-2012
Older people who take omega-3 fish oil supplements are probably not reducing their chances of losing cognitive function, according to a new Cochrane systematic review. Based on the available data from studies lasting up to 3.5 years, the researchers concluded that the supplements offered no benefits for cognitive health over placebo capsules or margarines, but that longer term effects are worth investigating. Omega-3 fatty acids are fats responsible for many important jobs in the body...

Comparison Of Daily And Weekly Fertility Injections

Date: Jun-14-2012
New long-lasting weekly injections of fertility hormones are as safe and effective as standard daily injections, according to Cochrane researchers. The researchers compared weekly and daily hormone injections in a Cochrane systematic review and found no difference in pregnancies or serious side effects between the two regimens. Women undergoing fertility treatment are usually given daily injections of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) to increase the number of eggs that their ovaries release each month...

Experimental Drug And Genetic Difference Both Indicate How People Deal With Fear And Stress

Date: Jun-14-2012
Researchers at Duke University and the National Institutes of Health have found a way to calm the fears of anxious mice with a drug that alters their brain chemistry. They've also found that human genetic differences related to the same brain chemistry influence how well people cope with fear and stress. It's an advance in understanding the brain's fear circuitry that the research team says may hold particular promise for people at risk for anxiety disorders, including those suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)...

Clinical Trials In Developing Countries: The Challenges And Opportunities

Date: Jun-14-2012
Conducting more clinical trials in developing countries is of benefit because these populations are underrepresented in research, but doing trials in resource poor settings has many challenges. Research sites in developing countries benefit from working with externally sponsored clinical trials including increased capacity development and investment, but locally led research is also challenged by complex trial regulations and administrative burdens. These are some of the conclusions of an Essay by Trudie Lang and Sisira Siribaddana published in this week's PLoS Medicine...

UK-Based Twins Early Development Study Looks At Nature And Nurture

Date: Jun-14-2012
The extent to which our development is affected by nature or nurture - our genetic make-up or our environment - may differ depending on where we live, according to research funded by the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. In a study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, researchers from the Twins Early Development Study at King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry studied data from over 6,700 families relating to 45 childhood characteristics, from IQ and hyperactivity through to height and weight...

To Improve Health Outcomes, Physicians And Public Health Agencies Need Shared Accountability

Date: Jun-14-2012
A first-time joint publication by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and the American Journal of Public Health highlights how the two sectors of public health and primary medicine intersect and the work ahead to achieve true integration. This special supplement complements the recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) study released in late March, "Primary Care and Public Health: Exploring Integration to Improve Population Health*...

Genetic Variability In The Embryo May Predispose To Cancer In Adult Life

Date: Jun-14-2012
A study recently published in Nature Genetics provides new evidence that the genetic makeup of the embryo may cause the appearance of tumors in adult life. These results bear out the growing theory that some tumors may have an extremely early origin, tracing to the individual's embryonic development, while offering new clues to understand the genetic causes of certain kinds of cancer, and their prevention and treatment. Researcher Francisco X...

Inequalities In Deaths From Heart Disease In England

Date: Jun-14-2012
Although improved treatment uptake for coronary heart disease in England has resulted in a dramatic fall in death rates over recent years, improvements in major risk factors vary substantially between richer and poorer people, according to a study by UK researchers in this week's PLoS Medicine. The researchers, led by Madhavi Bajekal from University College London, examined trends in death rates from coronary heart disease in England between 2000 and 2007...

Low Energy Levels Could Be Warning For COPD Patients

Date: Jun-14-2012
Reports of low energy levels or feelings of fatigue could be used to predict risk of hospitalisation for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a new study published online ahead of print in the European Respiratory Journal. The findings of the study could be used by doctors to help reduce the number of admissions to hospital for people with COPD, which could lead to improvements in quality of life and a reduction in the economic impact of the disease. Fatigue has been reported as the second most prevalent symptom of COPD, after breathlessness...