Health News

Some Dieting Increases Heart Disease Risk

Date: Jun-12-2012
A 25 year study in Northern Sweden, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Nutrition Journal, is the first to show that a regional and national dietary intervention to reduce fat intake, decreased cholesterol levels, but a switch to the popular low carbohydrate diet was paralleled by an increase in cholesterol levels. Over the entire 25 year period the population BMI continued to increase, regardless of either diet, and both the increase in body mass and increased cholesterol levels are indicators of increased cardiovascular risk...

Atrial Fibrillation Rhythm Control Vs. Rate Control, A Comparison

Date: Jun-11-2012
An observational study in which researchers compared whether the rhythm in which drugs are administered to patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) is more effective than the rate control with regard to mortality in these patients, demonstrated that after four years of treatment there is only a small difference within in mortality. However, the study published Online First in Archives of Internal Medicine revealed that the rhythm control may be linked to better long-term outcomes. According to background information of the study, around 2...

Kids With Staph Skin Infections Susceptible To MRSA Colonization

Date: Jun-11-2012
A report in the June edition of JAMA's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine shows that children who come into contact in the household with Staphylococcus aureus skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) seem to have a high rate of methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA) colonization compared with the general population. Background information of the cross-sectional study shows that S aureus outbreaks can occur within households with the infected household member with asymptomatic S aureus colonization becoming a source for transmitting the infection to other household members...

Non Suicidal Injury In Young Children On The Rise

Date: Jun-11-2012
It is well known that some teenagers, while not being specifically suicidal, are prone to deliberately injuring themselves with self inflicted cuts, bites or other lacerations. However, new research published by The American Academy of Pediatrics is showing children as young as 7 are engaging in these habits and putting themselves in danger. The study entitled "Rates of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Youth: Age, Sex, and Behavioral Methods in a Community Sample," took data from 665 youth aged between 7 and 16 who were asked about nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI)...

Premature Birth Rates Increase In Most Of The World

Date: Jun-11-2012
In 2010, almost 15 million infants were born prematurely worldwide. That is over one in ten babies born. South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa account for 60% of premature births, whilst the USA and Brazil are placed amongst the top ten countries with the highest premature birth rate with 517,000 and 279,300 premature births in 2010. According to the first ever national level estimates and time series in this week's Lancet, only three countries managed to reduce preterm birth rates within the past two decades. Worldwide, preterm birth, i.e...

Do Women Have A Higher Risk Of Stroke Than Men? Probably

Date: Jun-11-2012
According to a study in British Medical Journal (BMJ), the risk of women suffering a stroke in comparison with men is moderately higher. The study suggests that doctors should consider a patient's gender when deciding on anti-clotting treatments. Even though various studies have indicated that women with atrial fibrillation (AF), i.e. a stoke that occurred due to an insufficient blood supply to the brain, have a higher risk of ischemic stroke than men, other studies in contrast failed to confirm this finding...

Aspirin Lowers Post-Operative Heart Surgery Kidney Failure Risk

Date: Jun-11-2012
Heart surgery patients can considerably reduce their risk of developing post-operative acute renal failure by taking aspirin for five days before undergoing surgery. The study, conducted by Professor Jianzhong Sun (M.D., Ph.D.), professor and attending anesthesiologist at Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, US, was presented Sunday June 10th at the European Anesthesiology Congress in Paris. The researchers enrolled 3,219 patients who were due to undergo coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), valve surgery or both, to participate in the study...

Vismodegib For Treatment Of Patients With Basal Cell Carcinoma

Date: Jun-11-2012
According to results from the pivotal Phase II ERIVANCE BCC trial, up to 2,000 individuals suffering from advanced basal cell carcinoma (aBCC) in the UK could significantly benefit from a once a day pill called vismodegib. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), found that vismodegib healed visible lesions or shrank tumors in 30% of patients whose cancer had metastasized and in 43% of patients with locally advanced BCC...

Medical Staff More Likely To Have Car Accidents After Night Shifts

Date: Jun-11-2012
According to a team of French researchers, medical staff who drive home after a night shift are more likely to have an accident. The researchers examined the driving skills of 30 anesthesia trainees in a sleep-deprived condition (SDC) and after a night of normal sleep. Study participants were asked to complete simulated driving tests at 8am. The trainees drove for 15 minutes in urban conditions and then for 60 minutes under monotonous driving conditions, such as motorways or highways...

Is Spinal Manipulation Worth The Risk? Probably Not

Date: Jun-11-2012
Spinal manipulation is a common technique used to reduce back pain, neck pain and other musculoskeletal conditions by applying thrusts to the lumbar spine (lower back) or cervical spine (neck). Now in a report published online in British Medical Journal (BMJ) researchers debate whether it is effective. According to Neil O'Connell and colleagues, cervical spine manipulation "may carry the potential for serious neurovascular complications" and that the technique is "unnecessary and inadvisable...