Health News

High Pollution Increases Risk Of Repeated Heart Attacks By Over 40 Percent

Date: Jun-07-2012
Air pollution, a serious danger to the environment, is also a major health risk, associated with respiratory infections, lung cancer and heart disease. Now a Tel Aviv University researcher has concluded that not only does air pollution impact cardiac events such as heart attack and stroke, but it also causes repeated episodes over the long term. Cardiac patients living in high pollution areas were found to be over 40 percent more likely to have a second heart attack when compared to patients living in low pollution areas, according to Dr...

Meta-Analysis Suggests Preventing Diabetes Can Lower Incidence Of Leukemia, Lymphoma, Myeloma

Date: Jun-07-2012
Patients with type 2 diabetes have a 20 percent increased risk of developing blood cancers, such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma, according to a new meta-analysis led by researchers at The Miriam Hospital. The findings, published online in the journal Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology, add to the growing evidence base linking diabetes and certain types of cancer. "I think when most people think about diabetes-related illnesses, they think of heart disease or kidney failure, but not necessarily cancer," said lead author Jorge Castillo, M.D...

Decline In Vaccinations Of U.S. Children After Publication Of Now-Refuted Autism Risk

Date: Jun-07-2012
UC health economics research has found that publication of perceived risk linking the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine to autism in the late 1990s seemingly led to declines in the vaccination rate of children. This despite the fact that later studies refuted the existence of an MMR-autism link. New University of Cincinnati research has found that fewer parents in the United States vaccinated their children in the wake of concerns about a purported link (now widely discredited) between the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and autism...

No Urgent Need To Get Vaccinated To Prevent A Second Shingles Episode

Date: Jun-07-2012
People who have had an episode of herpes zoster, also known as shingles, face a relatively low short-term risk of developing shingles, according to a Kaiser Permanente Southern California study published online in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. These findings suggest that among people with immune systems that have not been compromised, the risk of a second shingles episode is low. Researchers reviewed electronic health records and monitored recurrence of shingles for more than 6,000 individuals...

Smoking During Pregnancy Decreases With Higher Taxes, Smoke-Free Policies

Date: Jun-07-2012
It's estimated that almost 23% of women enter pregnancy as smokers and more than half continue to smoke during pregnancy, leading to excess healthcare costs at delivery and beyond. In one of the first studies to assess smoking bans and taxes on cigarettes, along with the level of tobacco control spending, researchers have found that state tobacco control policies can be effective in curbing smoking during pregnancy, and in preventing a return to smoking within four months on average, after delivery...

Waist Size, Regardless Of BMI, Linked To Diabetes Risk

Date: Jun-06-2012
Waist circumference is strongly and independently linked to diabetes type two risk, even after accounting for body mass index (BMI), and should be measured more widely for estimating risk, researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit, UK, reported in PLoS Medicine. The authors explained that overweight people with a large waist, over 102cm (40.2 inches) for men and over 88cm (34.6 inches) for women, have approximately the same or higher risk of eventually developing diabetes type 2 as obese individuals...

Genetics Alter Ability To Quit Smoking

Date: Jun-06-2012
The American Journal of Psychiatry reveals that whether or not a person is likely to stop smoking of their own accord or whether they need medication to assist them can now be determined by genetics. The finding could pave the way for health care providers to offer a more individualized therapy in the future to assist people in their quest to stop smoking. NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D. declares: ��"This study builds on our knowledge of genetic vulnerability to nicotine dependence, and will help us tailor smoking cessation strategies accordingly...

Cannabinoid Treatment For Pain In Cancer Patients

Date: Jun-06-2012
A new report, published in The Journal of Pain states that a multicenter trial has shown that a new cannabinoid treatment is effective in reducing pain in cancer patients who were not obtaining pain relief from opioids alone. Many cancer patients go through painful episodes which cannot be treated with safe doses of opioids, and therefore, the opioid treatments are ineffective for some people. These patients usually end up taking a combination of treatments to try to fight the pain...

Soy Provides Women With No Additional Cognitive Benefits

Date: Jun-06-2012
A new study indicates that the consumption of soy protein does not help preserve cognitive abilities in females aged 45+, contrary to earlier reports and beliefs, researchers from Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif, reported in Neurology. The authors added that soy protein might help women's memory for facial recognition. Study author Victor W. Henderson, MD, MS, said: "Soy is a staple of many traditional Asian diets and has been thought possibly to improve cognition in postmenopausal women...

New Untreatable Gonorrhea Could Cause Epidemic Of Sexually Transmitted Infections

Date: Jun-06-2012
The World Health Organization put out an alert today with regards to an untreatable form of Gonorrhea that seems to be becoming more prevalent. The antibiotic resistant strain of what is commonly regarded as little more than a nuisance STD, easily treated and cured, could set off a medieval style epidemic. It is estimated that more than 100 million people are infected with the bacteria each year, making up a quarter of all treatable STD infections...