Aspirin Use Rises Among Heart Disease-Wary Americans
It’s cheap, it’s easy, it works and more Americans are using aspirin regularly to prevent cardiovascular disease and the cardiovascular complications of diabetes, according to a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
“We saw an increase in aspirin use among U.S adults since 1999, with a majority of adults using aspirin to reduce the chance of a heart attack or stroke,” said lead author Umed Ajani, epidemiologist with the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. “Aspirin use among those with diabetes is also increasing to reduce the risk of cardiovascular complications. The trend is encouraging, especially in times when prevalence of other cardiovascular risk factors, such as obesity and diabetes, is increasing.”
‘Statin’ drug may be helpful in heart failure
Treatment with Lipitor (atorvastatin), one of the popular cholesterol-lowering “statin” drugs, can help the heart pump better in patients with heart failure, according to a new report.
By contrast, findings from a much smaller study showed that aside from lowering cholesterol levels, Lipitor did not benefit patients with heart failure. Both reports are published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Lack of sleep leads to fewer brain cells, in rats
Skimping on sleep can slow certain types of learning, a new study in rats shows, and the difficulty seems to arise from a lack of new brain neurons.
Rodents that got half their normal amount of shut-eye had a harder time remembering how to navigate a maze than well-rested rats, Dr. Ilana Hairston of the University of California at Berkeley and colleagues found.
Scientists Link Another Gene to Degenerative Blindness
Researchers have labored for decades to understand blindness-inducing neurodegenerative diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP).
It has been a painstaking scientific journey as AMD and RP each belong to a complex family of disorders, in which every disorder has many forms and each form is encoded with a distinct genetic recipe. Even AMD, a major cause of vision loss in people over 60, is actually a collection of more than 50 diseases.
Rise in aspirin use seen among US adults
The number of US adults who regularly take aspirin for its heart benefits rose about 20 percent from 1999 to 2003, and the Healthy People 2010 objective of having at least 30 percent of diabetics take aspirin on a regular basis has been met, according to a new report.
The main reason people are using the drug is to reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke.
Over-the-Counter Facial Stimulators Do Little to Enhance Aging Skin
Devices sold over the counter to consumers as facial stimulators, claiming to produce results similar to those of a traditional face-lift, provide little, if any improvement to aging skin, according to a new study conducted at the University of Washington Medical Center’s Cosmetic Surgery Center and published in the January/February issue of the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery.
“We were unable to detect any improvement in signs of facial aging from the use of these devices,” said Dr. Sam Most, assistant professor of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery in the UW School of Medicine. “There are more than 50 of these types of devices being sold over the counter and on the Internet.”
Effective, Cheap Treatment for Cystic Fibrosis Lung Disease
Working half a world away from each other, two teams of medical scientists have identified what they believe is a simple, effective and inexpensive treatment to reduce lung problems associated with cystic fibrosis, the leading fatal genetic illness among whites.
The new therapy, identified through studies supported chiefly by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, also appears to be safe and easy to take.
