CT Colonography Even Safer Than Previously Reported
The safety profile for CT colonography (CTC) is extremely favorable, particularly for the purposes of screening patients with no symptoms and when distending the colon using an automated carbon dioxide technique, a finding that goes against the higher complication rates for CTC reported by other groups, according to a new study.
For this study, researchers analyzed 21,923 CTC procedures, including both diagnostic and screening procedures. Colonic distention was achieved by manual room air insufflation in 60% of cases and by automated carbon dioxide delivery in 40%. No perforations were recorded in patients undergoing screening CTC or with those who underwent the automated carbon dioxide delivery technique.
International Study Investigating Early Biology of HIV Infection
In July 2005, the race to find a vaccine that would stem the worldwide rate of 13,000 new cases of HIV infection each day moved from competition among research institutions to a strategy of cooperation.
An international “virtual research center” - the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI) - was awarded up to $300 million over seven years to support efforts to develop an HIV vaccine.
The first of several research studies in this collaboration now is under way and is aimed at gaining new knowledge into the biology of HIV infection during its earliest days, before the immune system has produced antibodies to the virus.
Teacher’s verbal abuse can lead to problem behavior
Verbal abuse by a kindergarten teacher triggered by a child’s inattention or disruptive behavior can produce a “vicious cycle” that boosts the risk of delinquency and learning problems later on, a new study suggests.
The findings are not intended to put the blame on teachers, given that a child’s behavior is also a factor, but instead underscore the need for better support of classroom teachers in dealing with problem kids, Dr. Mara Brendgen of the University of Quebec in Montreal told Reuters Health.
“These are behaviors that cause disorder that make it very difficult for the teachers to manage the classroom,” she said.
Kids may handle family gun unbeknownst to mom
Parents’ perceptions about their children’s access to guns stored in the home are often inaccurate, according to the results of a survey conducted in a family practice clinic in rural Alabama.
In analyzing responses from 314 parent-child pairs, and 201 (64%) had guns in the house. While the researchers found that 39 percent of parents, particularly mothers, said that their child did not know where they stored the gun and 22 percent said their child had never handled the family gun, this was contradicted by the child’s response.
“Parents who locked their guns away and discussed gun safety with their children were as likely to be contradicted as parents who did not take such safety measures,” report Dr. Frances Baxley from San Francisco General Hospital and Dr. Matthew Miller from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
Women with low vitamin D levels have small infants
Pregnant women with relatively low amounts of vitamin D in their diets tend to give birth to smaller infants, a new study suggests.
Canadian researchers found that pregnant women who drank little milk or had a lower vitamin D intake tended to have smaller babies than women with higher intakes.
Fortified milk is a primary source of vitamin D in Western diets, and the nutrient may be the main reason why women’s milk consumption was linked to birthweight, according to the researchers.
Antidepressants extend time to relapse in diabetics
Maintenance treatment with the antidepressant sertraline (Zoloft) after a first episode of depression has resolved extends the time to relapse in patients with diabetes, study results suggest. And sustained remission of depression is associated with improved control of blood sugar.
Depression is highly prevalent among patients with diabetes, Dr. Patrick J. Lustman, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues note, and recurrence after initial successful treatment is common. Depression, in turn, is linked to increased morbidity and mortality among diabetics, they point out in the Archives of General Psychiatry for May.
Previous studies have been limited to no more than 16 weeks of treatment, the authors report. The goal of the current study was to see if continued antidepressant treatment beyond the first remission would be effective in prolonging depression-free periods and improving glycemic (blood sugar) control.
Mom’s troubles up child’s risk of behavior problems
When a mother suffers from mental health problems and other difficulties during her child’s first year of life, the child is more likely to have behavior problems later on, new research shows. And the more problems a mother faces, the greater the risk.
“The child’s brain is really shaped by the early environment, and mom is a big part of that, especially in the first year of life,” Dr. Robert C. Whitaker of Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., in Princeton, New Jersey the study’s lead author, told Reuters Health.
This study provides “evidence of how early in life there’s a transfer of difficulty from one generation to the next,” Whitaker said, adding: “Early in a child’s life is an opportune time to break that cycle.”
Calcium can reduce fracture risk in elderly women
Calcium supplementation is an effective public health intervention for preventing fractures in elderly women, but it is only effective if women are compliant. Unfortunately, most women do not comply with treatment over the long-term.
Increased dietary calcium intake has been proposed as a population-based public health intervention to prevent fractures due to the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, note researchers in a report in Archives of Internal Medicine.
In a study lasting five years, Dr. Richard L. Prince, of the University of Western Australia, and colleagues examined whether calcium supplementation decreases fracture risk in elderly women.
