Cardiac device may be less effective in Blacks
Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) significantly reduce the risk of death in white heart patients, but not in black patients, according to a second look at results from the Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial (MADIT-II).
This was a surprise finding, Dr. Arthur J. Moss of the University of Rochester Medical Center, New York, told Reuters Health. “We do not have a good reason for the lack of benefit of the ICD in black patients,” he said.
Battling bacteria in gut may influence weight gain
Body weight and obesity could be affected not only by what we eat but also by how it is digested in the gut, American scientists said on Wednesday.
They have discovered that levels of two types of good microbes or bacteria in the gut that help to break down foods are different in obese and lean people and mice.
The finding, reported in the science journal Nature, could lead to a better understanding of why some people may be prone to obesity and help find new ways of preventing or treating it.
