Mediterranean Diet Halves Risk of Progressive Lung Disease (COPD)
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A Mediterranean diet halves the chances of developing progressive inflammatory lung disease (COPD), reveals a large study, published ahead of print in Thorax.
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is an umbrella term for chronic progressive lung disease, such as emphysema and bronchitis. It is expected to become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2020, with cigarette smoking the primary factor in its development.
Unfair Treatment Boosts Heart Attack Risk
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Unfair treatment in life boosts a person’s chances of having a heart attack, suggests research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
The findings are based on more than 8,000 senior civil servants working for the British government in London (The Whitehall Study II).
Plan to urge breast feeding scrapped in Japan
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Plans to urge Japanese mothers to breast-feed and sing lullabies to their babies and for families to turn off the TV during meals have been scrapped, Kyodo news agency reported.
Mothers were urged to look into their baby’s eyes while breast-feeding in a draft of a report by a government panel that was due out this week. It had also warned that the Internet and mobile phones give children a “direct connection with the evils of the world.”
Pediatricians and pathologists see traumatic brain injury differently
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Confronted with the same hypothetical scenarios of traumatic brain injuries to children, pediatricians and pathologists were unable to agree half the time whether the deaths should be investigated as potential child abuse, researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine found.
The study demonstrates the need for improved, uniform definitions if research is to prevent such abuse, said Antoinette Laskey, M.D., M.P.H., a forensic pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine, and her colleagues. They reported on their efforts to develop a framework to help researchers compare cases in the April issue of the journal Child Abuse and Neglect.
Debate focuses on door-to-balloon time in heart attack treatment
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In the treatment of heart attack, the 90-minute goal for inflation of an angioplasty balloon in a blocked coronary artery to restore normal blood flow is so revered it’s been codified in clinical guidelines, accreditation standards, and pay-for-performance programs. But is the 90-minute deadline really critical” Two experts will debate that question at the 30th Annual Scientific Sessions of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), May 9 - 12, 2007, in Orlando, FL.
Allowing no more than 90 minutes to elapse between patient arrival in the emergency room and inflation of the angioplasty balloon—the so-called door-to-balloon time - is clearly beneficial, said Eric R. Bates, M.D., a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
100% of pregnant women have at least one kind of pesticide in their placenta
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According to a study conducted by the UGR, 100% of pregnant women have at least one kind of pesticide in their placenta
- A doctoral thesis written at the Department of Radiology and Physical Medicine reveals an average presence of eight organochlorine contaminants in the organisms of pregnant women, which are usually ingested by means of food, water and air.
Mammography rates declining in the United States
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Since 2000 mammography rates have declined significantly in the United States, according to a new study. Published in the June 15, 2007 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study by Dr. Nancy Breen from the National Cancer Institute and co-authors confirms that screening mammography rates to detect breast cancer fell by as much as four percent nationwide between 2000 and 2005. This is the first study to show that the trend is nationwide among women for whom the test is intended to reduce mortality risk.
Regular mammography is the most efficacious screening test for the early detection of breast cancer available to women today.
Planned weight loss won’t weaken older women
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Obese, postmenopausal age women who decide to trim down don’t need to worry that they will put themselves in danger of disability by doing so, even if they don’t exercise as recommended, a new study shows.
After losing a substantial amount of weight through diet, but without exercising, 23 obese women in their 50s showed no reduction in muscle strength or fitness, even though they had lost muscle mass, Dr. Jamehl Demons of the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Atrial fibrillation not a risk factor for dementia
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While atrial fibrillation is a significant risk factor for stroke in the very elderly, it does not predict dementia, according to findings published in the medical journal Stroke.
Atrial fibrillation is a heart rhythm disorder (arrhythmia) of the upper chambers of the heart (atria), resulting in disorganized and abnormal contractions, Dr. Tuula Pirttila, of Kuopio University Hospital, Finland, and colleagues report. “Several studies have shown that atrial fibrillation predicts the development of poststroke dementia, whereas others have found no such association.”
Roche aims to make Avastin more affordable in UK
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Switzerland’s Roche Holding AG launched blockbuster drug bevacizumab (Avastin) for breast cancer in Britain on Thursday and said it was working on ways to make the costly medicine more affordable.
Avastin was originally developed for colorectal cancer, but it has also proved effective in treating metastatic breast cancer when given alongside chemotherapy.
Tamiflu data show very low resistance: Roche
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Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche Holding AG said on Wednesday new data showed patients using its anti-flu drug Tamiflu rarely developed resistance to it.
The data, published by the United Nations’ World Health Organisation, showed resistance of around 0.3 percent to Tamiflu, also called oseltamivir, during the influenza seasons in which there had been substantial Tamiflu use in Japan.
Duloxetine improves generalized anxiety disorder
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The results of a study published in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry indicate that treatment with duloxetine, sold under the trade name Cymbalta, improves functioning and enhances the quality of life in patients with generalized anxiety disorder.
Dr. Jean Endicott, of Columbia School of Medicine, New York, and colleagues examined the effectiveness of duloxetine in patients with generalized anxiety disorder who participated in three studies.
Store ads spur teens to smoke, U.S. study finds
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The more cigarette marketing teens are exposed to in retail stores, the more likely they are to smoke, researchers reported on Monday in a U.S. study they said supports even tighter restrictions on tobacco ads.
Point-of-sale advertising can encourage teens to try smoking, the team reported in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
Stress of deployment increases risk of child abuse, neglect in military families, UNC study shows
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Rates of abuse and neglect of young children in military families in Texas has doubled since October 2002, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study shows, raising concerns about the impact of deployment on military personnel and their families across the country.
The study, published in the May 15, 2007 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, was designed by UNC School of Public Health researchers to measure the impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on military and non-military families. The researchers chose to study Texas because of the large military population there and the availability of data.
MR Imaging Helps Predict Recurrence in Prostate Cancer Patients
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MR images taken of prostate cancer patients prior to treatment that show that the cancer has spread outside the prostate gland capsule help predict whether the cancer will return, according to a recent study conducted by radiologists at the University of California-San Francisco.
The study consisted of 74 men with biopsy-proven prostate cancer who underwent endorectal MR imaging of the prostate, said Antonio Westphalen, MD, lead author of the study. Tumor size, stage and extracapsular extension (cancer spread outside the prostate gland capsule) were all recorded.
