Cialis effective for men with spinal cord injury
A long-acting drug for erectile dysfunction is safe and effective for men with spinal cord injuries who have difficulty achieving erections, a new study shows.
A total of 186 men were randomly assigned to receive treatment with Cialis or placebo for 12 weeks. The study was completed by 129 in the treatment group and by 34 in the placebo group. The subjects, who were an average of 38 years old, had experienced erectile dysfunction for six months or longer. They were instructed to take the drug when they planned to have sex.
Program helps moms get fussy infants to sleep
Teaching new mothers strategies to help their babies overcome sleep problems yields significant benefits for both of them, according to a study conducted in Australia.
Among 328 moms who reported that their 7-month-old was having sleep problems, those who were randomly assigned to participate in a brief behavioral intervention noticed an improvement in their child’s sleep problem, and in their own sleep, and felt less depressed compared with those randomly assigned not to participate in the program.
New anemia measure predicts risk of death in dialysis patients
A new indicator of variations in hemoglobin level over time is a strong predictor of the risk of death among patients receiving dialysis for end-stage renal disease (ESRD), reports a study in the December Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
“Hemoglobin variability—a measure of the stability of levels of hemoglobin among chronic hemodialysis patients—provides a novel way of thinking about and understanding the relationship between anemia and outcomes in ESRD,” comments Dr. Harold I. Feldman of University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, one of the study authors.
Diabetes Dilemma: Most Older Patients Have Many Problems at Once
As if diabetes weren’t enough to handle, a new study shows that 92 percent of older people with the disease have at least one other major chronic medical condition – and that nearly half have three or more major diseases besides their diabetes.
The sheer number, and the severity, of these other conditions appears to decrease patients’ ability to manage their diabetes. The type of co-existing condition also matters, as diabetes self-care lags most among patients with conditions that they think aren’t related to their diabetes.
