Study Sheds Light On Birth Defects In Diabetic Pregnancy
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A cascade of events that begins with high blood glucose has been offered as an explanation for why diabetic pregnancies result in a high rate of birth defects.
The high blood glucose levels early in pregnancy deprive the embryo of oxygen, leading to high levels of free radicals that reduce expression of a key gene called Pax3, said Mary R. Loeken, Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School.
High-Normal Blood Sugar Could Signal Diabetes Risk
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Young men with fasting plasma glucose levels in the high-normal range appear to be at increased risk for type 2 diabetes, especially if they are on the heavy side and have high serum triglyceride levels.
That’s the finding of researchers here who studied more than 13,000 apparently healthy young men in the Israeli defense forces. The investigators found that so-called “normal” test values may actually predict type 2 diabetes. The results of their study were published in today’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
PET Scans Predict Alzheimer’s in Cognitively Impaired Patients
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Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of glucose metabolism in the brain can accurately predict which patients with mild cognitive impairment will progress to full-blown Alzheimer’s dementia, researchers here say.
PET proved more accurate than screening for genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s, Alexander Drzezga, M.D., of the Technical University of Munich, and colleagues reported in the October issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. However, a combination of PET and genetic screening appeared to have the highest positive predictive value.
HPV Vaccine Gets High Marks in Trial
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An investigational vaccine aimed at cervical cancer has proved 100% effective against cervical pre-malignant lesions associated with the most prevalent strains of the human papilloma virus (HPV), according to researchers here.
Results of the Phase III study of Merck’s quadrivalent recombinant vaccine, known as Gardisil, are to be presented Friday at the Infectious Diseases Society of America meeting here.
Medicare prescription-drug coverage plan
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The new Medicare prescription-drug coverage plan doesn’t cover all of the expenses for all of the people, but it may make the difference between meals and medicine for many fixed-income retirees.
Clearly Medicare Part D is better than nothing for many of the estimated 43 million elderly and disabled Americans who are enrolled in the program. That said, Medicare’s new prescription-drug coverage will never live up to its hype as a comprehensive prescription drug plan.
Many ‘Minor’ Strokes Can Be Serious or Even Fatal
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Patients with mild or improving ischemic stroke sometimes aren’t treated with tissue-plasminogen activator (tPA) because their symptoms appear to be minor.
This may be a big mistake, cautioned researchers here and in Los Angeles.
Among 128 patients who showed up at the hospital within three hours of stroke onset, 41% didn’t get tPA because they appeared to be “too good to treat,” reported investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and the University of California at Los Angeles.
Fitness isn’t easy, but it is cheap
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Commissioning a luxury home is a bit outside your means, you say? Sorry, that doesn’t earn you a pass straight to the Barcalounger. Designing fitness into your nest isn’t an idea limited to the rich, say exercise experts. With a bit of ingenuity, you can make your home a fitness site on practically a pauper’s budget. Here are some ideas:
Challenge yourself vertically. Integrating fitness into your house or apartment means, first, taking advantage of features that already exist, according to Jeffrey Potteiger, professor of physical education, health and sport studies at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. “Remember that a StairMaster is just going up and down stairs,” he said. The challenge: Finding incentives to make you use those steps more often, such as vowing to answer every call on the upstairs phone. Cost: Nothing.
Most Americans risk obesity, study finds
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A new study that followed Americans for thirty years has found that 90 per cent of men and 70 per cent of women were overweight or became overweight.
In addition, more than one in three were obese or became obese.
Drug Addiction: Cocaine Is the Most Addictive
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Certain drugs, such as narcotics and cocaine, central nervous system stimulant, are more physically addicting than are other drugs.
Drug addiction affects 19.5 million Americans over the age of 12. Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug. While not everyone who uses drugs becomes addicted, many people do. As many as 19,000 people die of drug-related causes every year.
High-vegetable diet linked to protection against pancreatic cancer
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A diet rich in fruits and vegetables may help cut the risk of pancreatic cancer in half, according to a new survey.
Researchers at the University of California in San Francisco found that eating five or more daily servings of fruit and vegetables reduces a person’s risk of developing pancreatic cancer by 50 around per cent.
Where to find South Beach Diet Recipes
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The South Beach diet is very popular in the wake of the Atkins diet becoming a bit too much for casual dieters. South Beach focuses more on good carbs and bad carbs than some of the high protein diets. South Beach recipes are available from a number of places both online and in the real world. A search in goolge or a walk to your local bookstore will certainly lead you to some tasty eats that won’t compromise your dieting.
Breakfast good time for taking vitamins
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Question: What is the optimum time of day to take vitamin and mineral supplements? Are there certain foods that interfere with absorption?
Answer: There are no rules about the best time of day to take supplements. Take them when they agree with you most. Many people find taking pills of any kind as part of a morning routine is easier to remember, so taking them with breakfast is a popular option. Vitamin and mineral supplements can cause nausea, heartburn and other gastric disturbances, especially when taken on an empty stomach. For best absorption and the least irritation to the stomach, take your supplements with a meal containing fat. This is particularly important for fat-soluble vitamins (A, D and E).
The Great American Detox Diet
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What is Detoxing and Why Do You Need It
According to the author of The Great American Detox, Alex Jamieson, “detoxing is a gentle method of cleansing and non-invasive method of rebalancing. It is the departure point for rejuvenation and the restoration of our health, vitality, and wellness”. Sounds pretty good but why does anybody need to detox? As Jamieson and many other experts explain the American diet is highly processed and not very healthy. Add to that polution, pesticides, and other harmful substances that most of us are exposed to and the body becomes unable to function properly. As Jamieson points out in her book, “the FDA has admitted that about one billion pounds of chemical additives are put into our foods every year and the average American eats more than 50 pounds of additives a year”. Think you’re healthy now? There’s other gross stats that could be included here but why. You get the point. Check the conditions below to see if you’re due for a detox?
Life After Atkins
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Atkins Nutritionals’ bankruptcy came as no surprise to many food and health experts.
“Atkins did a good job helping consumers understand the role of carbohydrates in healthy eating,” said Lynn Dornblaser, director of consulting services for Mintel’s GNPD. “The diet came in very strongly and quickly, then vanished. This is a frequent trend with diets, and their disappearance is inevitable.”
New dads get postpartum depression, too, study finds
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What if Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have a baby ... and Tom’s the one who gets postpartum depression?
That’s not just a fantasy for those outraged at Cruise’s comments in June about the illness. It’s entirely possible.
With Hollywood-perfect timing, on June 25 - one day after Cruise and “Today” co-host Matt Lauer had their infamous on-air spat about post-birth depression, psychiatry and medication - the British medical journal The Lancet published the results of a groundbreaking study:
