Health Top Stories
Diet appears to alter heart failure risk
Each serving of whole-grains may lessen heart failure risk by 7 percent among middle-aged African-American and white men and women, according to findings from a long-term study. Conversely, each serving of high-fat dairy and egg appear to increase heart failure risk by 8 and 23 percent, respectively, Dr. Jennifer A. Nettleton, of the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston, and colleagues found. ?A refined grain here, a full fat yogurt there, and the occasional egg aren?t going to result in heart failure, but a continued pattern of such behaviors could,? Nettleton told Reuters Health. More »
Large waist size a good predictor of stroke risk
A large waist circumference, which is known to raise the risk of cardiovascular disease, may also raise the risk of stroke or mini-stroke, researchers from Germany report. A large waistline seems to be a better indicator of a person?s risk for suffering a stroke or mini-stroke, also known as ?transient ischemic attack? or TIA, than a person?s overall body weight, they report. Dr. Tobias Back at Saxon Hospital Arnsdorf in Arnsdorf/Dresden and colleagues investigated the extent to which various markers of obesity were associated with the risk of stroke or mini-stroke in 379 adults with a history of stroke or TIA and 758 stroke-free controls of similar age and gender. More »
Treating Gum Disease Linked to Lower Medical Costs for Patients with Diabetes
A new report suggests that treating gum disease in patients who have diabetes with procedures such as cleanings and periodontal scaling is linked to 10 to 12 percent lower medical costs per month. The findings are encouraging but the study was not designed to firmly establish cause and effect, said George Taylor, University of Michigan associate professor of dentistry, who also has an appointment in epidemiology in the U-M School of Public Health. Taylor led the research project to investigate whether routine, non-surgical treatment for gum disease is linked to lower medical care costs for people with diabetes. In periodontal disease, the body reacts to the bacteria causing the gum infection by producing proteins or chemicals called inflammatory mediators. Ulcers and open sores in the gums become passageways for these proteins and for the bacteria themselves to enter the body?s blood circulation. These inflammatory mediators, as well as some parts of the bacteria, prevent the body from effectively removing glucose, or sugar, from the blood. More »
Cancer survivor Armstrong's girlfriend pregnant
Cycling legend Lance Armstrong -- a survivor of testicular cancer -- and girlfriend Anna Hansen are expecting a baby, CNN learned Tuesday through his charitable organization. More »
Single men turn to surrogates to start families
Jeff Walker says from as far back as he can remember, he always wanted to be a father. More »
Older Americans take risky combo of medications
Many older adults in the United States are taking a confusing combination of medications, some prescribed by doctors and others picked up over-the-counter or in health food stores. More »
Scientist: Stem cells could end animal testing
As well as their potential for creating effective therapies for debilitating diseases, embryonic stem cells could open the door to more effective pharmaceutical drug testing, according to a leading British stem cell researcher. More »
Bird flu vaccine protects children
A vaccine to protect against infection with the bird flu virus, the pathogen experts fear is capable of causing pandemic disease in humans, proved safe and effective in a preliminary clinical trial with children, mirroring the results of a recent trial conducted in adults, Hungarian researchers report in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. Fluval (also called avian influenza A (H5N1) vaccine) was developed and produced by Omninvest LTD (Hungary), report Dr. Zoltan Vajo, of the National Center for Immunology and Allergy in Budapest, and co-authors. Twelve healthy children, 9 to 17 years of age, received a single dose of Fluval by intramuscular injection. No side effects were detected. More »
Obese siblings of diabetic children at risk
Compared with other overweight children, overweight siblings of children with type 2 diabetes mellitus have a significantly higher prevalence of abnormal glucose tolerance, a risk factor for diabetes, according to researchers at the Children?s Hospital of Philadelphia. ?These siblings,? lead investigator Dr. Sheela N. Magge told Reuters Health, ?have a unique combination of genetic and environmental risk factors. We found that the obese sibling group had four-times higher odds of having abnormal glucose tolerance?pre-diabetes and diabetes?compared to the control group.? Magge and colleagues studied 62 obese children, aged 8 to 17 years, who had at least 1 sibling aged 12 years or older. Twenty children had a sibling with diabetes; 42 acted as controls, according to the study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics. More »
Using math to understand hepatitis C
Using math to understand hep. C: Patterns paint picture of who will respond to treatment Genetic patterns are like the tea leaves in the bottom of a cup for predicting which patients are likely to respond to medical therapy for life-threatening viruses such as hepatitis C, Saint Louis University researchers have discovered. Their findings are published in the Dec. 22 early online issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. ?We identified mathematical patterns, which are called ?covariance networks,? to analyze the sequence of proteins in the genes or ?genetic patterns? of hepatitis C virus in two groups of patients ? those who responded to and those who resisted traditional therapy,? said John Tavis, Ph.D., professor of molecular and microbiology at Saint Louis University and a lead author of the paper. ?What we found will allow a doctor to predict whether or not a medication will work in a patient.? More »