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Too much radiation can increase the risk of developing some cancers, although the benefits of such tests typically outweigh the risks when it comes to diagnosing and treating heart attacks. The cancer risk associated with an angioplasty or with a CT scan—which delivers about 500 times more radiation than an X-ray—is hard to measure.
Prashant Kaul, MD, the lead study author and a cardiovascular fellow at Duke University Medical Center, in Durham, N.C., stresses that many cardiac tests that use radiation are necessary and appropriate.
"We’re not saying those should be withheld," he says. "We're just trying to increase awareness so that when physicians are ordering tests, they bear in mind the indications.”
The study, which was conducted over three and a half years, included nearly 65,000 heart attack hospitalizations at 49 academic hospitals across the United States. The researchers estimated radiation doses by looking at hospital records; they didn’t measure exposure directly.
A single radiation-delivering test generally poses little cancer risk, but the heart attack patients in the study averaged about four such tests during their hospital stay, potentially multiplying the risk.
Angioplasty (also known as percutaneous coronary intervention, or PCI), a procedure in which a balloon-tipped catheter is used to open a blocked artery, delivers a dose of radiation about 750 times greater than an X-ray, but that doesn’t mean doctors shouldn't perform it, says Dr. Kaul.
“No one would argue that you shouldn’t do that—it’s a lifesaving procedure,” he says.
Thomas C. Gerber, MD, PhD, a professor of medicine and radiology at the Mayo Clinic’s College of Medicine, in Jacksonville, Fla., says "it’s difficult to assess the health risk of ionizing radiation.”
It’s unclear if there’s a risk associated with a radiation dose less than 100 millisieverts, which is an amount of radiation about seven times greater than the average dose seen in the study, says Dr. Gerber.
“If there's an increased risk of cancer, it’s small, and nobody’s been able to show it,” says Dr. Gerber, who has studied radiation safety in medical testing but was not involved in the study.
The patients in the study were exposed to about 14.5 millisieverts, a dose roughly five times greater than the amount of exposure from so-called background radiation in the environment.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has estimated that the amount of radiation absorbed by the body during a CT scan increases the lifetime risk of dying of cancer by a factor of 1 in 2000. The natural risk of dying from cancer is about 1 in 5, so the added risk posed by the radiation is very small.
According to the FDA, the benefits of a CT scan generally outweigh the risks for those with a medical need, but not for symptomless people who are considering a CT scan only for screening purposes.
According to Dr. Kaul, physicians should take into account a patient's total radiation exposure during a hospital stay, rather than the dose from one individual test.
Exposure to radiation during occasional tests is safer than a relatively large dose in a short period of time, experts say.
“Having 17 millisieverts in January and another 17 millisieverts in October isn’t the same as having 34 millisieverts all at the same time,” says Dr. Gerber. “Small amounts of radiation in certain increments don’t mean the same as one large dose of radiation at the same time.”
Patients shouldn’t be afraid to ask their doctor if a test is truly necessary, he says. “There's nothing wrong with patients asking their doctor, ‘How will this test change what you do for me?’ If it doesn’t, that test may not be necessary.”
Heart attack patients shouldn't forgo a test simply because of concerns about radiation, says Dr. Kaul. Doing so could prevent doctors from diagnosing a dangerous problem or treating a patient to the best of their ability.
“We don’t want to scare people into thinking they’re going into the hospital and their risk of cancer’s going to suddenly increase,” says Dr. Kaul. “It’s a balance between the hypothetical risk of cancer with the risks of not performing an imaging study."
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TUESDAY, Sept. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Longer resuscitation efforts improve the chances of survival in patients who suffer cardiac arrest in a hospital, new research contends.
The finding, published Sept. 4 in The Lancet, may be controversial, since it challenges the common belief that it's futile to extend resuscitation in patients who do not respond immediately, the study authors said.
However, study lead author Zachary Goldberger of the University of Washington said the new findings "suggest that prolonging resuscitation efforts by 10 or 15 minutes might improve outcomes."
Speaking in a Lancet news release, he added that extending resuscitation would not use up much more medical resources and have only "modest" effects on the patient's neurological health, should he or she survive.
In the study, Goldberger's team analyzed data from more than 64,000 patients at 435 U.S. hospitals who underwent resuscitation after suffering a cardiac arrest between 2000 and 2008. There was wide variation in the average duration of resuscitation attempts at the hospitals.
However, patients at hospitals where resuscitation efforts lasted the longest were more likely to be successfully revived (restoration of heart beat for at least 20 minutes) and to survive to be discharged from the hospital than patients at hospitals where resuscitation attempts were shortest.
The percentage of patients who survived to hospital discharge and had little or no brain damage was similar regardless of the length of resuscitation, the study found.
The researchers said their findings can't be used to define the ideal duration for resuscitation attempts, but do suggest that establishing minimum lengths of time for resuscitation may help improve outcomes in patients who suffer cardiac arrest in a hospital.
Currently, survival for these patients is low. Between one and five of every 1,000 hospitalized patients in developed countries suffer a cardiac arrest, and fewer than 20 percent of those patients survive to be discharged, according to journal background information.
Two specialists were cautious about the findings.
"It is difficult to draw definitive conclusions from this study," said Dr. Kenneth Ong, acting chair of the department of medicine and cardiology at The Brooklyn Hospital Center, in New York City.
"There are many variables that affect a person's survival after cardiac arrest," he said. "As the authors correctly point out, few guidelines exist to assist the resuscitation team, including the duration of the attempt. It is possible that those who survive and undergo the longest resuscitative efforts may have clinical features pointing toward success compared with those who may be judged medically futile by the caretakers and thus have a shorter period of resuscitation."
Another expert said the finding may not apply to most cardiac arrest patients.
"From clinical experience, overall survival after in-hospital cardiac arrest is quite poor when there is no clear reversible cause for the arrest," noted Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital, in New York City. "However, when there is a potentially reversible cause for the arrest, successful resuscitation efforts may potentially improve. This suggests that in these limited clinical situations, there may be a window of opportunity to improve care by increasing duration of resuscitation time prior to termination of efforts."
Glatter added, however, that the study "did not demonstrate that longer resuscitation efforts resulted in a higher percentage of patients who were neurologically intact upon discharge." He believes that there is no specific, ideal duration for resuscitation and decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis.
Also, Glatter noted, "this study was purely observational, and therefore cannot directly demonstrate a causal relationship between length of resuscitation and improvements in survival."
-- Robert Preidt 
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: Kenneth Ong, M.D., acting chair, Department of Medicine and Cardiology, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, New York City; Robert Glatter, M.D., emergency physician, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; The Lancet, news release, Sept. 4, 2012
THURSDAY, Sept. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Although depression affects about one-third of all stroke victims, male stroke survivors are more likely to become depressed than females, a small new study suggests.
The gap may be due to men putting extra stock into the notion that they will enjoy good health, one of the researchers explained.
Many of these male stroke survivors "may be accustomed to, and value highly, being in control of their health," said study author Michael McCarthy, of the University of Cincinnati College of Health Sciences School of Social Work. "For these individuals, loss of control due to infirmity caused by stroke could be perceived as a loss of power and prestige. These losses, in turn, may result in more distress and greater depressive syndromes."
The study, published Sept. 12 in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, involved 36 people who had a first stroke within the previous 36 months. Of these stroke survivors, 16 were women and 20 were men.
The researchers assessed the participants' symptoms of depression as well as their ability to perform routine activities, such as bathing and cutting their food. They also examined the amount of uncertainty the survivors had about their health or the outcome of their stroke. The participants were asked to agree or disagree with certain statements, such as "I don't know what's wrong with me," and "I have a lot of questions without answers."
The study revealed that uncertainty about health was strongly associated with greater depression for both men and women. The researchers noted, however, that this link was stronger for the men.
The findings suggest that talking to survivors and their family members in clear, easily understood terms about the patient's health "may be an effective approach for reducing survivor distress and, ultimately, for improving rehabilitation outcomes," McCarthy said in a news release from the journal.
The researchers noted that the study was limited in size and diversity. McCarthy said that future studies with people from various social and economic backgrounds should give more data on how gender and health-related beliefs affect survivor outcomes. More research might also illuminate how women are relatively protected from depression after a stroke, compared to men.
-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, news release, Sept. 12, 2012
Monday, 23 July, HealthDay News)--Infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS--did not appear to increase the risk of cervical cancer, a new survey showed.
The researchers looked at more than 400 HIV infected women and nearly 300 HIV-free women, all of whom had normal Pap test and a negative result for tumors cause of human papillomavirus DNA in the beginning of the study. Know that some types of the human papilloma virus (HPV) causes cervical cancer.
After five years of follow-up, the risk of precancerous cervical diseases was similarly low for both groups of women. None of the women developed cancer of the cervix, Dr. Howard Strickler and colleagues at Albert Einstein College of medicine at Yeshiva University in New York said in a press release.
The study was scheduled to present a briefing Sunday at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, the District of Colombia and appears in the July 25 issue of the journal of the American Medical Association.
The results show that the five-year risk of cervical cancer in HIV-infected women who have normal Pap smear and HPV tumour without causing a risk similar to HIV-free women, researchers say.
"Current investigation underscores the potential for a new era of molecular testing--including HPV, as well as other biomarkers--to improve cervical cancer screening in HIV-infected women," in conclusion, the authors of the study.
--Robert Preidt Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Source: Journal of the American Medical Association, press release, July 22, 2012
THURSDAY, Aug. 2--HealthDay News) for the treatment of substance abuse among young people, many were used for medical marijuana, which was recommended for someone else, also known as "directed" medical marijuana, found that the new study.
The authors of the study, from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado, Idaho, suggest that the policy changes are needed to deter the misuse of medical marijuana by young people.
During the test, the lead Author Stacy Salomonsen-Sautel and colleagues questioned 164 young people aged 14-18 in two adolescent substance abuse treatment programs in Denver about their use of medical marijuana. Researchers found that nearly 74 teens use marijuana, which was recommended for someone else on average 50 times.
Compared with teens who do not use medical marijuana, those who began using drugs regularly in younger age and were also more dependent on marijuana and showed more signs of the disorder, according to the report published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Academy of | Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
The researchers, however, stressed that the majority of teens believed that drug comes with little or no risk.
Because of recent changes to the rules of the State and Federal have door open to more legalized marijuana medical use in Colorado, the researchers suggested that teens using medical marijuana most likely got it from the registry identification card of an adult important for drugs.
The authors of the study concluded that the improved security measures are necessary to prevent medical marijuana in the hands of people that he should not, particularly teenagers.
"The high risk of many patients in the treatment of adolescent substance abuse medical marijuana transalpine were used on a number of occasions, which means that considerable changes direction takes place from registered users," Salomonsen-Sautel said in the journal messages. "Our results support the need for changes in the rules, which protect against medical marijuana to teenagers cross trade."
--Mary Elizabeth Dallas Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Source: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, news release, 31 July 2012
THURSDAY, Aug. 2 HealthDay News)--parents who want to increase the amount of exercise for their children should become more active themselves, according to a new study.
"Long known that parent and child activity levels are correlated," study Author Kristen Holm, Assistant Professor of medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver, said in a news release. "[This study] showed that when parents increase their activities, the children also increased. The effect was more pronounced in the weekend. "
Study, published in the July issue of journal of physical activity and health, involved the 83 families participating in the programme designed to weight gain among overweight and obese children aged from 7 to 14.
Parents and children in the program are encouraged to increase their level of daily activity by walking 2,000 more steps every day. Their progress was tracked with pedometers.
Research has shown that mothers have reached or exceeded the objective on the days of the 2,000-step, their children give an average of 2,117 more. When mothers has not achieved the objective, their children were only 1,175 perform additional steps. The researchers pointed out that the children who were less active when the program started more additional steps than children who were more active.
Overall, the researchers found that for each 1000 additional steps taken by the mother, their child endeavoured 196 more. The researchers Saw a similar structure between fathers and their children.
The researchers suggested that parents and children together perform frequently at weekends resulted in the increase in exercise.
--Mary Elizabeth Dallas Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: National Jewish Health, news release, July 30, 2012.
THURSDAY, Aug. 2 HealthDay News)--the Deadly March Alzheimer is less in people age 80 or older than younger elderly, scientists have found.
The risk of developing Alzheimer's increases with age, and by 85, the risk is about 50 percent. But those who develop progressive brain disorder that at the end of life will be less aggressive than the disease whose symptoms appear in the 1960s and 1970s, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego.
Lead researcher Dominic Holland from the University Department of neurosciences, said that doctors will need to consider these findings, assessing the elderly patients with Alzheimer 's.
"Methods of early detection, which will be based on biomarkers, as well as mental capacity, you should consider the age of the persons assessed," he said. Because the "old" elderly could deteriorate in a slightly slower rate than younger patients, doctors may not realize that these people suffering from Alzheimer 's.
The findings also have relevance for the assessment of potential Alzheimer's treatment and prognosis for patients of different Alzheimer's care costs, clinical Holland and other experts say.
There is currently no effective treatment or the treatment of Alzheimer 's, which gradually destroys the cells of the brain and robs people of memory and their ability to perform everyday tasks and communication.
The report was published online in the journal PLoS Aug. 2 one.
Study progress of Alzheimer, Holland and colleagues used data from the research initiative of the Alzheimer's disease Neuroimaging. They looked at more than 700 people aged 65 to 90, some with normal mental functioning, some mild symptoms of dementia and other persons suffering from Alzheimer 's.
Participants are tested every 6 or 12 months.
The researchers found that Alzheimer's patients lost mental skills to younger more quickly than older patients.
The decline among patients younger paralleled the accelerated loss of brain tissue and increase bone marrow or knob fluid Alzheimer's seen among the younger age group, compared with older patients, study authors added.
Researchers are not sure why Alzheimer's is more aggressive in younger patients. One explanation may be that older patients are decreasing trend in this slower pace for a longer period of time, in some unknown factor keeping symptoms at bay, they suggest.
Another possibility is the older patients with dementia Alzheimer 's, which can place plus the full effect of Alzheimer's in the brain. But such a diagnosis must be made with the Visual inspection, which is the only way that Alzheimer's is diagnosed, Holland noted carefully.
Alzheimer's disease currently affects an estimated 5.6 million Americans, and this number is expected to triple by 2050 as the baby boom generation ages.
Finding that previous develops the disease more aggressive is not good news for those younger older patients who suffer losses for a long time, the deterioration of their mental capacities, Holland said.
Another expert said that the findings may have implications for predicting costs of health and clinical trials.
"This is an extremely important paper about the impact on both the forecast costs of care for Alzheimer's and planning clinical trials," said Dr. Sam Gandy, Associate Director of the Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.
If the clinical picture in the over-85 population is milder than what is typical in populations Younger, these older patients would remain independent already and projections for the economic burden to the health care system should be adjusted, he said.
"Annual cost of 200 billion dollars in the United States now is; the projection of $ 1 trillion annually by 2050, "Gandy says.
"Maybe that $ 1 trillion is really only $ 500 to 750 billion dollars. Still catastrophic, but it is worth taking this into account, "he added in the projection.
Equally important, if the speed of the decline is less than 85 years of age at the age of 65-years, which must be taken into account during the recruitment for clinical trials, Gandy said.
For example, if all of the patients receiving the drug were more than 85 and all patients receiving inactive placebo were significantly younger, it might appear that the drug worked, when in fact the population were incorrectly matched, Gandy pointed out.
"We must know that we wanted the population to be identical as possible, but really do not know the specific of this phenomenon before," he said.
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Dominic Holland, Ph.d., researcher, Department of neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine; Sam Gandy, M.D., Ph.d., Mount Sinai Research Chair and Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry Alzheimer's and the CEO, the Mount Sinai Center for cognitive health and Associate Director, Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City; Aug. 2, 2012, PLoS One, the online
THURSDAY, Aug. 2 HealthDay News)--parents who want to increase the amount of exercise for their children should become more active themselves, according to a new study.
"Long known that parent and child activity levels are correlated," study Author Kristen Holm, Assistant Professor of medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver, said in a news release. "[This study] showed that when parents increase their activities, the children also increased. The effect was more pronounced in the weekend. "
Study, published in the July issue of journal of physical activity and health, involved the 83 families participating in the programme designed to weight gain among overweight and obese children aged from 7 to 14.
Parents and children in the program are encouraged to increase their level of daily activity by walking 2,000 more steps every day. Their progress was tracked with pedometers.
Research has shown that mothers have reached or exceeded the objective on the days of the 2,000-step, their children give an average of 2,117 more. When mothers has not achieved the objective, their children were only 1,175 perform additional steps. The researchers pointed out that the children who were less active when the program started more additional steps than children who were more active.
Overall, the researchers found that for each 1000 additional steps taken by the mother, their child endeavoured 196 more. The researchers Saw a similar structure between fathers and their children.
The researchers suggested that parents and children together perform frequently at weekends resulted in the increase in exercise.
--Mary Elizabeth Dallas Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: National Jewish Health, news release, July 30, 2012.
TUESDAY, July 10 (HealthDay News) -- Most smokers who quit gain more weight than previously thought -- an average of about 8 to 11 pounds the first year, according to a new European study.
Most of this weight gain occurs within three months of kicking the habit, the researchers reported. But, they added, the benefits of quitting still outweigh any concerns over this slight rise on the scale.
In conducting the research, investigators from France and the United Kingdom examined 62 previous studies to evaluate weight fluctuations among smokers who quit successfully with and without the help of nicotine replacement therapy. The weight changes of the former smokers were assessed 12 months after they stopped smoking.
The study found that smokers who quit without the help of nicotine replacement therapy gained an average of about 2.5 pounds one month after quitting. At the two-month mark, they had gained about 5 pounds; at three months, they were up 6.5 pounds. By six months, they had gained about 9 pounds, and after 12 months, they were 10.5 pounds heavier.
The average weight gain was similar for those using nicotine replacement therapy, according to Henri-Jean Aubin, a professor of psychiatry and addiction medicine at Paul Brousse Hospital in Villejuif, France, and colleagues.
The researchers pointed out this weight gain is greater than the 6.5 pounds often quoted in handouts about smoking cessation. It's also more than the 5-pound weight gain limit many female smokers say they will tolerate in order to quit.
The findings reflect the average weight gain of the former smokers, but fluctuation in weight varied widely: 16 percent of the people who stopped smoking lost weight, while 13 percent had gained more than 22 pounds in the year after quitting.
The study, published in the July 10 online edition of the BMJ, concluded that previous research underestimated the amount of weight people will gain in the 12 months after they quit smoking.
"These data suggest that doctors might usefully give patients a range of expected weight gain," the study authors said in a journal news release.
-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: BMJ, news release, July 10, 2012
Thursday, July 26, HealthDay News)-experimental drug tested in mice could one day help people lose weight and keep it long term, according to the researchers.
The drug, called JD5037, increases the sensitivity to the hormone leptin, an appetite suppressant is natural body, according to the research on July 26 in the journal cell metabolism.
"By sensitizing the body naturally occurring leptin, the new drug was not only to promote weight loss, but also helps to keep him," senior research editor, George Kunos of the National Institute of alcohol abuse, alcoholism, USA said in the news journal. "This finding bodes for the development of a new class of compounds for treatment of obesity and its metabolic disorder."
Leptin supplements alone are not effective at helping people lose excess weight, according to the publication. It is because of this that, meaning that systematic to leptin more body to respond to leptin.
In this study, researchers found that JD5037 to suppress appetite of obese mice has led to a decrease in weight, partly by resensitizing mice to leptin.
Scientists, however, research with animals often fails to provide similar results in humans.
"Obesity is a growing problem of public health, there is a strong need for new types of medications for the treatment of severe metabolic complications of obesity, including diabetes, fatty liver disease," said Kunos.
--Robert Preidt copyright © HealthDay 2012. All rights reserved. Source: cell metabolism, press release, July 26, 2012
TUESDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- Women who regularly eat a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet may be raising their risk of heart disease and stroke by as much as 28 percent, a new study suggests.
Although the absolute increase in risk is small -- four or five extra cases per 10,000 women -- many young women try the Atkins diet or similar regimens and could be setting themselves up for cardiovascular problems later in life, the researchers noted.
"Low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets are frequently used for body-weight control," said lead researcher Dr. Pagona Lagiou, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Athens Medical School in Greece. "Although [the diets] may be nutritionally acceptable if the protein is mainly of plant origin, such as nuts, and the reduction of carbohydrates applies mainly to simple and refined [carbohydrates] like unhealthy sweeteners, drinks and snacks, the general public does not always recognize and act on this guidance."
The study, published online June 26 in the BMJ, does not answer questions about the possible short-term benefits of these diets in the control of body weight or insulin resistance, Lagiou said.
For the study, Lagiou's team collected data on the diets of more than 43,000 Swedish women who were between the ages of 30 and 49 at the start of the study.
Over an average of 15 years of follow-up, there were more than 1,200 cardiovascular events, including heart disease and stroke. There were more of these events among the women who followed a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet than among women who didn't, the researchers found.
Compared with women who veered furthest from the high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, women who followed the diet most closely increased their risk by 28 percent, even after other risk factors, such as smoking, drinking, hypertension, exercise and fat intake, were taken into account, the researchers noted.
"Reduction of body weight should rely on increasing physical activity and reducing caloric intake," Lagiou said.
The long-term health effects of special diets that are followed for long periods of time have not been adequately studied to allow determination of their safety, she added.
Dr. Gregg Fonarow, chairman of cardiovascular medicine and science at the University of California, Los Angeles, said low-carb diets such as the Atkins regimen have been touted widely and have become increasingly popular.
"This study raises concerns about the long-term effects on cardiovascular health of low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets -- particularly if there is not careful consideration given to whether plant versus animal proteins are consumed," said Fonarow, who is also director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center.
Another expert, Samantha Heller, an exercise physiologist and clinical nutrition coordinator at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., said "the results of this study are not surprising."
Popular high-protein diets inevitably include an abundance of cheese and red and processed meats, and a dearth of healthy carbohydrates such as whole grains, vegetables, legumes and fruits, she said.
"What this study did not address is that research is finding that diets high in red meat and/or processed meats may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes; colorectal cancer; coronary heart disease; breast cancer; esophageal, liver and lung cancers; and chronic obstructive lung disease," Heller said. "[They also] increase levels of bad cholesterol."
More research is needed to pinpoint how and for whom these risks are elevated, she added.
"In the meantime, cut back on your intake of meat and other animal-protein sources. Start experimenting with beans, edamame, tofu, nuts and nut butters (such as peanut, almond and cashew butter), low- or nonfat yogurt, cottage cheese and milk," Heller advised. "Pick up the carb intake with 100 percent whole-grain breads, brown rice, quinoa and hefty doses of vegetables, legumes and fruits."
Although the study found an association between high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets and increased risk of cardiovascular problems, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: Pagona Lagiou, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, epidemiology, University of Athens Medical School, Greece; Samantha Heller, M.S., R.D., exercise physiologist, clinical nutrition coordinator, Center for Cancer Care, Griffin Hospital, Derby, Conn.; Gregg Fonarow, M.D., Eliot Corday Chair, Cardiovascular Medicine and Science, University of California-Los Angeles, and director, Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center, Los Angleles; June 26, 2012, BMJ, online
THURSDAY, July 12 (HealthDay News) -- Worried about the battle of the bulge? Your circle of friends might be key to your weight gain, a new study suggests.
The research, conducted among high school students, found that teens were more likely to pile on the pounds if they hung out with people who were already heavier than they were. The opposite was true for students whose friends were thinner, however.
The researchers say the findings might help experts combat obesity, at least among teenagers.
"These results can help us develop better interventions to prevent obesity. We should not be treating adolescents in isolation," study author David Shoham, an assistant professor in the department of preventive medicine and epidemiology of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, said in a Loyola news release.
In conducting the observational study, the researchers were trying to figure out if obesity clusters in groups of friends due to social influences (when friends influence one another) or if people simply seek out the friendship of people who are most similar to themselves, including weight status.
To answer this question, the researchers examined information previously collected from students at two large high schools over the course of two school years. One school, known as Jefferson High, was located in a rural area and had a mostly white student population. The second school, called Sunshine High, was located in a city and had a more racial and ethnically diverse student body.
The researchers applied a statistical technique to analyze survey responses from more than 600 students from Jefferson High and 1,151 students from Sunshine High. The teens were asked about their weight, friends, sports and the amount of time they spent in front of the TV or computer or playing video games. The researchers also calculated the students' body mass index (a measure of height and weight).
The way that students initially chose their friends did play a role in how obesity clustered within social groupings. The researchers pointed out, however, that even after taking this finding into account there was still a significant link between obesity and a student's circle of friends, suggesting that friend-to-friend influences might also be key.
For example, a Jefferson High student with thin friends had a 40 percent chance of losing weight and a 27 percent chance of gaining weight. On the other hand, the researchers found a student who was close to being overweight and had obese friends had only a 15 percent chance of losing weight but a 56 percent chance of gaining more weight.
The bottom line: A person's social networks must be taken into consideration when developing strategies to prevent or treat obesity among teenagers, the researchers said.
Shoham's team said the study was limited by its reliance on self-reported data and the inability to directly test how friendships are formed and maintained. They added that the study's data were also collected more than a decade ago -- before the advent of Facebook and the sharp rise in rates of childhood obesity.
Since it is observational in nature, the study can only show an association between friends and weight gain; it cannot prove a cause-and-effect relationship. And, "of course, no one study should ever be taken as conclusive and our future work will attempt to address many of these limitations," Shoham said.
The study was published recently in the journal PLoS ONE.
-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Loyola University, news release, July 9, 2012
the following is a guest post by Kevin Lomangino , one of our analysts in HealthNewsReview.org. He is a medical journalist and independent editor that is currently Editor-in-Chief of clinical nutrition Insight, a monthly newsletter on the basis of evidence that analyzes the scientific literature on nutrition to doctors and nutritionists. He tweets as @ Klomangino.
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With the summer beach season in full swing, it's time to start thinking about ways to reduce your exposure to harmful ultraviolet radiation of the Sun. Fortunately, public relations personnel Draznin is ready to educate you about a new strategy important to protect the skin from sun damage: eat more cocoa!
In a recent press release, Draznin offered to me on the track to the findings of a "featured" experimental adds the "mountain of studies on the benefits of cocoa". The results show that a certain type of antioxidant-rich cocoa "protected the skin from sun damage caused by exposure to UV rays," according the Draznin.
I thought I was above all the latest claims about cocoa-based products, encourage (but far from conclusive) cardiovascular effects of frankly dubious notion that chocolate is some sort of weight loss help. But chocolate as sunscreen? I don't see how this could work unless you were spotting it across your skin like Coppertone. (Not a look that I recommend).
For most of us, cocoa is something that we like to curl up with beside a warm fire on a cold winter night. Draznin now want to pack it in your beach bag along with the floppy hats and parasols.
As you can see, the enthusiastic Draznin claims are based on a study of 6 years of age, involving only 24 women, which was partially funded by the Mars Corporation. The researchers randomly assigned women receive a cocoa drink that was high in certain antioxidants known as flavanols (326 mg/d) or low flavanols (27 mg/d).
At the beginning of the study and after 12 weeks, women were exposed to a solar light Simulator and the redness of the skin was evaluated. Women high-flavanol Group had 25% less redness after 12 weeks than they did on the baseline, while the women in the Group of low-flavanol had no change in redness.
Interesting finding? Absolutely. And I'm not dismissing the idea that your diet can play a role in helping him to resist the adverse effects of exposure to the Sun, but as readers of this blog know, a tiny, short-term study, funded by the manufacturer is not proof of anything when it comes to health outcomes of the real world. And yet that did not prevent the Draznin of blatantly extolling the results.
The "argument" of this study, according to Draznin, is that cocoa consumption "should be part of your daily skin protection strategy and throughout the year."
Not surprisingly, Draznin also volunteered to tell me more about a particular line of supplements that contain cocoa flavanols claimed to be protective.
As far as I'm concerned, the only "takeaway" here is ludicrous lengths to which some public relations companies will promote a product. It is also a reminder that some companies will stretch any shred of evidence to give your product a veneer of scientific credibility.
One more reason for journalists and consumers to look critically for health claims and especially to seek an independent perspective on the importance of supporting research. HealthNewsReview.org has a very useful Toolkit-a great place to start working with this type of analysis.
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Editor's Note: such efforts sometimes PR hit their targets. The Minneapolis Star Tribune is one of the largest newspapers in the country, and they put this piece of fluff in your website in the section "health".
Questions about sexual desire and love have plagued humans for eons. While poets, musicians, and artists believe love lives in the heart, scientists know it exists in the brain. And sex? Apparently, that urge resides in the "little brain" or the bed or maybe a barn. It gets a little confusing what with those tired old adages about cows and free milk (or pigs and free sausage).
34873.000000 / Getty Images stockHe wants you, but does he love you? A new study finds love and sexual desire are controlled by the same part of the brain.
Now a new study has found that the same regions of the brain that control love also control sex -- indicating that sexual desire can actually morph into love. That's right. If a woman has sex with a man, he might not only buy the cow but love the cow, as well.
“Love and sex are clearly overlapping and they are different,” says Jim Pfaus, a professor of psychology at Concordia University in Montreal who's been studying love and libidos for more than a decade. “You can have desire for sex without love.”
But sex can also be the start of a beautiful relationship.
How does all of this work?
The brain's insular cortex (or insula) and the striatum play a role in both sexual desire and love. The insula is nestled deep within the cerebral cortex and influences emotions. While the striatum resides in the forebrain and receives messages from the cortex.
In order to map out the location of sexual desire and love, researchers reviewed 20 studies that used fMRI technology. First, they looked at the regions of the brain that lit up when sparked by love. They then compared the findings of all the papers to see what regions were activated when someone felt aroused or amorous.
What they discovered was a bit surprising -- love and sexual desire both activate the striatum, showing a continuum from sexual desire to love. Each feeling impacts a different area of the striatum.
Sexual desire activates the ventral striatum, the brain’s reward system. When someone enjoys a great dessert or an orgasm, it’s the ventral striatum that flickers with life. Love sparks activity in the dorsal striatum, which is associated with drug addiction.
“You don’t make a connection that love is a drug; it acts just like drug addiction," says Pfaus. "Anyone who has had someone break up with them feels like a drug addict in withdrawal. You end up getting cravings.”
But it doesn't stop there. The researchers also saw an overlap between sexual desire and love in the insula.
“[The insula] translates emotional feelings into meaning,” explains Pfaus. “You take the internal state and give it external meaning.”
The areas of overlap indicate that sexual desire transitions into love in many cases, and the feelings aren’t separate.
“Even love at first sight, can it happen? Of course it can happen," says Pfaus. "And when it does happen, do you want to play Scrabble with each other? When it happens, you normally want to consummate it.”
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From Cambridge University YouTube channel: "At Cambridge, we offer two medicine courses - the Standard Course and the Graduate Course. With both, our aim is to educate students to become compassionate, thoughtful, skilled members - and leaders - of the medical profession.
Success in medicine requires application and hard work, both while studying and when in practice. However, it brings great rewards in terms of job satisfaction, involving as it does a combination of science and human interactions, and numerous career opportunities."
To find out more about Medicine at Cambridge, see http://study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/medicine
Comments from Twitter:
Nick Bennett @peds_id_doc: Best medical school in the world. Seriously.
Medical School Life in Cambridge and Debrecen - @Berci compares the promotional videos http://goo.gl/BZm2w
From Cambridge University YouTube channel: "At Cambridge, we offer two medicine courses - the Standard Course and the Graduate Course. With both, our aim is to educate students to become compassionate, thoughtful, skilled members - and leaders - of the medical profession.
Success in medicine requires application and hard work, both while studying and when in practice. However, it brings great rewards in terms of job satisfaction, involving as it does a combination of science and human interactions, and numerous career opportunities."
To find out more about Medicine at Cambridge, see http://study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/medicine
Comments from Twitter:
Nick Bennett @peds_id_doc: Best medical school in the world. Seriously.
Medical School Life in Cambridge and Debrecen - @Berci compares the promotional videos http://goo.gl/BZm2w
THURSDAY, May 24 (HealthDay News) -- Fatigue is a common problem among surgery residents, a small, new study finds.
A growing body of evidence suggests that fatigue may play a major role in medical errors, said Dr. Frank McCormick, of the Harvard Orthopaedic Combined Residency Program and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues.
Their study included 27 orthopedic surgery residents who slept an average of 5.3 hours a day, with average individual amounts of sleep ranging from 2.8 hours to 7.2 hours.
Overall, the residents were functioning at less than 80 percent mental effectiveness due to fatigue during an average of 48 percent of their time awake. They also were functioning at less than 70 percent mental effectiveness due to fatigue for an average of 27 percent of their time awake.
Residents on the night shift slept an average of 5.1 hours daily and had higher levels of fatigue than those on the day shift, who slept an average of 5.7 hours daily.
The study appears in the May issue of the journal Archives of Surgery.
The finding that residents suffer fatigue "during certain periods is not startling, but its pervasiveness is a finding we simply cannot avoid and may have paid lip service to in the past. It is unlikely that the data in this study will be refuted," Dr. Thomas Tracy Jr., of Hasbro Children's Hospital and Brown University in Providence, R.I., wrote in an accompanying editorial.
-- Robert Preidt Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Archives of Surgery, news release, May 21, 2012
