Month: January 2008

Harassment and unwanted sex proposals don’t occur most often on social networking sites, a survey finds. Instead, kids are victimized more often through instant messages or in chat rooms. These findings come from a survey of nearly 1,600 Internet users, ages 10 to 15. About 1 in 8 said they had an unwanted online request in the last year to talk about sex or do something sexual. Almost half of the time this came in an instant message. About 1 in 3 incidents happened in a chat room and 1 in 4 on a social networking site. Kids also reported harassment. More than half of the time, this came through an instant message. The study was published online January 28 by the journal Pediatrics.

More older U.S. adults are getting diabetes, a study finds. The number of people diagnosed after age 65 rose 23% in a decade. The study looked at numbers from 1994 to 1995 and from 2003 to 2004. Most of those with new diabetes developed at least one more health problem in the next six years. Almost half developed heart failure. The study was published January 28. It is in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

Lead exposure throughout life could speed up the decline of brain function in old age, recent research suggests. A 2006 study enrolled 1,000 adults, ages 50 to 70. They grew up when gasoline still contained lead. Researchers tested shinbones for lead. People also took tests of mental ability. Those with higher levels of lead had lower mental scores. The difference was equal to six years of aging for the highest amounts of lead. Another study, from 2004, showed more mental decline in four years among people with more lead in their bodies. The Associated Press wrote about the research January 28.

Women who take birth control pills are less likely to get ovarian cancer, a study has found. The risk is lower even many years after they stop taking the pills. Researchers used data on more than 23,000 women with ovarian cancer. They compared it with 87,000 cancer-free women. About one-third of each group took birth control pills. They used them for an average of five years. About 12 in 1,000 women get ovarian cancer before age 75. But only 8 per 1,000 women who took birth control pills got the disease. The Associated Press reported on the study January 25. It was in the journal Lancet.

Washing out the nose with salt water helped children with colds in a new study. About 400 children with colds or flu were divided into two groups. Both received standard treatment. One group also was given a nasal solution made from processed seawater. These children reported less stuffiness than the others. After recovery, they used the salty solution to prevent colds. In this time, they used fewer cold medicines than the other children, researchers said. They also missed fewer days of school. The study lasted 12 weeks in all. Results were published January 22 in the journal Archives of Otolaryngology.

People with certain gene variations may do better with different blood pressure drugs, a study suggests. Researchers looked at data from a previous study. It included more than 38,000 people. People were randomly assigned to take a blood pressure drug. Some people had variations in a gene called NPPA. People with one version of the gene ended up with lower blood pressure if they took a diuretic drug. People with a different version of the gene did better with a calcium channel blocker. The study appeared January 23 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Obesity surgery may cure diabetes for most obese patients, a study suggests. The Australian study included 55 patients. Just over half had stomach band surgery. A band is put around the upper stomach to limit eating. This was the first study to randomly assign obese diabetics to surgery or standard care. The 29 surgery patients lost much more weight than the others. In 22 of them, diabetes disappeared. This happened in only 4 of the 26 who did not have surgery. The Associated Press wrote about the study January 23. It was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

New labels will strengthen a blood clot warning for the birth control patch Ortho Evra. They will say that the patch leads to a higher risk of blood clots than birth control pills. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered the change January 18. It was prompted by a study that showed a higher risk of clots in women ages 15 to 44 who used the patch. The Associated Press reported on the decision.

About one-third of research studies on depression drugs were not published, a new analysis has found. And the unpublished findings overall showed less benefit than those that were published. The authors looked at studies submitted to U.S. drug regulators between 1987 and 2004. They found that 38 studies showed a benefit from depression drugs. Of these, 37 were published. But 36 other studies showed less benefit or none. Only 14 were published. The New York Times wrote about the new analysis on January 17. The article was in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Statin drugs do not prevent Alzheimer’s disease, a study suggests. The study included 929 priests, brothers and nuns who were 75 or older. In a 12-year period, 191 developed Alzheimer’s. This included 16 who had taken statins to reduce cholesterol. Rates of Alzheimer’s were similar between those who took statins and those who did not. Autopsies also showed no differences in the brain. Reuters Health news service wrote about the study January 16. It was published in the journal Neurology.