Month: September 2012

Nearly one-third of U.S. adults have high blood pressure. But fewer than half of them have it under control, a new report says. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the report. It was based on a major national health survey. The survey found that 39% who had high blood pressure were not aware of it. About 16% knew they had the problem but were not taking medicine for it. About 45% were getting drug treatment. Overall, 67 million had high blood pressure. This means they measured high on a blood pressure test or were getting treatment for the condition. Nearly 36 million did not have their high blood pressure under control. Nearly 90% of the uncontrolled group had a regular source of health care, had insurance and had been seen by a doctor in the last year. Researchers said this showed missed opportunities to achieve lower blood pressure.

Popular techniques that help babies fall asleep on their own don’t have any long-term impact on mental health, sleep quality or the parent-child relationship, a new study finds. The new study is a follow-up, done when children were 6 years old. The study included 225 children. It began when they were 7 months old and were having sleep problems. They were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group of parents received training in techniques called “controlled comforting” and “camping out.” With controlled comforting, parents put their babies down for sleep and leave the room. They let the babies cry for increasing amounts of time before comforting them, to encourage them to fall asleep on their own. Parents who camp out stay in the room, but gradually move farther away. People in the other study group did not receive training in these techniques.

Metabolic syndrome may undermine the brains of teens as well as their bodies, a small study suggests. Metabolic syndrome means having at least 3 of 5 unhealthy conditions. The conditions are high blood pressure, large waist, high triglycerides (a blood fat), low HDL (“good cholesterol”) and insulin resistance. Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease. The new study included 111 teenagers. Of this group, 49 had metabolic syndrome and 62 did not. Both groups were a similar mix of ages, family income, school grade, gender and ethnicity. Everyone took tests of ability in subjects such as spelling and math. They also took tests of brain function, such as memory and attention. Teens with metabolic syndrome had about 10% lower scores on the subject tests. They also scored lower on attention, but not memory. Each teen also had an MRI brain scan.

Former pro football players are much more likely than average to die from brain diseases, a study finds. The study was done by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). It was based on a 1994 study of 3,439 former NFL players. All had spent at least 5 seasons in the league. Researchers looked at death certificates for 334 players who died. They were 3 times as likely as the general public to die of diseases that damage the brain. Seven had Alzheimer’s disease. Seven had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, often called Lou Gehrig’s disease). Death rates from those 2 diseases were 4 times average. Death rates from Parkinson’s disease were average. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease long known to occur in boxers, has also been found recently in the brains of deceased NFL players. It is believed to be caused by repeated concussions.

In a 23-year study, cutting calories by one-third improved monkeys’ health, but didn’t extend their lives. Those results, published August 29, contrast with another recent study that did show longer life for monkeys on very-low-calorie diets. Other studies have found that earthworms, mice and other animals live longer with fewer calories. The new study included 120 rhesus macaques. They were randomly divided into two groups. One group ate a normal controlled diet. The other group ate about 30% fewer calories. The restricted diet included vitamin and mineral supplements. When the study began, 86 monkeys were young, up to age 14. The others were 16 to 23 years old. The average macaque lives about 27 years. After 23 years, the calorie-restricted monkeys weighed less and had lower rates of diabetes than the other group. The younger monkeys also had lower rates of cancer.