Month: January 2013

Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, was recently hospitalized with a severe type of morning sickness. It’s called hyperemesis gravidarum. This form affects only 1 or 2 of every 100 pregnant women. Many pregnant women become nauseous and may vomit during the first trimester. But women with hyperemesis gravidarum have severe nausea and frequent vomiting. They become dehydrated. Their blood levels of sodium and potassium are off balance. This can endanger the woman’s health. It also can lead to pregnancy problems, such as a low birth weight baby or a baby born prematurely. For the pregnant woman, treatment often includes hospitalization. There, she is given intravenous fluids and medication to reduce nausea.

Whether you’re overweight or not may affect how well a blood pressure drug works for you, a study suggests. Researchers looked at data from a study of more than 11,000 people with high blood pressure. People were randomly divided into 2 groups. Both groups took Lotensin (benazepril). This is a type of blood pressure drug known as an ACE inhibitor. One group also took hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic. The other group took Norvasc (amlodipine) as their second drug. This drug is known as a calcium channel blocker. Among those taking the diuretic, people whose weight was normal had the worst results. They were 68% more likely to die or have a heart attack or stroke than obese people taking a diuretic. Taking the calcium channel blocker worked better for people of normal weight. They had a 43% lower rate of death, stroke and heart attack than those who took the diuretic.

Teenagers may try to buy cigarettes less often if tobacco displays are hidden, says a study. Researchers created a video game that involved buying items at convenience stores. They asked teens to buy a drink from the cooler, a snack from the aisles, and two items of their choice at the checkout counter. On the wall behind each counter were cigarettes. In some stores, they were hidden from view. In others, they were not. When the cigarettes were hidden from view, teens were much less likely to try to buy them (by clicking on them). The study was published in the journal Pediatrics. Reuters wrote about it December 3.

Boys whose testicles do not come down into the scrotum are 3 times more likely to have testicular cancer later in life. Before birth, the testicles are formed inside the body. Shortly before birth, they normally move down into the scrotum. In 3% to 4% of full-term boys and about 33% of premature boys, this does not happen. One or both testicles remain in the body. This is called cryptoorchidism. Researchers looked at 12 published studies of cryptoorchidism and testicular cancer risk. The studies included a total of more than 2 million boys. The research showed an increased risk for testicular cancer. The study was published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. HealthDay News wrote about it November 29.

A transplant of the body’s “brown fat” can help to burn more calories, lower blood sugar and control weight — at least in mice. That’s the conclusion of a new study. Most people have a lot more white fat, which is often unhealthy. Brown fat is found in small amounts around the neck, collarbone, shoulders, spine and heart. Its purpose seems to be to burn calories to keep the body warm. Researchers wanted to know if a transplant elsewhere in the body would help with weight control. They took tiny amounts of brown fat from between the shoulders of mice and injected it near the white fat of the belly. They tried this first with mice of normal weight and then with overweight mice. After 8 weeks, mice that got the injections were better at converting glucose (sugar) into energy. As a result, they had lower blood sugar than mice that got a sham treatment.

An influential group of experts says baby boomers at high risk of having hepatitis C infection should get tested. But the group did not endorse a recent government recommendation for even wider testing. The new advice is from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. This group provides advice to doctors on preventive care. It is independent but government-sponsored. The task force said there’s enough evidence to support testing for people who have a higher than average risk of hepatitis C. That includes people who have used injection drugs and those who had blood transfusions before 1992. In May, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said all baby boomers should get a one-time test. About 3 out of 4 people infected with hepatitis C are from this generation. But the actual numbers are low, about 3% to 4% of baby boomers.

Taking a common breast cancer drug longer than usual can further reduce deaths from the disease, a new study says. The research focused on a group of 6,846 women with a type of breast cancer that grows in response to the hormone estrogen. When the study began, they already had taken the drug tamoxifen for 5 years, the standard treatment. Tamoxifen blocks the effects of estrogen on breast cancer. It helps to keep the cancer from returning after surgery. In the study, the women were randomly assigned to stick to standard treatment or to take tamoxifen for another 5 years. By the end of the study, cancer had returned in 25% of women who took the drug for 5 years and 21% of those who took it for 10 years. About 12% of the women who extended tamoxifen treatment died of breast cancer, compared with 15% of the women who stopped after 5 years.